“The venerable father Theudulfus the Bishop [of Orleans] has a dispute with some of your brethren of St. Martin’s about a certain fugitive culprit. This culprit, after suffering very many kinds of punishment, suddenly escaped from confinement, fled to the church of St. Martin a chief confessor of Christ, confessed his sins, begged for reconciliation, appealed to Caesar, and demanded to go to his most holy presence. We gave him up to the messengers of the said bishop. They knew, it is said, that preparations had been made to waylay them; they dismissed him as he stood before the doors of the church, and went their way. Thereupon there came a large number of the men of the said venerated bishop, in a hostile manner as we have ascertained. Eight principal men entered the church on the Lord’s day with our own bishop [Joseph, the Archbishop of Tours]. These were not the ‘eight principal men’ who are read of in the prophet[215] as wasting the land of Nimrod with swords and lances; they came to carry off the culprit, to profane the sanctity of the house of God, to belittle the honour of the holy confessor of Christ, Martin; indeed they rushed into the sanctuary within the gates of the altar. The brethren drove them out before the front of the altar. If they deny this, they say what is absolutely false. No one of them at that time bowed the head before the altar of God. “The report spread that a hostile force had come from Orleans [a distance of seventy miles] to violate the rights of St. Martin, for they were known to be Orleans men. The pensioners rushed together from every part of the city to the defence of their own defender. Tumult and fear grew rapidly all over. Our brethren rescued the men of the aforesaid bishop from the hands of the crowd, lest they should be evil intreated, and drove the people out of the church. “Now I know that the above-named pontiff will bring many accusations against our brethren; will exaggerate what was done; will say that things were done which were not done; for we have it in his letters. “I therefore charge you, my dearest sons, that you cast yourselves at the feet of my lord David the most just and serene emperor. Beg of him that when the bishop comes to complain, an opportunity of defence may be afforded, and of disputing with him whether it is just that an accused person should be taken by force from a church and subjected to the very punishments from which he has fled; whether it is right that one who has appealed to Caesar should not be brought to Caesar; whether it is lawful to spoil of all his goods, even to a boot-lace, one who is penitent and has confessed his sins; whether that saying of the Scripture[216] is well observed, Mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” Alcuin then criticises the letter of the Bishop of Orleans, which has not been preserved. In the course of the criticism he says two rather clever things.