When relics of saints were first introduced, the relique-mania was
universal; they bought and they sold, and, like other collectors, made
no scruple to _steal_ them. It is entertaining to observe the singular
ardour and grasping avidity of some, to enrich themselves with these
religious morsels; their little discernment, the curious impositions of
the vendor, and the good faith and sincerity of the purchaser. The
prelate of the place sometimes ordained a fast to implore God that they
might not be cheated with the relics of saints, which he sometimes
purchased for the holy benefit of the village or town.
Guibert de Nogent wrote a treatise on the relics of saints;
acknowledging that there were many false ones, as well as false legends,
he reprobates the inventors of these lying miracles. He wrote his
treatise on the occasion of _a tooth_ of our Lord's, by which the monks
of St. Medard de Soissons pretended to operate miracles. He asserts that
this pretension is as chimerical as that of several persons, who
believed they possessed the navel, and other parts less decent, of--the
body of Christ!
A monk of Bergsvinck has given a history of the translation of St.
Lewin, a virgin and a martyr: her relics were brought from England to
Bergs. He collected with religious care the facts from his brethren,
especially from the conductor of these relics from England. After the
history of the translation, and a panegyric of the saint, he relates the
miracles performed in Flanders since the arrival of her relics. The
prevailing passion of the times to possess fragments of saints is well
marked, when the author particularises with a certain complacency all
the knavish modes they used to carry off those in question. None then
objected to this sort of robbery; because the gratification of the
reigning passion had made it worth while to supply the demand.
A monk of Cluny has given a history of the translation of the body of
St. Indalece, one of the earliest Spanish bishops, written by order of
the abbot of St. Juan de la Penna. He protests he advances nothing but
facts: having himself seen, or learnt from other witnesses, all he
relates. It was not difficult for him to be well informed, since it was
to the monastery of St. Juan de la Penna that the holy relics were
transported, and those who brought them were two monks of that house. He
has authenticated his minute detail of circumstances by giving the names
of persons and places. His account was written for the great festival
immediately instituted in honour of this translation. He informs us of
the miraculous manner by which they were so fortunate as to discover the
body of this bishop, and the different plans they concerted to carry it
off. He gives the itinerary of the two monks who accompanied the holy
remains. They were not a little cheered in their long journey by visions
and miracles.
Another has written a history of what he calls the translation of the
relics of St. Majean to the monastery of Villemagne. _Translation_ is,
in fact, only a softened expression for the robbery of the relics of the
saint committed by two monks, who carried them off secretly to enrich
their monastery; and they did not hesitate at any artifice or lie to
complete their design. They thought everything was permitted to acquire
these fragments of mortality, which had now become a branch of commerce.
They even regarded their possessors with an hostile eye. Such was the
religious opinion from the ninth to the twelfth century. Our Canute
commissioned his agent at Rome to purchase _St. Augustin's arm_ for one
hundred talents of silver and one of gold; a much greater sum, observes
Granger, than the finest statue of antiquity would have then sold for.
Another monk describes a strange act of devotion, attested by several
contemporary writers. When the saints did not readily comply with the
prayers of their votaries, they flogged their relics with rods, in a
spirit of impatience which they conceived was necessary to make them
bend into compliance.
Theofroy, abbot of Epternac, to raise our admiration, relates the daily
miracles performed by the relics of saints, their ashes, their clothes,
or other mortal spoils, and even by the instruments of their martyrdom.
He inveighs against that luxury of ornaments which was indulged under
religious pretext: "It is not to be supposed that the saints are
desirous of such a profusion of gold and silver. They care not that we
should raise to them such magnificent churches, to exhibit that
ingenious order of pillars which shine with gold, nor those rich
ceilings, nor those altars sparkling with jewels. They desire not the
purple parchment of price for their writings, the liquid gold to
embellish the letters, nor the precious stones to decorate their covers,
while you have such little care for the ministers of the altar." The
pious writer has not forgotten _himself_ in this copartnership with _the
saints_.
The Roman church not being able to deny, says Bayle, that there have
been false relics, which have operated miracles, they reply that the
good intentions of those believers who have recourse to them obtained
from God this reward for their good faith! In the same spirit, when it
was shown that two or three bodies of the same saint was said to exist
in different places, and that therefore they all could not be authentic,
it was answered that they were all genuine; for God had multiplied and
miraculously reproduced them for the comfort of the faithful! A curious
specimen of the intolerance of good sense.
When the Reformation was spread in Lithuania, Prince Radzivil was so
affected by it, that he went in person to pay the pope all possible
honours. His holiness on this occasion presented him with a precious box
of relics. The prince having returned home, some monks entreated
permission to try the effects of these relics on a demoniac, who had
hitherto resisted every kind of exorcism. They were brought into the
church with solemn pomp, and deposited on the altar, accompanied by an
innumerable crowd. After the usual conjurations, which were
unsuccessful, they applied the relics. The demoniac instantly recovered.
The people called out "_a miracle!_" and the prince, lifting his hands
and eyes to heaven, felt his faith confirmed. In this transport of pious
joy, he observed that a young gentleman, who was keeper of this treasure
of relics, smiled, and by his motions ridiculed the miracle. The prince
indignantly took our young keeper of the relics to task; who, on promise
of pardon, gave the following _secret intelligence_ concerning them. In
travelling from Rome he had lost the box of relics; and not daring to
mention it, he had procured a similar one, which he had filled with the
small bones of dogs and cats, and other trifles similar to what were
lost. He hoped he might be forgiven for smiling, when he found that such
a collection of rubbish was idolized with such pomp, and had even the
virtue of expelling demons. It was by the assistance of this box that
the prince discovered the gross impositions of the monks and the
demoniacs, and Radzivil afterwards became a zealous Lutheran.
The elector Frederic, surnamed _the Wise_, was an indefatigable
collector of relics. After his death, one of the monks employed by him
solicited payment for several parcels he had purchased for our _wise_
elector; but the times had changed! He was advised to give over this
business; the relics for which he desired payment they were willing _to
return_; that the price had fallen considerably since the reformation of
Luther; and that they would find a _better market_ in Italy than in
Germany!
Our Henry III., who was deeply tainted with the superstition of the age,
summoned all the great in the kingdom to meet in London. This summons
excited the most general curiosity, and multitudes appeared. The king
then acquainted them that the great master of the Knights Templars had
sent him a phial containing _a small portion of the precious blood of
Christ_ which he had shed upon the _cross_; and _attested to be genuine_
by the seals of the patriarch of Jerusalem and others! He commanded a
procession the following day; and the historian adds, that though the
road between St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey was very deep and miry,
the king kept his eyes constantly fixed on the phial. Two monks received
it, and deposited the phial in the abbey, "which made all England shine
with glory, dedicating it to God and St. Edward."
Lord Herbert, in his Life of Henry VIII., notices the _great fall of the
price of relics_ at the dissolution of the monasteries. "The respect
given to relics, and some pretended miracles, fell; insomuch, as I find
by our records, that _a piece of St. Andrew's finger_ (covered only with
an ounce of silver), being laid to pledge by a monastery for forty
pounds, was left unredeemed at the dissolution of the house; the king's
commissioners, who upon surrender of any foundation undertook to pay the
debts, refusing to return the price again." That is, they did not
choose to repay the _forty pounds_, to receive _apiece of the finger of
St. Andrew_.
About this time the property of relics suddenly sunk to a South-sea
bubble; for shortly after the artifice of the Rood of Grace, at Boxley,
in Kent, was fully opened to the eye of the populace; and a far-famed
relic at Hales, in Gloucestershire, of the blood of Christ, was at the
same time exhibited. It was shown in a phial, and it was believed that
none could see it who were in mortal sin; and after many trials usually
repeated to the same person, the deluded pilgrims at length went away
fully satisfied. This relic was the _blood of a duck_, renewed every
week, and put in a phial; one side was _opaque_, and the other
_transparent_; the monk turned either side to the pilgrim, as he thought
proper. The success of the pilgrim depended on the oblations he made;
those who were scanty in their offerings were the longest to get a sight
of the blood: when a man was in despair, he usually became generous!