The Life and Passion of William of Norwich (Penguin Classics)

by Thomas of Monmouth

  [II] HOW AFTER THE MARTYR WAS TRANSLATED, ON THE FOLLOWING NIGHT, THE SACRIST HEARD MIRACULOUS THINGS IN THE CHAPTERHOUSE

  On the following night we found out that something happened to which I have decided to draw the particular attention of readers, so as to remove any space for conjecture about it. It happened that around the middle of that night the said sacrist, lying asleep in the church, as is the custom, got up in order to wake the brethren in the dormitory for matins, as was usual. When he proceeded to the chapterhouse, while singing the matins of the glorious Virgin Mary,4 he sat down for a while, so as to complete what remained of the matins, and so thereafter to go on with his customary business. After he had finished sitting in the corner of the chapterhouse for a while, suddenly from opposite him – that is, from the north side outside the chapterhouse – a violent and terrible sound began to arise. He could in no way explain in words the quality of the sound when he recounted the event to us. Having heard it, horror invaded him more than can be described in words: his hair stood on end and strength left his limbs, so that he could not even move his feet or raise his hand. Yet the sound that had risen grew louder and louder, passing from the side abovementioned to the east window of the chapterhouse, as if it would enter through it, gathering itself and making straight for the tomb, which we had left empty only the day before. After it made there an inexplicable sound for a while, it squeezed itself fully into the tomb and, as if gradually passing away from there into the distance, little by little faded from the ears of the listener.

  And while this was happening the sacrist sat immobile, seized by horror beyond measure, puzzling in his mind the nature of the event. When later, indeed, the servants of the church came to set up the lamps in the cloister, he regained his spirit, got up and went to the dormitory to execute his usual duty of waking [the monks]. And because of the event, from that night on that sacrist instituted the custom of having a lamp lit in the chapterhouse, and as long as he lived he observed this custom. Since then the practice still persists to this day, that at night there is a lamp burning in the chapterhouse.

  But on the morrow after that night, as dawn rose, the bishop got up and what he had planned to execute with a few people in fact was completed with many. While the business was still in hand, suddenly a crowd gathered hastily from all directions, urged on by the zeal of devotion, more wishing to do instant service to the martyr than to obstruct the unfolding process. Finally, that venerable body of the martyr was placed again in a most suitable place for the time, but not with wholly suitable honour; and his tomb was secured with iron and lead. This done, we then remembered that first vision in which he had warned us to transfer him from the cemetery, and indicated that he wanted to rest for a while among the boys in the chapterhouse, and finally to be transferred to the church.

  [III] OF THE YOUTH WHO VOMITED LIVE SERPENTS

  And so, once the most blessed martyr was translated into the church he began to flourish in many more miracles than before, and declared how great he was with God by manifest signs. A little after the time of his translation, a certain youth from the village called Helgheton5 came to the tomb of Saint William, led by his father. He was once a shepherd,6 and while he was taking care of his sheep on a certain day he happened to fall asleep in a field under some bushes. While he snored with an open mouth, suddenly a serpent entered into it and, as if it had found a pleasant dwelling, gathered itself into his inner parts. The youth woke up, indeed, not knowing what misfortune had befallen him, but sensing from the movement the presence of evil. A sharp pain troubled his entrails and that inner turbulence grew worse and worse with every day that passed. He did not know what it was and wondered what disease could be so dire that it pierced his inner parts with such sharpness; but from the way it was developing he conjectured some idea of it.

  After many years passed in such grievous discomfort, the young man came to William’s tomb, as has been described above, led by his father to be cured by William’s merits. After prayer and the offering of a candle, his father scraped the tombstone, dissolved the scrapings in holy water and gave it to his suffering son to drink. This done, with the father’s faith the power of the martyr began to take effect immediately. As soon as that sacred drink descended into his innards, the raging serpent began to suffer inside and it could not bear the presence of the sacred drink. And so the pain increased and the youth went out of the church hastily, and, lying on the ground in front of the doors of the church, with greatest pain he vomited a serpent and two of its young; much else besides came out and he remained lying on the ground for a while, as if dead. Whoever was present at this sight was indeed horrified by so frightening a portent. And the father, touched by excessive grief, rose against the serpent and killed it and its young, as if they were the killers of his son. And he preserved them as a sign of such a miracle, sticking them on a cleft stick. Then, after an hour’s time, the young man got up healthy and thanked God and Saint William, his liberator, returning home with his father, full of joy.

  [IV] OF SOME PEOPLE WHO WERE CURED OF THE BURNING OF FEVERS BY SAINT WILLIAM

  It happened around that time that Adam, son of John, our bishop’s steward,7 suffered from a severe and long-standing fever. And the disease had grown to such a degree that his skin was shrivelled, marked by a certain wilted pallor, which looked to the eyes of witnesses like a sign of death. And so, advised either by his relatives or by the instinct of his own devotion, he came to the tomb of the blessed martyr, and after a while rested and fell asleep. After two hours had passed he then got up healthy and unharmed, as if he had never before sensed any pain.

  Also a certain knight of Robert Va[letreius]8 was troubled in those days by a similar disease, and in the same way merited to obtain health at the same martyr’s tomb. And we have learned that many others besides, suffering from fevers, frequently received there a remedy of health by the merits of Saint William.

  [V] HOW HE CORRECTED THE PRIEST GODWIN, AS IF JOKING, AND CALLED HIM BACK FROM UNJUST PROFIT

  At that time the priest Godwin, whom we have frequently mentioned before,9 and whom we have already shown to have had possession of the martyr’s wooden instrument of torture, known in English as a teasel,10 used to dip it in holy water, and it is said that the remedy of health was conferred on many by drinking it. News of this persuaded a certain poor woman, who was suffering from a long-standing illness as best she could. She came to Godwin to receive the grace of health, and she said to him: ‘Have mercy on me, sir, and have compassion on my illness. And since you are in the habit of helping people by the merits of Saint William, help me, too, in my wretchedness. I believe surely that my cure lies in your hands. And may Saint William have mercy on you, as you have mercy on me.’ Godwin answered her: ‘What gift have you brought that you demand my favour with such confidence?’ She answered him: ‘God knows that I am so poor that I possess nothing more than what you see about me. I have spent all my earnings on doctors and I have benefited not at all.’ To this Godwin said: ‘If, as you claim, you are so poor, you can at least find a chicken to give me.’ The woman answers: ‘The chicken, sir, of which you speak, I neither have nor do I know how I might find one.’ The indignant priest answered her in a proverb: ‘Listen, woman, He who does not give what he loves, does not receive what he desires.11 And so, if you want me to fulfil your prayers, go look for a chicken and offer it.’ Having heard this, the woman broke into weeping and said amid her tears: ‘Let God judge between us, and the pious martyr William will give you what you have deserved for your treatment of me.’ And having said this she left in tears.

  And, as we found out later, from that day she got better and soon recovered full health. But the priest, thinking little of it, since he despised the tears of the little entreating woman, perhaps incurred the wrath of God and of Saint William [too]. And we conclude from this that the sin of his ill will soon, not unjustly, procured the subsequent punishment of misfortune. And so it happened that all his chickens died on that night, and
of a great number not one survived. Thus for the one he had improperly requested, he justly incurred the loss of the many. Come morning, when the priest discovered the onset of his misfortune, he immediately repented, realizing the guilt of yesterday’s sin, and confessed to having gravely sinned. And because of that, compelled by fear, he vowed never again to seek profit in this manner through spiritual favours.

  [VI] OF A SICK PERSON CURED BY TOUCHING THE TOMB

  In those days Robert, son of Harvey the former baker, was seized for more than four months by a most serious illness, so that he was thought to be at death’s door. As the illness got worse he lost any appetite for food, his limbs lost their strength and his pulse was so much weakened that the doctors despaired for his well-being. As he saw himself to be in straits, he took refuge in divine mercy. For this reason, because he was utterly weak in body, he was led on the arms of his relatives to the holy martyr’s tomb. Once there, and having uttered a prayer with greatest devotion, immediately, as he touched the sacred tombstone, he felt the effect of celestial medicine. He, who could hardly murmur even the short Lord’s Prayer, a little after arriving picked up the psalter and began to say the psalms, and rejoiced in being able to run through the whole psalter. Having done so, he gave thanks to omnipotent God and to Saint William, and he who had arrived needing the help of others, now returned trusting in his own steps. And he who for many days had not tasted any food, consumed food with an appetite recovered, and merited – with his powers restored – to return to full health in a short period of time.

  [VII] OF THE GOLDEN RING DISCOVERED BY A VISION

  There was a certain knight near Lynn by the name of Reginald, son of Philip, whose wife loved Saint William with a remarkable feeling of devotion. One night, as she rested beside her husband in their bed, that same martyr, William, whom she loved, appeared to her in a vision. He thanked her lovingly for her devotion to him and refreshed her with sweet words. After a while he asked her to give him as a token of love a golden ring, smaller than the others – because she wore many – and he removed it up to the top of the finger on which it was. When she awoke the woman was frightened; recalling what had been seen and finding the ring at the top of her finger, she wondered what to do. So she shared what she had seen with her husband. Acting on his advice, she came to Norwich without delay and offered to Saint William the ring that had been requested. What is more, after that she offered herself wholly to him, indicating thereafter by her devout manner of life the affection she had for him.

  [VIII] OF A SUFFERER FROM DROPSY WHO WAS CURED AT AN AMAZING SPEED

  And we have seen a man from the province beyond the Humber come to the tomb of the glorious martyr William, because of a vow. He carried a large mass of wax made into a shape of boots and placed it on top of the tomb of the martyr William with the greatest zeal of devotion. When we tried to find out where he was from or why he had come, he replied: ‘My native land is a region of the province of York and I have come here bound by a vow. For I was once a sufferer from dropsy, and I submitted for many years to the suffering of that sickness and presented a dreadful and miserable sight to those who saw me. I cannot at all express in words how much I have suffered the anguish of pain. And so the pious martyr William, having compassion for my affliction, ordered me by a night vision that if I wanted to get well I should surround the whole swelling with wax and offer it to him at Norwich.

  ‘A wonderful, astounding event! As soon as the wax surrounded the swollen limbs below my navel the swelling subsided to the extent that, once the wax was removed, not even a little sign of the swelling remained. Truly stupefied by such a miracle, and revived by so speedy a favour, I did not delay coming here as I was ordered. And here is the wax, by whose use I was cured, as I have told.’ When we heard this we marvelled greatly at these things and were joyful and proclaimed that God is wonderful in William His saint.

  [IX] OF A DEAN OF THE PROVINCE OF LINCOLN WHO WAS CURED

  And a dean of the province of Lincoln came, a certain Robert12 by name, who brought four pennies which he had vowed to give Saint William every year, and he placed them on top of his tomb as a tribute payment. When we asked him for the cause of his coming, he replied, saying: ‘I was brought down with a long-standing weakness because of a defect in my constitution, and so, because of the length of the disease, among other body parts my head was swollen, too. I appeared to those who saw me as if I had already passed the threshold of life and was entering the vestibule of death. Already at the point of death, I clung onto life as if by a thread. The most holy martyr William, having compassion for the gravity and long, drawn-out harshness of the illness, appeared to me in a vision and, after consoling me with soft words, he added amongst them: “Be comforted, brother, because soon you will be cured. And once you are cured you should pay me in token of recompense four pennies every year.” Having said that, he softly stroked my head and other limbs one after the other. At once the remedy of health followed that healing stroke. Having done that, he stood before me and said: “Now you are made well. Observe the command!”

  ‘A wonderful event, almost beyond belief! For I woke up finding myself well and in good health, and I felt the truth of the pious vision in its outcome. And so I got up and, not wanting to delay my journey, mounted a horse and have come here to that end, and shall pay the tribute indicated for my head.’ Having heard this, we marvelled greatly and were happy, and we glorified the favours of divine pity.

  [X] OF GERARD, FREED FROM HIS SHACKLES

  And we saw during Lent of that year [13 February to 27 March 1155] a certain Gerard, who was fleeing the tyranny of his lord and sought asylum in the church of Norwich. The knight called William of Whitwell13 – although he was said to be, and was, his nephew – put him in shackles and imprisoned him14 under a tight guard, because he would not at all agree to his wishes. Thereafter, he punished him cruelly as a rebel, with long fasting and nudity, and treated him with the savage violence of his tyranny. And when he had afflicted this wretched man in many amazing ways, from Candlemas [2 February] to the Friday before Palm Sunday, that most cruel knight did not flinch, but gazed at him with piercing eyes, and said: ‘Think about it, Gerard, and take heed quickly of yourself. Behold, today I go to Norwich and I plan to return tomorrow. You have this amount of time to deliberate. But know this for sure, because unless upon my return you immediately submit to me, you will perish without any delay by a rare type of punishment.’ And, having said that, he [William of Whitwell] ordered that he be bound in shackles to another man in such a way that Gerard’s part [of the shackles] was locked with a cunningly devised key. And he placed that key in his wife’s money box, which was placed inside a locked chest, and, as if that were not enough, he took the key to the chest away with him. As he left he ordered all the servants of his household to lie down around him [Gerard] most carefully at night and to lock all the doors to the house more carefully than usual, and to block them with benches and other kinds of obstacles.

  Meanwhile, poor Gerard saw that everything was in a terrible way and, seeing his life in danger, was utterly terrified for himself and did not know what to do next. Yet he preferred to die rather than succumb to unjust servitude. Therefore, he uttered all that was in his mind before the omnipotence of divine pity and begged God’s saints to be his helpers, and especially implored the help of the most holy and most merciful martyr William, saying: ‘Glorious boy and martyr, William, if indeed what we have heard of you is true and you are of such power as we believe, help me in my misery, help me, about to die an unjust death. Free me, Lord, from the distress of my present calamity, so that, freed by the help of your strength, I may become a servant to you for ever.’ When he had prayed from the bottom of his heart in this manner for the whole of that day and for a great part of the night, at last, both because of the effort of his vigil and the fervency of sorrow, he fell asleep. But it also happened that all the guards were similarly overtaken by sleep.15 When already half of the night had passed, it seeme
d to him, asleep in his shackles, that the holy martyr whom he had called on, William, was there with him, unlocking the shackles that had been secured by the key as I have described, and saying to him: ‘Wake up, brother Gerard, and get up quickly, take off your share of the shackles and flee as soon as possible. See, you are released! Hurry! The south door already stands open as a passageway for you.’

  Waking up, the man was terrified and amazed, but when he felt himself to be free he regained his courage and thought about flight. Without delay, picking up his share of the shackles, he rose in silence and directly stepped towards the door that had been pointed out to him, found it already open and immediately went out, and in swift flight delivered16 himself to safety. He arrived in Norwich as dawn broke, and as soon as the church doors were opened he hurried to the tomb of Saint William, his liberator, and offered that same share of the shackles to him, in token of his liberation. And from that time on he served the church for the rest of his life.

  [XI] OF A PSALTER LOST AND THEN FOUND

  It happened at that time on the Saturday before Easter that I, Thomas, lost a psalter; and I was particularly sad at its loss, since I had copied it out with my own hands.17 When it was not to be found at all, despite a long and careful search, a public enquiry was held about it in the church and the sentence of excommunication was then proposed. But since the effort of our search had borne us no fruit, finally I decided to turn to the protection of my unique patron. Having made a candle and brought it to his tomb, I prayed there with the greatest devotion, that the holy martyr by the impulse of his divine power should make the missing psalter return, which I had not been able to retrieve with all my laborious enquiries. And it turned out that on the morrow a certain Ralph, priest of the church of St Michael18 in Norwich, came and approached the tomb of Saint William with the psalter in question, at a time when he thought he would be seen by no one; he left the psalter there and quickly departed. But I arrived there from the vestibule at that moment to say my prayers and suddenly saw the psalter, shed tears of happiness and picked it up with joy.