Part 4

“And fyrſt of all let us begynne to ſpeake of his croſſe, whereupon he was hanged. I know that it is holden for a certaintie that it was founde of Heline the mother of Conſtantine the Romaine Emperour. I knowe alſo what certaine Doctours have written touching the approbation hereof, for to certifie that the croſſe which ſhe found was without doute the ſelfe ſame on the whiche Ieſus Chriſt was hanged. Touchynge all this I reporte me to the thynge it ſelfe, ſo much is there that it was but a foliſh curioſitie of her, or at the leaſt a foliſhe and unconſidered devotion. But yet put the caſe it had ben a worke worthy of prayſe to her, for to have taken paynes to fynde the trewe croſſe, and that our lord had then declared by myracle that it was his croſſe which ſhe found; Yet let us onely conſider that which is of our time. Every one doeth holde that this croſſe which Helene founde is yet at Ieruſalem, and none doeth doute thereof. Although the Eccleſiaſticall hiſtory againſt ſayeth the ſame notablye. For it is ther recited that Helene toke one part thereof to ſend to the Emperour her ſonne, who put the ſame at Conſtantinople upon a fyne pyller of Marble in the myddeſt of the market. Of the other part, it is ſayde that ſhe did locke the ſame in a copher of ſilver, and gave it to the Biſhop of Ieruſalem to kepe. So then eyther we ſhall augment the hiſtorie of a lie or els that which is holden at this daye of the true Croſſe, is but a vayne and triflyng opinion.

[Sidenote: 51 _Blocks—billets_]

“Let us conſider on the other part howe many peeces there are thereof throug out the worlde. Yf I would onely recite that whiche I coulde ſay there woulde be a regiſter ſufficient to fyl a whole boke. There is not ſo little a town where there is not ſome peece thereof, and that not onelye in cathedrall churches, but alſo in ſome pariſhes. Likewiſe ther is not ſo wicked an abbey where there is not of it to be ſhewed. And in ſome places ther are good great ſhydes:[51] as at the holye chappell of Paris, and at Poitiers & at Rome, where there is a great crucifix made thereof as men ſaye. To be ſhort, yf a man woulde gather together all that hath bene founde of this croſſe, there would be inough to fraighte a great ſhip. The Goſpell teſtifieth that the croſſe myght be caried of one man. What audacitie then was this to fyll the earth with pieces of wod in ſuche quantitie, that thre hundred men can not cary them,” &c.

Calvin was full of zeal, and could not ſtoop to particulariſe. Witneſs his aſſertion that the Croſs would freight a ſhip, and yet that three hundred men could carry it. M. Rohault de Fleury has gone very minutely into this matter. Knowing, from microſcopical examination, that ſeveral of the relics of the Croſs were of pine, he accepts this wood as his baſis, and, from its probable ſize, he deduces a weight of 100 kilogrammes, equal to about 240 Engliſh lbs.; and, taking the average denſity of pine, he eſtimates that this would give 178 millions of cubic millimetres. He then deſcribes all the known pieces in Europe, Jeruſalem, and Mount Athos, with their meaſurements, and he puts the outcome at 3,941,975 cubic millimetres; thus, according to his ſhewing, there is but a very ſmall portion of the Holy Croſs in exiſtence. I ſubjoin his liſt of the places in which pieces of the Croſs are known to exiſt, as it is moſt intereſting, ſhowing the comparative bulk of the pieces, in cubic millimetres:—

Aix la Chapelle 150 Amiens 4,500 Angers 2,640 Angleterre 30,516 Arles 8,000 Arras 10,314 Athos (le Mont) 878,360 Autun 50 Avignon 220 Baugé 104,000 Bernay 375 Beſançon 1,000 Bologne 15,000 Bonifacio 47,960 Bordeaux 3,420 Bourbon l’Archambault 29,275 Bourges 22,275 Bruxelles 516,090 Chalmarques “ Châlons 200 Chamirey 605 Chatillon ” Cheffes (Anjou) 100 Chelles “ Compiègne 1,896 Conques 108 Cortone 3,000 Courtrai 200 Dijon 33,091 Donawert 12,000 Faghine ” Florence 37,640 Fumes 5,250 Gand 436,450 Gênes 26,458 Gramont 5,000 Jancourt (Aube) 3,500 Jeruſalem 5,045 Langres 200 Laon “ Libourne 3,000 Lille 15,112 Limbourg 133,768 Longpont 1,136 Lorris ” Lyon 1,696 Mâcon 2,000 Maeſtricht 10,000 Marſeille 150 Milan 1,920 Montepulciano 500 Naples 10,000 Nevers 176 Nuremberg “ Padoue 64 Paris 237,731 Piſa 8,175 Poitiers 870 Pontigny 12,000 Raguſe 169,324 Riel les Eaux 671 Rome 537,587 Royaumont ” Saint Dié 99 Saint Florent 400 Saint Quentin 5,000 Saint Sepolcro 200 Sens 69,545 Sienne 1,680 Tournai 2,000 Trèves 18,000 Troyes 201 Turin 6,500 Venice 445,582 Venloo “ Walcourt 2,000 Wambach ” ———— TOTAL 3,941,975

According to this table we are credited in England with 30,516 cubic millimetres of the holy Croſs, and it is intereſting to know where they are ſituated. M. Rohault de Fleury, writing in 1870, ſays there were pieces at Isleworth; St. Gregory, Downſide, near Bath; in the poſſesſion of Lord Petre; at Bergholt Eaſt, in Suffolk; at Plowden; at the convent of St. Mary, York; at Weſt Grinſtead; at St. George’s, Southwark; and Slindon, Suſſex.

Theſe pieces of the holy Croſs are not large, as the following table, in cubic millimetres, ſhows:—

At Isleworth 1,000 “ College of St. Gregory 6,120 Lord Petre (two relics) 8,287 At St. Mary, Bergholt Eaſt 1,008 ” Plowden Hall, Salop 262 “ St. Mary, York (two relics) 5,600 ” Weſt Grinſtead “ 38 ” St. George’s, Southwark (four relics) 63 “ St. Richard, Slindon 8,100 —————— TOTAL 30,516

One relic at St. Mary’s Convent, York, is very fine; it is ornamented with ſcroll-work of the tenth century, and bears three impreſſions of the ſeal of the Vicar Capitular of the dioceſe of Saint Omer, 1657 to 1662. It is a pectoral croſs that is ſuppoſed to have belonged to the patriarch Arnulph, who was with Robert, Duke of Normandy.

The other is ſuppoſed to have been attached to the above, and to have belonged equally to Arnulph, patriarch of Jeruſalem. This is kept in a ſilver reliquary, which alſo contains relics of SS. Ignatius Loyola and François Xavier.

We ſee by the Golden Legend, that St. Helena, after finding the Croſs, feeling certain that the nails were not far off, proſecuted a further ſearch for them, and they were diſcovered “shynyng as gold.” As with the faſhion of the Croſs, whether it was _immiſſa_ or _commiſſa_, there is, and was, a controverſy with regard to the nails, whether three or four.

Boſius in his learned and exhauſtive book, _Crux Triumphans et Glorioſa_,[L] gives ſeveral authorities for three nails only—foremoſt, Gregory Nazianzen; but he does not give the paſſage where it may be found; the quotation, however, is

Γυμνὸν τρισήλῳ κείμενον ξύλῳ λαϐών,

“having taken from the three-nailed wood the dead (or hanging) body.” Thus clearly ſhowing the number of nails he conſidered right.

Boſius then goes on to quote Apollinaris Laodicenus, who, in his tragedy entitled _Chriſtus patiens_, called the holy Croſs by the ſame words, τσισηλον ξυλω, “three-nailed wood”; and he alſo quotes from the _Meditat. vitæ Chriſti_ of Bonaventura, “_Illi tres clavi ſuſtinent totius corporis pondus_.” Nonnus, the Greek poet, writing in the fifth century, alſo ſays that our Lord’s feet overlapped each other, and were faſtened by only one large nail. So that there is a very fair amount of antiquity in favour of three nails.

Againſt this theory may be quoted the authority of St. Cyprian, St. Auguſtine, St. Gregory of Tours, Pope Innocent III., Rufinus, Theodoret, and others, who ſay four nails were uſed in the Crucifixion of our Saviour. The battle waged pictorially; but perhaps the earlieſt known repreſentation of the Crucifixion, that found in the Cemetery of St. Julian, Pope, or of St. Valentine in Via Flaminia at Rome, ought to bear moſt weight. Our Saviour is repreſented as being clothed in a long ſleeveleſs robe, which reaches to His ankles; the feet are ſeparate, and are each nailed. It is ſaid that Cimabue was the firſt to paint the feet overlapping, and one nail. His example, however, was much followed, and hence the controverſy.

Of theſe nails, univerſal tradition ſays that St. Helena ſent two to her ſon Conſtantine, and, as the Golden Legend has it, “the emperour dyd do ſette them in hys brydel and in hys helme when he wente to batayle.” One can underſtand one of theſe ſacred nails being worn in the Emperour’s helmet as a preſage of victory and as a ſafeguard againſt danger, but the utility of incorporating one of ſuch priceleſs relics in a horſe’s bridle is not ſo eaſy to comprehend; but the fathers of the Church, St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Ambroſe, Theodoret, and St. Gregory of Tours, recogniſe in it the fulfilment of the prophecy of Zecharius, chap. xiv. 20: “In that day ſhall be upon the bridles of the horſes, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD.”

This bridle, or rather bit, is now ſaid to be in exiſtence in France at Carpentras, department of Vaucluſe. How it got there is not clearly known, but probably it was taken at the time of the Cruſades—as leaden ſeals on which it is engraved exiſt, attached to parchments of the dates 1226 and 1250, and it was mentioned in an inventory of relics in the year 1322.

I have reproduced it, as well as the Iron Crown of Lombardy and the nails, from M. Rohault de Fleury’s work, and, as will be ſeen, it is undoubtedly of great antiquity, cloſely reſembling the bits of the Romans.

According to Boſius, who quotes Gregory Nazianzen, a third nail was thrown by St. Helena into the Adriatic Sea, in order to calm a tempeſt; and the ſame authority ſays that the fourth was depoſited in the head of a ſtatue of Conſtantine, but this militates much againſt the number of holy nails ſaid to be in exiſtence. Calvin notices this, and is down upon it with ſledge-hammer force:—

“Yet there is a greater combat of the nayles. I wyll recite them only that are come to my knowledge. Thereupon there is not ſo lytle a childe but wyll judge that the Devyll hath to much deluded the worlde in takyng from it both underſtandyng and reaſon, that it coulde diſcerne nothynge in this matter. If the auncient writers ſaye trewe, and namely Theodorite Hiſtoriographer of the auncient churche, Helene cauſed one to be nayled on her ſonne’s helmet, the other two ſhe put in his horſe bitte. How be it Sainct Ambroſe ſayeth not fully ſo. For he ſayeth that one was put in Conſtantine’s crowne, of the other his horſebit was made, and the thirde Helene kept. Wee ſe y^t already more than twelve hundred yeres agone this hath bene in controverſie, to wit, what was become of the nayles. What certentie can be had of them then at this preſent time?

“Now at Millan they boſte that thei have y nayle that was put in Conſtantine’s horſe bitte. To the whiche the towne of Carpentras oppoſeth herſelfe, ſayinge that it is ſhe that hath it. Nowe S. Ambroſe doth not ſaye that the nayle was knit to the bitte, but that the bitte was made thereof. Whiche thynge can in no wyſe be made to agre eyther w^t their ſaying of Milan or w^t theirs of Carpentras.

“Moreover there is one in Rome at Sainct Helenes; another alſo at Sene, another at Veniſe. In Germany two: at Collyne one, at the three Maries: another at Triers, one in Fraunce at the holy chappell of Paris, another at y^e Carmes, one alſo at Sainct Denis in France: one at Burges: one at Tenaill, one at Draguine.

“Beholde here fourteene, whereof account is made; in every place they alledge good approbation for themſelves, as they ſuppoſe. And ſo it is that everye one hath as good right as aunother. Wherefor there is no better way then to make them all paſſe under one fidelium. That is to ſaye, to repute all that they ſaye hereof to be but lyes, ſeying that otherwiſe a man ſhoulde never come to an ende.”

What would Calvin have ſaid if he had ſeen the formidable liſt of holy nails enumerated by Guiſto (or Juſtus) Fontanini, Archbiſhop of Ancyra? which is as follows:—

1. Aix la Chapelle. 2. Ancona, in the Cathedral. 3. Bamberg. 4. In Bavaria, Convent of Audechſen. 5. Carpentras. The Holy Bit. 6. Catania, Sicily. 7. Colle, in Tuſcany. 8. Cologne. 9. The Escurial in Spain. 10. Milan. 11. Monza. The Iron Crown. 12. Naples. Monaſtery of S. Patricius. 13. Nuremberg. Church of the Holy Virgin. 14. Paris. 15. Rome. Two Nails. Church of the Holy Croſs of Jeruſalem; Church of Santa Maria in Campitelli. 16. Sienna. Hoſpital Sainte Marie de de l’Echelle. 17. Spoleto. 18. Torcello, near Venice. Church of S. Anthony. 19. Torno, on the Lake of Como. 20. Toul. 21. Trèves. 22. Venice. Three nails. 23. Vienna.

But this liſt is further ſupplemented by M. Rohault de Fleury, who gives ſix more:—

1. Arras, according to M. le Chev. de Linas. 2. Compiègne. A point. 3. Cracow, in Poland, according to M. Goſſelin. 4. Florence. 5. Lagney. 6. Troyes.

So that no leſs than twenty-nine towns claim the poſſesſion of thirty-two nails, all differing in form, the number of which can only be accounted for by the ſuppoſition that only a portion of the holy nails has been incorporated into each of them.

One of the moſt intereſting relics in connection with the holy nails is the Iron Crown of Lombardy. This, as may be ſeen by reference to the illuſtration (Fig. 1), is a circlet of gold, ornamented with precious ſtones, and it is indebted for its name of “Iron” to a thin band (=A=) of that metal, which is inſide the gold circlet. The Crown itſelf is of very antique form, being even devoid of rays, and is too ſmall to go on the head. Charlemagne was crowned with it in 774, and Napoleon did not think himſelf King of Italy until he had placed this precious diadem on his head, in 1805. It is kept at Monza, nine miles from Milan, in the Cathedral, which is of great antiquity. There it repoſes in a huge croſs placed over the altar.

Of the relics of the Croſs there now remains but two ſpecks of the title or inſcription thereon, and here, again, I am indebted to M. Rohault de Fleury for the illuſtration on page xciv., as it ſeems to me to be the beſt yet publiſhed.

The Evangeliſts, although agreeing in the ſpirit of the inſcription, vary as to the letter.

Says St. Matthew: “This is Jeſus the King of the Jews.” “ St. Mark: ”The King of the Jews.“ ” St. Luke: “This is the King of the Jews.” “ St. John: ”Jeſus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.“

Neither St. Matthew nor St. Mark note the tri-lingual character, and SS. Luke and John vary as to the order of the different languages; the former ſaying it was in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew—the latter that it was in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. The latter is the generally accepted form, and the reaſon given is, that Hebrew, being the common language, it would naturally come firſt, as we ſhould do in an Engliſh notice, firſt in Engliſh, then, ſay in French and German, for the benefit of foreigners, as were the Greeks and Romans in Jeruſalem.

The tradition is that, along with the Croſs, St. Helena found the inſcription, and that ſhe ſent it, together with a piece of the Holy Croſs and a number of other ſacred relics, to Rome, where it was depoſited in the baſilica of Santa Croce. Here it remained until Valentinian, fearing that it might fall into the hands of the Goths and Huns, hid it in the wall of the building, until it was found in 1492.

Valentinian died A.D. 375, and Antoninus Martyr, in his _De Locis Sanctis_ (sec. 20), written about A.D. 570, ſays he ſaw the inſcription which had been placed on the Croſs, and that the words were, “Ieſus Nazarenus Rex Iudæorum.” He ſays that he held it in his hand, and kiſſed it, in the Church of Conſtantine at _Jeruſalem_. Hence it is evident that either tradition is incorrect, or that Antoninus did not tell the truth.

But the claim is that it is, and always has been, in Rome, and Boſius, in his _Crux Triumphans_ (p. 60), gives an account of its re-diſcovery. He ſays that in February, 1492, Monſeigneur Pedro Gonſalvo de Mendoza, Cardinal Sanctæ Crucis, was repairing and cleanſing his church, and on the firſt day of that month, when the workmen reached the top of the arch which was in the middle of the baſilica, and near the roof, they ſaw two ſmall columns; and finding a ſpace, they diſcovered a niche in which they found a leaden box, well cloſed, and on its lid was a tablet of marble, on which were engraved theſe words: HIC EST TITVLVS VERÆ CRUCIS. In this box was found a little board, about a hand’s breadth and a half, much corroded on one ſide by time, and bearing, in grooved, engraved characters, which were coloured red, the following inſcription: IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDÆORVM. But the word IVDÆORVM was not entire, the laſt two letters VM having crumbled to pieces by reaſon of old age. The firſt line was written in Latin characters, the ſecond in Greek, and the third in Hebrew.

All the city went to ſee it; and three days afterwards, Pope Innocent went alſo, and ordered the relic to be preſerved in its box, and covered with a ſheet of glaſs. Every one was convinced that they had before their eyes the inſcription which Pilate placed upon the Croſs over our Saviour’s head, and which Saint Helena had depoſited in the church at the time of its building.

The relic, as now ſeen, is very worm-eaten, but the letters are ſtill viſible, and have been cut with a ſmall gouge. They read from right to left, as Hebrew does, thus lending great plauſibility to the idea that it was done by ſome Jewiſh artificers; and it ſeems to be of ſome cloſe-grained wood. Taking the piece now at Santa Croce, the whole inſcription, if reſtored, would be thus:

_Notes on the Woodcuts._

THE Hiſtory of the Legend of the Holy Croſs which is here reproduced, is ſomewhat fuller than the Golden Legend of Caxton, there being particulars about Moſes, David, and Solomon not to be found therein; but they may be found in other verſions of the Legend, ſome in the Latin of Jacobus de Voragine, others in two MSS. in the Britiſh Muſeum.[M]

The engravings are taken from a very rare book, of which, as far as is known, there are but three copies in exiſtence: one is in the Royal Library at Bruſſels, another at the Hague, in the collection of Mr. Schinkel, and the third is in the poſſesſion of Lord Spencer at Althorp. It is from this book that theſe fac-similes (made by M. J. Ph. Berjeau) were taken. The book itſelf has one woodcut on each page, with a verſe in Dutch, at the bottom, explanatory of each engraving. It is called indifferently _Hiſtoria Sanctæ Crucis_ or _Boec van den houte_ (Book of the wood or tree).

It was printed at Kuilenburg on March 6th, 1483, by John Veldener,[N] who had juſt removed from Louvain. Theſe ſixty-four engravings were originally on thirty-two blocks,[O] and evidently belonged to ſome much older block book, now loſt. Theſe, Veldener cut in half, as he had already treated a _Speculum_, and brought them out as a freſh book.

The Legend as told by theſe engravings is as follows:—

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 1._]

[Sidenote: _No. 2._]

[Sidenote: _No. 3._]

[Sidenote: _No. 4._]

[Sidenote: _No. 5._]

[Sidenote: _No. 6._]

[Sidenote: _Nos. 7, 8._]

Adam, feeling himſelf about to die, ſent Seth to Paradiſe to beg for ſome of the oil of mercy,[1] which, however, the Archangel Michael refuſed to give him, but, inſtead, preſented him with three ſeeds of the tree of life.[2] On his return, he found Adam dead, and, being unable to adminiſter theſe ſeeds to his father in any other manner, he put them under his tongue, and then buried him.[3] Preſently theſe ſeeds germinated and ſhot through the ground, and are traditionally ſaid to have been a cedar, a cypreſs, and a pine.[4] They grew until Moſes had led the Israelites out of Egypt, when he found them in the Valley of Hebron, and he recognized them as typifying the Trinity. He removed them, and they were his conſtant companions.[5] With them he ſmote the rock, and the waters guſhed out,[6] and the bitter waters of Marah became ſweet.[7, 8]

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 9._]

[Sidenote: _No. 10._]

[Sidenote: _No. 11._]

[Sidenote: _No. 12._]

[Sidenote: _No. 13._]

He then planted them in the land of Moab,[9] and there they remained, until an angelic viſion appeared unto David, and commanded him to go, and take them up, and bring them to Jeruſalem.[10] On his return the three rods worked miracles, healing the ſick,[11] and the leprous, with a touch;[12] nay, more, on being applied to three black men, they inſtantly became white.[13]

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 14._]

[Sidenote: _No. 15._]

[Sidenote: _No. 16._]

[Sidenote: _No. 17._]

Arrived at Jeruſalem, they wiſhed to plant them, but for the night they left them in a ciſtern, by the Tower of David,[14] and lo! during the night, they ſtruck root, and, entwining themſelves, became but one ſtem,[15] which, when David ſaw, he had a wall built round it.[16] And the tree grew for thirty years, David ornamenting it with rings of ſapphire and other precious ſtones, adding one for every year, and under this tree he compoſed the Psalms, and praiſed God exceedingly.[17]

[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 18._]

[Sidenote: _No. 19._]

[Sidenote: _No. 20._]

[Sidenote: _No. 21._]

[Sidenote: _No. 22._]

[Sidenote: _No. 23._]