Chapter I: Part 1

[Transcriber's Notes: All spelling, capitalization, and punctuation inconsistencies retained with the exception of those few listed at the end of this text.

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+The Legendary History of the Cross.+

_No._..............]

_The Legendary Hiſtory of the Croſs_

A SERIES OF

Sixty-four Woodcuts

_From a Dutch book publiſhed by_
VELDENER, A.D. 1483

WITH
_AN INTRODUCTION_

Written and Illuſtrated
By JOHN ASHTON

_PREFACE_
By S. BARING GOULD, M.A.

+London+
T. FISHER UNWIN
M.D.CCC.LXXXVII

UNWIN BROTHERS,
_Old Style Printers_,
THE GRESHAM PRESS, LUDGATE HILL, E.C.

_PREFACE._

THE origin of the mediæval romance of the Croſs is hard to diſcover. It was very popular. It occurs in a good number of authors, and is depicted in a good many churches in ſtained glaſs.

I may perhaps be allowed here to repeat what I have ſaid in my article on the Legend of the Croſs, in “Myths of the Middle Ages:”—

“In the churches of the city of Troyes alone it appears in the windows of four: S. Martin-ès-Vignes, S. Pantaléon, S. Madeleine, and S. Nizier. It is freſcoed along the walls of the choir of S. Croce at Florence, by the hand of Agnolo Gaddi. Pietro della Franceſca alſo dedicated his pencil to the hiſtory of the Croſs in a ſeries of freſcoes in the chapel of the Bacci, in the church of S. Franceſco at Arezzo. It occurs as a predella painting among the ſpecimens of early art at the Accademia delle Belle Arti at Venice, and is the ſubject of a picture by Beham, in the Munich Gallery. The Legend is told in full in the ‘Vita Chriſti,’ printed at Troyes in 1517; in the ‘Legenda Aurea’ of Jacques de Voragine; in a French MS. of the thirteenth century, in the Britiſh Muſeum. Gervaſe of Tilbury relates a portion of it in his ‘Otia Imperalia,’ quoting Peter Comeſtor; it appears in the ‘Speculum Hiſtoriale’ of Gottfried of Viterbo, in the ‘Chronicon Engelhuſii,’ and elſewhere.”

In the very curious Creation window of S. Neot’s Church, Cornwall, Seth is repreſented putting three pips of the Tree of Life into the mouth and noſtrils of dead Adam, as he buries him.

Of the popularity of the ſtory of the Croſs there can be no doubt, but its origin is involved in obſcurity. It is generally poſſible to track moſt of the religious and popular folk tales and romances of the Middle Ages to their origin, which is frequently Oriental, but it is not eaſy to do ſo with the Legend of the Croſs. It would rather ſeem that it was made up by ſome romancer out of all kinds of pre-exiſting material, with no other object than to write a religious novel for pious readers, to diſplace the ſenſuous novels which were much in vogue.

We know that this was largely done after the third century, and a number of martyr legends, ſuch as thoſe of S. Apollinaris Syncletica, SS. Cyprian and Juſtina, the ſtory of Duke Procopius, S. Euphroſyne, SS. Zoſimus and Mary, SS. Theophanes and Panſemne, and many others were compoſed with this object. The earlieſt of all is undoubtedly the Clementine Recognitions, which dates from a remotely early period, and carries us into the heart of Petrine Chriſtianity, and in which many a covert attack is made on S. Paul and his teaching. On the other hand, we know that an Asiatic prieſt, as Tertullian tells us, wrote a romance on “Paul and Thecla, out of love to Paul.” S. Jerome ſays that a Pauline zealot, when convicted before his biſhop of having written the romance, tried to exculpate himſelf by ſaying that he had done it out of admiration for S. Paul, but the Biſhop would not accept the excuſe, and deprived him. Unfortunately this romance has not come down to us, though we have another on S. Paul and his relations to Thecla, who is ſaid to have accompanied him on his apoſtolic rambles, diſguiſed in male attire.

The Greek romance literature was not wholeſome reading for Chriſtians. Some of the writers of theſe tales became Chriſtian biſhops, and probably devoted their facile pens to more edifying ſubjects than the difficulties of parted lovers.

Heliodorus, who wrote “Theagenes and Charicheia,” is ſaid to have become Biſhop of Tricca, in Theſſaly. Socrates, in the fifth century, in ſpeaking of clerical celibacy, mentions the ſeverity of the rule impoſed on his clergy by this Heliodorus, “under whoſe name there are love-books extant, called Ethiopica, which he compoſed in his youth.”

Achilles Tatius, author of the “Loves of Clitophon and Leucippe,” is ſaid alſo to have become a biſhop. So alſo Euſtathius of Theſſalonica, author of the “Lives of Hyſemene and Hyſmenias,” but this is more than doubtful.

Three things conduced to the production of a Chriſtian romance literature in the early ages of the Church:—(1) The neceſſity under which the Church lay of ſupplying a want in human nature; (2) The need there was for producing ſome light wholeſome literature to ſupply the place of the popular love-romances then largely read and circulated; (3) The fact that ſome biſhops and converts were experienced novel writers, and therefore ready to lend their hands to ſome better purpoſe than amuſing the leiſure and flattering the paſſions of the idle and young.

Much the ſame conditions exiſted in the Middle Ages. There was an influx of ſenſuous literature from the Eaſt, through the Arabs of Spain and Sicily; Oriental tales eaſily took Weſtern garb, in which the caliphs became kings of Chriſtendom, and the fakirs and imauns were converted into monks and Catholic prieſts. To counteract theſe ſtories, collections of which may be found in Le Grand d’Auſſi and Von der Hagen, and in Boccaccio, the Geſta Romanorum was drawn up, a collection of moral tales, many of them of ſimilar Oriental parentage. But beſide theſe ſhort ſtories, or novels, were long romances, ſome heroic, and founded on early national traditions and ballads. To theſe belong the Niebelungen Lied and Noth, the Gudrun, the Heldenbuch, the cycles of Karlovingian and of Arthurian romance.

As it happens, we have two authors in the Middle Ages, living much about the ſame time, one intenſely heathen in all his conceptions, the other as entirely Chriſtian, each dealing with ſubjects from the ſame cycle, and the one writing in avowed oppoſition to the tendency of the other’s book. I allude to Wolfram of Eschenbach and Gottfried of Straſſburg. The latter wrote the Triſtram, the former the Parzival. In Gottfried, the moral ſenſe ſeems to be abſolutely dead; there is no perception of the ſacredneſs of truth, of chaſtity, of honour, none of religion. Wolfram is his exact converſe. Wolfram gives us the hiſtory of the Grail, but he did not invent the myth of the Grail, he derived it from pre-exiſting material. The Grail myth is almoſt certainly heathen in its origin, but it has been entirely Chriſtianiſed. The holy baſin is that in which the Blood of Chriſt is preſerved, and only the pure of heart can ſee it; but the Grail was really the great cauldron of Nature, the baſin of Ceridwen, the earth goddeſs of the Kelts, or, among Teutonic nations, the ſacrificial cauldron of Odin, in which was brewed the ſpirit of poeſy, of the blood of Mimer. The remembrance of the myſterious veſſel remained after Kelt and Teuton had become Chriſtian, and the poets and romanciſts gave it a new ſpell of life by chriſtening it. It was much the ſame with the ſtory of the Croſs. In the Teutonic North, tree worſhip was widely ſpread; the tree was ſacred to Odin, who himſelf, according to the myſterious Havamal, hung nine nights wounded, as a ſacrifice to himſelf, a voluntary ſacrifice, in “the wind-rocked tree.”

That tree was Yggdraſill, the world tree, whoſe roots extended to hell, and whoſe branches ſpread to heaven.

Northern mythology is full of alluſion to this tree, but we have, unfortunately, little of the hiſtory of it preſerved to us; we know of it only through alluſions. The Chriſtmas tree is its repreſentative; it has been taken up out of paganiſm, and rooted in Chriſtian ſoil, where it flouriſhes to the annual delight of thouſands of children.

Now the mediæval romanciſts laid hold of this tree, as they laid hold of the Grail baſin, and uſed it for Chriſtian purpoſes. The Grail cup became the chalice of the Blood of Chriſt, and the Tree of Odin became the Croſs of Calvary. They worked into the romance all kinds of material gathered from floating folk-tale of heathen anceſtry, and they pieced in with it every ſcrap of alluſion to a tree they could find in Scripture. It is built up of fragments taken from all kinds of old ſtructures, put together with ſome ſkill, and built into a goodly romance; but the tracing of every ſtone to its original quarry has not been done by anyone as yet. The Grail myth has had many ſtudents and interpreters, but not the Croſs myth. That remains to be examined, and it will doubtleſs prove a ſtudy rewarding the labour of inveſtigation.

S. BARING-GOULD.

_The Legendary Hiſtory of the Croſs._

[Sidenote: 1 _A.D. 326._]

[Sidenote: _Rufinus on the Invention._]

[Sidenote: 2 _Hadrian is ſaid to have done this._]

THE Croſs on which our Lord and Saviour ſuffered, would, naturally, if properly authenticated, be an object of the deepeſt veneration to all Chriſtian men, be their creed, or ſhade of opinion what it might; but, for over 300 years it could not be found, and it was reſerved for the Empreſs Helena in her old age (for ſhe was 79 years old) to diſcover its place of concealment.[1] That this _Invention_, or finding of the Croſs was believed in, at the time, there can be no manner of doubt, for it is alluded to by St. Cyril, Patriarch of Jeruſalem (A.D. 350 to 386), and by St. Ambroſe. Rufinus of Aquila, a friend of St. Jerome, in his _Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory_, gives an account of its finding, in the following words: “About the ſame time, Helena, the mother of Conſtantine, a woman of incomparable faith, whoſe ſincere piety was equalled by her rare munificence, warned by celeſtial viſions, went to Jeruſalem, and inquired of the inhabitants where was the place where the Divine Body had been affixed and hung on a gibbet. This place was difficult to find, for the perſecutors of old had raiſed a ſtatue to Venus,[2] in order that the Chriſtians who might wiſh to adore Chriſt in that place, ſhould appear to addreſs their homage to the goddeſs; and thus it was little frequented, and almoſt forgotten. After clearing away the profane objects which defiled it, and the rubbiſh that was there heaped up, ſhe found three croſſes placed in confuſion. But the joy which this diſcovery cauſed her was tempered by the impoſſibility of diſtinguiſhing to whom each of them had belonged. There, alſo, was found the title written by Pilate in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew characters; but ſtill there was nothing to indicate ſufficiently clearly the Croſs of our Lord. This uncertainty of man was ſettled by the teſtimoTny of heaven.” And then follows the ſtory of the dead woman being raiſed to life.

[Sidenote: _Other Authorities._]

Not only did Rufinus write thus, but Socrates, Theodoret, and Sozomen, all of whom lived within a century after the _Invention_, tell the ſame ſtory, ſo that it muſt have been of current belief.

[Sidenote: _Puniſhment of the Croſs._]

The puniſhment of the Croſs was a very ordinary one, and of far wider extent than many are aware. It was common among the Scythians, the Greeks, the Carthaginians, the Germans, and the Romans, who, however, principally applied it to their ſlaves, and rarely crucified free men, unleſs they were robbers or aſſasſins.

Alexander the Great, after taking the city of Tyre, cauſed two thouſand inhabitants to be crucified.

[Sidenote: _Puniſhment of the Croſs._]

Flavius Joſephus relates, in his _Antiquities of the Jews_, that Alexander, the King of the Jews, on the capture of the town of Betoma, ordered eight hundred of the inhabitants to ſuffer the death of the Croſs, and their wives and children to be maſſacred before their eyes, whilſt they were ſtill alive.

Auguſtus, after the Sicilian War, crucified ſix thouſand ſlaves who had not been claimed by their maſters.

Tiberius crucified the prieſts of Isis, and deſtroyed their temple.

Titus, during the ſiege of Jeruſalem, crucified all thoſe unfortunates who, to the number of five or ſix hundred daily, fled from the city to eſcape the famine; and ſo numerous were theſe executions, that croſſes were wanting, and the land all about ſeemed like a hideous foreſt.

[Sidenote: _The different ſorts of Croſſes._]

Theſe inſtances are ſufficient to ſhow that death by crucifixion was a common puniſhment; but, ſingularly enough, the ſhape of the Croſs has never been ſatiſfactorily ſettled; practically, the queſtion lies between the _Crux capitata_, or _immiſſa_, which is the ordinary form of the Latin Croſs, and the _Crux anſata_, or _commiſſa_, frequently called the _Tau_ Croſs, from the Greek letter T. The _Tau_-shaped Croſs is, undoubtedly, to be met with moſt frequently in the older repreſentations; and the more ancient authorities, ſuch as Tertullian, St. Jerome, St. Paulinus, Sozomen, and Rufinus, are of opinion that this was the ſhape of the Croſs. After the fifteenth century, our Lord is rarely depicted on the _Crux commiſſa_, it being reſerved for the two thieves.

[Sidenote: _Antiquity of the Tau Croſs._]

M. Adolphe Napoleon Didron, in his _Iconographie Chretienne_, gives a few illuſtrations of the antiquity of the _Tau_ Croſs: “The Croſs is our crucified Lord in perſon; ‘Where the Croſs is, there is the martyr,’ ſays St. Paulinus. Conſequently it works miracles, as does Jeſus Himſelf: and the liſt of wonders operated by its power is in truth immenſe. By the ſimple ſign of the Croſs traced upon the forehead or the breaſt, men have been delivered from the moſt imminent danger. It has conſtantly put demons to flight, protected the virginity of women, and the faith of believers; it has reſtored men to life, or health, inſpired them with hope or reſignation.

“Such is the virtue of the Croſs, that a mere alluſion to that ſacred ſign, made even in the Old Teſtament, and long before the exiſtence of the Croſs, ſaved the youthful Isaac from death, redeemed from deſtruction an entire people whoſe houſes were marked by that ſymbol, healed the envenomed bites of thoſe who looked at the ſerpent raiſed in the form of a _Tau_ upon a pole. It called back the ſoul into the dead body of the ſon of that poor widow who had given bread to the prophet.

[Sidenote: _The Tau Croſs._]

“A beautiful painted window, belonging to the thirteenth century, in the Cathedral of Bourges, has a repreſentation of Isaac bearing on his ſhoulders the wood that was to be uſed in his ſacrifice, arranged in the form of a Croſs; the Hebrews, too, marked the lintel of their dwellings with the blood of the Paſchal lamb, in the form of a _Tau_ or Croſs without a ſummit. The widow of Sarepta picked up and held croſſwiſe two pieces of wood, with which ſhe intended to bake her bread. Theſe figures, to which others alſo may be added, ſerve to exalt the triumph of the Croſs, and ſeem to flow from a grand central picture which forms their ſource, and exhibits Jeſus expiring on the Croſs. It is from that real Croſs indeed, bearing the Saviour, that theſe ſubjects from the Old Teſtament derive all their virtue.”

[Sidenote: _Wood of the Croſs._]

[Sidenote: _Croſs made of pine._]

The wood of which it was made is as unſettled as its ſhape. The Venerable Bede ſays that our Lord’s Croſs was made of four kinds of wood: the inſcription of box, the upright beam of cypreſs, the tranſverſe of cedar, and the lower part of pine. John Cantacuméne avers that only three woods were employed: the upright, cedar; the tranſverſe, pine; and the head in cypreſs. Others ſay that the upright was cypreſs, the tranſverſe in palm, and the head in olive; or cedar, cypreſs, and olive. Moſt authorities ſeem to concur that it was made of ſeveral woods, but there is a legend that it was made from the aſpen tree, whoſe leaves ſtill tremble at the awful uſe the tree was put to; whilſt that veritable traveller, Sir John Maundeville, ſays: “And alſo in Iheruſalem toward the Weaſt is a fayre church where the tree grew of the which the Croſſe was made.” Lipſius ſays that it was made of but one wood, and that was oak; but M. Rohault de Fleury (to whoſe wonderful and comprehenſive work, _Mémoire ſur les Inſtruments de la Paſſion de notre Sauveur Jeſus Chriſt_, I am deeply indebted, ſays, “M. Decaiſne, member of the Inſtitut, and M. Pietro Savi, profeſſor at the Univerſity of Piſa, have ſhewn me by the microſcope that the pieces in the Church of the Holy Croſs of Jeruſalem at Rome, in the Cathedral at Piſa, in the Duomo at Florence, and in Notre Dame at Paris, were of _pine_.” And he adds, in a footnote, “Independently of the experiments which M. Savi kindly made in my preſence, he wrote me the reſults of other obſervations, which tended to confirm.”

Starting with the Invention of the Holy Croſs, the loving, but fervid, imaginations of the faithful ſoon wove round it a covering of imagery, as we have juſt ſeen in the caſe of the ſeveral woods of the Croſs, and the ſacred tree became the ſubject of a legend (for ſo it always was only meant to be), which was incorporated in the _Legenda Aurea Sanctorum_, or _Golden Legend of the Saints_, of Jacobus de Voragine, a collection of legends connected with the ſervices of the Church. This book was exceedingly popular, and, when Caxton ſet up his printing-preſs at Weſtminſter, he produced a tranſlation, the hiſtory of which he quaintly tells us in a preface.[A]

[Sidenote: _Caxton’s Golden Legend_]

As this Golden Legend is the ſtandard authority on the ſubject, and as it will much aſſiſt the intelligent appreciation of the wood-blocks, I reproduce it, premiſing that I have uſed throughout the firſt edition, 20 Nov., 1483:—

[Sidenote: 3 _Page 39._]

[Sidenote: 4 _Laughed or ſmiled._]

[Sidenote: 5 _Obtained true mercy._]

[3] But alle the dayes of adam lyvynge here in erthe amounte to the ſomme of +ixCxxx+[B] yere / And in thende of his lyf whan he ſhold dye / it is ſaid but of none auctoryte / that he ſente Seth his ſone in to paradys for to fetch the oyle of mercy / where he receyuyde certayn graynes of the fruyt of the tree of mercy by an angel / And whan he come agayn / he fonde his fader adam yet alyve and told hym what he had don. And thenne Adam lawhed[4] firſt / and then deyed / and thenne he leyed the greynes or kernellis under his faders tonge and buryed hym / in the vale of ebron / and out of his mouth grewe thre trees of the thre graynes / of which the croſſe that our lord ſuffred his paſſion on / was made by vertue of which he gate[5] very mercy and was brought out of darknes in to veray light of heven / to the whiche he brynge us that lyveth and regneth god world with oute ende.

[Sidenote: 6 _Page 167._]

[Sidenote: 7 _Of old._]

THE[6] Invencion[C] of the holy croſſe is ſaid bycauſe that this day the holy croſſe was founden / for to fore[7] it was founden of ſeth in paradyſe tereſtre / lyke as hit ſhal be ſayd here after / and alſo it was founden of ſalamon in the mounte of lybane and of the quene of ſaba / in the temple of ſalamon / And of the Iewes in the water of pyſcyne[D] / And on thys day it was founden of Helayne in the mounte of Calvarye/.

Of the Holy Croſſe.

[Sidenote: 8 _Cured: French, guerir, to heal._]

[Sidenote: 9 _Whole._]

[Sidenote: 10 _Did ſo—cauſed to be: words of frequent occurrence._]

[Sidenote: 11 _Kingdom: French, royaume._]

[Sidenote: 12 _Ceaſe._]

[Sidenote: 13 _Dug, p. part. of delve._]

[Sidenote: 14 _Pond._]

[Sidenote: 15 _The Lăbărum, or Sacred Banner of Conſtantine._]

[Sidenote: 16 _Cauſed to be called together._]

[Sidenote: 17 _Know._]

[Sidenote: 18 _Grandfather._]

The holy croſſe was founden two hondred yere after the reſurrexyon of our lord / It is redde in the goſpel of nychodemus[E] / that whan adam wexyd ſeck / Seth hys ſone wente to the gate of paradyſe tereſtre, for to gete the oyle of mercy for to enoynte wythal hys faders body / Thenne apperyd to hym ſaynt mychel thaungel and ſayd to hym / travayle not the in vayne / for thys oyle / for thou mayſt not have it till fyve thouſand and fyve hondred yere been paſſed / how be it that fro Adam unto the paſſyon of our lord were but fyve +MC+ and +xxxiii+ yere / In another place it is redde that the aungel broughte hym a braunche / and commaunded hym to plante it in the mounte of lybanye Yet fynde we in another place / that he gafe to hym of the tree that Adam ete of / And ſayd to hym that whan that bare fruyte he ſhould be guariſſhed[8] and alle hoole[9] /. whan ſeth came ageyn he founde his fader deed / and planted this tree upon his grave / And it endured there un to the tyme of Salomon / and bycauſe he ſawe that it was fayre, he dyd[10] doo hewe it doun / and ſette it in his hows named ſaltus / and whan the quene of ſaba came to vyſyte Salamon / She worſhypped this tre bycauſe ſhe ſayd the ſavyour of alle the world ſhold be hanged there on / by whome the royame[11] of the Iewes that be defaced and ſeace.[12] Salomon for this cauſe made hit to be taken up / & dolven[13] depe in the grounde. Now it happed after that they of Ieruſalem (dyd do make a grete pytte for a pyſcyne[14] / where at the mynyſters of the temple ſholde weſſhe theyre beſtys / that they ſhold ſacrefyſe / and there founde thys tre / and thys pyſcyne had ſuche vertue, that the aungels deſcended and mevyd the water / and the firſt ſeke man that deſcendyd in to the water after the mevyng / was made hole of what ſomever ſekeneſſe he was ſeek of. And whan the tyme approched of the paſſyon of our lord / thys tree aroos out of the water and floted above the water / And of this pyece of tymbre made the Iewes the croſſe of our lord / Thenne after this hyſtorye / the croſſe by which we been ſaved / came of the tree by whiche we were dampned. And the water of that pyſcyne had not his vertue onely of the aungel / but of the tre/. With this tre wherof the croſſe was maad / there was a tree that went over thwarte / on whiche the armes of our lord were nayled/. And another pyece above which was the table / wherin the tytle was wryten / and another pyece wherein the ſokette or mortys was maad that the body of the croſſe ſtood in ſoo that there were foure manere of trees / That is of palme of cypres / of cedre and of olyve. So eche of thyſe foure pyeces was of one of thoſe trees/. This bleſſed croſſe was put in the erthe and hyd by the ſpace of on hondred yere and more / But the moder of themperour which was named helayne[F] which founde it in thys manere / For Conſtantyn came wyth a grete multytude of barbaryns nygh unto the ryver of the dunoe / whyche wold have goon over for to have deſtroyed alle the contree / And whan conſtantyn had aſſembled his hooſt / He went and ſette them ageynſt that other partye / But as ſone as he began to paſſe the ryver / he was moche aferde / by cauſe he ſhold on the morne have batayle / and in the nyght as he ſlepte in his bedde / an aungel awoke hym / and ſhewed to hym the ſygne of the croſſe in heven / and ſayd to hym / Beholde on hye on heven/. Thanne ſawe he the croſſe made of ryght clere lyght / & was wryten there upon wyth lettres of golde / In this ſygne thou ſhalte over come the batayle/ Thenne was he alle comforted of thys vyſion / And on the morne / he put in his banere the Croſſe[15] / and made it to be borne tofore hym and his hooſt / And after ſmote in the hooſt of his enemyes / and ſlewe and chaced grete plente / After thys he dyd doo[16] calle the byſſhoppes of the ydolles / and demaunded them to what god the ſygne of the croſſe apperteyned. And whan they coude not anſwere / ſome criſten men that were there tolde to hym the myſterye of the croſſe / and enformed hym in the faythe of the trynyte / Thenne anone he bylevyd parfytly (in) god / and dyd do baptyſe hym / and after, it happed that conſtantyn his ſone remembred the vyctorye of his fader / Sente to helayn his modre for to fynde the holy croſſe / Thenne helayne wente in to Iheruſalem / and dyd doo aſſemble all the wyſe men of the contre / and whan they were aſſembled / they wold fayn knowe wherfore they were called / Thenne one Iudas ſayd to them / I wote[17] wel that ſhe wyl knowe of us where the croſſe of Iheſu criſte was leyed / but beware you al that none of you tell hyr / for I wote wel then ſhall our lawe be deſtroyed / For zacheus my olde[18] fader ſayde to ſymon my fader / And my fader ſayde to me at his dethe / be wel ware / that for no tormente that ye may ſuffre / telle not where the croſſe of Iheſu criſte was leyde / for after that hit ſhal be founden / the Iewes ſhal reygne no mour / But the criſten men that worſhypped the croſſe ſhal then reygne / And verayly this Iheſus was the ſone of god.

Then demaunded I my fader / wherfore had they hanged hym on the croſſe ſythe it was knowen that he was the ſone of god / thenne he ſayd to me fayre ſone I never accorded thereto / But gayn ſaid it alwaye / But the Phariſees dyd it bycauſe he repreyvd theyr vyces / but he aroos on the thyrd day / and his dyſciples ſeeing / he aſcended in to heven / Thenne by cauſe that Stephen thy broder belevyd in him / the Iewes ſtoned hym to dethe.

[Sidenote: 19 _Inform._]

[Sidenote: 20 _Burn._]

Then when Iudas had ſayd theyſe wordes to his ſelawes / they anſwerd we never herde of ſuche thynges / never the leſſe kepe the wel if the quene demaunde the therof / that thou ſay no thynge to hyr / Whan the quene had called them / and demaunded them the place where our lord Iheſu criſte had been crucefyed/ they wold never tell her nor enſygne[19] her /. Then commaunded ſhe to brenne[20] them alle/. But then they doubted and were aferde / & delyvered Iudas to hyr and ſayd / lady thys man is the ſone of a prophete and of a juſte man / and knoweth right wel the lawe / & can telle to you al thynge that ye ſhal demaunde hym/.

[Sidenote: 21 _More ado._]

Thenne the quene lete al the other goo, and reteyned Iudas without moo[21]/. Thenne ſhe ſhewed to hym his life & dethe & bade hym cheſe whyche he wold. Shewe to me ſayd ſhe the place named golgota where our lord was crucefyed / by cauſe and to the end that we may fynde the croſſe/. Thenne ſayd Iudas, it is two hondred yere paſſed & more / & I was not thenne yet borne. Thenne ſayd to hym the lady / by him that was crucyfyed / I ſhal make the periſſe for hungre/ yf thou telle not to me the trouthe.

Thenne made ſhe hym to be caſte into a drye pytte / and there tormented hym by hungre / and evyl reſte / whan he had been ſeuen dayes in that pytte / thenne ſayd he yf I myght be drawen out / he ſhold ſay the trouthe / Thenne he was drawen out / and whan he came to the place / anone the erthe moevyd and a fume of grete ſwettneſſe was felte in ſuche wyſe that Iudas ſmote his hondes togyder for ioye / and ſayd / in trouthe Iheſu criſte thou art the ſavyour of the worlde.

[Sidenote: 22 _Twenty Paces._]

It was ſo that adryan the Emperour had doo make in the ſame place where the croſſe laye a temple of a goddeſſe by cauſe that all they that come in that place ſhold adoure that goddeſſe/. But the quene did doo deſtroy the temple / Thenne Iudas made hym redy and began to dygge / and whan he came to +xx+ paas[22] depe / he fonde three croſſes and broughte them to the quene / And bycauſe he knewe not whiche was the croſſe of our lord / he leyed them in the myddel of the cyte / and abode the demonſtraunce of god / and aboute the houre of none / there was the corps of a yonge man brought to be buryed / Iudas reteyned the byere / and layed upon hit one of the croſſes / and after the ſecond / and whan he leyed on hit the third / anone the body that was dede came ageyn to lyf/.

[Sidenote: 23 _Everlaſting._]

Thenne cryed the devyll in the eyre Iudas what haſt thou doon / thou haſt doon the contrarye that thother Iudas dyd/. For by hym I have wonne many ſowles / and by the I ſhal loſe many / by hym I reygned on the peple / And by the I have loſt my royame / never the leſſe I ſhal yelde to the this bountee/. For I ſhal ſend one that ſhal punyſſhe the / and that was accomplyſſhed by Iulian the apoſtata / which tormented hym afterward whan he was byſſhop of Iheruſalem / and whan Iudas herde hym he curſed the devyl and ſayd to hym / Iheſu cryſte dampne the in fyre pardurable[23]/. After this Iudas was baptyzed and was named quyryache[G]/. And after was made byſſhop of Iheruſalem/. Whan helayn had the croſſe of Iheſu criſte / and ſaw ſhe had not the nayles / Thenne he dyd dygge in therthe ſo longe / that he founde them ſhynyng as golde/. thenne bare he them to the quene / and anone as ſhe ſawe them ſhe worſhypped them wyth grete reverence/.

Thenne gafe ſaynt helayn a part of the croſſe to hir ſone / And that other parte ſhe lefte in Iheruſalem cloſyd in golde / ſylver and precious ſtones/.

[Sidenote: 24 _Euſebius, Biſhop of Ceſaræa._]

[Sidenote: 25 _Killed._]

And hyr ſone bare the nayles to themperour / And the emperour dyd do ſette them in hys brydel and in hys helme whan he wente to batayle/. This referreth Euſebe whiche was byſſhop of Cezayr[24]/ how be it that other ſay otherwyſe/. Now it happed that Iulyan the appoſtate dyd doo[25] ſlee quyriache that was byſſhop of Iheruſalem / by cauſe he had founde the croſſe / for he hated hit ſoo mooche / that where ſomever he founde the croſſe / he dyd hit to be deſtroyed / For whan he wente in batayle ageynſte them of perſe / he ſente and commaunded quyriache to make ſacrefyſe to thydolles / and whan he wold not doo hit / he dyd do ſmyte of his right honde / and ſayd wyth this honde haſt thou wryten many letters / by whyche thou repellyd moche folke fro doynge ſacrefyſe to our goddes/.

[Sidenote: 26 _Mad dog._]

[Sidenote: 27 _Since._]

[Sidenote: 28 _Turn this evil_]

Quyriache ſayd thou wood hounde[26] thou hiſt doon to me grete prouffyte / For thou haſt cut of the hande / wyth whiche I have many tymes wreton to the ſynagoges that they ſhold not byleve in Iheſu criſte / and now ſythe[27] I am criſten / thou haſt taken from me that whiche noyed me / thenne dyd Iulyan do melte leed, and caſte it in his mowthe / and after dyd doo brynge a bedde of yron / and made quyriache to be layed and ſtratched theron / and after leyed under brennyng cooles / and threwe therein grece and ſalte / for to torment hym the more / and whan quyriache moved not / Iulyan themperour ſaid to hym / outher thou ſhalt ſacrefyſe (to) our goddes / or thou ſhalt ſay at the leſte thou art not criſten/. And whan he ſawe he wolde not do never neyther / he dyd doo make a depe pytte ful of ſerpentes and venemous beſtys / and caſte hym therein / & whan he entred / anone the ſerpentes were al deed/. Thenne Iulyan put hym in a cawdron ful of boylyng oyle / and whan he ſhold entre in to hit / he bleſſyd it & ſayd / Fayre lord torne thys bane[28] to baptyſm of marterdom / Thenne was Iulyan moche angry / and commaunded that he ſhould be ryven thorough his herte with a ſwerde / and in this manere he fynyſſhed his lyff.

The vertue of the croſſe is declared to us by many miracles / For it happed on a tyme that one enchantour had dyſceyved a notarye / and brought hym to a place / where he had aſſembled a grete companye of devylles / and promyſed to hym to have muche rycheſſe / and whan he came there / he ſaw one perſone blacke ſyttynge on a grete chayer / And all aboute hym al ful of horyble people and blacke whiche had ſperes and ſwerdes / Thenne demaunded thys grete devyll of the enchantour / who was that clerke / thenchantour ſayd to hym / Syr he is oures / thenne ſayd the devyl to hym yf thou wylte worſhyp me and be my ſervaunte / and denye Iheſu cryſte / thou ſhalt ſytte on my right ſyde / The clerke anone bleſſyd hym wyth the ſygne of the croſſe / and ſayd that he was the ſervaunte of Iheſu criſte / his ſavyour / And anone as he had made the croſſe / that grete multitude of devylles vanyſſhed aweye. It happed that this notarye after this on a tyme entryd with hys lord in the chyrche of ſaynt ſophye / & knelyd doun on his knees to fore the ymage of the crucyfyxe / the which crucifyxe as it ſemed loked moche openly and ſharpelye on hym/. Thenne his lord made hym to go aparte on another ſyde / and alleweye the crucifixe torned his eyen toward hym/. Thenne he made hym goo on the lefte ſyde / and yet the crucifixe loked on hym / Thenne was the lord moche admerveyled / and charged hym & commaunded hym that he ſhold telle hym wherof he had ſo deſerved that the crucifyxe ſo behelde and loked on hym / Thenne ſayde the notarye that he coude not remembre hym of no good thynge that he had doon / ſaufe that one tyme he wold not renye nor forſake the crucifixe tofore the devyl/.

Thenne late us ſo bleſſe us with the ſygne of the bleſſyd croſſe that we may therby be kepte fro the power of our ghooſtly and dedely enemye the devyl / and by the glorious paſſyon that our ſaveour Iheſu cryſt ſuffred on the croſſe after this lyf we may come to his everlaſtyng blyſſe amen/.

Thus endeth thynvencion of the holy croſſe.

[Sidenote: 29 _The Roman and Engliſh Churches celebrate this Feſtival on February 14._]

[Sidenote: 30 _Carrion._]

[Sidenote: 31 _Vileneſs._]

[Sidenote: 32 _Reſourced or repleniſhed._]

Exaltation of the holy Croſſe[29] is ſayd / bycauſe that on this daye the hooly croſſe & faythe were gretely enhaunced/. And it is to be underſtonden that tofore the paſſion of our lord Iheſu cryſte / the tree of the croſſe was a tree of fylthe / For the croſſes were made of vyle trees, & of trees without fruyte / For al that was planted on the Mount of Calvarye bare no fruyt. It was a fowle place / for hit was the place of torment of thevys / It was derke / for it was in a derke place and without any beaute / It was the tree of deth / for men were put there to dethe / It was alſo the tree of ſtenche / for it was planted amonge the caroynes[30] / & after the paſſyon the Croſſe was moche enhaunced / For the Vylte[31] was tranſported into preciouſyte / Of the whiche the bleſſyd ſaynt Andrewe ſayth / O precious holy Croſſe god ſave the / his bareynes was torned into fruyte / as it is ſayd in the Cantyques / I ſhall aſcende up in to a palme tree / et cetera / His ignobylyte or unworthynes was tourned into ſublymyte and heyght / The Croſſe that was tormente of thevys is now born in the front of themperours / his derkenes is torned into lyght and clereneſſe/ wherof Chryſoſtom ſayth the Croſſe and the Woundes ſhall be more ſhynyng than the rayes of the Sonne at the jugement / his deth is converted into perdurabylyte of lyf / whereof it is ſayd in the preface / that fro hens the lyf reſourded[32] / and the ſtenche is torned into ſwetenes / canticorum /. This exaltacion of the hooly croſſe is ſolempnyſed and halowed ſolempnly of the Chirche / For the faythe is in hit moche enhaunced /.

[Sidenote: 33 _Choſroes II., who reigned in the ſeventh Century._]

For the yere of oure lord five honderd & +xv+ / our lord ſuffred his people moche to be tormentyd by the cruelte of the paynyms / And Coſdroe[33] Kynge of the Perceens ſubdued to his empyre all the Royaumes of the world / And he cam into Iheruſalem and was aferd and a dred of the ſepulcre of our lord & retorned / but he bare with hym the parte of the hooly Croſſe / that ſaynte Helene had left ther. And then he wold be worſhiped of alle the peple / as a god / & dyd do make a tour of gold and of ſylver wherein precious ſtones ſhone / and made therein the ymages of the ſonne and of the mone and of the ſterres / and made that by ſubtyle conduytes water to be hydde / and to come doune in the maner of rayne / And in the laſte ſtage he made horſes to draw charyotes round aboute lyke as they had mevyd the toure / and made it to ſeme as it had thondred / and delyvered his Royaume to his ſone. And thus this curſyd man abode in this Temple / and dyd doo ſette the croſſe of our lord by hym and commaunded that he ſhold be callyd god of alle the peple / And as it is redde in libro de mitrali[H] officio the ſaid Coſdroe reſydent in his trone as a fader / ſette the tree of the Croſſe on his ryght ſyde in ſtede of the ſonne / and a cock in the lyft ſyde in ſtede of the hooly ghooſt / & commaunded / that he ſhold be called fader /. And then Heracle[I] themperour aſſembled a grete hooſt / and cam for to fyght wyth the ſonne of Coſdroe by the ryver of danubie / & thenne hit pleaſyd to eyther prynce / that eche of them ſhold fyght one ageynſte that other upon the brydge / & he that ſhold vaynquyſſhe & overcome his adverſarye ſholde be prynce of thempyre withoute hurtyng eyther of bothe hoſtes / & ſo hit was ordeyned & ſworn / & that who ſomever ſhold helpe his prynce ſhold have forthwith his legges & armes cut of / & to be plonged / & caſt in to the Ryver.

[Sidenote: 34 _Throne, or ſeat; French, ſiège._]

[Sidenote: 35 _Astoniſhed._]

[Sidenote: 36 _Shoen—shoes._]

[Sidenote: 37 _Beſprinkled._]

[Sidenote: 38 _Invited._]

[Sidenote: 39 _Pacified, appeaſed._]

[Sidenote: 40 _Ampullæ, bottles or flaſks._]

[Sidenote: 41 _Conſecrated._]

And then Heracle commaunded hym all to god and to the hooly croſſe wyth all the devocion that he myght. And thenne they fought longe / And at the laſt our lord gaf the vyctory to Heracle and ſubdued hym to his empyre / The hooſt that was contrary / and alle the peple of Coſdroe obeyed them to the Cryſten faythe / and receyved the hooly baptyſme / And Coſdroe knew not the end of the batayll / For he was adoured and worſhiped of alle the peple as a god / ſo that no man durſt ſay nay to him / And thenne Heracle came to hym / and fonde hym ſyttinge in his ſyege[34] of golde / and ſayd to hym / For as moche as after the manere thou haſt honoured the Tree of the Croſſe / yf thou wyld receyve baptym and the faythe of Iheſu Cryſt / I ſhal gete it to the / and yet ſhalt thow holde thy crowne and Royamme with lytel hoſtages / And I ſhall lete the have thy lyf / and yf thou wylt not / I ſhall flee the wyth my ſwerde / and ſhalle ſmyte of thyne heed / and whanne he wold not accorde therto / he did anon do ſmyte of his hede / and commaunded that he ſhold be buryed / by cauſe he had be(en) a Kynge /. And he fonde with hym one his ſone of the age of ten yere / whome he dyd doo baptyſe and lyft hym fro the fonte / and left to hym the Royaume of his fader / and then he dyd doo breke that Toure / And gaf the ſylver to them of his hooſte / and gaf the gold and precious ſtones for to repayre the chirches that the tyraunt had deſtroyed / and tooke the hoole croſſe / and brought it ageyne to Ieruſalem / and as he deſcended from the mount of Olyvete / and wold have entryd by the gate by whiche our ſavyour wente to his paſſyon on horſbacke adourned as a Kynge / ſodenly the ſtones of the gates deſcended / and ioyned them togyder in the gate like a wall & all the peple was abaſhed[35] / and thenne the Aungel of oure lord appyeryd upon the gate holdyng the ſigne of the ſigne (_sic_) of the Croſſe in his honde / and ſayd / Whanne the Kynge of heven went to his paſſion by this gate / he was not arayed like a Kynge / ne on horſbake / but cam humbly upon an aſſe / in ſhewynge thexample of humylite which he left to them that honoure hym. And when this was ſayd / he departed and vanyſſhed aweye / Thenne th’emperour took of his hoſen and ſhone[36] himſelf in wepynge / and deſpollyed hymſelfe of alle his clothes in to his ſherte / and tooke the croſſe of oure lord / and bare it moche humbly into the gate / and anone the hardnes of the ſtones felte the celeſtyalle commaundement / and remeved anone / and opened and gaf entree unto them that entred / Thenne the ſweete odour that was felt that day whanne the hooly Croſſe was taken fro the Toure of Coſdroe / and was brought ageyne to Iheruſalem fro ſo ferre countre / and ſo grete ſpace of londe retourned in to Iheruſalem in that moment / and replenyſſhed it with al ſwetnes / Thenne the ryght devoute Kyng beganne to ſaye the prayſynges of the Croſſe in this wyſe / O Crux ſplendydior / et cetera / O Croſſe more ſhynynge than alle the Sterres / honoured of the world / right holy / and moche amyable to alle men / whiche only were worthy to bere the raunſon of the world Swete tree / Swete nayles / Swete yron / Swete ſpere berynge the ſwete burthens / Save thou this preſent company / that is this daye aſſembled in thy lawe and prayſynges /. And thus was the precious tree of the Croſſe re eſtablyſſhed in his place / and the auncient myracles renewed /. For a dede man was reyſed to lyf / and foure men taken with the palſey were cured and heled / +x+ lepres were made clene / and fyften blynde receyved theyr ſyghte ageyn / Devylles were put out of men / and moche peple / and many / were delyvered of dyverſe ſekenes and maladyes /. Thenne themperour dyd doo repayre the Chirches / and gaf to them grete geftes / And after retorned home to his Empyre / And hit is ſaid in the Cronycles that this was done otherwiſe / For they ſay that whanne Coſdroe hadde taken many Royammes / he took Iheruſalem / and Zacharye the patriarke / and bare aweye the tree of the Croſſe / And as Heracle wold make pees with hym / the Kyng Coſdroe ſwore a grete othe / that he wold never make pees with Cryſten men and Romayns / yf they denyed not hym that was crucyfyed / and adoured the ſonne /. And thenne Heracle / whiche was armed wythe faythe / brought his hooſte ageynſt hym / and deſtroyed and waſted the Perſyens with many batayles that he made to them / and made Coſdroe to flee unto the Cyte of thelyfonte /. And atte the laſte Coſdroe hadde the flyxe in his bely / And wolde therefore crowne his ſone Kynge / which was named Mendaſa /. And whenne Syroys his oldeſt ſone herde thereof he made alyance with Heracle / And purſewed his fader with his noble peple / and ſet hym in bondes / And ſuſteyned him with breede of trybulacion / and with water of anguyſſhe / And atte laſt he made to ſhote arowes at him bycauſe he wold not bileve in god & ſo deyde / & after this thynge he ſente to Heracle the patriarke the tree of the Croſſe and all the pryſoners / And Heracle bare into Iheruſalem the precious tree of the Croſſe /. And thus it is redde in many Cronycles alſo/. Sybyle ſayth thus of the tre of the Croſſe / that the bleſſyd tree of the Croſſe was thre tymes with the paynyms / as it is ſayd in thyſtorie trypertyte O thryſe bleſſyd tree on whiche god was ſtratched / This peradventure is ſayd for the lyf of Nature / of grace / and of glorye / which cam of the croſſe /. At Conſtantynople a Iewe entyred in to the chirche of ſeynt ſophye / and conſydered that he was there allone / and ſawe an ymage of Iheſu cryſte / and tooke his ſwerde and ſmote thymage in the throte / and anone the bloode guyſſhed oute / and ſprange in the face and on the hide of the Iewe / And he thenne was aferd and took thymage / and caſt it into a pytte / and anone fledde awey /. And it happed that a Cryſten man mett hym / and ſawe hym al blody / and ſayd to hym / fro whens comeſt thou / thou haſt ſlayne ſoume man / And he ſayd I have not / the cryſten man ſayd Veryly thou has commyſed ſomme homycyde / for thou art all beſprongen[37] with the blood. And the Jewe ſaid / Veryly the god of Cryſten men is grete and the faythe of hym is ferme and approved in all thynges / I have ſmyten no man / but I have ſmyten thymage of Iheſu Cryſte / and anone yſſued blood of his throte /. And thenne the Jewe brought the Cryſten man to the pytte / and then they drewe oute that hooly ymage /. And yet is ſene on this daye the wounde in the throte of thymage / And the Iewe anone bycam a good Cryſten man, & was baptyſed / In Syre in the cyte of baruth there was a criſten man / which had hyred an hous for a yere / & he had ſet thymage of the crucifixe by his bedde to whiche he made dayly his prayers and ſaid his devocions / & at the yeres ende he remeved and tooke another hous / & forgate & lefte thymage behynde hym / and it happed that a Iewe hyred that ſame hows / & on a daye he had another Iewe one of his neyghbours to dyne / & as they were at mete it happed hym that was boden[38] in lookyng on the walle to eſpye this ymage whiche was fyxed to the walle and beganne to grenne at it for deſpyte / and ageynſt hym that bad hym / & alſo thretned & menaced hym bycauſe he durſt kepe in his hous thymage of Iheſu of nazareth / & that other Iewe ſware as moche as he myght / that he had never ſene it / ne knewe not that it was there / & thenne the Iewe fayned as he had been peaſyd[39]. / & after went ſtrayt to the prynce of the Iewes / & accuſed that Iewe of that whiche he hadde ſene in his hous / thenne the Iewes aſſembleden & cam to the hous of hym / & ſawe thymage of Iheſu Cryſt / and they took that Iewe and bete hym / & did to hym many iniuryes / & caſte hym out half dede of their ſynagoge / & anone they defowled thymage with their feet / & renewed in it all the tormentes of the paſſion of oure lorde / & and when they perced his ſyde with the ſpere / blood and water yſſued haboundauntly / in ſo moche that they fylled a veſſel / whiche they ſet therunder / And thenne the Iewes were abaſſhhed & bare this blood in to theyr ſynagoge & and alle the ſeke men and malades that were enoynted therwyth / were anone guaryſſhed & made hool / & thenne the Iewes told & recounted al this thynge by ordre to the biſhop of the countre / & alle they with one wyll receyved baptyſm in the faythe of Iheſu Cryſt / & the biſſhop putt the blood in ampulles[40] of Cryſtalle & of glas for to be kepte / & thenne he called / the Cryſten man that had lefte it in the hows / & enquyred of hym / who had made ſo fayr an ymage / & he ſaid that Nychodemus had made it / And when he deyde / he lefte it to gamalyel / And Gamalyel to Zachee and Zachee to Iaques / and Iaques to Symon / and hadde ben thus in Ieruſalem unto the deſtruction of the Cyte / and fro thennes hit was borne in to the Royamme of Agryppe of Cryſten men / and fro thennes hit was brought ageyne into my countreye / & it was left to me by my parentes by rightful herytage / & this was done in y^e yere of our lord ſeven honderd and fifty / and thenne alle the Iewes halowed[41] their ſynagogues in to chirches and therof cometh the cuſtoume that Chirches ben hallowed / For tofore that tyme the aultres were but halowed only / and for this myracle the chirche hath ordeyned / that the fyfte Kalendar of december / or as it is redde in another place / the fyfthe ydus of Novembre ſhold be the memorye of the paſſyon of oure lord / wherfor at Rome the chirche is halowed in thonoure of our ſavyour whereas is kepte an ampulla with the ſame blood / And there a ſolempne feſte is kepte and done / and there is proved the ryght grete vertue of the croſſe unto the paynyms and to the myſbylevyd men in alle thynges /.

[Sidenote: 42 _Fiend._]

[Sidenote: 43 _Power._]

[Sidenote: 44 _Each or every one._]

[Sidenote: 45 _Attendants._]

[Sidenote: 46 _Drew._]

[Sidenote: 47 _Jeſt._]

[Sidenote: 48 _Kiſs._]

[Sidenote: 49 _In this wiſe._]