"Dame, let be these words; rather let us dedicate ourselves to our
Lord, who hath wrought such marvels in our house."
So from that day, even unto their deaths, they lived together in
perfect chastity; and for the space of ten days the people of that city
held high festival. But on that very day that Amis was made clean, the
devil seized upon his wife, and breaking her neck, carried off her
soul.
After these things Amis rode to the castle of Bericain, and laid siege
thereto, and sat before it for so long a time that those within the
castle yielded themselves into his hand. He received them graciously,
forgetting his anger against them, and forgiving them the wrongs that
they had done, so that from thenceforth he dwelt peaceably amongst
them, and with him, in his own house, lived the elder son of Count
Amile. There he served our Lord with all his heart.
Now Adrian, being at this time Pope of Rome, sent letters to Charles,
King of France, praying him to come to his aid against Didier, King of
the Lombards, who wrought much mischief to him and the Church. Now
Charles lay in the town of Thionville, and to that place came Peter,
the envoy of the Apostle, with messages from the Pope praying him to
hasten to the succour of Holy Church. For this cause Charles sent
letters to the said Didier requiring him to render to the Holy Father
the cities and all other things which he had wrongfully seized, and
promising that if he would do this thing the said Charles would send
him in return the sum of forty thousand pieces of gold, in gold and
silver. But he would not do right, neither for prayers nor for gifts.
Then the stout King Charles summoned to his aid all his men--bishops,
abbots, dukes, princes, marquises, and other stout knights. Divers of
these he sent to Cluses to guard the pass, and of this number was
Albin, Bishop of Angers, a man of great holiness.
King Charles himself, with a large company of spears, drew towards
Cluses by the way of Mont Cenis, and he sent Bernard, his uncle, with
other knights, thither by way of Mont Saint-Bernard. The vanguard of
the host said that Didier, with all his strength, lay at Cluses, which
town he had made strong with iron chains and works of stone. Whilst
Charles approached to Cluses he sent messengers to Didier, requiring
him to render to the Holy Father the cities which he had taken, but he
would not heed his prayer. Again Charles sent him other letters
demanding three children of the Justices of Lombardy as hostages, until
such time as he had yielded up the cities of the Church; in which case
for his part he would return to France with all his spears, without
battle and without malice. But neither for this nor for that would he
stint.
When God the All-powerful had beheld the hard heart and the malice of
this Didier, and found that the French desired greatly to return, He
put so fearful a trembling in the hearts of the Lombards that they took
to flight, though there was none that pursued, leaving behind them
their tents and all their harness. So Charles and his host followed
after them, and Frenchman, German, Englishman and divers other people
entered hot after them into Lombardy.
Amis and Amile were of the host, and very near to the person of the
King. Always they strove to follow our Lord in good works, and were
constant in fast, in vigil, in giving of alms, in succouring the widow
and the orphan, in assuaging often the wrath of the King, in patient
suffering of evil men, and in piteous dealings within the Roman realm.
But though Charles had a great army drawn together in Lombardy, King
Didier feared not to come before him with his little host--for there
where Didier had a priest, Charles had a bishop; where one had a monk,
the other had an abbot; if this had a knight, that had a prince; if
Didier had a man-at-arms, then Charles had a duke or a count. What
shall I tell you; for a single knight on the one side Charles could
number thirty pennons. And the two hosts fell each upon the other with
a tumult of battle cries, and with banners in array; and the stones and
arrows flew from here and there, and knights were smitten down on every
side.
For the space of three days the Lombards strove so valiantly that they
slew a very great company of Charles's men. But on the third day
Charles set in order the hardiest and bravest of his host and said to
them--
"Go now, and win this battle, or return no more."
So King Didier together with the host of the Lombards fled to the place
called Mortara, which was then known as Belle-Foret, because the
country was so fair, there to refresh themselves and their horses. On
the morning of the next day King Charles with his army drew near the
town, and found the Lombards arrayed for the battle. So fierce was the
combat that a great multitude of men were slain, both of one party and
the other, and for reason of this slaying was the place named Mortara.
There, too, on that field died Amis and Amile, for as it had pleased
God to make their lives lovely and pleasant together, so in their
deaths they were not divided. There also many another hardy knight was
slain with the sword. But Didier, together with his Justiciary, and all
the multitude of the Lombards, fled to Pavia; and King Charles followed
closely after him and lay before the city, and invested it on every
side; and lying there he sent to France to seek the Queen and his
children. But St. Albin, the Bishop of Angers, and many another bishop
and abbot counselled the King and Queen that they should bury those who
fell in that battle, and build in that place a church. This counsel
greatly pleased the King, so that on the field were built two churches,
one by bidding of Charles in honour of St. Eusebius of Verceil, and the
other by bidding of the Queen in honour of St. Peter.
Moreover the King caused to be brought the two coffins of stone wherein
were buried Amis and Amile, and Amile was carried to the church of St.
Peter, and Amis to the church of St. Eusebius. But on the morrow the
body of Amile in his coffin of stone was found in the church of St.
Eusebius near by the coffin of his comrade, Amis. So have you heard the
story of this marvellous fellowship which could not be dissevered, even
by death. This miracle did God for His servants--that God Who gave such
power to His disciples that in His strength they might move even
mountains. Because of this wonder the King and Queen tarried there for
thirty days, giving fit burial to the bodies of the slain, and
honouring those ministers with many rich gifts.
But all this while the host of Charles toiled mightily for the taking
of the city before which it lay. Our Lord also tormented those within
the walls so grievously that they might not bear their harness by
reason of weakness and of death. At the end of ten months Charles took
Didier the King, and all those who were with him, and possessed himself
of the city and of all that realm. So Didier the King and his wife were
led as captives into France.
But St. Albin, who in his day gave life to the dead and light to the
blind, ordained clerks, and priests and deacons in the aforesaid church
of St. Eusebius, and bade them always to hold in tireless keeping the
bodies of those two comrades, Amis and Amile, who suffered death under
Didier, King of Lombardy, the 12th day of October, and are now with our
Lord Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy
Ghost, world without end. Amen.