The Lives of the Saints, Volume 03 (of 16): March — John Shaqi
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 03 (of 16): MarchBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 03 (of 16): March
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Christian saints
The saint knew what the king wanted, so when the office was ended he
hastily put off his vestments, and, thinking to lay them upon the
appointed place, unwittingly hung them upon a sunbeam, for the natural
sun was now streaming through the window. He found the king prostrate
before the door; raising him up he heard the penitent's confession,
and enjoined him as a penance, to root out idolatry, and to found
monasteries.[4] He then motioned to the king that he should enter the
oratory and pray. Wulfere, chancing to lift up his eyes, with wonder
saw the vestments hanging on the sunbeam. He rose from his knees, and,
drawing near, placed his own gloves and baldric upon the beam, but they
immediately fell to the ground. The king understood by this that Chad
was beloved by the Sun of Righteousness, since the natural sun paid him
such homage.
[4] The reader will here recall the account of Lancelot and the Sacring
in the Tower by Joseph of Arimathæa, in the Morte d'Arthur.
B. CHARLES THE GOOD, M., COUNT OF FLANDERS.
(A.D. 1127.)
[Hermann Greven and Molanus in their additions to Usuardus,
Galesinius, Canisius, Saussaye, and the Belgian Martyrologies.
Authorities:--A life by a contemporary, Walter, archdeacon of
Thèrouanne, another life by Gualbert of Bruges, written about two
years after the death of the count, and another by Suger, abbot of S.
Denys, d. 1151.]
Charles the Good, Count of Flanders, the son of S. Canute, King of
Denmark, and Adelheid,[5] daughter of Robert the Frisian, was taken to
Bruges after the martyrdom of his father, (see Jan. 19th), and received
a careful education from Robert II., Count of Flanders, his uncle on
his mother's side, who trained him to be a good knight, 'without fear
and without reproach,' and at the same time to be a good Christian.
Charles distinguished himself by his bravery in the Holy Land, and in
the war carried on by his uncle against the English, and after the
death of Baldwin VII., who succeeded his father, Robert II., in 1111,
and died without issue, he was declared his successor by acclamation
of the nobility and people, in accordance with the dying wish of his
uncle. His elevation was not, however, acceptable to every party in
the state, and his government, which began in the midst of plots, was
brought to a close by one.
[5] Aleidis or Alice.
He was married to Margaret de Clermont, sister of the Bishop of
Tournai, and of the royal blood of France.
On the sea-banks, in the midst of the sand-hills, living by piracy,
and by fishing, were colonies of Flemings. Furnes is the centre of
this district. It was held by Clémence of Burgundy, the widow of
Count Robert II., as her dowry. She had married one of her nieces to
King Louis VI., another to William de Loo, Viscount of Ypres, son of
Philip, her brother-in-law. Consequently there were several ambitious
and powerful parties ready to lay claim to the County of Flanders, and
wrest it from the hands of Charles.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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