William of Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England: From the earliest period to the reign of King StephenWilliam, of Malmesbury
History
William of Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England: From the earliest period to the reign of King Stephen
William, of Malmesbury
Great Britain -- History -- Norman period, 1066-1154; Great Britain -- History -- To 1066; Middle Ages -- Sources
But though Berengar himself changed his sentiments, yet was he unable
to convert all whom he had infected throughout the world; “so dreadful
a thing it is to seduce others from what is right, either by example
or by word; as, perhaps, in consequence, you must bear the sins of
others after having atoned for your own.” Fulbert, bishop of Chartres,
whom Mary, the mother of our Lord, was seen to cure when sick, by the
milk of her breasts, is said to have predicted this; for, when lying in
the last extremity, he was visited by many persons, and the house was
scarcely large enough to hold the company, he darted his eye through
the throng, and endeavoured to drive away Berengar, with all the force
he had remaining; protesting that an immense devil stood near him,
and attempted to seduce many persons to follow him, by beckoning with
his hand, and whispering some enticement. Moreover, Berengar himself,
when about to expire on the day of the Epiphany, sadly sighing, at the
recollection of the wretched people whom, when a very young man, in the
heat of error, he had infected with his opinions, exclaimed, “To-day,
in the day of his manifestation, my Lord Jesus Christ will appear to
me, either to glorify me, as I hope, for my repentance; or to punish
me, as I fear, for the heresy I have propagated on others.”
We indeed believe, that after ecclesiastical benediction, those
mysteries are the very body and blood of the Saviour; induced to
such an opinion, by the authority of the ancient church, and by many
miracles recently manifested. Such as that which St. Gregory exhibited
at Rome; and such as Paschasius relates to have taken place in Germany;
that the priest Plegild visibly touched the form of a boy, upon the
altar, and that after kissing him he partook of him, turned into the
similitude of bread, after the custom of the church: which, they
relate, Berengar used arrogantly to cavil at, and to say, that “it was
the treacherous covenant of a scoundrel, to destroy with his teeth,
him whom he had kissed with his mouth.” Such, too, is that concerning
the Jewish boy, who by chance running playfully into a church, with a
Christian of the same age, saw a child torn to pieces on the altar, and
severally divided to the people; which when, with childish innocence,
he related as truth to his parents, they placed him in a furnace, where
the fire was burning and the door closed: whence, after many hours, he
was snatched by the Christians, without injury to his person, clothes,
or hair; and being asked how he could escape the devouring flames, he
replied, “That beautiful woman whom I saw sitting in the chair, whose
son was divided among the people, always stood at my right hand in the
furnace, keeping off the threatening flames and fiery volumes with her
garments.”
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1087.] THE TOMB OF WALWIN.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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