Béarn and the Pyrenees : $b A legendary tour to the country of Henri QuatreCostello, Louisa Stuart
History
Béarn and the Pyrenees : $b A legendary tour to the country of Henri Quatre
Costello, Louisa Stuart
Béarn (France) -- Description and travel; Pyrenees -- Description and travel
"When St. Hilaire visited the churches of the city, as he went through
the streets he was followed by so many people that he could hardly be
seen, for he was on foot. A woman, who lived in a house now situated
before the _Grands Escolles_, knowing that he was passing her dwelling,
while she was bathing her infant, seized with an ardent desire to behold
the saint, left it in the bath, and ran out; when she returned she found
her child drowned. Whereupon she called out, 'Oh, my God! shall I lose
my child for having done that which was praiseworthy!' and in a rage of
grief took her little dead child in her arms, covered with a piece of
linen, and carried it to St. Hilaire, to whom she declared the case and
the accident, praying him, in great faith and hope, to entreat of God
that her child might be restored to life.
"St. Hilaire, seeing the grief of the poor mother, who had but this
only child, and also her great reliance, and considering that the infant
had died in consequence of the mother's great desire to see him, set
himself to pray, prostrating himself on the earth with great humility
and tears, where he remained a long time. And he, who was of a great
age, would not rise from that posture till God had, at his request,
resuscitated the child. He then, taking it in his arms, presented it to
the mother, who gave it nourishment before all the people, who, full of
wonder, gave thanks to God and St. Hilaire."
The church of Montierneuf is one of the most ancient in Poitiers. It
contains the tomb of its founder, Guillaume Guy Geoffroy, Count of
Poitiers and Aquitaine; who, having led a very irregular life, thought
to atone for all, by erecting a magnificent monastery for Cluniac monks.
Except this tomb, there is little remaining of interest; but the effigy
of Guillaume is well executed and curious, as he lies with his long
curled hair and his crown, his _aumônière_, and his singularly-shaped
shoes. He was one of the most daring of those wild Williams who
distinguished themselves for profligacy; but this pious act of his seems
entirely to have redeemed his memory.
It is recounted that, while the abbey was in progress, the King of
France, Philippe I., came to Poitiers, hoping to induce William to
assist him against the Duke of Normandy. The monarch, struck with the
grandeur of the new constructions, exclaimed that they were "worthy of a
king;" to which the Count replied, haughtily, "Am I not, then, a king?"
Philippe did not see fit to make any further rejoinder on so delicate a
subject.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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