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§ 2

The Legend of Saint Patrick's ‘Purgatory:
its later literary history.
A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE BOARD OF UNI-
VERSITY STUDIES OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVER-
SITY IN, PART FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
By GEORGE PHILIP KRAPP
TEACHERs college, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
BALTI MORE
JOHN MURPHY COM PANY
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PR E F A C E.
In the following pages the purpose has been to present, first,
a general statement of the later history of the legend of St.
Patrick’s Purgatory; and, second, to give a typical example of
the later forms of the legend in the Vision of William Staunton,
here edited for the first time from the two manuscripts of the
Vision in the British Museum. The historical statement has
been limited chiefly to the literature of Spain, France, and
England; for, though there is probably not a tongue of Western
Europe in which the story of the Purgatory does not appear
in one form or another, in the three countries mentioned it seemed
to find specially favorable soil for its growth.
The following considerations have seemed to the writer to
justify the undertaking of the present study: (1) the general
interest of the legend of St. Patrick’s Purgatory to all students
of vision-literature and to special students of Dante and Milton ;
(2) the importance of the legend as an example of mediaeval
ecclesiastical legend that has lived ou into modern times in the
traditions and literature of the people; (3) its value as an ex-
pression of the changes of popular opinion in questions of theology
and morality. To the above considerations may be added the
fact that little has yet been done towards ordering the large body
of material centering about the Middle-English visions.
Several meritorious contributions on the general subject of
mediaeval visions' and special studies of the early forms of the
*A consideration of the literary borrowings from the Purgatory legend, and
of its relationships in the general field of vision literature, is beyond the province
of the present study. The second subject has been fully considered by E. J.
Becker, A Contribution to the Comparative Study of the Medieval Visions of Heaven .
and Hell, with Special reference to the Middle English Versions, Baltimore, 1899,
p. 87 ff. For a summary of the literature on the question of Dante's dependence
on mediaeval vision literature, cf. Becker, p. 5 ſ, to which list add, Frederick
111
iv . Preface.
legend of St. Patrick’s Purgatory have been of help in the
preparation of the present study." The first and best word on
the special subject was said by Wright in a little volume pub-
lished in 1844. In this essay Wright takes up the general
subject of visions of Heaven and Hell in the Middle Ages, but
treats the legend of St. Patrick’s Purgatory, beginning at the
earliest forms he knew of it, with special fulness. Wright's
essay still remains a very important contribution to the study of
the subject, although, by the possession of books and texts which
were unknown to him, we are now able to amplify his account
s.sº
--~~~~
and to correct some inaccuracies in his statements.
A second important study is that of Dr. Selmar Eckleben,
Die àlteste Schilderung vom Fegefeuer des h. Patricius, Halle, 1885.
The author in this work endeavors to explain the origin of the
story and to arrive at its earliest literary form. The attempt is
only partially convincing. The author's final conclusion is that
the legend in its origin was a mere monkish fabrication for
mercenary purpose (p. 60). One would rather believe, how-
ever—and there are many circumstances favoring such a belief—
that the legend originally had a basis in popular feeling and
tradition, that the earliest literary forms were the result rather
than the cause of its popularity. Such is Wright's opinion, who
declares (p. 60) that the story is perfectly consistent with the
popular belief at the time of its origin. -
But in order to reach the earliest forms of the story, one must
go back even further than Eckleben or Wright have gone.
The legend is not only consistent with the popular belief of the
twelfth century; it has a basis in much earlier popular tradition,
and in the treatment of its ultimate source, it must be brought into
connection with the well-known Celtic doctrine of rebirth and of
the Happy Otherworld. . An important point in the line of this
development is the story, which is preserved in the Tripartite Life,
of St. Patrick on Cruachan Aigle. In this connection it is also
important to note that even in very early times, visions of the
Vinton, St. Patrick's Purgatory and the Inferno of Dante, 1873, Bib. Sacra, Vol.
xxx, p. 275ff. -
* Wright, Thomas, St. Patrick's Purgatory, London, 1844. Kölbing, Eng. Stud.
I, 57–121. Mall. Ed. Rom. Forsch, VI, 139 ft. Ward, Catalog, of Rom. II, 435–492.
Preface. - V
the idea of purgation was not entirely absent from the early Celtic
conception of the otherworld." ---
The works cited are the only ones of importance that have
appeared on the subject; the later history of the legend, as has
been stated, aside from what Wright has done, has remained practi-
cally untouched until the present. Perhaps the later forms of the
legend must yield in point of interest to the earlier forms. The
story lent itself too readily to practical application to retain its early
purity very long, and there can be no doubt that it became a part of
the machinery by which the monks at Lough Derg kept up both
their reputation for piety and the revenues of their monastery.
The old idealism of the story had surely and forever departed
before the time of the Reformation ; and after the Reformation,
the tradition and the place it celebrated naturally fell all the
more rapidly from dignity. Thousands of fanatical pilgrims
continued to visit the place every summer, paying their slender
tribute of silver for the privilege of spending the night on the
holy island ; but public opinion having expressed the strongest
disapproval of the superstitious practices of the place, repeated
intervention of the government in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries put at least a nominal end to this old-time religious
ceremony.
The reason for this steady deterioration in the character of the
legend is not far to seek. Generally, in the transmission of
saints' lives and acts, a certain form gains favor, is recorded,
and ever after remains substantially the same. In this story,
however, free rein was given to the imagination of individual
narrators. Since the visions were seen in person and everyone
was free to go to see them, naturally the account given of the
Purgatory varied with the tastes and capabilities of different
visitors. It is often hard indeed to recognize the latest accounts
as lineal descendants of the old stock. A significant result of
this degeneration in the character of the legend is to be noted in
otherworld were definitely connected with fixed places, and that \
|
Cf. Alfred Nutt's essay “Upon the Irish vision of the Happy Otherworld and
the Celtic doctrine of rebirth" in Meyer and Nutt's The Voyage of Bram, London, _2^
1895. Also Rev. Celt. xv, 469, Edinburgh Dinnshenchas No. 67; and The Tripar-/
tite Life of Patrick, ed. Stokes, London, 1887, Vol. I, p. 113 ff.
vi - Preface.
the fact that the story is no longer a favorite one in the church,
and is no longer inserted in collections of Saints' lives and legends."
The Vision of William Staunton, an inedited text of which is
herewith presented, is a form of the legend in the day of its
greatest popular favor, the beginning of the fifteenth century.
It differs greatly from the early forms of the story; yet it main-
tains the old satirical and moral purpose, and beneath its apparent
inventions will often be found the old story as it was modified
by successive generations of narrators.”
New York, 1899.
* The legend of the Purgatory is not given in the life of St. Patrick by Butler
or by Baring-Gould. Cf. also the following recent works on purgatory which
all omit to mention the legend: F. X. Schouppe, The Dogma of Purgatory,
Illustrated by the Lives and Legends of the Saints, London, 1893; Henry James
Coleridge, S.J., The Prisoners of the King, London, 1889; Mgr. O'Reilly, Where
do our Departed Go? New York, 1894. The mystical explanation of the doctrine
of purgatory appears to find most favor at present; cf. Treatise on Purgatory by
St. Catherine of Genoa, Trans. from the original Italian. With a Preface by His
Em. Card. Manning, London; Souls Departed, by Cardinal Allen. Ed. by the
Rev. T. E. Bridgett, London, 1886.
*The only version of the story in Modern English literature is that by
Southey in his ballad, St. Patrick's Purgatory, Poetical Works, London, 1838, Vol.
VI, pp. 40–8. The source was an abridged extract from Marie de France. In the
Commonplace Book, 4th Series, p. 124, there is also a transcript of Matthew Paris'
Latin account. The Legends of St. Patrick, by Aubrey DeVere, L.L. D., do not tell
the story of the Purgatory; the legends related are all very early ones. The story
of Cruachan Aigle is given. Shirley (Dramatic Works, ed. Gifford and Dyce,
London, 1833, Vol. IV, 363–443) has a play entitled, St. Patrick for Ireland.
In the prologue and epilogue the author promises a second part; but only the
first part is known to have been written. The play tells of the early life of St.
Patrick, of his mission to Ireland, and closes with the pretended conversion of
the king of Ireland, leaving the way open for further action. Magic plays a
great part in the drama; and though there is no direct mention of the Pur-
gatory, I am inclined to think that it was to have been the subject of the
second part. -
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE.
PREFACE, - tº- º º -> - - - - - - - iii
CHAPTER I. An Introductory Chapter on the early diffusion of the legend, l
CHAPTER II. The legend in Spain: the history of Luis Enius, - - - 11
CHAPTER III. The legend in France, - - - - - - - 24
CHAPTER IV. The legend in Great Britain, - wº- - - * - 31
THE VISION OF WILLIAM STAUNTON.—
Introduction, iº º- º - - - - - - - 54
Text, - - - - - - - - - - - - 58
SAINT PATRICKS PURGATORY.
CHAPTER I.
AN INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER ON THE EARLY DIFFUSION OF
THE LEGEND.
As preliminary to the consideration of the later forms of the
legend of St. Patrick’s Purgatory, it has seemed advisable to review
briefly the possible sources of these later accounts in earlier Latin,
French, and English manuscript literature. The legend first took
form in a Latin prose work of the end of the twelfth century, written
by Hſenry], a monk of Saltrey in Huntingdonshire. Henry of
Saltrey’s production, generally called Tractatus de Purgatorio from
the title given to it by Messingham (cf. below, p. 3), enjoyed great
popularity from the start. The number of Latin transcripts and
versions of it is very large. The British Museum possesses four-
teen different versions in Latin prose, which date from the twelfth
to the fifteenth century; all of these are described by Ward, in his
Catalogue of Romances." I have examined the MSS. at Oxford, and
find two complete versions of the story, with three others which are
imperfect or abridged.” At Cambridge there are two MSS. ; one is
* Vol. II, pp. 435 f; p. 748. The fifteen Latin MSS. of the British Museum
Ward divides into two classes. The MSS. of his first class are: Royal 13 B. VIII,
Cott. Nero A. VII, Roy. 8 C. xiv, Harl. 261, Harl. 3776, Harl. 103, Roy. 9 A xIV,
Cott. Vesp. A. VI, Harl. 2851, Egerton 1117. Of the second class are: Arundel
292, Cott. Tib. E. 1, Harl. 3846. The two of indeterminate class are: Addit. 33,
957, Harl. 912. . t -
* The Oxford Mss. have not before been noticed. The two complete MSS. are
Digby 34 and Digby 172 of the Bodley Library. I have applied Ward's test
passages to the MSS. and find they are both of the first class. The class of the
other MSs. cannot be determined; the first two are imperfect copies, and the last
is very much abridged ; they are: Rawl. C. 97, Rawl. B. 496, Ashmol. 1289, all
of the Bodley Library. . . . . . . -
I
-
2 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
|
described by Dimock," and the other is cited by James.” One con-
tinental MS. is described and printed by Ed. Mall.” These MSS.,
doubtless but a few of the Latin MSS. of the legend that might be
found in the libraries of Europe, serve to indicate the early popu-
larity of the story. There is no critical edition of the Latin text.
of the story. - - -
There are numerous early forms of the story in Latin, derived
generally from one or more of the MS. versions directly and inserted
into various works which did much to spread the early fame of the
legend. The story was put into his Flowers of History by Roger
of Wendover * under the year 1153, the supposed date of the occur-
rences of the story. It is supposed by Luard, editor of Matthew
Paris in the Rolls Series, that Roger brought his chronicles down
to the year 1188 from the chronicle of John, Abbot of St. Alban’s
from 1195–1214, a chronicle which now exists only in the form of
its continuations. If Roger derived his entry for the year 1153
from the chronicle of John, it must have been but a few years
after the composition of the Tractatus that it found its way into
the Abbot of St. Alban's collections. Matthew Paris,” the con-
tinuator of Roger of Wendover, gives Roger's version of the
Tractatus, word for word, and under the same year. -
Ralph Higden, in his Polychronicon,” tells the story of the
Purgatory, but his account is an abbreviated one. John Brompton
(fl. c. 1436) in his Chronicon" borrows the account given by Ralph
Higden, word for word. Some recent writers (cf. Jenkins, L’Es-
purgatoire Seint Patriz of Marie de France, p. 13; Jenkins bases
* Giraldi Cambrensi Opera, ed. James F. Dimock, London, 1867, vol. V, pp. XXII,
xxiv. The MS. is, says Dimock, “made directly and by a most faithful scribe
from the earlier Ms., Roy. 13 B. VIII,” and consequently is of Ward's first class.
Its mark is: Univ. Lib. Camb. Ff. 1. 27.
*A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Sidney Sussex College,
Cambridge, by Montague Rhodes James, Cambridge, 1895, p. 35. The title of the
Ms, is: S. S. Col. Camb. 50. A. 3. 5. It has nowhere been described.
* Ed. Mall, Zur Geschichte der Leg. vom Purg. des h. Patricius, Rom. Forschungen,
VI, pp. 139 ft. -
* * Eng. Hist. Society, London, 1841, wol. II, p. 256 ft. Also: Bohn's Antiq.
Library, vol. I, p. 510. " - -
"Chronica Majora, Rolls edition, 1874, vol. II, pp. 192–203.
*Rolls edition, London, 1865, vol. I, p. 370 ff.
* Ed. Twysden, London, 1652, col. 1076–77.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 3
his statement on that of Eckleben, pp. 28, 48) on the early forms
of the legend, erroneously supposing that Brompton's Chronicon
was written in 1198, the year in which it ends, were thus misled
into maintaining that his version of the story was the first literary
use made of the Tractatus after its composition. As I have indi-
cated above, the first literary use of the Tractatus was probably
either by John, Abbot of St. Alban's, or Roger of Wendover.
Abbreviated forms of the legend and descriptions of the place
of the story are given by other early writers whose works were
widely read and copied. Jacobus a Voragine introduced it into his
Legenda Aurea' in an abbreviated form, and Petrus de Natalibus
into his Catalogus Sanctorum.” Vincent of Beauvais tells of the
Purgatory in his Bibliotheca Mundi, Speculum. Historiale; * Caesarius
of Heisterbach, in his Dialogus Miraculorum ; * Jacques de Vitry,
in his Historiae Orientalis.” Giraldus Cambrensis, in his Topo-
graphia Hibernica,” gives one of the earliest descriptions of the
place of the Purgatory.
Of versions, of a somewhat later period, but closely dependent
on the early Latin versions, the Tractatus of Thomas Messingham'
and the Trias Thaumaturga by John Colgan,” both derived from
the early Latin MSS., are a frequent source for many later adaptations
y
*Jacobi a Voragine Legenda Aurea Vulgo Historia Lombardica Dicta. Rec. Dr.
Th. Graesse. Edit. Sec. Lipsiae, MDCCCL. Cap. L. (49), p. 213.
* Catalogus Sanctorum et Gestorum Eorum. Ex Diversis?Voluminibus Collectus,
Editus A Reverendissimo In Christo Patre Domino Petro de Natalibus de Vene-
tiis Dei Gratia Episcopo Eq. Vilino. [Printed at Venice, 1493]. Lib. III, Cap.
CCIIII.
* Bibliotheca Mundi, Tomus Quartus, qui Speculum. Historiale Inscribitur. Duaci
MDCXXIV. Lib. xx, Cap. XXIII, XXIV.
* Caesarii Heisterbacensis Monachi Ordinis Cisterciensis Dialogus Miraculorum.
Accurate recognovit Josephus Strange. Coloniae, Bonnae et Bruxellis. MDCCCLI.
Distinctio Duodecima, Cap. xxxviri, p. 347. -
* Jacobi de Vitriaco, Libri duo. Quorum prior Orientalis; alter Occidentalis His-
toriae nomine inscribitur. Duaci Anno 1597. Orientalis, cap. 92, p. 216–7.
*Rolls ed., p. 82–3. *
7 In Florilegium Insulae Sanctorum, Paris, 1624, cap. III-x. Reprinted in Migne,
Patrologia, 1885, vol. CLXxx, col. 975–1004. There is a Welsh translation of the
Tractatus, with English translation of the Welsh, entitled Purdan Padric, printed
by Robt. Williams and G. H. Jones, Selections from the Hengwrt MSS., London,
1892. Vol. II, pp. 189–211; 566 581. -
* Pp. 273–80. Reprinted by Mall, as above.
| |
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}
**
4 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
of the legend. The two works of Philip O’Sullevan, however,
perhaps did more to keep alive and increase the popularity of the
legend than any other adaptations of the early accounts. In his
Historiae Catholicae Iberniae Compendium he gives in full one of
the descriptions of visits to the Purgatory (cf. below, p. 25); and
in his curiously recondite and interesting work, Decas Patritiana,”
which was published at Madrid, during his exile from Ireland,
O'Sullevan discusses the question of purgatory, and of this purga-
tory in particular, from the beginning. This volume is made up
of ten books, of ten chapters each, whence its title. Each book
treats of one theme in connection with the life of St. Patrick; the
ninth book, one of the longest, treats of purgatory. The first
eight chapters of the book are given up to a consideration of various
questions relating to purgatory; and in the ninth chapter of the
book, the existence of purgatory is proved by the witness of those
who, while yet alive, have visited purgatory, and have returned
thence to the earth. This chapter treats chiefly of St. Patrick's
Purgatory. The author gives complete accounts of the descent of
three persons into the Purgatory—Nicolaus, Egnus, and Raymond.
The last chapter treats of general questions concerning purgatory.
Such are a few of the chief Latin works that contributed to the
fame of the legend of the Purgatory. Many other Latin authors,
from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century, who have touched
on the Purgatory might be adduced ; but those cited represent the
constantly recurring forms of the story which served as a source
for all the rest.
The popularity of the legend in early French literature is also
attested by a large number of translations and adaptations. Seven
different versions in verse are known; the references to these have
been collected and published by Paul Meyer.” The MSS. of the
* Ed. Matthaeus Kelly, Dublin, 1850. Tom. I, Lib. II, Cap. I–III.
* D. Philippi Osullevani Bearri Iberni Patritiana Decas. Anno 1629. Matriti.
Lib. IX, Cap. I—x. -
* Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Nationale. Tome Trente-
Quatrième. Paris, MDCCCXCI. Notices sur quelques manuscrits français de la
bibliothèque Phillipps à Cheltenham, par M. Paul Meyer, pp. 149–258. The seven
metrical versions are represented by nine MSS. as follows: I. Bib. Nat. fr., Fds.
frc. 25, 407, by Marie de France; II. B. M. Cott. Dom, A. Iv; III. B. M. Harl.
273; Bib. Nat. fr. 2198; IV. Lib. Univ. of Cambridge E. e. 6. 11; W. B. M.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 5
prose translation are as numerous as those of the metrical ones.
The Bib. Nat. fr. has eight MSS., the Brit. Mus. has two and the
library at Arras, two. References to these MSS. are also published
by Paul Meyer." There is one more Ms. in the town library at
Rheims, which has been printed.” In general the French versions
are very close adaptations or translations of the Latin original.”
The legend was first done into English at the end of the thirteenth
century. This version was one of the many lives of the saints
thus versified at that time and made one of a collection of Saints'
lives and other matter suited for the various festivals of the year,
known now as the Early South English Legendary. This great
collection was very often copied, and many forms of it are preserved
in various MSS. In general each copy of the Legendary contains
the story of the Purgatory." Four copies of this form of the
legend have been printed." Besides this version there are two
Jansdowne 383; VI. Bib. Nat. fr. 1526, by Geofroi de Paris; VII. Phillipps
Lib. at Chelt. 4156; Tours City Lib. 948, by Berol.
The version by Marie de France has been published with a preliminary study
on the legend in literature: L’Espurgatoire Seint Patriz of Marie de France, by
Thomas Atkinson Jenkins, Philadelphia, 1894.
* Paul Meyer, Notice sur le MS. 307 (anc, 851) de la bibl. d'Arras, Romania, xv.11,
p. 382. The prose MSS. are as follows: Bib. nat. fr. 411; 412; 834; 957; 1544;
13, 496; 19, 531; 25, 532; B. M. Roy. 20 D. VI; Add. 6524; Lib. at Arras 657
(form. 139); 307 (form. 851). .
* Li Purgatoire di Saint Patrice, Legende du xIIIe siècle, Publiée d'après un
manuscrit de la Bibliothèque de Reims. Société des Bibliophiles de Reims.
MDCCCXLII [ed. Prosper Tarbé.].
The edition is valueless. It is carelessly printed, and the editor is quite unac-
quainted with the history of the legend.. He does not know H. of Saltrey or any
Latin original of his Ms.; the name of the knight he gives Oieus, and supposes it
to be for Ojeus = Ogier, p. 9; Estevenon he takes to mean Suénon, p. 53; the author
of the account he takes to be Jocelyn, p. 54.
*I have not had the opportunity to examine all the French Mss.; but the two
B. M. Mss. and the one used by Tarbé are the translation, so-called, of the Legenda
Aurea by Jean Belet. The translation is not, however, derived from Jacobus, but
from a slightly abridged Ms. of Ward's second class. For the best discussion of
the question of Jean Belet’s connection with the Legenda Aurea, cf. Legenda
Aurea—Légende Dorée—Golden Legend, by Pierce Butler, Baltimore, 1899, p. 20 ft.
* Körting, Grundriss der englischen Litteratur, pp. 128–9, gives a full list of the Mss.
*I. Bodley Laud 108; printed by Horstmann, Alt. Eng. Legenden, Paderborn,
1875, p. 177 and alternate pp. following. Also by Horstmann, Early South English
Legendary, E. E. T. S. No. 87, London, 1887, pp. 199–220; II. B. M. Egerton 1993,
by Horstmann, Alt. Eng. Leg., as above, p. 175 and alternate pp. following; III.
6 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
--------->
F.100 b. col. 2.
F. 101 b. col. 1.
S
other early versions in English. The first is represented by two
MSS. ; this version is in octosyllabic couplets." The second, in
stanzaic form, is the Auchinleck version and is represented by a
single MS.* The English versions, also, with but slight variations,
adhere to the original Latin accounts. -
For convenience in the comparison of the later versions with the
earlier, it may be convenient at this point to give an outline of the
contents of a typical Latin MS. I have chosen for the purpose
the B. M. Ms. Roy. 13 B. VIII, which is one of the fullest and
completest of the early accounts. The work consists of a Praefatio,
the narration proper, and a short epilogue.
Praefatio: H., a monk of Saltrey, sends to H., abbot of Sartis,
the tale of Purgatory that he had mentioned in H. of Sartis'
presence. He refers to the dialogues of Gregory, tells how souls
have returned to the bodies of the dead and related their experi-
ences; he speaks then of the position of Hell and of the Earthly
Paradise, and declares that in this narrative he will tell of visions
seen and experienced by one in bodily form : quasi in specie et
forma corporali.
Incipit de purgatorio Sancti patricij : Patrick, the second of that
name, came to preach in Ireland and strove to convert the ‘bestiales
animos' of the Irish by painting the terrors of Hell and the joys
of Paradise to them. As an indication of their savage state the
writer tells that once when he was in Ireland, a man old and
white-haired, came to him just before Easter to confess for the
first time in his life. The confession had to be made through an
interpreter. The writer asked the Irishman if he had ever killed
a man; the Irishman answered, not more than five outright but
he did not know how many might have died afterwards of their
wounds; that it was the custom of his country to kill men. “Hee
ideo proposui, wi eorum ostenderem bestialitatem.’
Bodley Ashmol. 43, by Horstmann, Alt. Eng. Leg. as above, p. 150 ft.; IV. B. M.
Cott. Jul. D. Ix, variant readings from this MS. given by Horstmann, in connection
with Ashmol. 43, as above.
*I. B. M. Cott. Calig. A. II, printed by Kölbing, Eng. Studien, vol. I, pp. 113–21,
Breslau, 1876; II. Brome Ms., at Brome Hall in Suffolk, printed by L. T. Smith,
Eng. Studien, vol. IX, pp. 3–12, Breslau, 1886. Also, A Commonplace Book of the
15th Century, Norwich and London, 1886, pp. 82–106. -
* Owain Miles and other Inedited Fragments of Ancient English Poetry, Edinburgh,
MDCCCXXXVII [ed. by David Laing, W. B. D. D. Turnbull and others], pp. 13–54.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 7
'.101b. Col. 2.
kiw a. Col. 1.
F.102 a.Col. 2.
.102 b, col.1.
After Patrick had preached a long time to the people, they said
they would not believe his words unless they might look with
their eyes upon the torments of Hell and the joys of Paradise.
After he had prayed long and fasted, the Lord himself appeared
to Patrick, gave him a book and a staff (baculus ihesus) and lead-
ing him into the wilderness, he showed to him a round hole where
penitents might see the secrets of the other world. Patrick built
there a church, and placed in it monks of the Augustinian order;
he had doors placed at the entrance to the Purgatory, the keys of
which were kept by the prior of the church. Many entered the
Purgatory in Patrick’s lifetime; on their return, their experiences
were written down and preserved at the church, which was called
“reglis.’
After the death of Patrick there was one of the priors of the
church “reglis’ who lived entirely on bread and salt and water until
he grew so old that he had but one tooth left in his mouth. His
fellows used to hear angels singing at night about his cell, and this
was their song: Beatus estu, et beatus est dens qui est in ore tuo,
quem nunquam tetigit cibus delectabilis.
It was established that no one should enter the Purgatory with-
out a letter of permission from the bishop in whose diocese the
Purgatory lay ; if the bishop could not dissuade the penitent from
undertaking the perilous journey, he was to give him a letter to
the prior of the Purgatory who also should endeavor to dissuade
the bearer from his undertaking. If all persuasions were of no
avail, the penitent was to confess and remain fifteen days in the
church in fasting and prayer. At the end of this time he was to
be conducted to the Purgatory with procession and litany, and
having received the blessing of all, he was to be put into the
Purgatory. The next morning the prior was to return to the
door of the Purgatory, and if the penitent was there in waiting,
he was to be received joyfully and to be conducted again to the
church to spend another fifteen days in prayer and thanksgiving.
But if he was not found at the door, then they were to know that
he was forever lost, both body and soul. . -
In the time of King Stephen, a certain knight, named Owein,
was taken with the desire to do penance for his sins in the Purga-
tory of St. Patrick. He received the letter from the bishop; he
8 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
F.104 a. Col. 2.
F. 104b. col. 1.
F. 105 a. Col. 1.
F. 105 a.. col. 2.
overcame also the objections of the prior, and after his fifteen days
fasting and prayer, he was placed in the Purgatory.
At first it was quite dark but soon it grew a little lighter, as it
is in winter after sunset. Owein saw at a distance a beautiful
building, built all open like a cloister; he entered and sat down
in this building and soon fifteen men, all clothed in white, with
heads newly shaven, appeared to him. The chief of these men
addressed him and told him of the trials he was about to undergo
and assured him that by repeating the name of Jesus, he would be
able to escape them all. When the men had left him, Owein put
on the armor of God, the breast-plate of justice, the helmet of
eternal salvation, the shield of faith and the sword of the spirit
which is the word of God. Thus protected he awaited the coming
of the fiends of Hell. They soon gathered about him with yells
and groanings. First they bound him hand and foot and cast him
into a fire; but the name of Jesus saved him. He was then
carried to the south-east—ubi sol oritur in media estate—to a great
field where sinners were fastened to the earth, face-downward, by
burning nails. Some gnawed the earth in their torment and others
continually cried in vain for mercy. The name of Jesus saved
Owein from this torment also. He was led then to a second field
where people were fastened to the earth as before, but with faces
upward. Toads and all venomous reptiles bit and stung the suf-
ferers; but Owein escaped as before.
He was then led to a third field where people lay on the earth
with their bodies so filled with burning nails that there was not
space to place a finger between them. In the next field, the fourth,
were people hung in burning chains by the various members of the
body. There also was a great fiery wheel, part of which passed
through a pit of burning sulphur in its revolutions. On the
spokes of this wheel were burning hooks and to the hooks were
fastened sinners; the fiends of Hell turned the wheel at such a
rapid rate, that it seemed one circle of fire. After viewing and
escaping from these torments, Owein was led to a bath-house of
boiling metals which were contained in little pools so close together
that one could not stand between them. In these pools people were
immersed to different depths. Owein was then led to a mountain
from the top of which sinners were blown by a strong wind into a
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 9
105 b, Col. 1.
105 b. Col. 2.
106 a.col. 2.
108 a.col.1.
108 b. col. 2.
stinking lake of icy water, where the fiends kept them continually
beneath the water. Then he was taken to the pit of Hell, as the
fiends said falsely. He was cast into this pit and almost forgot to
say the name of Jesus; but he recollected his prayer in time to
save himself. At all these torments Owein was offered the choice
of returning unharmed to earth or of undergoing the torments; but
he always refused to return and passed safely through them by the
help of the name of Jesus. -
After the false pit of Hell, Owein was led to the last torment,
the true pit of Hell and the bridge that led over it. This bridge
was difficult to cross for three reasons: first, it was slippery; second,
it was so narrow and thin that it seemed no one could possibly
stand or walk upon it; and third, it extended so high into the air
that it was frightful even to look at. The fiends told Owein that
he must cross this bridge; and to let him see the difficulty of the
act, they took him by the arms and he mounted upon it. But by
repeating the name of Jesus, Owein found no difficulty in walking
on the bridge. The farther he walked the wider it grew, until it
became so wide that two wagons might have passed on it. Thus
Owein crossed the bridge safely, and left behind him the fiends
who were powerless to follow him. -
Here is inserted a sermon to be delivered by the reading monk
to his listening brethren. Anselm is quoted on the evil of little
sins; Augustine on the duty of humility; and Gregory on the
method of lessening the pains of friends in purgatory.
After Owein had crossed the bridge, he came to a high wall,
from a gate in which there issued a great procession of all men of
religion. He was received by these men and conducted through
the gate into a beautiful country of flowers, and fields, and fair
trees, in which many birds were singing. Two bishops, who were
chiefs of the procession, told him that this was the terrestris para-
disus; that the people of this Earthly Paradise were being gradu-
ally taken up into the true Heaven. They showed Owein the
gates of Paradise, whence issued heavenly food like a flame, of
which he partook ; this was their only sustenance. Owein would
gladly have remained here; but the bishops told him it was neces-
sary for him to return to earth again, but that if he lived a good
life, he would be received there on his death.
10 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
F. 109 b. Col. 2.
F.111 a.col.1.
F.111 a. Col. 1.
F.111 a. Col. 2.
F.111 b. col. 1.
F.111 b. col. 2.
F.112 a. Col.1.
Here is inserted a second homily in which is given a detailed
account of the spiritual joys of heaven.
Owein returned unmolested to the entrance of the Purgatory
where he was met again by the fifteen men in white. In the morn-
ing, he was received by the prior of the Purgatory with great
rejoicing; he remained in the abbey another fifteen days in prayer
and thanksgiving. Afterwards he went on a pilgrimage to Jeru-
Salem, and on his return took the habit of religion.
The rest of the manuscript is taken up with proofs of the veracity
of the above account. Gervase, abbot of Louth, gained consent
of the Irish king to build a monastery in his land. Gervase sent
Gilbert of Louth, who afterwards became abbot of ‘basingewerch,'
with others, to Ireland, to select a place and found the monastery.
On arriving in Ireland, Gilbert found he had need of an interpreter
and the king gave him the knight Owein as interpreter. Owein
often told Gilbert the story of his sufferings in Purgatory. Gilbert
in turn often told the story when Henry], the present writer, was
present. One time when he told the story, some one expressed a
doubt as to the reality of the visions of Owein, and Gilbert told
them of a monk in his monastery who was carried out of his bed
by devils and detained by them three days; on his return he was
seen to be grieviously wounded, and told of many torments he had
seen and experienced. ‘Hucusque Gilebertus.’
The author then takes the word. He says recently he asked two
abbots of Ireland concerning this tale. One said he had never
heard anything of it; but the other affirmed the truth of it. Also
he asked a certain bishop named Florentianus and this bishop also
affirmed the truth of it, saying that the Purgatory was in his
bishopric. The bishop further narrated a very remarkable event
which occurred not far from the place of the Purgatory: there was
a certain monk who used to be present at a council of devils which
was held every night. At this council, they rehearsed their acts of
the day and their plans for the morrow. In this way, the monk
became acquainted with many of the most secret things of the
neighborhood.
Then the bishop's chaplain tells two stories that he had heard
from this same monk that the bishop had told about. One night
when the devils were assembled, and in response to their chief,
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 11
.112a, col. 2.
+ often tried to lead astray. One night one of the devils perfected a
,112b. Col. 2.
each was telling what his spoils of the day were, one said “I bring
bread and cheese and butter and flour; ” and said that he had
taken it from a rich farmer who had told two clerks that he had
nothing to give them, while all the time he kept this in secret.
This monk also told of a certain priest whom the devils had
plot to win him. As the priest was taking his usual morning walk
in the cemetery, he found beside a cross, a little babe. He took
the child and gave it into the hands of a nurse, who reared her care-
fully. Fifteen years later the plot of the devil began to ripen.
The priest was filled with a violent passion for his adopted daugh-
ter. But just as he was about to commit a great act of sin, the
power which does not permit man to be tempted above that he is
able, came to his aid. He left the maid and seizing a knife, with
his own hand mutilated himself, thus triumphing over the devil.
The maid was put into a nunnery, where she continued to serve
God. -
In a short epilogue the author again addresses the abbot of Sartis
and beseeches the charitable judgment of all readers and hearers of
his tale.
CHAPTER II.
THE LEGEND IN SPANISH LITERATURE : THE HISTORY
OF LUIS ENIUS.
In Spanish literature the legend of the Purgatory took an inter-
esting and original course of development. It was first given
popular form by a writer of power and imagination—Juan Perez
de Montalvan, follower and biographer of Lope de Vega, who in
1627 published a small book at Madrid, called Vida y Purgatorio
de S. Patricio." The story, however, was well known in Spain
before the time of Montalvan’s book. Montalvan states as much
when he declares the purpose of his book to be to draw forth “la
* Vida y Purgatorio de S. Patricio. Por el Doctor Juan Perez de Montalvan,
natural de Madrid. En esta quinta impression emendaday afiadido por el mismo
Autor. En Madrid. Afio MDCXXVIII.
12 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
piadosa verdad desta materia, que hasta aqui ha padecido algunos
accidentes, por lo apocrifo de los quadermos que andan por todo el
mundo manuescritos” (f. 37). -
Montalvan gave the hero of his version a name which in vary-
ing forms is thereafter one of the constantly recurring names of
the knight who visited the Purgatory. It is curious to note the
changes which Henry of Saltrey’s “miles Owein’ has undergone
at the hands of different writers. In Latin the name is generally
Owenus, Oenus, Oengus; in English it is Owen, Owein or Owayne,
Sir Howyne, Owain Miles; in French it is Oben, Egnus, Oiens,
Oieus; and in Spanish the name, as given by Montalvan, is Ludo-
vico Enio or Luis Enius. As Montalvan's version is of importance
in starting a long line of translations and adaptations, a full analysis
of it will be necessary. -
At the beginning of the volume the author has inserted a num-
ber of letters of commendation and dedication. Among these are
the license for the printing of the book, dated February 3, 1627;
a letter of approbation dated January 3, 1627, at Madrid; a simi-
lar letter dated at Madrid January 21, 1627, wherein the writer
states that he has read the book and finds nothing therein con-
trary to the Catholic faith or to good morals, and declares his
belief that it will increase the devotion and faith of those who
occupy themselves in reading it. The body of the book is in nine
chapters. The first chapter tells of the parents of St. Patrick, of
his birth, his early education, his miracles, his mission and his
death. The usual stories of St. Patrick’s abduction, his service as
slave, his visions and his miracles are told. *
The second chapter treats of certain particulars concerning the
soul for the better understanding of the Purgatory of St. Patrick.
The first part of the chapter endeavors to prove that the soul is a
purely spiritual substance. The author says (f. 30 b) that at the
very instant the soul leaves the body, it is conveyed to one of four
places—Heaven, Purgatory, Limbus, or Hell. The earth is round
like a sphere. The lowest part of the earth is the center, an
indivisible point and this point is Hell. Heaven is the highest
point on the earth, and is a sort of cover or lid (cubre, f. 31) for
the earth. Purgatory is between Heaven and Hell but nearer to
Hell than to Heaven. Not quite so close to Hell as Purgatory, is
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 13
the Limbus of little children; a little higher yet is the Bosom of
Abraham where dwell all those good men who died before the
year of grace. The just immediately on passing from this life
are received into Heaven, where they enjoy forever the sight of
God. Those, however, who have died in their sins, are trans-
ported straight to Hell; and there although the pains are infinite
in number, yet there are twenty special pains that the damned
suffer—ten physical and ten spiritual or mental. The physical
pains are: first, a fire that burns incessantly yet does not consume;
Second, the pain of extreme cold; third, a great noise of howling
and wailing; fourth, a thick smoke; fifth, the stench of burning
sulphur; sixth, the sight of the horrible demons and fiends of
Hell; seventh, the torture of hunger and racking pain; eighth,
the torture of intense thirst ; ninth, the great number of the pun-
ished—so great that when the fiends leave off punishing them, they
torture each other by reason of their nearness; tenth, the distress
of being compelled to remain naked and of being treated as slaves.
The ten spiritual pains are (f. 34 a): first, the lack of the sight of
God; second, remorse of conscience; third, the hatred of the just ;
fourth, the abborrence of God ; fifth, envy of the blessed; sixth,
the constant fear of greater torments; seventh, the knowledge that
their condition is everlasting; eighth, the sorrow they feel for their
unhappy position ; ninth, the great desire they have to die, being
by no means able to do so; tenth, the horror they have conceived
of the crimes committed in the body, the desire to be swallowed
up in the abyss of the earth rather than that their misdeeds be
brought before them. Those (f. 35 b) who die without baptism
before reaching the age of discretion are received into Limbus,
where they suffer no actual torment but are deprived forever of
the sight of God; and those who die without having made satis-
faction for any sin whatsoever, go to Purgatory there to be
purified before they can enter Heaven. The author then reverts
(f. 36 a) to his main purpose, to tell of the special Purgatory of
St. Patrick, where one still living may enter: “estando con su
entera Salud” (f. 36). He declares that although the church does
not demand belief in this Purgatory under pain of anathema,
yet the authorities that attest the truth of it deserve greatest
confidence.
14 - Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
The third chapter describes the situation of the Purgatory and
gives the reason why St. Patrick sought the revelation of it from
the Lord. The description of the situation of the Purgatory is
very free and poetical. The Augustinian monastery is described
as situated in a very beautiful and fertile valley which is sur-
rounded by a rugged and mountainous country. The pit itself,
the entrance to the Purgatory, is said to be two hundred feet in
length and breadth (f. 40 a). The reason given for the revelation
of the Purgatory is the usual one—that it was to overcome the
incredulity of the people and to afford a visible sign of the things
St. Patrick preached to them. - -
Chapter four cites authorities and gives reasons why one should
have confidence in the certitude of the Purgatory. The author's
list of authorities includes all the chief writers on the legend down
to his time. In chapter five the preliminary ceremonies of the
Purgatory are described. The account is in all respects the same
as that given in the earlier versions.
In chapter six begins the story of Luis Enius. It is in this
chapter that Montalvan has dealt most freely with his materials.
The dozen or less lines which in the earlier accounts are given to
the knight's early life, are here expanded into a long chapter of
detail and incident. The story runs as follows: Luis was born in
Ireland, but at a very early age he left that country and went to
Toulouse. His family was one of wealth and high position and
Luis had all the advantages that such condition brings with it.
He was, however, possessed of an evil disposition. Before his
fifteenth year Luis was left an orphan, and from that time, he led
a life of extravagance and profligacy, squandering the money and
estates his father had left him. When his money was all gone, he
often resorted to deeds of violence in order to maintain himself,
and many murders were laid at his door. One of his victims,
however, outwitted him and devoted himself to the task of bring-
ing him to justice. Frightened at this turn of affairs, Luis fled
to a monastery near Perpignan where he was received and kindly
treated as a penitent sinner. At this monastery there was a
beautiful girl named Theodosia, cousin to Luis. The evil in Luis’
nature soon asserted itself. He persuaded his innocent cousin to
rob the monastery and to fly with him to Spain. They reached
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 15
Valencia in safety with their treasure which, however, was soon
spent in riotous living. After this in order to continue his life of
ease and pleasure, Luis made merchandise of the beautiful Theo-
dosia. For ten years they lived this life of shame up and down
Spain, when Theodosia in an accession of strength, escaped to the
refuge of a monastery in Andalusia. Here in spite of the efforts
of Luis to regain her, she remained until her death a short time
after. When he saw that Theodosia was forever lost to him, Luis
drifted back to Toulouse where he found a state of war. He
enlisted in the French army, and soon, by his reckless bravery and
boldness, was raised to the rank of captain. But his position
served him only as a shield in a course of even greater profligacy
and wickedness than he had pursued before. -
One night he had made plans to murder a man who was one of
his creditors. But having mistaken the time his victim would
pass a certain point, he arrived at the place too early. As he
stood waiting, a paper fluttered down before him without falling,
and as he grasped at it, it constantly eluded him. Led on by this
paper, he wandered far from the place and his victim escaped him.
On the second night the murder was prevented in the same way.
On the third night, Luis secured the paper, and as he grasped it,
he saw beside him a cross, all illuminated, with this inscription in
the French language (f. 70): ‘Aqui mataron a un hombre, rueguen
a Dios por el.” On looking at his paper, Luis saw depicted a death
and beneath this death were the words written in large letters:
‘Je Soy Ludovico Enio.” Luis accepted this marvel as a warning.
He reflected upon the course of his life, and for the first time felt
remorse for his evil deeds. He betook himself to Rome. Here
in the church of St. Paul he heard a Dominican preaching and to
him he confessed all the sins of his life. The Dominican was
merciful and imposed so light a penance that Luis could scarcely
believe his confession had been understood. Thereafter he lived
in joy and peace, continually thanking the divine mercy of God,
and reading much in books of good counsel. In his reading, he
happened upon a book that told of St. Patrick’s Purgatory and
was immediately taken with a great desire to do penance at this
holy place for his life of sin. Overcoming the objections of his
friends in Rome, Luis made his way to Ireland, received a letter
16 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
from the Archbishop and hastened to the Purgatory. The prior
of the Purgatory received him kindly and after the performance
of the customary ceremonies, he gave him this prayer (f. 78):
“Jesu Christo hijo de Dios vivo, tened misericordia de mi pecador,”
and put him into the Purgatory. Returning the next day the
prior found Luis waiting at the entrance of the Purgatory. He
was joyfully received by the prior and his monks. Luis then
begged that he might take on the habit of their order and he was
gladly received into their number. The prior was curious to know
all about the strange things that had befallen Luis in the Purga-
tory and at his request Luis told him everything.
In the two chapters following (VII and VIII) Luis gives a descrip-
tion of the pains of Purgatory. The account is an abbreviated
form of the older versions. Luis is first met by twelve men in
white; after warning and advice have been given him by their
chief, the course of punishment begins. When Luis has advanced
some distance into Purgatory, he finds that the sufferers have
something more cheerful and hopeful in their expression than he
had noticed before. He discovers that the more cheerful ones will
soon be freed from their sins and will be ready for Heaven. In
this state he met many people that he had known on earth—first,
the Dominican at Rome to whom he had confessed ; also, his
cousin who, when he left his country, was not yet dead. Luis
asked how she who had led such a pious life should come to be in
Purgatory and she answered, for her vanity in dress and the great
trouble she had taken in the care of her face. Having passed
through the torments, Luis came to the river of Hell and the
bridge. The bridge was hard to cross for four reasons: first, it
was made of ice whereon one might easily slip; second, it swung
continually up and down; third, there was no support to which
one could hold; and fourth, a strong wind blew against it con-
tinually. Luis, however, helped in the usual way by his prayer,
crossed the bridge safely and then entered into the Earthly Paradise.
In the last chapter (Cap. IX) Luis describes the assembly of the
blessed, and what passed in this company. He was shown the
glories of the Earthly Paradise, and finally, much against his will,
he was led back to the way through Purgatory. On his return
journey he was not molested by the fiends. But on approaching
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 17
the entrance he found no door. He had recourse to his prayer,
there was a loud clap of thunder, a rending of the rocks, and he
fell a great distance. Through clefts in the rock he found his way
to the gate where he was received by the prior. The chapter closes
with an account of a nine days penance and prayer, and the receiv-
ing of Luis into the monastery.
The Purgatory part of Montalvan's story is the least important
part. It is probable, as Ticknor says," that this book was written
by Montalvan “to satisfy the demands of his ecclesiastical posi-
tion.” But it can hardly be called a religious book. The chief
interest of the story centers about the wild tale of the life of Luis
Enius, which is almost entirely of the author's own invention.
Montalvan himself, in his address to the reader, characterizes his
book as a religious novel: “te remito el Purgatorio de San Patricio:
en que a mi ver hallaròs una devota suspension, que te divierta, y
atemorize; una nouela a lo diwino, que te prouoque, y escarmiete; y
ºwna historia prodigiosa, que juTulamente te castigue, y lisongee.”
The author was familiar with all the Purgatory literature that
had been written down to his time. In an indication of his sources,
he gives a long list of names, among which are Henry of Saltrey,
Mathew Paris, Ralph Higden, Jacobus a Voragine, Jacques de
Vitry, Messingham, and O'Sullevan, whose Compendium had ap-
peared six years before. From O’Sullevan, Montalvan derived
many features of his version that are not common to the older
texts; for example, the incident of the cousin punished for vanity
and the description of the bridge over the river of Hell. -
The book was very popular in Spain. It passed through a
number of editions and “was long " says Ticknor” “a popular
book of devotion.” Its popularity was not, however, confined to
Spain. It was translated into French a few years after its publi-
cation, first at Brussels,” in 1637; this translation is without the
additions of a second translation made by F. Bouillon “at Paris,
* History of Spanish Literature. Vol. II, p. 314,
*Vol. II, p. 367, note. -
* La Vie Admirable Du Grand S. Patrice Auec l’Histoire veritable de son fameua,
et lant renommé Purgatoire. Mise en Espagnol par le Docteur Jehan Perez de
Montaluan natif de Madrid. Et traduit en François Sur la sixiesme edition, par
F. A. S. Chartreux à Bruxelles. A Bruxelles l’an MDCXXXVII.
‘Histoire de la Vie et du Purgatoire de S. Patrice, mise en François par le R. P.
François Bouillon. A Paris. MDCXLIII.
18 Saint Patrick's Purgatory
1643. This second translation was the more popular of the two
in France and passed through numerous editions. It is a very
close rendering of Montalvan's book, omits nothing, and only once
or twice adds anything. The most interesting addition is where
Montalvan describes the different places of abode for souls after
death. Bouillon adds another explanation of the Limbus of little
children and supports his view by a long list of citations. His
theory is that infants after the universal judgment will occupy the
earth which will then have been purified by fire. These children
will have all the joy possible on earth, the beauty of the sky, the
sun, the flowers, trees and birds, but will ever lack what alone
could make them supremely happy—the sight of God,
Wright (p. 156–8) is mistaken in placing Bouillon’s translation
in the eighteenth century and in supposing that it is derived from
Calderon's drama of St. Patrick's Purgatory, Wright says (p.
157): “The first censorial approbation attached to it is dated in
1701, while another bears date 1742.” The book in its construc-
tion very evidently follows the pattern of its original. There is
first a letter of dedication ; next an address to the reader; third,
an official license for the printing of the book, which is dated
November 27, 1642; fourth, a letter of approbation, certifying
that the writers of the letter have read the book and find nothing
in it contrary to faith and good morals, dated December 7, 1642,
at Paris; and fifth, an extract from the royal privilege, dated
Paris, December 16, 1642. { -
The history of Luis Enius was also soon translated into Dutch
in “Het Wonderlyck Leven van den grooten H. Patricius, Patri-
arch van Irlandt. Met de vreeselycke ende wonderlycke Historie
van het Vaghevier van den selven Heylighen.”’ It is a very
close translation of Montalvan’s book. That it is taken from the
Spanish (or more likely from the Brussels translation), is evi-
dent from the fact that it does not contain Bouillon's disquisition
on the Limbus of little children nor the other additions of his
translation. - - *
*The edition I have used declares itself to be the eighth : Den achsten druck
van veel grove druck-fouten verbetert. Tot Antwerpen Woor Willem van Bloe-
men. Men vint-se te koope, Tot Ghent, by Cornelis Meyer, op d'Hoog poorte
in 't gecroont Sweert. The date and place of the translation, Brussels, 1668, we
learn from the ‘Censura’ which precedes, dated September 26, 1668.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 19
An idea of the continued popularity of this Dutch translation
may be had from the appearance almost a century later of another
edition' of the same book—doubtless one of many. The ‘Cen-
Sura’ of the earlier edition is repeated, and a new one is added,
dated Nov. 26, 1756, with permission of publication.”
Luis Enius is also the hero of Calderon's religious drama, El
Purgatorio de San Patricio.” The play is not as Wright supposes
(p. 154), chiefly the creation of Calderon’s own imagination. It
has, as its single source, the story as given by Montalvan, and is
nothing more nor less than a dramatization of Montalvan's book.
It was written before 1635 (Hartzenbusch, vol. IV, p. 674); Mon-
talvan's book was published in 1627. r * * -
The play treats first of the life of St. Patrick, his abduction, his
miracles, and his mission; then of the life of Luis Enius, and
lastly, of Luis’ visit to the Purgatory of St. Patrick." The people
of the play are Egerius, king of Ireland, a fierce enemy of all
religion ; Saint Patrick; Luis Enius; Philip, a soldier and lover
of the king's daughter; Polonia and Lesbia, the king's daughters;
and other less important characters. The chief additions to the
list of characters are a gracioso, or clown, and his wife. The scene
passes in Ireland at the court of Egerius and other places.
The play opens on the sea-shore, with precipitous cliffs. The
king is enraged at a strange and unintelligible vision he has had,
*Title as above, except: In dezen laetsten Druk overzien en gezuyvert. Tot
Mechelen, by J. A. Cnick. Men wind-ze te koopen tot Gend, by L. van Paemel,
Boekdrukker, Overschelde. - .
* Lowndes (Bibliog. Manual), under Patrick, notes a book in Italian, which I
have not seen, but which, judging from the title, is a translation of Montalvan's
book into that language. The title is: Vita del Prodigioso, S. Patricio, Primate
dell Ibernia, divisa in XIV libri, con la relazione del rinomata sua Purgatorio Scritto
da Marco Parisiense e la Veridica Storia di Luigi Ennio. . Venezia 1757.
* Comedias de Don Pedro Calderon de la Barca. Hecha 6 ilustrada por Don
Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch, Madrid, 1848. El Purgatorio de San Patricio, vol. 1,
pp. 150–166. . . . * * *
“The play has been admirably translated into English in the Dramas of Calde-
ron, translated by Denis Florence M’Carthy, Esq. London, 1853. The Purgatory
of Saint Patrick, vol. II, p. 141 to p. 258. . . -
Also: Calderon's Dramas. Now first translated fully from the Spanish in the
metre of the original. By Denis Florence Mac-Carthy. London, 1873. The
Purgatory of St. Patrick, pp. 235–377. This second is an entirely new translation
and is to be preferred to the one of 1853. -
20 - Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
of a lovely youth from whose mouth came a lambent fire that
consumed his two daughters, but left him unconsumed. As he is
endeavoring to explain this wonder, a trumpet sounds and Polonia
who is expecting the arrival of her lover, Philip, goes forth to see
if it is he. She returns with the mournful announcement that
Philip's ship has been wrecked within sight of land, beneath a
clear sky. Immediately Patrick and Luis enter, apparently the
the sole survivors of the wrecked ship. In obedience to the king's
command, Patrick in a long speech gives an account of himself,
of his birth-place, his parents, his education, his early miracles;
he tells how he was captured by the pirate Philip, who intended
to bring him as a present to Egerius, and how Heaven had ordered
the destruction of Philip's boat there in sight of land; how he
had saved himself more out of desire to save Luis Enius, towards
whom some mysterious instinct drew him, than for love of his
own life. Patrick then interprets the king's vision: the flame is
the word of God which shall convert the king's daughters who
will be saved; but the king himself will not be saved. Luis
follows Patrick in a second long speech, giving a reckless account
of all his many evil deeds. After this Egerius, who hates all
Christians, spurns Patrick and sends him as his slave to watch his
flocks. In Luis, however, who is Christian only in name, he finds
a congenial spirit and takes him into his favour. But before they
separate to their different fates, Patrick draws from Philip the
promise that, alive or dead, they two shall meet again on this earth.
The act closes with an angelic visit to Patrick in his slavery. The
angel gives him a letter in which his country calls upon him for
deliverance; he further bids him go to France to study, to Rome
to get his commission from the Pope, and finally to Tours where
he is to visit Martin. -
The second act opens three years later. We find that Philip was
not drowned at the time his ship was wrecked and has now re-
turned to the court. Luis, however, who has been much honored
by the king has succeeded in drawing to himself the love of
Philip's mistress, Polonia. In a quarrel with Philip, Luis attempts
to take the life of his rival and thus incurs the displeasure of the
king. He is thrown into prison and the king orders his execution,
less, however, because of his misdeed than that he is at least.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 21
nominally a Christian and Patrick who has returned to Ireland
and has been preaching his mission, has enraged the king more
than ever against the Christian faith. Polonia, however, comes to
Luis in prison, bringing treasure with her and they escape together.
Once free of the prison, in order to make his escape more sure and
to possess for himself the treasure, Luis kills Polonia. Luis
then flees to Spain. The king and his party, in search of Luis
and Polonia, find the dead body of Polonia among the flowers.
Patrick, in the vicinity of whose hut the murder had occurred, as
a sign to the king who demands a proof of Patrick’s declaration
of the immortality of the soul, raises Polonia to life. The visions
she has seen during her period of unconsciousness have converted
her to the Christian religion; but Egerius is still incredulous,
and after a long metaphysical argument with Patrick concerning
Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, he commands Patrick under pain
of death to give him a visible sign of the pains of Purgatory and
the joys of Heaven.
Patrick prays that Purgatory, Heaven, and Hell may be re-
vealed to unbelieving mortals' sight. A good and a bad angel
visit him, but the good angel is finally victorious and the prayer
is granted. Patrick conducts the king and his followers to the
cave of Purgatory. Dread portents warn them from it; Polonia
appears and tells how she had attempted to take refuge in the cave
and was frightened away by cries of pain and horror. Egerius,
however, unmoved by Polonia’s dreadful description, approaches
the cave and enters. He sinks into it with much noise, flames
rise from below and many voices are heard. With cries of horro
all flee from the place. - -
The third act opens with the return of Luis to Ireland. During
the time of his absence Patrick has died ; and Luis thinks of his
old promise, that they two, alive or dead, should meet once more
on this earth. Luis has not forgotten his old quarrel with Philip
and has come back to avenge the insult Philip had done him, by
killing his rival. On two successive nights he is diverted from
his purpose by the appearance of a muffled figure that leads him
away from the place he had appointed for the deed. The third
night he follows the figure which is mysteriously protected from
his sword, and tears off the cloak that conceals it from his eyes.
22 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
Beneath the garment he finds a stiff and stony skeleton. In
answer to Luis’ question, the skeleton declares itself to be a most
faithful portrait of Luis himself.
Luis takes warning from this fearful portent; a mysterious
voice tells him of the Purgatory as he is casting about for some
method of doing penance. He immediately sets out for the cave.
Near by it he meets Polonia who has been living the life of a
hermit in the vicinity. There is mutual recognition and Polonia
directs Luis to the place of the Purgatory. Luis performs the
established rites in the Augustinian monastery and enters the cave.
The next morning the prior and his monks, together with Lesbia,
Philip (who has now settled his affections on Lesbia) and the other
characters of the play, all brought together by Polonia, go to the
entrance of the cave to meet Luis. He comes forth safe and
Sound. At the command of the prior, Luis relates in a long
speech all that befell him in the Purgatory. He also tells how,
in the Earthly Paradise, he met Patrick, thus fulfilling the com-
pact they had made many years before. The play closes with an
epilogue in which Calderon repeats the list of authorities for the
legend which Montalvan had inserted into his work."
The play is fairly close in its adherence to the original, although
it emphasizes the love story somewhat more than Montalvan's
account. The chief addition is a gracioso—“ as rude and free-
spoken as the rudest of his class” (Ticknor, II, 367). In one
incident Calderon greatly improves upon his predecessor—in the
skeleton scene of the third act. The floating piece of paper in
Montalvan's story offers the suggestion for a very fine dramatic
situation in the drama. “The story of the vision of himself at
Lerici, as recorded in some of the lives of the poet Shelley, which
is almost identical with that in Calderon, was evidently suggested
by this scene” (MacCarthy, pp. 352–3).” But the chief worth of
the play lies in the scattered passages of true poetic beauty and
*The absurdity of this list of “monkish authorities” is not so great as Ticknor
(vol. II, 368) may lead one to believe; for the list occurs in a sort of epilogue
and comes rather from the author than from Luis. -
* Shelley, in the Preface to the Cenci, states that Beatrice's description of the
chasm where her father is to be murdered (Act III, Sc. 1) was suggested by a pas-
sage in Calderon's El Purgatorio. The passage in Calderon is Act II, Sc. XIX.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 23.
greatness to be found in almost every scene. The play is, ac-
cording to Ticknor (II, 318), “commonly ranked among the best
religious plays of the Spanish theatre in the seventeenth century.”
From the stage, parts of Calderon's drama passed into the popu-
lar literature of the chap-book. La Cueva de San Patricio" is a
curious broadside of eight pages, with quaint wood-cut illustrations.
It is divided into two parts; the ‘Primera Parte' relates the life
of Luis Enius and is taken word for word from Calderon's drama,
Act I, Sc. II (Hartzenbusch, pp. 151–2). The ‘Segunda Parte’
relates the torments that Luis endured in Purgatory. It includes,
with the exception of five lines at the beginning, all the long
speech of Luis, delivered at the request of the prior, in Act III,
Sc. X (Hartzenbusch, pp. 164–6). -
In the next century there appeared another edition of the same
extract. Relacion el Purgatorio de San Patricio,” printed at Cor-
doba, contains only the first speech of Luis, which tells of his life.
It is number 254 of a series of chap-books; probably the second
speech follows in a later number of the same series. The pamphlet
is not dated, but it is evidently late. The British Museum cata-
logue places it, with question, at 1850, which is doubtless the
approximate date.
In Spain, popular belief in the Purgatory was kept alive to a
very late period. Numerous protests were directed against the
story and the superstitious practices it encouraged among the
people. With this purpose one of the papers of Benito Feijoo's
Theatro Critico” takes up the subject of St. Patrick’s Purgatory.
Feijoo (1676–1764), who has been called the “Spanish Addison,”
wrote voluminously on the abuses and superstitions of his time,
and to him is to be accorded the credit of overthrowing many of
the popular errors of the Spain of the eighteenth century.
"La Cueva de San Patricio. [Col.] Con Licencia: En Madrid, en la Imprenta
de Cruzada. Año. de 1764. - - - -
* Relacion el Purgatorio de San Patricio. [Col.] Con licencia: En Cordoba, en
la Imprenta de D. Luis de Ramos y Coria, Plazuela de las Cañas donde se hallara
todo genero de surtimiento, y estampas en negro è iluminadas. -
* Theatro Critico Universal, o Discursos Varios en todo Genero de Materias, para
desengaño de Errores comunes. Escrito Por el muy ilustre Señor Don Fray Benito
Geronymo Feijoo. En Madrid MDCCLV. Tomo Septimo, pp. 156–179.
24 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
In the essay on the legend of the Purgatory, Feijoo declares
(p. 157) his purpose to be to find out what truth there is in the
popular story of the Purgatory. He recites the story as it is
given by Matthew Paris (pp. 158–9), and by Calderon (pp. 160–1);
and mentions the story of Owen as given by Henry of Saltrey
(p. 168), the version by O'Sullevan, of Raymond (p. 168), and the
story of the monk of Eymstadt (p. 169) taken from the Bollandist
account. After reviewing the literary forms of the legend, Feijoo
examines it from the point of view of its conformity to the rules
of the church, and finds that it contains various falsehoods and
irregularities. His denunciation is expressed in respectful and
restrained language. But he concludes that though St. Patrick
himself may have had the visions of the Purgatory, it is impos-
sible to suppose that they have continued an abiding feature of
the Cave.
CHAPTER III.
THE LEGEND IN FRENCH LITERATURE.
The popularity of the legend of St. Patrick’s Purgatory was as
lasting in French literature as in Spanish literature. There are
evidences of the continuous life of the legend from the first trans-
lation by Marie de France in the twelfth century to the middle of
the last century.
It is interesting to note that several visits of Frenchmen to the
Purgatory are matters of actual record. One very early visit was
apparently made in 1248 by one named Godalh." It seems prob-
' Collection de Documents inédits sur l'histoire de France: Mélanges Historiques: ed.
by M. Champollion Figeac, Paris, 1847; Vol. III, pp. 258-376, is a reprint of
Notices et Ertraits des Manuscrits concernant l'histoire de France et la litterature
française, conservés dans les bibliothèques d’Italie, Paris, 1839. On p. 325 of this
reprint, in a list of the French Mss. at Turin, M. Lacroix records the vision of
Godalh. The Ms. is marked 4. 22. K, a folio MS, of 122 ft., paper, of the XIII
century. The version which has not been printed is called: “Una vesion fow
facta en Ibernia en l'an de Notre Senhor 1248 qi era lo Segond an de papa eugens
quart.” The opening lines are as follows: “Un home hat en Ibernia, qi havia nom
Godalh, qi fou mot cruel e pervers en tota sa vida, e era noble de linhage, alegie de cara
e de bel regardament, e estant jove siant si én aySO mespreet tot aco qi era de Salu d
s'arma, aysi con el depueys ho recontava cum lagremas. . . . .”
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 25
able that the account given by Godalh resulted from an actual
visit to the place described.
As proof of another visit to the Purgatory, there is preserved a
bit of the official evidence with which it became common to Sup-
port the later visits. In Rymer’s Foedera (Vol. III, Pt. IV, p. 135)
there is a letter, “De salvo conductu, ad visitandum Purgatorium
Sancti Patricii,” given at Westminster by Richard II, under date
Sept. 7, 1397, to “Reymundos vicecomes de Perilleua et de Rodes
Chivaler, Camerarius carissimi Patris nostri Franciae,” together
with twenty men and thirty horses in his retinue. Raymond made
his visit and afterward wrote an account of his experiences in
the Limousin dialect." Raymond’s story fell into the hands of
O'Sullevan, who translated it into Latin and placed this Latin
translation in his Compendium.” O’Sullevan tells us (Cap. 1) that
while he was in Spain a colleague gave him a “libellum manu-
scriptum,’ in which a Viscount Raymond told of his journey to
St. Patrick’s Purgatory, his experiences there, and his return home.
This book he declares it to be his intention to translate as literally
as possible. In Cap. II Raymond tells his story in the first person:
“Ego Ramon Dei gratia Perellosium et Rodarum vicecomes, Seretae
Baro, fui apud Carolum Galliae regem, quo cum pater meus, 8wus
elavicularius et militiae praefectus moriens me reliquit, ab ineumte
aetate educatus.” Taken with a desire to view the wonders of the
world, Raymond set out with his followers and saw many things,
all of which he now purposes to pass over except the Purgatory
of St. Patrick. He then gives the reason for the founding of the
Purgatory, the rites to be performed by aspirants for entrance, and
then the story of the monk with one tooth (cf. above, p. 7). Then
follows his reason for visiting the Purgatory: When Charles of
|Prance died Raymond betook himself to John of Ariagon, king of
Spain, ‘cufus ful jure gentium cliens ; John treated him with much
honor and kindness. After the king's death, Raymond desired
earnestly to know how his former master fared in Purgatory, and
'Brunet (Le Voyage du puys Sainct Patria, p. 41 note) says this text is printed
in the Memoires de la Société archéologique du Midi. Stimming's account of Prov-
encal literature, Gröber, Grundriss der Roman. Philologie, Vol. II, p. 63, records a
second edition: Du Mège, Voyage au purgatoire de Saint Patrice par Perilhos et lo
libre de Tindal, Toulouse, 1832. I have had access to neither of these editions.
*Tom. I, Lib. II, Cap I-III.
26 Saint Patriek' 8 Purgatory.
to satisfy this curiosity he had undertaken the journey. He first
went to Paris; the king of France gave him commendatory letters
to the king of England, by whom he was kindly received and sent
on to Ireland. At Dublin he met Richard, Earl of March, who
gave him letters to the Archbishop of Ireland. The Archbishop
in turn sent him * ad O'Nellum regem,' king of the country in whieh
the Purgatory lay. And finally he was sent by this king to the
monastery at the Purgatory. Arrived there, he made final prepa-
rations to enter : “ Igitur testamentum eondidi, duobus filiis meis,
quorum matu, major Ludovicus et alter Ramom momime gaudebat, et
caeteris comitibu8 quid agerent, si ipse a serobe mom reverterer, prae-
8cripsi.” Another knight, he says “Anglus Eques Taresi Dominus”
entered the eave at the same time with him ; but they were soon
separated and he saw nothing more of him. The prayer that was
given him was : “Christe fili Dei vivi miserere mei peccatoris.” He
met the twelve men in white in the monastery-like building, and
after their departure the torments begam. The account follows
Henry of Saltrey closely until the fourth field of torments; in this
field Raymond met King John. He asked for what fault the king
suffered there, and received the following answer: “ id unum re-
8pondit, huju8 8aeculi prineipes atque magnates summopere oportere
memini injuriam facere in alterius gratiam, quantumcumque famili-
aris.” He also met there a cousin of his : “ Obvia etiam mihi fuit
Donna Aldonsa Carolea mea eognata, eujus interitus antea eram
me8ciu8, quia me prqficiscen(e in, vivis agebat. Haec eo potissimum,
torquebatur quod faeiei eomendae fueatisque eoloribus depingendae
nimium studebat. Omnes tamen (Deo sit gratia, laus et gloria) erant
δn, via, salutis.” • ' -* .
He proceeded on his way and came to the bridge which was
diffieult to eross for three reasons: “prima, pons ipse lubricus ea,
gelu, confectus et angustissimus ; secunda, pontis et riparum fluminis
undique preseissarum praerupta altitudo ingentem terrorem afferens;
tertia, fortissimi venti vis.' He erossed the bridge by the help of
his prayer and entered the Earthly Paradise where he beheld the
joys of the blessed; he also partook of the heavenly food, in the
form of a flame. After he had returned to the upper world, he
performed the customary rites and then went back to Paris. * Haee
fuit mea prqfectio in Divi Patriti purgatorium.' -
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 27
The story of Raymond is, with the exceptions noted, a very close
following of Henry of Saltrey. It may have been written, as Wright
(p. 136) supposes, with some political object; but it was surely
written as a description of an actual visit paid to the Purgatory
by the hero of the tale. -
Perhaps the most interesting forms of the legend in French
literature are two printed, prose translations of the Latin original
of the fifteenth century. For convenience these two versions may
be called by the opening words of the texts: the one may be called
the Au tempz-version, the other the Il fut-version. Both books
are of excessive rarity. Of the Au tempz-version I have found
but one copy, which appears never before to have been noticed.
It is contained in the British Museum, and is without title page,
name of place or date of printing or name of author; it is, how-
ever, a perfect copy.' From an examination of the typography,
the British Museum authorities have dated the book at about 1480;
the place of printing is possibly Lyons. The account covers
twenty-one pages and is preceded by a wood-cut frontispiece repre-
senting the Virgin and the Child with two angels holding a crown
of fleur-de-lys over the Virgin’s head.
The date, place, and name of the printer of the Il fut-version
are furnished by the colophon; it was first printed at Lyons by
Claude Nourry, October the twentieth, 1506. There are four
editions of this version; but the one printed by Nourry is the
oldest of the four. Of the later editions, one was printed by
J. Trepperel, no place or date given ; another at Paris, “à l'Escu
de France; ” and the third at Paris by Jehans Bonfons, c. 1545.
The edition of Claude Nourry has been twice reprinted. The
first reprint by V[einant] et Giraud at Paris, 1839, was limited
to forty-two copies; the second, by Philomneste Junior (Brunet) at
Geneva, 1867, was limited to two hundred copies.”
* Catalogued under St. Patrick's Purgatory, Beg : [A] U tempz du roy estienne.
1480? folio.
* Le Voyage du puys sainct patrix auquel lieu on voit les peines de purgatoire et les
ioyes de paradis, [Reprint by V[einant] et G[iraud.] Dec. 20, 1839, Paris. 42
copies.] - -
Le Voyage du puys Sainct Patrix auquel lieu on voit Les Peines de Purgatoire et
aussi Les Joyes de Paradis, réimpression textuelle, augmentée d'une notice biblio-
graphique, par Philomneste Junior, Genève, 1867. 200 copies.
28 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
It will not be necessary to give an analysis of the contents of
these two versions, for with the exceptions noted below they are a
free translation of the Latin original. In both versions the hero
is called Oben and is said to be “natif des parties Dalemaigne.”
The account begins immediately with the story of Oben, omitting
all the introductory chapters. In the great hall to which Oben
first comes in the Purgatory, he is met, not by twelve or fifteen
men of religion as in the early accounts, but by “quatre cens et
quinze quasi tous religieua, ’’ (Au temp2-text, f. 2 a, col. 2). This
number is the result of a curious misreading of the Latin original.
The Latin text says “ecce. xv. wiri quasi religiosi,” etc. (Roy. 13 B
VIII, f. 103, col. 2). In the Ms. the four letters of “ecce” look
very much like four c's, and as such the translator has evidently
read them. The prayer (which is not definitely stated in the early
accounts but is only mentioned as the name of Jesus) is in both
versions the same : “ihesus filz de marie atoy rend mon corps et mon
ame” (Au temp2-text, f. 1 b, col. 2). In the early Latin accounts
the two guides of Owen, who conduct him through the Earthly
Paradise, are not named, except as “duo quasi archiepiscopi (f. 108 a,
col. 2). In the present versions they are named Enoch and Elias
(“moc” and “helie” in the Au tempz-text and “Enoc" and “Elye”
in the Il fut-text).
The question of the exact inter-relation of these two versions
and their Latin source can hardly be definitely decided. As to
the two printed versions it is evident at once that they are either
derived from a common source, or that one is derived from the
other. No third version that might serve as a common source for
the printed versions is known to exist; and the most natural con-
clusion is that one version is derived from the other. External
evidence would indicate, further, that the Il fut-text (1506) was
derived from the Au temp2-text (1480). But after an examination
of parallel passages from the two printed versions and from a MS.
typical of the early Latin accounts, it has been found very difficult,
owing to the freedom with which the source has been treated, to
make positive statement of the relation of the versions to one
another. In general it is to be noted that the Au tempz-text is
somewhat fuller than the Il fut-text, and stands just a shade nearer
the Latin source than the Il fut-text.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 29.
Other popular forms of the legend in France were the transla-
tion of the Legenda Aurea by Jean de Vignay (cf. Ward, Catalogue
II, 131) made about 1333, and the so-called translation of the
Legenda by Jean Beleth (cf. above, p. 5). There is an early
printed version of the de Vignay translation, Lyons, 1485 (cf.
Butler, p. 39), which contains the Purgatory legend. These ver-
sions are, however, much abbreviated from the early accounts and
add nothing original to the story.
It is not until the end of the sixteenth century that one finds a
new treatment of the legend in France. Forcatel,' a writer of
that period, preserves a form of the story that appears to be unique
in its occurrence; I have found but this one reference to it. The
writer brings the story into connection with the Arthurian cycle.
He makes Arthur and Gawain visit the Purgatory and Arthur is
with difficulty prevented by Gawain from entering : “Ferebatur
enim ad Manes peruius specus, vel certe ad locum, in quo animae
eorum qui dum viuerent, sese vitiis ac labe aliqua eluibili inquinaue-
runt, recocti earpolirentur: ut omni novia purgatae et hilares inde in
coelum euolerent. Forté Patritius inter immanes et efferatos populos
lepido commento vsus fuerat, quo magis eos a peccatis deterreret, et
vlüricem speluncam adesse penè domi ostenderet. Accept ego ea qui-
busdam seriis Merlini commentariis Arthurum & Gauanio militig
magistro rewocatum, ne penitias horridum antrum scrutaretur, in quo
vtique audiebantur fragores aquae precipitis odorem sulphureum
emittentis, et vocum lugubre quiddam resonantium, velut 8wo corpore
destitutarum.’ Then follows a fanciful account of the origin of
the Cave, which the writer states was made by Ulysses. The
account is a garbled version of Homer, Odyssey II, and Claudianus,
Lib. I in Ruffinum. -
In the seventeenth century the popular form of the story of the
Purgatory in France was the translation of Montalvan's book by
Bouillon. This translation passed through a great many editions
and became as favorite a book of devotion in France as its original
was in Spain. It is this form of the legend which seems to have
carried the traditions of the story up to modern times. So late
as the third quarter of the eighteenth century, a writer in an essay
* De Gallorum Imperio et Philosophia, Libri Septem. Stephano Forcatulo Juris-
consulto authore. Parisiis, 1589.
30 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
called Le Trou de Saint Patrice' devotes himself to the task of
disproving and ridiculing this form of the legend. The first part
of the book is taken up with a consideration of superstition in
general, followed by a citation of some of the superstitions of the
author's day. Then, after a brief account of St. Patrick, the writer
declares his intention of presenting a relation from ‘wn. Historien
Espagnol et un Auteur Flamand” (p. 75). The Spanish historian
is Montalvan, though he is not named, nor is the Flemish author,
who is probably the translator, F. A. S., of Brussels. The writer
then gives an abstract of Montalvan's version of the story of Luis
Enius, fairly complete and true to the original. After he has
heaped all manner of ridicule on this tale, the author discusses the
question whether the Purgatory ever actually existed or not. It
seems incredible that such a question should require serious con-
sideration so late as 1774. Yet one infers from the author's words
that popular belief in the Purgatory was even then wide spread in
France (p. 75): “L’erreur particulière de quelques enthousiastes est
devenue une erreur publique.’ The writer then submits the legend
to an elaborate examination, and finding evident misrepresentations
and inconsistencies in it, he is led to believe that the whole story
is a fabrication and a falsehood. Concluding, he says (p. 103):
“Il est done plus que probable que le Trou de Saint Patrice n'a
jamais eu d'autre eaſistence que celle que lui a donné une imagination
&chauffée, délirante et crewse.’
Le Trou de Saint Patrice. A Dublin 1774. The name of the author is not
indicated. -
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 31
CHAPTER IV.
THE LATER HISTORY OF THE PURGATORY IN GREAT BRITAIN.
At a distance from the vicinity of the Purgatory, naturally the
history of the legend was chiefly a literary one. The accounts
grew and changed by passing from author to author. In Ireland
and England, however, though there are also literary accounts of
visits to the place, its popularity was kept alive rather by actual
visits made there from time to time. Some of the visits ostensibly
furnished materials for the literary descriptions, but by far the
greater number were disseminated orally. Up to the end of the
fifteenth century, tourists of rank and position in Ireland mention
visits to the Purgatory as to one of the marvels of the land worthy
of all serious credence.
With the rise, however, of the later scepticism and the begin-
nings of the Reformation, the Purgatory ceased to be treated with
its ancient respect. Contemporary with the attempt to establish
the Reformation in Ireland, in the sixteenth century, frequent
endeavors were made to induce the Irish to give up their super-
stitious observances; among other things done, about the year
1535, the staff known as the ‘baculus of Jesus, with which Patrick
was said to have made the entrance to the Purgatory, was publicly
burned, and the Purgatory itself was several times actually torn
down and destroyed. But the Irish pertinaciously refused to give
up the pilgrimage to which their priests still taught them to attach
holy meaning ; and probably to this present day, assuredly until
late in the present century, pious pilgrims continued to visit the
place first made famous by the monks of the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries. - * ,
Several of the visits to the Purgatory are specially known to us
from official letters still extant, which were granted by the kings
of England, or the bishops of the diocese of Armagh to persons
intending to make the pilgrimage. The official ceremonies of
the Purgatory were stringently maintained to a very late date.
Edward III, under date October 24, 1358, granted letters of safe-
conduct to Malatesta Ungarus (hardly as Wright (p. 135) supposes
a Hungarian), of Arminium (Rimini), in Italy; and like letters to
#.
32 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
Nicholaus de Beccariis of Ferrara ; these letters are printed in
Rymer's Foedera (Vol. III, Pt. 1, p. 174). Letters of safe-conduct
were also granted by Richard III, September 7, 1397, to Raymond
of Perilhos (Foedera, Vol. III, Pt. Iv, p. 135), whose version of
his visit we have already discussed (cf. above, p. 25 ft.). These
letters are doubtless a few that have been preserved from a great
number given at the time.
It was also customary for visitors to receive letters from the
bishop of the diocese in whose jurisdiction the Purgatory lay, to
the prior of St. Patrick’s Purgatory, authorizing them to make
the visit; a number of these letters are still extant. They were
extracted from the registry of Armagh by Dr. Jones and given
in his ‘Treatise of St. Patrick's Purgatory; ' ' they were taken, says
Dr. Jones, from ‘among infinite others’ (p. 59). The first (Jones,
p. 56–7) reads as follows: “Milo by divine permission Archbishop
of Ardmagh, Primate of Ireland, to the religious and prudent man,
the Pryor of St. Patrick’s Purgatory in Logh-derg, within the
Diocesse of Clogher, And to all others the Cleargie and Laitie
within the Province of Ardmagh everlasting health in the Lord.
John Bonham and Guidas Ciff comming to us, have related that
they have for devotions sake gone in pilgrimage, and visited many
places: and that they are desirous for the health of their Soules to
see the place called the purgatory of Saint Patricke our Patron,
which is in the Diocesse of Clogher aforesaid: We doe therefore
entreat and exhort in the Lord all and every by whom these
strangers shall passe, that you would entertayne and receive them
courteously : And that of the goods which God hath bestowed upon
you, you would afford them some charitable helpe, not suffering
(as much as in you lyeth) any molestation or disturbance to be
given them. By which means we doubt not, but that you shall be
pertakers of that their devout labors: Dated in the Citie of Downe
the fifteenth day of March, in the yeare of our Lord one thousand
three hundred sixty and five. And of our Consecration the fift.”
A second letter, over a century later, may be quoted to show
how long the official ceremonies of the Purgatory were kept up.
* Saint Patrick's Purgatory: Containing the Description, Originall, Progresse,
and Demolition of that superstitious place. By Henry Jones, Bishop of Clogher.
London, 1647.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 33
This letter is from Octavian, bishop of Armagh 1480–1513; it
also is preserved by Dr. Jones (p. 58–9): “Unto all the children
of our mother the church to whom these our letters Testimoniall
shall come, Octavianus by the grace of God and of the See Apos-
tolike, Archbishop of Ardmagh, Primate of all Ireland, wisheth
everlasting salvation in the Lord, wishing you would without
question credit what followeth. Seeing it is an holy and merito-
rious thing to give your Testimonie unto the Truth, chiefly seeing
our Saviour Christ the Sonne of God came downe from heaven
into this world to beare witness of the truth: Hence it is that by
these presents we make knowne unto you that John Garhi, and
Francis Proly of the Citie of Lyons Priests, and John Burgesse
their boy and servant (the bearers hereof) Men of good repute and
piously affected did visit the Purgatory of the holy Confessor Saint
Patricke, the Apostle of Ireland within which the sinnes of offend-
ers are even in this world purged : And the mountaine in which
the said holy Confessor did fast without Temporall meate forty
dayes and fortie nights, together with other holy places of devotion,
and things of greatest observation in Ireland : And that afflicting
their bodies in fasting and prayer according to the Ceremonies of
that place, they did for a certain time remaine in that Purgatory,
as it cleerely appeareth to us: and that by the power of Christ our
redeemer, they did contemplatively encounter all the fraudes and
fantasticall temptations of the Devill; devoutly so finishing their
pilgrimage and desiring the merits and the prayers of the said
Saint to the most High, whom by these presents we receive into
the protection of us, our Church of Ardmagh, and of the said holy
Confessor, whose manners, life and perfection, we doe recommend
unto you all, of which we are confident, having two yeares con-
versed with them.” -
Returning to the earlier part of the fifteenth century, one finds
two detailed descriptions of visits made to the Purgatory. The
first of these also gives some of the official documentary evidence
which was a recognized feature of the ceremonies. The account is
in Latin, in a B. M. MS. of the end of the 15th century." The
* B. M. Royal Ms. 10 B. Ix, ff. 36 b–44 b. Paper; end of 15th century. De-
scribed by Ward, Catalogue II, p. 489 ff. It has not been printed.
3
34 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
whole is divided into fifteen chapters. The first chapter (f. 36 b)
is entitled as follows: “Prohemium memoriale super visitatione
domini Laurencii Ratholdi militis et baronis Vngarie factum de
Purgatorio sancti Patricii in Insula Hibernie.” It tells of the foun-
dation of the Purgatory by Patrick. The second chapter (f. 37 a)
bemoans the fact that faith in the Purgatory has waned; the writer
declares his intention to tell of one who actually entered the Pur-
gatory, ‘personaliter,’ ‘tempore serenissimi Henrici quarti Regis
Anglie post conquestum Ammo regni Sui duodecimo.’
The third chapter (f. 37 b and 38 a) tells of the coming of
Laurence to Dublin. It also gives a letter of commendation and
introduction from King Sigismund of Hungary, dated January
tenth, 1408.
The fourth chapter (f. 38 a and 38 b) tells of Laurence's visit to
relics of Patrick, Columba and Bridget in Ireland; the fifth
(f. 38 b and 39 a) tells of his coming to the prior of the Purgatory
and the prior's address to him. The sixth (f. 39 a and 39 b) is a
description of the island of Purgatory and of the entrance into
the Purgatory. It concludes by telling how Laurence entered the
place, burning one end of a candle divided into nine parts; his
prayer was: Domine Ihesu Christe Fili dei viui miserere michi pec-
catori. The next four chapters (f. 40 a to f. 41 b) tell of the first,
second, third and fourth visions of the knight in the cave. The
visions are all much alike. Laurence himself suffers none of the
torments; he is merely approached by the fiends, who immediately
retire when he repeats his prayer. In the fourth vision, Laurence
meets an angel who salutes him in the Hebrew tongue, “Slam
alecha” [i. e., Shálóm Aléchā], quod interpretatur paa super te.”
Laurence asks the angel his name and he answers: “Ego sum ille
Michael prepositus paradisi quem tu Semper fideliter adorasti per
quem et venisti.” The angel then leads Laurence to a valley full
of fire and smoke, which he views only from a distance. This ends
his vision of Purgatory and he is led back to the gate: “ Hanc
facto quasi circa terciam horam post nouam sole in signo scorpionis
in xxvi II gradu, luna vero in libra anno domini millesimo CCCC”
XI” easistente. Prior veniens ad speluncam apertoque per ipsum
hostio miles speluncam eaciuit incolumis et iocundus.”
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 35
The eleventh chapter (f. 43 a) tells of Laurence's return to
Dublin; the twelfth (f. 43a and 43 b) contains a certification by
Nicholas Fleming, archbishop of Armagh, that he has received the
enclosed letter from “Matheus Prior Purgatorii sancti Patricii
Clothof Raynes diocesi.” The prior's letter certifies that Laurence
passed a night in the Purgatory, and that among others he saw
there “Georgius filius Grifani militis de partibus ungarie et Euge-
nius dictus Obrian de Anglia.” The prior's letter is dated : “In
Insula sanctorum, Feria quinta post diem sancti Martini.” At the
end of the chapter the writer names himself: “Ego Jacobus Yonge
notarius Imperialis civium et scriptorum minimus Chuitatis Dublin-
ensis predicti huius memorialis compilator indigmus.”
In the thirteenth chapter (f. 43b) Laurence gives as proof that
his vision was actually seen and not imagined, that he watched the
nine parts of his candle burn away part by part. The last chapter
(f. 44 a and 44 b) gives a general account of Laurence's accom-
plishments; he is said to be skilled in Greek, IIebrew, Latin aud
other branches of learning.
Almost none of the original features of the legend remain in
this vision of Rathold. It is still made and seen in person ; but
*
in order not too much to tax the more sceptical imagination of
later readers, the things seen are very much modified from the
earlier visions. There is no vision at all of the Earthly Paradise. . .
The second account referred to is that which tells of the vision
of William Staunton (a second Ms. reads “of Stranton’’) the text
of which is given at the conclusion of this study. As is true of
most of the later accounts, the attendant circumstances, time, place
and characters of the story, are given in great detail. The vision
is seen on the first Friday after the feast of the Exaltation of the
Cross in the year 1409; William entered the Purgatory very early
in the morning, the eighth hour before noon. He was put in by
Matthew, the prior of the Purgatory. The prior gave him the fol-
lowing prayer as a protection: “Ihesu Christe fili dei viwi misereri
michi peccatori (f. 133 a). - • ,
The relation is divided into two parts, a vision of Purgatory,
and a vision of the Earthly Paradise. The traces of the old story
though often very faint are to be recognized in many of the details.
William soon after entering the Purgatory comes to the “ restyng
36 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
place of seint patrik in be whiche he abode the reuelacion of goddes
angellis when he passed pat way in his tyme” (f. 133b). Here he
remained for awhile and “sum what slumbered and slepte.” Soon
there appeared to him two persons, a man and a woman, both clad
in white. The man showed William the way he must follow
through the Purgatory; his name he said was “Iohn of Bridlyng-
ton’’ and the woman was “seint Ive” who lived in “Quitike”
(f. 134 a). His two guides then left William and the torments of
Purgatory began. First fiends attempted to turn him from his
purpose under pretence of giving him friendly advice (f. 134 b).
Then fearful monsters appeared to him, some with four faces, some
with seven horns and some with five, some with a face on “euery
elbowe” and some on “every kne.” Here William forgot his
prayer but was saved just in time by the appearance of St. Ive
(f. 135 a). -
When he had proceeded about the space of a mile, William was
again met by St. John and St. Ive and with them were a sister
of William’s and a man who had been her lover in this life.
William's sister complained to St. John and St. Ive that William
had prevented the marriage of herself and her lover and for this
William was severely rebuked by St. John.
St. John then led William to a fire in which he saw many people
grievously tormented, some that he knew when they lived in the
world. They were all gayly dressed, some with collars of gold
and silver about their necks and some with girdles of gold and
silver. Some had more jags on their clothes than whole cloth.
The clothes of some were set full of jingles and bells of silver;
and some had long pokes on their sleeves. There were women
with long trailing gowns and others with chaplets of gold and
pearls and other precious stones on their heads. Then the fiends
came and took the gay gauds of gold and silver and tormented the
sinners therewith, stuffing full their mouths, their noses and their
ears. These, said John, are those who are punished for the sin of
vanity (f. 136 b).
St. John then led William to another fire where he saw fiends.
cutting off the various members from sinners' bodies and then
fastening them on again with molten metal. And St. John said
these were they who had sworn by God’s members and now they
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 37
were tormented in their own members (f. 137 b). In the third fire
were those who had spent the holy days in gluttony and drunken-
ness; and now they were punished by having all manner of filth
crammed down their throats (f. 138 a). In the fourth fire were
those who had not well taught their children to honor their parents
and now the parents themselves were dishonored by the fiends
(f. 138 a). In the fifth fire were souls with all manner of goods
burning on their backs; these were thieves. In this fire were also
punished those executors who delayed to carry out the will of the
dead (f. 138 b). In the sixth fire were punished those who for the
sake of gain had borne false witness. And now that which they
had hoped to gain was their greatest torment, whether it was gold,
silver, woods, hills, or land (f. 139 a).
St. John then led William to the seventh fire in which were
punished murderers and slayers of righteous men (f. 139 b). The
eighth fire was exceedingly hot, and black as pitch ; in it were
hanging from burning chains the souls of many people, men and
women. Some were hanging by the privy members, some by the
heart, some by the eyes. All these, said St. John, had lived a life
of lechery; and as they sinned in deed, or in desire, or merely in
sinful looking, so were they punished (f. 140 a). In the ninth fire
were tormented those parents who neglected to chastise their
children; now the parents themselves were cruelly beaten by their
children (f. 140 b). Here also were tormented backbiters.
St. John then showed William two towers, the one full of fire,
the other of ice and snow. The souls of negligent priests and
bishops were cast from the one tower to the other; and the souls of
the people that the priests and bishops had failed to correct, now
tormented them (f. 141 a). In the next fire, St. John showed those
churchmen who, having more than enough for their own needs,
yet allowed others to perish from want. Now they were tortured
by those whom they should have relieved in their distresses
(f. 141 b). In the next fire were tortured those divines who had
neglected to say the services of the church. Here William saw
an uncle of his who was a parson and who had died sixteen years
before that time (f. 142 a).
The next place of torment was a house open above, in which
there were great presses of clothes. From these presses there came
38 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
forth moths and worms which tortured those who, having more
than they needed for their own use, had neglected to give to the
poor and had allowed the moths to collect in their clothes (f. 142 b).
William was then led to a black and foul sheet of water; and
over this water was a bridge. William saw a bishop endeavor to
cross the bridge; but fiends came and tore down the pillars of the
bridge and the bishop fell into the water where he was grievously
tormented. This bridge, said St. John, was built by the bishop;
but inasmuch as it was built chiefly for vain glory and as the
money that was used in building it was falsely gotten, God had
suffered the fiends to pull down the bridge; though if the money
had been truly gotten, it would now have stood him in great stead.
The bridge episode ends the torments of the Purgatory; the section
ends with the words “finis revelacionum penalium ” (f. 144 a).
The second half of the recital begins with a statement, corres-
ponding to the first homily of the early Latin accounts, of the
manner in which the pains of Purgatory may be lessened. William
then continued his journey, St. John going with him, however,
only a short distance. When he was alone William again became
very much frightened, but again St. Ive appeared to him and
reassured him. William marked himself with his prayer and
continuing his journey by the water side, he soon saw a high tower
on the other side of the water. On the top of the tower there
stood a fair woman ; William knelt and said five paters and five
aves and marked himself with his prayer. As he rose and looked
at the tower he saw a ladder descending to him. But the ladder
was very small and the first round was sharper than any razor;
moreover it was so high that William could barely reach it. He
again repeated his prayer and a cord descended from the ladder.
Then with the help of the woman, he mounted the ladder and
was soon across the black water and on the white tower. There
the fair woman told him that the cord was one he had once given
a chapman who had been robbed by Jews (f. 146 a). William was
led by the fair woman through a very beautiful land, where they
were met by a company of monks and priests, all clad in white.
William was joyfully and thankfully received by the monks and
priests (f. 146 b) but his request to remain there always was not
granted (f. 147 a).
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 39
Before he returned, however, it was granted him to see the trial
of a prioress of a nunnery who had come there for judgment
(f. 147 b). One of the monks opened a book of the nuns’ rule
and law and examined her point by point. She was found guilty
of wearing costly apparel, girdles of gilt and of silver, rings on
her fingers and silver buckles on her shoes. She loved easy lying
of nights, as though she was an empress; and with all delicate
meats and drinks she was fed. And inasmuch as she had not
forsaken her pride and evil ways until it was too late, now she was
condemned to suffer pain ever more until the day of doom (f. 148 a).
Then William was given permission to return to the life of the
world ; he took his leave and was soon at the door where he first
went in, having been disturbed not at all by the fiends on the
return way. He beseeches all men to remember him in their
prayers, as he will remember them in his. Evplicit (f. 148 a).
It is interesting to note the echos of the early accounts in this
version of the fifteenth century. The visit to the Purgatory is
still made in actual person; and although William does not suffer
much from the torments of the place, he is always in danger of So
doing. As in the early accounts, the vision is divided into two
parts; and the disquisition at the beginning of the vision of the
Earthly Paradise on the efficacy of prayer and alms-giving in
relieving the sufferers in Purgatory is an evident remembrance of
the first sermon in the Latin account. The resting place of St.
Patrick to which William came first after entering the cave is
a recollection of the old cloistered hall in which Owen met the
men in white; and the twelve or fifteen men in white are repre-
sented in the vision of William by the two people, St. Ive and
St. John, both of whom are clad all in white and who meet
William and give him direction as to the way to follow through
the Purgatory. In the early narrative the words of the prayer
are not given; in the vision of William the exact words are given,
which are the same as the words of Laurence Rathold’s prayer.
Raymond of Perilhos had the same prayer, and the prayer of Luis
Enius as given by Montalvan is a Spanish version of it.
The punishments in the vision of William are throughout
appropriate to the sins for which they were assigned ; in this
respect the later account is more consistent than the original, where
40 Saint Patrick’s Purgatory.
f
| º & e g wº g
One must see in the later vision a traditional version of the story,
|
| | -
rators but still preserving many of the characteristics of the
there often appears to be no special fitness in the punishments.
The river of Hell appears in the vision of William ; but the
bridge over it has undergone a curious change. It is no longer
the bridge of Hell, but is one of the evil works of a sinner who
is punished by means of it. The real place of the old bridge of
Hell is taken by a tower, and a ladder and cord which are let
down from the tower. The vision of the Earthly Paradise in
William Staunton is much abbreviated. William is, however,
met by a procession of priests in a beautiful meadow, full of
flowers and trees and birds. And as in the older accounts, he is
not allowed to remain there, but is sent back unharmed the way
he had come.
Notwithstanding the numerous agreements in incident between
the vision of William and the early forms of the legend, it is not
possible to discover any immediate literary relationship between
them. There are no verbal agreements whatever; and the inci-
dents, though alike in general character, differ greatly in detail.
one modified in many directions by successive generations of nar-
original tale. Several incidents of the story appear to be personal to
the writer; for example, the complaint of William's sister and her
lover to St. John and St. Ive, and the mention of William’s uncle
who was a parson. The whole story is indeed in the first person
and it is not unlikely that such a person as William Staunton
lived at the time and place that the narrative gives. Neither
are the subjects of satire in the vision all merely traditional
but reveal clearly certain conditions of the life of the times.
Extravagance in dress was a frequent subject of complaint in the
fifteenth century; another (as yet unpublished) vision of the time,
that of Edmund Leversegge, is directed chiefly against that folly.
Other subjects of satire are the dilatoriness of executors in carrying
out their commissions; false witnessing in courts of law; and the
neglect of the clergy to care for their parishioners, for the services
of the church, or even for the churches themselves.
These half-dozen visits that have been mentioned, that of Bon-
ham and Ciffi in 1365, of Nicholas of Ferrara and Malatesta of
Rimini in 1368, of Rathold in 1408, of Staunton in 1409, of John
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 41
Garhi, Francis Proly and John Burgesse in 1485, are undoubtedly
but a few of the great number which were made in those years.
Caxton, writing about the year 1483, in his version of the Golden
Legend, after a brief account of the Purgatory, adds a word of his
own which shows the great popularity of the place: “As touchyng
this pytte or hole, whyche is named saynt Patrykes purgatorye,
somme holde opynyon that the second patryke whiche was an
abbot and no bysshop, that god shewed to hym this place of pur-
gatorye, but certeynly suche a place there is in yrelonde wherein
many men haue been, and yet dayly goon in and come ageyn, and
Somme haue had there meruayllous wysions and seen grysly and
horryble paynes, of whome there been bookes maad as of Tundale
and other.”
But with the close of the fifteenth century the glory of the
Purgatory was forever departed. Doubtless the crowds of pilgrims
who flocked thither were not as devout and restrained as , their
pious purpose demanded ; and on the other hand, the short-sighted
greed of the monks turned the Purgatory into a mere show-place
by which the revenues of their convent were to be increased. An
illustrative instance of this is the visit of the monk of Eymstadt,”
made in 1494. This monk, who lived at the monastery of Eym-
stadt in Holland, obtained permission from his head to go forth
on travels as a mendicant and, among other places, he came to
Ireland to visit the Purgatory. He first went to the prior of the
Purgatory, who sent him to the bishop of the diocese for the
necessary letter. The bishop demanded a customary stipend due
him before he would give the letter; but on representation of his
poverty he finally consented to give the monk the letter free of
charge. The bishop sent the monk then to the prince who ruled
the county in which the Purgatory was situated. The prince in
turn demanded his poll-tax, but he also was forced to yield to the
prayers of the poor monk. Arrived at the Purgatory with his
letters, the monk had again to overcome the demand of the prior
and his people for a contribution. He was finally put into the
Purgatory. His experiences are given thus by the historian who
records them (§ 50): “Sedit igitur in lacu per totam noctem tremens
* Caxton's Golden Legend, reprinted by William Morris, p. 422.
*Acta Sanctorum, Bollandist. March. Vol. II, the XVIIth day. 33 48, 49 and 50.
42 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
et horrens; sed et ignitas preces Domino offerens, per singula pene
momenta daemones adventuros horrescens. Cumque a vesperi sedisset
w8que ad mane, sole jam orto, venit sacrista ad orificium laci, advo-
cans illum, et funem pro eatractione illius submittens.”
This monk, very much troubled at the default of the Purgatory,
went to Rome, where he gained the ear of the Pope, Alexander
VI. Alexander was angry that simple minded people should be
so deceived and sent a command to the archbishop of Ireland, to
the prince of the land in which the Purgatory lay, and to the
prior of the Purgatory, ordering that it should be destroyed—
“funditus everterent’—which was done and word of the accom-
plishment was carried back to the Pope.
That the Pope's command was executed is witnessed by an
entry in the Annals of Ulster for the year 1497, given by Dr.
Jones (p. 121): “The Denne of S. Patrickes Purgatory in Logh-
deerg was in that yeare broken by the Guardian of Donnegall,
and by some sent by the Bishop in the Deanrie of Loghearne by
authoritie from the Pope upon S. Patrickes day in the sayd yeare.
The people understanding out of the History of the Knight, and
other ancient Bookes, that this was not the Purgatory which
Patricke had from God, although the people resorted from [sic] it.”
Ware, in his Antiquities and History of Ireland," under the same
year, testifies to the same fact; his entry is also derived from the
Annals of Ulster.
The cheap trickery of the place was discovered by another
visitor of this period. Froissart (cf. Wright, p. 138 ft.) records a
conversation he once held with Sir William Lisle on the subject
of the Purgatory. Sir William declared that he and another
knight had visited the Purgatory which he described as a hole like
a cellar, with half a dozen stone steps leading down into it. He
said that as they entered the hole, “a certayne hoote vapure rose
agayne them and strake so into their heedes, that they were fayne
to syt downe on the stares” (Berner's trans., Wright, p. 139).
There they fell asleep and all the visions they had during the
night were such as came to them in their troubled dreams.
One or two further illustrations will suffice to show the bad
repute into which the Purgatory had come. Ponticus Virumnius
* The Antiquities and History of Ireland by the Right Honourable Sir James
Ware, Knt. London 1705. Annals of Ireland, p. 36–7, year 1497.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 43
in his Britannicae Historiae” tells of the visit of one Blasius
Biragus to the Purgatory; Biragus says: “ est enim insula, ubi
puteus per sea gradus in savo descendi, non ut mythici camunt in
foro; ego ingressus uidi omnia.”
Erasmus” also, in Adagia (f. 82 b), under discussion of the pro-
verb, In antro Trophonii vaticinatus est, has his fing at the
Purgatory: “ Quae quidem Trophonii fabula mihi adeo uidetur
similis ei quae de Patricii antro, quod est in Hybernia fertur, ut
altera ea altera nata credi possit. Tametsi non desunt etiam hodie
permulti qui descendunt, sed prius triduano enecti ieiunio, ne capite
sano ingrediantur. Qui descendunt, aiunt sibi ridendi libidinem in
omni vita ademptam.” »
Richard Stanihurst,º the translator of Virgil, strives to cover
over the later short-comings of the Purgatory with the mantle of
its early greatness: “Ad hanc Cauernam aetate Patricii, magna
turba certatim confluvit. Ab intrantibus multa mirabilia recitaban-
tur, ea his nonnulla antiquitatis monumentis consignata sunt. Hic
locus a mostratibus Purgatorium S. Patricii nominatur. Verum qui
nostra memoria in hunc sese locum compingunt, nullum sibi terrorem
iniici sentiunt, nisi forte eos arctior somnus complectatur. Sed in
prima religionis consitura (quo tempore miracula ut plurimum cre-
briora sunt) veri quidem simile mihi videtur, quam plurima idola,
truculenta et terribilia adspectu, solita fuisse poenitentibus ante oculos
obuersari. Haec Spelunca ab ea terarum gentium peregrinis summa
iam olim religione frequentabatur” (pp. 65-6).
When the legend of the Purgatory ceased to attract to it authors
who wrote with the serious purposes of religion in mind, it became
fit material for the acknowledged fabulist and story teller. It was
introduced into an Italian romance of the end of the fifteenth
º Pontici Virunii viri doctissimi Britannicae Historiae libri VI. [Col.] Augustae
Vindelicorum Anno a Christo nato. 1534.
º Erasmi Roterdami Adagiorum Chiliades tres ac Centuriae fere totidem. [Col.]
Venetiis in Aedibus Aldi Mense Sept. MDVIII.
º De vita S. Patricii. Libri II. Auctore Richardo Stanihvrsto Dvbliniensi.
Antverpiae MDLXXXVII.
* In questo libro Vulgarmente setrata alchuna ystoria breue del re Karlo Im-
peratore. Poi del nascimento e opere di quelo magnifico caualier nominato
Guerino e prenominato Meschino. In Venexia. A di. XXII de Nouembre
M. CCCC. LXXVII. Lib. VI, Cap. CLXII on f CXVIII is the account of the visit to
Purgatory.
44 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
*
century, the hero of which is called Guerino il Meschino. This
book was translated into French," and there are numerous editions
of both the Italian and the French version ; it was never translated
into English. The story is a wild, fantastic one of the picaresque
type, following Guerino in his wanderings throughout the world.
Guerino is in search of his parents and the Pope bids him go to
the Purgatory of St. Patrick for information concerning them.
Guerino has various adventures on the way but finally comes to
the archbishop, confesses to him and finally receives the keys of
the Purgatory. He goes to the island and delivers his keys and
letters to the prior, who in the usual way endeavors to dissuade
him from entering. Finding Guerino steadfast, he gives him good
counsel and conducting him to the cave gives him this prayer:
Thesu Christi nazareno mel two nome saluum me fac (f. Cxx b).
After entering, Guerino passes through a meadow until he comes
to a church in the midst of it. Here two men in white meet him
and give him good counsel. Immediately after these men leave,
Guerino is led to the flames where are punished those guilty of
sloth ; from these flames he is saved by his prayer. Then he is
carried up into the air by devils who drop him when he repeats
his prayer and he falls into the place where souls are punished for
envy. Then follow in order the places where are punished pride,
gluttony (in this place he found a king whom he had baptized),
luxury, avarice (here he found another king whom he had known
on earth), wrath, vain-glory, traitors and flatterers (here he saw
many former friends, also Judas Iscariot and Amalech), misers
(where he saw a giant he had killed in Tartary), defrauders,
sodomites and many others. He finally reaches the foul river and
the very narrow bridge. He crosses by grace of his prayer and
is joyfully received into the land of the blessed ; Enoch and Helia
(Elijah) conduct him to the Delectable Mountain. They show
him the glory of Paradise where is the divinity and the nine
orders of angels. At last he is led back to the church in the
meadow by Enoch and Helia; and there he learns that his father
* La tres ioyeuse plaisante et recreative hystoire du tres preula et vaillant cheualier
Guérin par aduent momme Mesquin . . . traduyct de vulgaire Italien en langue
Francoyse, par honneste personne Jehan Decuchermoys, Lyon. [Col.] le XVI
de Auril, Mil. CCCCC. et xxx.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 45.
and mother were of royal blood. When he comes out of the
Purgatory, he is joyfully received by the prior to whom he tells.
all that had happened to him, and the prior puts it down in
writing. Three days later Guerino took leave of the prior and
continued his wanderings through the world. The story is a very
fanciful adaptation of the legend; Wright says of it (p. 138):
“The whole is, in fact, a palpable and poor imitation of Dante,
built upon the legend of Henry of Saltrey.”
The story of the Purgatory appears again in “The Right,
Pleasant, and Variable Tragical History of Fortunatus,”" which
was translated into English by Thomas] Cſhurchyard] in 1676.
This book is of much the same character as the story of Guerino.
“Though,” says the translator, “it be somewhat sawced and en-
terlaced with Poetical Imaginations,” it contains sufficient matter
to bring the mind to a recollection of the fickleness of Fortune,
the reward of Virtue, the punishment of Vice and the end of Folly.
It tells the story of Fortunatus of Cyprus, his journeys through
the world and his vicissitudes of fortune, good and evil. It tells
how Fortunatus once fell in with an aged Irishman, Leopoldus,
and with him travelled to his home in Ireland. There they were
not far from St. Patrick’s Purgatory: “Fortunatus understanding
that two days journey from thence was St. Patricks Purgatory, he
was very desirous to see the same. Whereupon they rode unto the
City Vernecks, wherein is an Abby, and there behind the high
Altar in the Church is a door, within the which is a deep, dark,
Hole, the same do men call St. Patricks Purgatory: but none
may go into it without licence of the Abbot. Whereupon Leo-
poldus obtained leave of him, of whom he was demanded of what
Country his Master was ; he answered of the Isle of Cyprus:
Whereupon the Abbot invited Fortunatus to Dinner, which pleased
him well. So at his coming he presented the Abbot with a Vessel
of the best Wine he could get. The Abbot yielded unto him
great Thanks, for in that Country, they seldom use any Wine,
except it be in Ministring the Sacrament” (p. 58). Fortunatus
inquires about the Purgatory, and the abbot gives this account of
it : “Many hundred Years sithence was this Town and this Abby a
* First Penned in the Dutch Tongue: There-hence Abstracted, and now first of
all published in English, by TIhomas] C[hurchyard] London 1676.
/
46 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
Desolate Wilderness, and not far from it dwelt an Abbot called
Patrick, who was a very Devout Man. He oftentimes resorting
to this Desart, to do some work of penance, one day by chance
found this long and deep Hole, into the which he went so far that
he could not return. With that he fell on his knees, praying
unto God instantly, that (if it were his pleasure) he would deliver
him out of that dark dungeon ; whilest he thus devoutly prayed,
it seemed to him that he heard yet further of a piteous cry. In
the meanwhile suddenly he was delivered out of the Hole: Where-
fore he joyfully Praising the Lord for his mercy, went again into
the Cloister and became more devout than ever he was before.
And so in perpetual memory of this chance, was this Abby builded
by devout men. Fortunatus then asked farther what the Pilgrims
reported that came thence out again. The Abbot said, I seldom
enquire of them : but some say they have heard a pittiful screek-
ing; others report they have neither seen nor heard anything at
all, but that they have been sore afraid " (p. 59). Fortunatus
declares his desire to enter the Purgatory and the abbot gives him
leave, requesting him however not to venture too far in lest he be
lost. Fortunatus and Leopoldus enter; but disregarding the
abbot’s warning they go astray in the many dark windings of the
place. The abbot grows very anxious when the two men do not
return at the right time: but “he remembered himself of an old
Man who many years before had measured the Hole with a Cord.”
“The old man said, if they be yet alive, I shall sure bring them
forth ; and therewith prepared a musical instrument, played on it,
and so passed from one hole to the other, until he had found them,
being very feeble and faint; whom he willed to take hold of him,
and so follow the sound of his Instrument, as the blind followeth
his guide. So by the help of God, and the old mans assistance
came they again to the light, whereof the Abbot was very glad :
for he feared if those two Pilgrims had been lost, that no more
would have resorted thither, whereby he and his Convent should
fare the worse” (p. 61). Fortunatus calling his purse into requi-
sition, gave the old man with the musical instrument a hundred
crowns; and also prepared a great dinner of thanksgiving for his
deliverance to which he invited the abbot and the brethren of
the convent; as a farewell present he gave them five hundred
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 47
crowns “to the intent that they should pray for his prosperous
success.”
The Purgatory also receives notice in that most curious book,
The Delightful History of the Life and Death of That Renowned
and Famous St. Patrick, Champion of Ireland. Containing his
Heroick Actions and Valorous Atchievements in Europe, Asia and
Affrick. With other Remarkable Passages from his Cradle to his
Grave. London, 1685. In this remarkable tale, St. Patrick is
made a great hero of chivalric romance. He together with five
other of the champions of Christendom was concealed and held in
a great cave by a wicked sorceress, named Kalib. From this con-
dition they were relieved by the seventh champion, St. George of
England. After his release, Patrick, with his one servant, Mack,
wandered all over the world in search of adventure, returning
finally to die in peace at home. Among his various exploits were
the relief of the distressed damsel Clymena; the destruction of
the monstrous giant Cambagor; the killing of a huge whale by
casting a stone at it; the relief of a beauteous young lady whose
chastity a monstrous satyr with two heads was attempting; a fight
with the huge Tartar Bembo, and Bembo's brother, Alphebo;
and many more similar adventures. In the first chapter of the
book the author gives an account of the birth and early life of
Patrick, all in the grandiloquent style of the romance, but in the
main following accepted traditions. Here he gives an account of
the Purgatory (p. 7): “As Patrick followed this course of Life,
many there were who with a perverse mind opposed his Doctrine,
others as it were haulting betwixt two opinions, not knowing
which to follow, greatly desiring of the Holy Man, that he would
shew them some Visible Sign of these Joyes of Heaven, and
Torments of Hell, which he Preached; he hearing this, did with-
draw himself for a little space, and having applyed himself to
God, he earnestly besought him that for once he would condescend
to their request. The Almighty was not Deaf to his Prayers, by
whose inspiration he went towards the South parts of Ireland,
there in a desolate place he found a Cave; into which, if any did
enter, there seemed to appear to them most horrible Apparitions
in divers and fearful shapes.” Then follows a citation of Giraldus
Cambrensis' account of the Purgatory. After this brief chapter
t
48 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
the book breaks entirely free from Patrician tradition and runs
riot in the wildest of wild romancing." .
Unfortunately, however, the later history of the legend does not
end in mere fable. The Purgatory continued still to have a life
of its own which appears to have been a troublesome thorn in the
flesh to the Protestant clergy of Ireland. For the religious en-
thusiasm of the people, perhaps strengthened by opposition, made
it such a popular place of pious resort, that it was finally deemed
necessary again to destroy it; and on September 13, 1632, the
Lords Justices of Ireland issued a letter ordering that all the
pious machinery of the island of whatever sort should ‘ be broken
down, defaced and utterly demolished ' (Jones, p. 130). This work
of destruction was entrusted to the bishop of Clogher, whose report
to the archbishop of Armagh, dated October 31, 1632, is still pre-
served (Jones, p. 133). The account of the Cave, taken from the
bishop's report, is as follows: “The first thing I searched diligently
after, was the Cave; . . . I caused to digge about it on all sides,
* Another curiosity of the Purgatory literature that well deserves mention is a
Latin metrical translation of the legend. The title page consists of a dedication
which reads as follows: Ad Illustrem Eberhardum ducem in wirtenberg et decke
Comitem Montispelegardi Carmen de purgatorio divi Patricii. [Col.] Impressum.
Memmingen. The booklet consists of 6 ft. in 8°. No date is given but the date
can be very easily established from the fact that Eberhard was raised to the
rank of Duke of Würtemberg by Emperor Maximilian in 1495, and died in 1496.
On f. 1 b there is an introduction and dedication from the author, “Burckardus
de horneck Artium et medicinae professor’’ to “Eberhardo duci in Wirtenberg et deck.
Comiti in miimpelgarten etc.” Eberhard was a patron of letters and learning in
his time, the founder of the University at Tübingen and a defender of the scholar,
Reuchlin. The author of this Latin poem was doubtless one of his many de-
pendents. In the introduction the author appears to state that there was a
version of the deeds of Patrick in German which it was his intention to turn
into Latin: Hoc carmen de divi Patricii gestis, quod proximis diebus ea nostra lingua.
vermandam in latinum, Sub carminis lege transferre temptawi.
The poem tells first of the occasion of the founding of the Purgatory and then
of a knight “cuius oblivio momen Tenet” (f. 2 b) who visited the place as a penance
for his sins. The descriptions of the torments are much abbreviated though
they follow the order of the original accounts closely. The description of the
bridge is on f. 5 b. The account of the Earthly Paradise is very brief; the poem
closes thus with the sending of the knight back to earth (f. 6 b):
gracilis atque vultu
Nec militem porta custos emittit eburna
Sed vera juvenis missus abibat inde.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 49
till I came to the Rocke, but found no appearance of any secret
passage, eyther to the Chappell or to the Lough: neyther would
the nature of the ground suffer it, in a word this Cave was a poor
beggarly hole, made with some stones, layd together with mens
hands without any great Art: and after covered with Earth, such
as husbandmen make to keep a few Hogs from the raine.” Dr.
Jones also describes the cave as it appeared to him a few years
before its destruction : “On the North-side of the Church, and
from it ten foot distant, appeared that whence the Island hath the
name, S. Patrick's Cave, Pit, or Purgatory, for by all these names
it is knowne. . . . The entrance was without any or very little
descending; the walls thereof being built of ordinary stone, the
tops covered with broad stone, and over-laid with earth, being
over-growne with grasse: It was two foot and one Inch wide in
most places, and three foot high, so that they are enforced to stoope
that goe into it, the length was sixteene foot and one halfe, whereof
right forward twelve foot, and the reverse; or turning toward the
Church, foure foot and one halfe. At the corner of said turning
there was a little Crevice, which as it served to convey a little (and
that but a very little) light into the Cave, so served it for two
other uses; the one, that, The spirituall Father resorting thither
might comfort those who are shut in, especially if he understand that
any of them be troubled with any femptation. The other, that He
night take his place there, who among them that are shut in, is ap-
pointed to repeat the Canonicall houres” (p. 5).
Pilgrims were introduced into the Cave not promiscuously, but
men and women separately. The loss of time caused by this
division was made up (p. 6) by erection of another Purgatory, so
that there was one for men and one for women. But the new one
did not meet with popular favor and was soon given up.
The whole pilgrimage required nine days. The first eight were
spent in penance and prayer. The penance consisted chiefly in
walking and in crawling on the knees over the sharp, jagged rocks
with which the island was strewn. Nine persons set out on the
pilgrimage together. On the evening of the eighth day they
confessed and the priest in recollection of the old custom, then
attempted to dissuade them from their purpose. On their insisting
they were put into the Purgatory. “Lastly, when the 24 houres
4
50 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
are expired, for now are we come to the last Act, they are revisited
by the over-seer of the pilgrimes, by whom they are brought to the
water-side where they duck themselves over head in that water, by
which eaſpiation being purged as new Souldiers of Christ, and by the
bath of repentance being borne againe, they goe into the church, where
according to the custom they give God thanks for the ending of their
penance, being thereby renued to goe forward boldly in their Christian
warfare, and couragiously to carrie the Crosse of Christ. And thus
is this great work finished” (Jones, p. 14)."
Ware * also records this destruction of the Purgatory, though
he is mistaken in placing it under the year 1630 : “The Lords-
Justices caused St. Patricks Purgatory, a small island in the
County of Donegal to be digged up, to the disgrace and loss of
the Popish Clergy.”
From this second overturning the Purgatory again recovered.
The place was rebuilt and pilgrimages were made to it with as
much enthusiasm as ever before. Government intervention again
became necessary, and in the second year of Queen Anne (1704)
pilgrimage in general was prohibited in Ireland and this pilgrimage
to St. Patrick’s Purgatory in particular. A fine of ten shillings
was ordered to be laid on those found making the pilgrimage, and
if they could not pay the fine, a public whipping was to be ad-
ministered instead.
Yet even this third attempt to destroy the Purgatory was no
more successful than the preceding ones had been. The Purgatory
* The truth of Dr. Jones' representation is proved by the fact that it is in
substantial agreement with other contemporary accounts written from a more
sympathetic point of view. Cf. Teatro delle Glorie e Purgatorio de' wiventi del gran
Patriarca, ed Apostolo dell'Ibernia, S. Patricio. Descritti dal Priore di S. Vittore,
D. Celso Faleoni, Bolognese. In Bologna, 1657. The author gives an account
of the ceremonies observed at the Purgatory at the time of his writing which is
in close agreement with Dr. Jones' account.
Cf. also the following very rare little volume: In nomine Jesu, Opusculum de
Purgatorio Sancti Patritii. Scriptum per R. P. F. Dominicum Brullaughan. Lo-
vanii [1735, the date of license and approbation]. The author was prior of the
Irish college at Louvain. The book is in Latin, in eleven articles or chapters.
It tells the common rites of the Purgatory at the time of its composition, the
saints' beds, the confessions, etc., and gives a scriptural explanation of the mean-
ing of each ceremony.
* Gesta Hibernorum, p. 178.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 51
continued to be a place of frequent resort. A number of essays
written by Protestant clergymen in the eighteenth century show
clearly that the popularity of the place was beyond the reach of
government or church. The Rev. Mr. Hewson, archdeacon of
Armagh, describes the place as he found it in 1701. It was much
as it was in Dr. Jones' day, except that the number of caves had
increased to three. He describes them thus: “These Coves, that
is Caves, are like long coarse built Ovens, above Ground about
four Foot high and wide, but of different lengths, having each a
small Spike-hole on one side. The Pilgrims being thrust into
which, the Entrances are closed up with Stones and Dirt, and there
they sit starving for twenty four Hours without Meat, not having
leave to Answer Nature, or any Refreshment except Tobacco and
Water, which they receive as they do all the Light and Air they
have at the Spike-holes. But above all Things avoiding Sleep,
the Priest telling them, the Devil will carry them away, (as he has
done two Cave-fulls already) iſ he catch them napping” (p. 133).
In 1727 John Richardson,” rector of the parish of Belturbet
in Dublin, published a book directed against pilgrimage in
general in Ireland and especially against that to St. Patrick’s
Purgatory “because it hath most Votaries, and is the most
remarkable in the Kingdom, or perhaps in the whole World,
for Superstition and Idolatry’’ (Preface to The Great Folly, etc.).
Richardson has little to add to Jones’ and Hewson's account of
the place. He gives a map of the lake and the islands in it, and
says of the island of the Purgatory: “There was a Convent of
Canons Regular of the Order of St. Augustin, subject to the
Monastery of the Apostles Peter and Paul at Armagh, erected in
it, and a fine chappel and convenient houses built for the Monks,
over whom a Prior presided, and two of them were usually chosen
*A Description of St. Patrick's Purgatory in Lough-Derg; and an Account of the
Pilgrims Business there. By the Rev. Mr. Hewson, Rector of the Parish of St.
Andrew's, Dublin; and afterwards Archdeacon of Armagh. Dublin, 1727. This
account is added by Richardson to his work, though it is signed and dated by
Hewson, August 1, 1701. . . . . . . . - -
* The great Folly, Superstition and Idolatry of Pilgrimages in Ireland; especially of
that to St. Patrick's Purgatory. Together with an account of the Loss that the
Publick sustained thereby; truly and illupartially Represented. By John Rich-
ardson, Rector of the Parish of Belturbet, alias Annah. Dublin 1727. º
52 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
to receive and instruct the Pilgrims. The Remains of these
Buildings are still to be seen. It is said that the Passage into
Purgatory was first found in this Island; but it being near the
Shore and a Bridge from the main Land into it, which gave the
People free and ready Access, this Passage into Purgatory was
Stopped up, and another opened in a less Island about half a Mile
from the Shore, by which Means the Monks wisely gained two
Points, viz. the Profit of a Ferry-Boat for wafting the Pilgrims.
over the Lake, and an Opportunity of working farther upon the
Imaginations of the People, and making them believe, that they
were really going into another World’’ (pp. 4–5).
Still another description is given by the Rev. Philip Skelton,"
Prebendary of Donacavy in the Cathedral of Clogher, in a letter
addressed to the bishop of Clogher. The description differs but
little from that given by Jones and Hewson, though it is much.
briefer. -
One or two further citations will suffice to bring the long story
of the Purgatory down to the present day. Several descriptions.
of the place and of its ceremonies as they exist in the present
century have been made. One by William Carleton * and another
by C[aesar] Oſtway]* are given in fullest detail. The customs.
and the appearance of the place as described are but little different.
from the descriptions of two hundred years previous. The same
crowds of pilgrims continue to visit the island, going through
practically the same rites of penance. The island itself is the same
desolate, gloomy place that it is described as being in the early days.
of its fame. Says Otway: “A person who had neverseen the picture
that was now under my eye—who had read of a place consecrated by
the devotion of ages, towards which the tide of human superstition
had flowed for twelve centuries, might imagine that St. Patrick’s.
purgatory, secluded in its sacred island, would have all the vener-
able and gothic accompaniments of olden time; and its ivyed
towers and belfried steeples—its carved windows and cloistered
* The Complete Works of the late Rey. Philip Skelton. Ed. by Rev. Robt. Lynam,
M. A. London, 1824. Vol. V, pp. 15–20.
* Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry by William Carleton. London, Ward,
Lock and Co. Pp. 62–96, The Lough Derg Pilgrim. g
* Sketches in Ireland. C[aesar] OLtway]. MDCCCXXVII. P.149 ft.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 53
arches, its long dark aisles and fretted vaults would have risen
out of the water, rivalling Iona or Lindisfarn; but nothing of the
sort was to be seen : the island about half a mile from shore pre-
sented nothing but a collection of hideous slated houses and cabins,
which give you an idea that they were rather erected for the recent
purpose of toll houses or police stations, than anything else—and
true it is, they were nothing else but toll houses which priest craft
had erected to tax its deluded victims” (pp. 149–50).
We may conclude with just a word from a somewhat different
point of view. The Rev. Matthew Kelly," who also has visited
the Purgatory in modern times, quotes with approval the opinion
that there is no severer penance in the world than that at Lough
Derg : “Opera evercent poenitentalia quibus similia fieri non credi-
derim in quovis alio peregrinationis loco universi orbis” (Vol. I, p.
153, note). The popularity of the pilgrimage he makes evident
by the citation of the vast number of pilgrims who annually make
it: “At Lough Derg the station continues from June first to
August fifteenth. From the middle of July to the close, the
average number on the island each day is twelve or fourteen
hundred. The boatman pays the landlord of the place two or
three hundred pounds a year, which is levied off the pilgrims”
(Vol. I, p. 155, note). And the rites of the place, the author tells
us are substantially the same as they were three centuries previous :
“The order of penance in the sixteenth century, was substantially
the same as at the present day. The island, as has already been
observed, is still, and probably will continue as long as Catholicity
remains in Ireland, a favorite place of retreat, though the mediaeval
narratives of miraculous visions of the other world be forgotten ‘’
(Vol. I, p. 153, note).
1. In his edition of Cambrensis Ebersus seu Potius Historica Fides in Rebus IIiber-
inicis Giraldo Cambrensi Abrogata. Gratianus Lucius, Hibernus. Impress. An.
MDCLXII. Ed. by Rev. Matthew Kelly. Dublin, 1848.
THE VISION OF WILLIAM STAUNTON.
I.
INTRODUCTION.
THE MSS. : There are two MSS. of the vision of William
Staunton. The first, B. M. Royal 17 B XLIII, from which my
text has been taken, is described by Ward, Catalogue of Romances,
II, 484, as follows: “Vellum ; XV Cent. Quarto; f. 16, having
23 to 27 lines to a page. With two colored initials. Preceded by
a rude colored drawing of a sainted Bishop in the act of benedic-
tion, surrounded by Fiends and by Souls in torment” (f. 132 b).
The second Ms., B. M. Addit. 34, 193, is described by Ward (as
above, p. 487): “Vellum ; late XVth. cent. Folio; f. 10, in
double columns of 33 to 34 lines.”
In the volume in which it is contained, the Royal MS. extends
from f. 133 a to f. 148 b. The Additional Ms. account appears to
have been written on the occasional blank leaves of a volume after
the volume had been partially filled. It begins on f. 99 a, col. 2,
and the first section extends to f. 100 b, col. 2. At the foot of the
second column, in the same hand as the body of the Ms., is written
the direction, The VI leffe. The second section accordingly begins
f. 106 a, col. 1; it is a short section extending only to f. 106 b,
col. 2. At the foot of f. 106, the direction reads, The XIII* leffe.
The third section begins f. 119 b, col. 1; it extends to f. 125 b,
col. 2. The direction at the foot of this column reads, The leffe be
for pe kalender. As the volume now stands, it contains no calendar,
and apparently no leaf before it, for the conclusion of the Vision
is also wanting. The missing portion is not more than the ten
or a dozen concluding lines. The passage in the Royal MS.
corresponding to the one with which the Addit. Ms. closes, is on
f. 148 a. The Addit. Ms. is also deficient (not noticed by Ward,
54
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 55
Vol. II, p. 487, in his analysis of the contents of the MS.) at f.
123 a, col. 2; there is no indication of a lacuna in the text, which
runs on without interruption. The section in the Royal MS. cor-
responding to the omitted part of the Addit. Ms. is found on f.
142 b. In general the Addit. Ms. is less carefully written than
the Royal ; there are occasional omissions and repetitions, and a
greater number of corrupt passages.
RELATION OF MSS. To ORIGINAL : Both of the MSS. bear the
unmistakable marks of copies. The Addit. MS., though, as has
been stated, it is carelessly written, appears in some respects to
give a more faithful representation of the original than does the
Royal Ms. In the first place, the account is more consistent.
William, who in both Mss. is said to have been born in the bish-
opric of Durham, is given in the Royal Ms. the surname Staunton;
but in the Addit. Ms. he is called William of Stranton. Stranton
is a township and parish of Durham, lying along the coast. In
the Addit. account, the story tells how William was met in the
Purgatory by John of Bridlington and Hilda of Whitby. Brid-
lington or Burlington is a sea-port town and parish in the E. R.,
Yorkshire, about thirty miles N. E. of Hull. St. John lies buried
here in the priory church. And Whitby, not far from Stranton, or
Bridlington, was of course a well known place in Yorkshire. The
remark then of John of Bridlington to William, in the Addit. Ms.,
is not improbable: “ Thow hast often cum to me where my body lyes
and to my suster Sant hylde’” (f. 100 a). In the Royal MS. the two
persons who came to William are John of Bridlington and St. Ive
of “Quitike.” “Quitike” is Quethiock, a parish in Cornwall on
the rivers Lynher and Tidy; St. Ive is supposed to have been an
early missionary to this place. It is hardly possible that William
could have often visited the shrine of St. John in North England
and also that of St. Ive of Quethiock in Cornwall. Undoubtedly
the Southern scribe (the Royal MS. is in the Southern dialect), for
the sake of local color, or in order to honor a home saint, has
substituted St. Ive for St. Hilda. Further, Stranton, the name of
William's home, a place unknown to the Southern scribe, was
changed to Staunton, the place name becoming the sur-name.
56 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
The Addit. MS. is apparently truer to the original than the
Royal in another detail. In the Royal Ms. William says he was
placed in the Purgatory by the “prior of seint Mathew of pe same
purgatorie” (f. 133 a). The Addit. Ms. reads: “I was putt in by
pe Prior Matheus keper of the same purgatory” (f. 99 b, col. 1).
Now we know from the vision of Rathold (cf. above, p. 35) that
the prior of the Purgatory in 1408 was named Matthew ; and the
correct reading here is undoubtedly that of the Addit. Ms.
In two instances it seems probable that the original is more
faithfully preserved in the Royal account. First, the prayer in
the Addit. MS. is shorter than that in the Royal Ms. ; the longer
form is the one that was generally current. The prayer in the
vision of Rathold, of Raymond, and of Luis Enius is exactly
the same as that in the Royal MS. Again, the Addit. MS. states
that the Purgatory was situated in the bishopric of Jalcet in
Ireland; all traditions agree with the Royal MS., that the Purga-
tory was situated in the bishopric of Clogher (Cleghire).
There is only one other difference in point of fact between the
two MSS. In the Addit. Ms. it is said that William entered the
Purgatory “on Ester day the VIIIte oure before none” (f. 99 a).
The Royal MS. reads: “pe VIII oure bi fore pe none on the friday
meat after holyrode day in harvest” (f. 133 a). The letter of safe
conduct given by Richard II to Raymond was dated Sept. 7, 1397.
Perhaps the similarity of the prayer as found in the Royal Ms. of
the vision of William and in the account of Raymond may point
to some dependence of the date as given in the vision of William,
the Friday after Sept. 14, on that given in Raymond. The other
details of the vision of Raymond do not, however, bear this out.
In other respects the MSS. are in substantial agreement. The
Addit. Ms. appears to treat its original somewhat freely at times—
especially in dialogue passages. But the order of incidents is the
same in both MSS. The differences of phraseology, orthography,
etc., are such as would naturally arise in two independent tran-
scriptions of a single MS.
PLACES, NAMEs, ETC., IN THE MSS. : The places referred to in
in the MSS. have perhaps been sufficiently discussed ; they are Dur-
ham, Stranton, Bridlington, Whitby, Quethiock, Cleghire, Jalcet.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 57
But a word or two on the persons named will be necessary. It
is of course impossible to find out more about William than the
story itself gives; it is not to be doubted, however, that the hero
of the story was a real person. Mention is made of William's
sister, his sister's lover, and his uncle; but the names of none of
these are given. William also sees some of his friends in the
Purgatory, but they are not distinguished by names.
John of Bridlington was a popular saint in Yorkshire at the
end of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth century. He
was made prior of Bridlington in 1366 and died as prior Oct. 10,
1379 (cf. History of the Priory Church of Bridlington, by the Rev.
Marmaduke Prickett, Cambridge, 1835. Appendix, p. 85). “So
great was the opinion of his sanctity, that he was canonized as a
saint after death, by order of the Pope, according to the supersti-
tious habits of the age. The Archbishop of York, assisted by the
Bishops of Durham and Carlisle, performed the ceremony of the
translation of his relics to a magnificent shrine in the chapel
behind the high altar of the Priory Church. Hither there was a
numerous resort of pilgrims, and many miracles were reported to
be wrought at his tomb '' (Prickett, p. 25). Bale (quoted by
Prickett, p. 89) records the tradition that John had the gift of
seeing visions: “Ferunt etiam de eo, quod ea frequenti et assidua
divinarum rerum contemplatione mirabiles habuerit visiones. Sed
haec in medium ad praesens relinquo, cum suspecta Semper habeam
talia monachorum spectra.”
There is preserved in Rymer (Foedera, Tom. VIII, p. 161) a letter
of safe conduct, dated October 4, 1400, which was given by Henry
IV to John Gysborn, prior of Bridlington, granting him free
passage to Rome on business connected with the canonization of
John of Bridlington. It is evident, therefore, that John of
Bridlington was a popular and prominent saint in Yorkshire at
the time the vision of William was written ; it was but natural
that he should be chosen as one of the guides through Purgatory.
The cult of St. Hilda was of course, in the fifteenth century, a
long established one. St. Hilda became abbess of Hartlepool in
649, founded the famous monastery at Streaneshalh, now Whitby,
in 658, and died in the year 680. In that day of pilgrimages, the
shrine of St. Hilda must have been a place of frequent resort for
the religious of the north of England.
58 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
St. Ive or St. Ives, a saint whose history is not so well known
as that of St. Hilda, was probably an Irish missionary who came
to St. Ives bay in Cornwall about the year 500 (cf. A History of
the Parishes of Saint Ives, Lelant, Towednack and Zennor, in the
County of Cornwall. By John Hobson Matthews, London, 1892,
pp. 28–9). She was one of the followers of St. Patrick, it is sup-
posed. Her name is usually spelled Ia, Ye, or Ya. She has a
day which is locally celebrated on the 3rd of February. The
present church at St. Ives was built between the years 1410 and
1426 (Matthews, p. 58). It may be that in connection with the
building of the church there was a revival of interest in the saint
herself, whose name was thus naturally used by the vision writer
of 1409.
The one other name of the Ms., Matthew, prior of the Purgatory,
has already been sufficiently discussed (above, p. 56). We know
from the letters preserved in Dr. Jones’ Treatise (cf. above, p. 32 ft.)
that the prior of the Purgatory at this time still demanded the
formal letter of permission to visit the Purgatory.
For an analysis and discussion of the contents of the MS., cf.
above, p. 35 ff. No attempt has been made to normalize the text,
except partially in capitalization and punctuation. Corrupt pas-
sages are always explained by comparison with the Addit. Ms.
II.
TEXT.
[B. M. Ms. Royal 17 B. XLIII. f. 133.]
Here begynneth pe reuelacion the which William Stavnton saw
in Patrik is purgatorie the friday next after the fest of pe exal-
tacion of pe crosse in pe yere of owre lord M. cock. IX.
Y William Stavnton born in pe bisshopryche of Dereham of
englond, bi goddes grace entred in to pe purgatorie of seint Patrik
in the bisshopriche of Cleghire in Irlande pe VIII owre bi fore pe
none on the friday next after holyrode day in harvest. I was put
in by pe prior of seint Mathew of pe same purgatorie with preces-
sion and devougte prayers of pe same priour; and pe Covent toke
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 59
, 133 b.
me an orison to blesse me with and to write be first worde in fore-
hede, be which prayer is this: Thesu Christe fili dei viui misereri
michi peccatori/* And be priour taught me to say this prayer
when ony sprit good or evel appered vn to me or when y herd
ony noyse pat y shuld be a fered of, if pei were good sprites or
evel. If pei were good spritis, pei wold a byde stil with me; if
pei were evil, pei shuld voyde and pe ferful noyse cese. And after
pat by the techyng of pe priour I cam to a restyng place of Seint
patrik in pe whiche [ he abode the reuelacion of goddes angellis
when he passed pat way in his tyme/ and there y abode and
sum what slumbered and slepte/ 'And after y was ware of a litel
light afer as it had be the dayng of pe day/ and me thought y
sawe a man and a woman bope cladde in white/ the man in a
chanons is abite and pe woman in the same abite with a vayle
on hir hede as a nonne/ And when y saw hem first y, dredyng
sum what, said my prayer and marked my forhede as the priour
taught me; pan thei laughed and said, “god spede;” and pany
was sum what reioysed/ and y said, “pe spede of god be welcome
wnto me”/ And pat man said vnto me, “William, thow art
welcome and pow hast take on hond a grete pyng; but bi the
mercy of god pow shalt wel do and welfare. And here fast by pow
shalt fynde. ii. waies, on on thi righond a nother on pi leftehonde.
The way on thi right honde is faire and “brode and thiway in the
liftehond is more and sumdel fowle in the bigynneng, and it is
faire and clene to sight; but leve pe way on pe lefthond and take
pe wai on pe righthond.” But thow shall fynd men in pi righthond
1 [Addit. MS., f. 99 a, col. 3: Here begynnes the boke of Wyllyam of Stranton
the weche berys wyttenes of sothefastenes and of alle ferdfulle Juges, the which
he herde and saw when he was in patrike purgatory. ZIn the gere of owre lorde
M. cccé and VI. In the name of Gode, Amen./I Wyllyam of Stranton borne in
the bysschoppryke of Dorham in ynglonde, [marginal gloss in later hand, Durham
in England] thorht goddys grace enterde in to purgatory of saynt Patrike in the
bysshoppryke (f. 99 b, col. 1) off Jalcet in Irelande on Ester day the VIII* owre
before none. And I was putt in by be Prior Matheus keper of the same purga-
tory with procession and devote prayers of the same Prior and Covente, the
wheche techyd me on orison to blysse me wythe And to wrytte the fyrst worde
in my forhede weche is thys: Jhesu fili dei miserere mei. *[M.S.: And and.
*[Addit. MS., f 99 b : The way on the ryght hande is narrow and sumdele
fowle in the begynnyng. And be way on be lefte hand is fayre and clene in
syght. Bott leve bat way and take be way on be ryght hand.
60 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
pe whiche shul lete pe to passe by here power, pe whiche men
shullen be liche in shape and colour to men of thi owne contree
pat ben levyng; but pei ben evel spirites of which pow shalt be
evel aferd/ and perfore haue pow in thi mynde pe passion of owre
lord ihesu [ crist and sai pi praier and thei shul voide and be
knowe to the suche as thei be. And afterward pou shalt see and
here more grisly sightes and evel spirites of the whiche pou shalt
be sore adradde; but haue in mynd as y said be of owre lordes
possion and pai shal do the none harm.” Thanne y William
said, “if it myght be plesyng to god and to pe for to haue knowlage
of pe pat so moche kindenesse haue shewid to me, and y require
pe for pe love of owre lord ihesu criste if it be thi wil.” Thanne
he saide, “y wil gladly pat pow wete. I am cleped in northcontree
Iohn of Bridlyngton, and so y am; and pis woman is seint Ive,
my suster pat woned in Quitike.” And I said, “a, worshipful
lorde and holy fader, worship mote pou be in heven and in erthe
pat daynethe not to come to so synful a man pat so mykell nede
hathe and is ynne.” And than he said, “pou hast often tymes
comen to me whare my body ligheth and to my suster here seint
Eve, more disesyng pe pan owre comyng dothe vs.” And with pat
he blissid me with his hond and went his way. And I William roos
me vp and went in folowyng pe same way pat pei passed/ And
sone after y come to be waies pat he spak to me of and fond in the
way on pe right hond as Seint John had said, diuers men bi sight
apperand to me pe whiche leveden as by shap in the world and
as bi colour of them. And pai said to me, “wheder wilt pow go.”
And I said, “the way pat ye stonde in II shal go bi the help of
owre lord ihesu crist.” Than pei said, “this way thow shalt not go;
for knowe vs well, we be thi frendes and none evel spirites the
whiche be sent heder bi god to teche pe righte way so pat pow
shalt not be perisshid"/ And pan I said to them, Serteyn paty
wold go bi pem, and pei said to me ageyn, “pow shalt not passe
this way, for pow wilt spil thi self. We wil no suffre the, for pou
knowest wel pat we be thi frendes which loue pe and perfore we
be sent heder bi god to teche pe the right way so pat pow shalt not
F. 134.
F. 134 b.
* [Addit, M.S.: passyon. *[Addit. MS., f. 100 a. In yor contre they call me
John of Bredlyngton and so I am. And thys woman is my sister Sant Hylde of
whytby that wonnyde per in sum tyme.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 61
, 135.
be pershid"/ And pan Isaid to hem certayn yat y wold go bi the
help of owre lord ihesu crist; and thei saiden to me agen, “you
suffre the for thow knowest wel we be thi frendes pe whiche louen
pe and therfore we ben send heder”/ Than y had mynde on pe
passion of owre lord ihesu crist and marked me in the forhede
with my praier pat was tawght me by fore. And sodenly pilk folk
Sodenly vaneshid fro me/ And pan appered to me evel spirites;
but tho y was more sekerer pan y was before, for po wist y wel
pat my praier was of vertu. And than y went forthe pat way/ and
Sone ther appered to me many fereful and horrible spirites of the
which y was moche afered and dred. And summe of po spirites
had . iiii. visages, summe with . VII. hornes and summe with . V. ;
Summe had a visage in euery elbowe, [ summe on every kne. And
pei maden to me an hudious noyse with creyes and with bleryng
owt of here brennyng tanges and other many noyses mo pan I can
tell, for y was so aferd pat y hadde no mynde on god me on my
praier me on none other thinge pat shuld me help but only on pat
noyse, and soy was neghe in point of perishyng/ Then cam pat blis-
ful Virgyn seint Ive and [Seyd] to me, “pou madman, haue mynde
in thi hert of pe passion of owre lord ihesu crist, goddessone of
heuene, and mark pe with pi praier”/ And pan I said, “ihesu crist,
goddissone of hevene, for thi passion pat bowghtest me and all
sinfull on erthe with pi precious blode, haue mercy on my sinful
bodi and graunte me grace so to do pat is most plesyng to the and
sauacion to my bodi and sowle.” And tho y markid me with my
praier and al pe evel spirites vaneshid fro my sight/ pan I was
right glad and thongkid god and hild forbe my way. And so y
passid forthe without sight of ony spiretes goode or evell to pe
space of a myle; and pany mette with Seint John, and Seint Ive
and a suster of myne pat was dede long tofore in a pestilence tyme,
and a nothir man which I knewe well pat my suster loved wel
whiles thei leved in this world. And pan I honowred seint Iohn
and seint Ive, and seint Iohn said to me pan, “pow were evel
agast [ of other spirites”/ And I said, “soy was; blessid be god
and owre ladi patyam comen to yow ageyn.” pan he saide, “pou
. 135 b.
* [Addit. MS., f. 100 b: And she Seyd unto me, etc.
62 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
Nota.
F. 136.
haddest evell mynde on pe passion of owre lord ihesu crist and on
thi praier, for pow art not stedefast on pi beleve and also to simpell
to make such a viage on honde, savyng only pe merci of god.”
And whan he had pus said to me my suster spake and said, “holy,
ye be here in goddis Stede/ And y make my complaint to yow on
my brother pat here stondethe, pat he hathe synned in holy chirche
agen god ; for pis man pat stondethe here loued me and y loved
him and ether of vs wold haue had other in pe law of god, as holy
chirche techethe, and shuld haue geten on me . iii. Sowles to god.
And my brother lettid vs to go togeder for he said and we didden
we shuld nothir haue ioye of other and for pat cause we lefte hit */
Tho seint Iohn said, “whi diddest pou pis trespas agen god and
thi owne sowle? for y tel the per nys no man pat letteth man or
woman to go togeder in the bond of god, pow the man be a sheperd
and all his auncestres and the woman be comyn of kingis or of
emperours; Or if pe man be comyn of never so high kynne and pe
woman of never so lowe kynne, if pei loue other otheir, he synneth
in holy chirche agenst god and his cristendome indede, in pat” he
letteth hem, whoever he be/ And perfore shall haue moche payn
and tribulacion, But he come to amendement. For [ pat synne
greveth god gretelich and pou was never shreven therof ne diddest
never penaunce perfore; but it comyn into pi mynde pou haddest
shreven pe perof and y take pe penawnce perfore/ And therfore
hath graunted the owre lord ihesu crist [grace] bipe praier of Seint
patrik; so pat when pow comest to the worlde agayn shryve the
to pe priour of pis purgatorie and what penawnce pat he gefeth
the, se pat it be done mekely/ And loke, for if pow haddest
shryve be perfore and forgete pi penaunce vndo perfore pat pe prest
had yeve the, pow shuldest haue had penawnce perfore here er pou
haddest hens passed.” ” And y lokyd after my suster and she and
pat man pat come with hir were vaneshid away owt of my sight.
1 [Addit. MS., f. 106 a And ouer sympul to take suche a vyage on hande.
* [MS. bat at. *[Addit. MS., f. 106 b : Neuertheles and hytt hade cummyn to
by mynde, bu had bene schrevyn berof and done penance perfor. And perfor oure
lorde Jhesu criste hath grantyd be grace thouroo be prayer off Sant patrike. Soo
bat when bu cummyste to be worlde, schryfe be to be Prior of be purgatory, and
what penance he iniones be perfor, lowke bat hytt be done; for yf Pu hade bene
schrevyn berof and forgetyn be penance bat be pryst gaffe be therfor, therfor
vndone, bu schulde per fore haue hade thy penance here or Pu hade hense passyde.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. - 63
136 b.
£ged
thes.
And pan seint Iohn said to me, “William, seist pou peyender fier
fer fro pe?” And y said, “y se yender a smoke pat is like a fire
to be pere.” And seint Iohn said, “po yender is a grete fire and
styngkyng and certeyn were it possible pat all pe people in pe
world, men, women and children felden pe Smyche of yender fire,
pei shuld not endure so long with hire lifes as a man shuld turne
his honde vp and downe; perfore go we bi twene pe fire and pe
wynde and loke wel what pou seist peryn.” And pan I went so
nyghe pat y myght know what maner of paynes were peryn; and
pere y saw pilk fire brynneng diuerse men and women and summe
pat y knew when pei levid in pe world, [as it appered there to
my sight. I saw summe there with colors of gold abowte here
neckis and sum of siluer; and summe men y saw with gay girdels
of siluer and gold and harmeist hornes abowte here neckes; summe
with mo iagges on here clothis pan hole clothe; sum hire clothis
ful of gyngeles and belles of siluer al over sette; and summe with
long pokes on hire sleves/ And women with gownes trayleng bi
hinde hem a moche space; and summe other with gay chapeletes
on hir hedes of gold and perles and other precious stones/ And
pan Iloked on him pat y saw first in payn and saw the colers
and the gay girdels and bawderikes brennyng and the fendes
drayng hem bi. ii. ſyngermele" and more withthynne here flesshe,
al brynneng as fire; and y saw pe iagges, pat men were clothed
ynne turne al to addres, to dragons and to todes and many other
orrible bestes, sowkyng hem and bityng hem and styngyng hem
with al here myght; and thorowout euery gyngels I saw fendes
smyte brennyng nayles of fire in to here flessh. I saw also fendes
drawyng down peskynne of here shulders like to pokes and kittyng
hem of and draw.yng hem to pe hedes of whom pai cut pem fro, al
brynnyng as fire. And po I saw be women pat had side trayles by
hinde hem and po side trayles cut of with fendes and ybrent on
here hedes; and summe toke of [ pe cuttyng all brennyng and
stopped perwith here mowpis, hire noses and hire eres. I saw also
hire gay chapeletes of gold, of perlous and other precious stones
yturned into nailes of yren brennyng and fendes with brennyng
hamers Smytyng hem into hire hedes. And pan Seint Iohn said vnto
137.
*[Addit. MS., f 1.19% .' drawynge them a hand brede and more with in per flesche.
64 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
me, “Tho yender men thei disworship god with hire pride of hert
and of aray, takyng more hedé to pe bodi for pe vanite of pe world
and of penyse vsage pat is hadden perynne pan pei had nede of;
for eueryche man owght to plese his god with mekenesse of hert
and of body acordaunt perwith. And thiſk men and women deden
not so, for pey nold not leve hire myse pride for no prechyng ne
techyng ne counseill in shrift; for to atte last pan pey had shrift
and no space of penaunce sufferyng and perfor pei shullen suffre
euermore without mercy pese paynes til pedai of dome”/ And
than seint Tohn ledde me forthe to another fier/ And pere y saw
bras and lede and other diuers metals molten togedre, wherynne y
saw many sowles of men and women, and fendes among hem with
swerdes, knyves, and brochis brennyng, smyteng owt hire yen and
fillyng pe holes of pe yen with pat brynnyng metall; summe
makyng woundes with here swerdes and fillyng the woundes with
pe same brennyng I metall; summe drayng of penayles of here
fingers with brynnyng tonges of yren and settyng hem on agen
with pat metall molten ; summe smytyng of here armes, puttyng
hem on pe fire brochis and fillyng thilk places where armes were
with molten metall al on fire; and pei [threw]' pe armes on pat other
membris into the molton metall and when pei weren al on fire pei
toke hem vp agen and set hem on hire places agen and pus pei dide
continuliche/ And y herd pe armes as methowght verely crie and
sai, “Ihesu crist, goddissone of heven, rightwous iugge, we haue
not servid pis payne but only the hert and pe tonge”/ And pan
pe fendes token owt pe hert and pe tounges and clevid hem on
tweyne and filt hem ful of pat hote brynneng metall and put ham
into pe bodi agen/ And than seint Iohn said, “pese ben pei pat
sweren bi goddes membres, as bi his yen, bi his armes, bi his
woundes, bit his nayles and other his membris; and thei pus dis-
membrid god in horrible swerynge bi his lymmes, perfore pei be
pus turmentid in hire membris and shul be duryng the willyng of
god.”/ And pan seint Tohn ledde me forthe into pe. iii. fire and
pat fire was of grete stenche and hete for theryn was cast fen and
dirt as had ben of gonges and of oper maner of fylthe ; and pere
I sawe Sowles of men | and women with fendis stoppeng hem ful
of pat filthe ; summe other takyng brondes of fire, stoppeng and
Nota.
Swerers.
F. 137 b.
F. 138.
* [Ms. drow.

Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 65
akers of
lidays. shovyng pe felthe downe into here bodies as pe wold stoppe a
wullepak; and other fendes comyng with pottes ful of leme of pat
fire yetyng it into them/ And pan seint Iohn said, “po yender
ben tho pat broken here halydaies; for on pe haliday a cristen
man shuld go to chirche and bid hertely his prayers and shryve
him if he haddenede, to him pat hathe power of his sowle, and
foryeven all tho pat haue gilt him as he woll be foryeve of god;
but pese folk did not so for pei dispendid here halydai in gloteny
and dronknesse in taverns and other places, takyng and fillyng
hem self owte of mesure more pan hem nedid, so mykel pat summe
of hem cast up agen; and other diuers filthes and synnes thei vsid
in pe holidais and perfore pei shullen suffer peyonder fillyng and
stoppyng ful of filthe and stenche with fendes during pe will of
god.”/ Thanne seint Iohn led me forthe to pe. iiii. fire/ And
pere y saw many sowles bounden with brondes of fire and the
fendes stondyng and stowpeng here erses toward be sowles and
shityng owl of here erses stench and fen with brondes of fire pat
nowr fader
1 moder.
failed not but smote hem thorowe pe hedes and thorow al here
lymmes of here bodi where ever pat hit cam. Tho seint Iohn said,
138 b. “pese ben poo pat dishonour here fader [ and here moder and
therefore peishullen suffre here pis dishonour of fendes ersis duryng
pe wil of god”/ Tho seint Tohn led me to pe. v. fire there y saw
sowles with all maner of goodes brennyng on hire backes; summe
withe Swerdes and knyves Smytyng and stikeng hem self; summe
horses and oxen and oper diuers bestes bityng hem and teryng hem
a Theſes, asonder/ Than seint Iohn said to me, “poo yonder ben theſes
and robbers of trewe menis godes.” And hem y saw take owt of
pat payne pat pai were yn and cast to other and other sowles take
owt of pilk payne pat pei were yn and sett by / And pan he said,
“poo sowles pat pow seist take owt of yonder paynes and set by,
ben pe sowles of poo men pat pe yender theſes robbeden and stalen
pere goodes from hem; and as moche fawte as poo true men suf-
freden in lak of here goodes, so moche payn pei shullen suffre for
N. hem, for thei made never satesfaction in will nothir in dede; and
therfore pei shullyn suffre pere yender payn duryng pe will of
3. god/ And in pilk paynes y saw executours punysshid as long
|-- tyme as pei delayn and not fulfillyn pe dethis will, and pilk execu-
tours pat tokyn pe dedis goodes to here owne vse for pe Sowles of
5
66 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
F. 139 a.
Nota
Questmong-
€7°S,
pe owners were passid owt of purgatorie; pe help of goodes pat
were done afterward turned to pe help and reles of other pat had
nede and po pat withilden them were punysshid therfor with fendis
in hudious paynes duryng the wil of god. Then [ seint Iohn
lad me forthe to pe VI fire/ and in pat fire y saw many sowles y-
payned/ And summe fendes meltyng gold and siluer and yet it
into them/ And y sawe oper where wodes, rochis, hilles, and
londes brennyng and fallyng vppon them/ Than seint Iohn said,
“poo yender be thoo pat bare false witnesse in diuers enquestes
and assisis, sum for gold and summe for siluer and now pat gold
and pat siluer molten paynes them as pou seist, and so of londes
and wodes [it]' paynethe hem in iii maners: On is it shall bren
hem; another it shal brose hem; pe iii it shal smolder hem and
hold hem ever vnder”/ Tho y saw diuers sowles stondyng abowte
pat fire but felyng no payn of it/ And seint Iohn said, “po yender
Sowles ben of po men pat haue suffred wrong bi thilk turmentid
in pe. fire/ And there pei shal se none other payn but se them
turmentid and punysshid for here gilt as long tyme as pei shuld
haue sufferd hem self; and pilk paymes pei shul suffre duryng pe
will of god”/ Thanne seint Iohn lad me to pe VII, fire; theryn y
saw many sowles ypayned with fendis teryng hem with brennyng
crokes of brennyng yren, euerych lymme of pe bodi fro other and
other fendes with speris, swerdis, and knyves, smytyng the hedes
of the sowles and the other parties of pe body, hewyng on sonder,
fallyng into pilk fiere, the fendis takyng hem vp brennyng ful of
fiere and settyng on the hedes agen, and pus pei did continueliche/
Than sayde seint Tohn, “pilk ben be sleers and murdres of true
men.” And pere I herd a gresly crye sayng, “ihesu crist goddessone
of heven, pow rightful iugge, we axen veniaunce on hem pe which
kylden vs and distroyed vs and pei no cause had.” Thanne seint
Iohn said, “po yender ben tho sowles pat were kilde and distroied;
now pei axen veniaunce on thoo yonder mysdoers and in pe same
maner pei pat killyn giltles men, pei shal be turment in pis fire
duryng the will of god”/ Thanne Seint Iohn browght me to pe
VIII. fiere and pat fire was hote owt of mesure and blak as ony
pyche and smale lemes as blew as ony brymston comyng owt perof;
and in pat fire y saw many sowles bope of men and of women
* [Ms. and.

Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 67
xuria.
140 a.
lste pi
lde.
40 b.
hongyng bipe prevy membris with cheynes of brennyng yren,
summe bi the hert, and summe bi pe yen, and fendes betyng vppon
hem with hamours of brennyng yren/ Than seint Iohn said, “po
yendur ben bei pat leved here lif in lecherye; thei bat synned in
dede ben hangid bipe membris/ And thei pat synned in desire
ben hanged bi the hert, for the hert was in [ wil for to do pe
dede; and thei pat wold not hold here yen stable but biholden
faire women/ and also women of men and bi hire sight fillyn into
more synne in dede, perfor pei ben payned in here yen and shullyn
suffre pat payne duryng the wil of god”/ Tho seint Iohn led me
forthe to the . IX. fier and pere y saw many sowles of men and
women and children in thilk hote fire and chyldren betyng here
owne fader and moder with brondes of fire, pe fader saying, “my
faire some y gat the ”/ Tho saing the moder, “my faire child, y
bare and norshid the with my pappis; ” and rehersid many kynd-
nesse done by the fader and moder to here children/ Tho y herd
pe children sayng to here fader, “wrecche, pow gast me; ” and to
here moder, “wrecche, pow barest me and we know well all the
tendernesse pat ye haue done to vs; but for ye chastynde vs not
and in defaute of yowre chastement we muste suffre these bitter
paymes; and for ye betid not vs for owre mysdedes, we shul bete
yow with these fire brondes as goddis wil is "/ Thenne seint
Iohn said, “Thilk yender ben poo pat chasten nowght here chil-
dren/ And pe yonder payn pei shal haue perfore duryng the will
of god”/ Thoo seint Iohn bad me loke above my hede and pere
y saw a Roche hovyng over pe leme of al pe fires and payms pat y
before had seen/ And pan he lad me vp above that roche and
there y saw many sowles closid I with a wal of stone and pyulk
sowles lay noselyng on the grownd and grouelyng/ And all the
stenche and pe Smyche of al the fires to foresaid, rysyng vp in here
mouthes, noses, yen, and al here bodies; and on here backes y saw
dragons, arders, and snakes, todes, cattes, Bitellis, and other fowle
bestis, gnawyng on here backes and on al the lymmes on here
bodies; and y Saw many grisly devellis stompyng and tredyng on
here backis for to encrese here paynes/ And pan Seint. Iohn said,
“pe yender ben bacbiters pat wolden never sece of Saing evel of
here neghebours, puttyng hem owt of here good name into evel,
never levyng it in yonghe me in age for prechyng me for councelyng
68 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
in shrifte of hire goostly fader, for to it laste hem at what tyme
was no space of penaw.nce; and therfore pei shullyn evermore en-
dure in those paymes in to pe day of dome without mercy.” Thanne
seint Iohn lad me forthe a grett space fro pat other turmentes and
there he shewed me twey towers, pat on ful of brynnyng fire and
pe other ful of yse and snowe; and in pat full of fire, y saw many
Sowles ypayned and made hote in poynte for to mylt and Sodenly
with fendes pei were cast owt of pat passyng hete in to pat other
tower ful of yse and snowe, and fendes with shovelis castyng yse
and snow vppon hem; and pat paymed hem full sore. And thanne
y saw many sowles with fire brondys brennyng in here hondes
f hauyng here bodies ful of serpentes, snakes, todes, and diuers
other orrible wormes, knockyng at pe yate of pe towre; and when
pei were letyn yn thei cast the brondes of fire to thilk oper sowles
pat were cast yn paynes and beten him with pe same brondis and
payned them wonderly sore, and al tho serpentes, todes, and other
orrible worſm]is' lopen from here bodies to pilk oper pat were payned
in pat cold and stongyn and beten hem wonderly sore// Thanne
seint Tohn said vnto me, “These were bisshoppes and other diuers
prelates of holy chirche pat shuld haue prechid and geve good en-
sampell of levyng to pe comyn people; for thei did not pus now
thei be punysshid and payned with this fire and pis cold sodaynly
duryng pe will of [God]*/ And these sowles with pese fire brondes
pat paynethe them were here seruauntes lyveng in pride and oper
disgisyng of pe world/ and pilk serpentes, snakes, todes, and other
wormes ben here iaggis and daggis pat pei vsidden; and now thei
styngen and byten pese prelates for thei wold not correcte here
meyne of here nyse aray”/ And pany saw another fire and sowles
brynnyng theryn pat were aſs] *gret as it were pipis or tonnes al to
swollyn/ And owt of here [ fingers and owt of here toes come
diuers wormes as adders, snakes, and todes, turnyng agen into pe
same bodies, Sowkyng hem vnto pe tyme pat here bodies were
smalle agen; and pen eftesone styngyng agen for to pat pei were
swollen agen, as pus pei did continulyche, and fendes blow.yng the
fire for to make pe serpentes to styng hem more besely. And pany
herd mony diuers noyses, cryeng and Sayng, “Ihesu crist, goddes-
Bakbiters.
F. 141 a.
F. 141 b.
religious.
* [MS.: wordis. *[MS. omission. "[MS.; at.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. - 69
r]sones
*I'68,
42 a.
sone of hevene, rightfull doumsman, awreke vs on pis people; for
pei hadden pe goodes of holy chirche more pan them medid and
suffred vs to peressh for defaute”/ And pan seint Iohn said,
“these were religious men, as monkous, chanons, and other, pat
shuld haue lyved in continence and abstinence of here bodi; and
for thei did not pus, now thei be payned with pis fire and pise
wormen sowkyng and payneng hem in diuers maners. And pese
Sowles pat axe veniaunce on hem beth pe people pat myght haue
be relevid bi the goodes pat pei spendid in wast”/ Thenne seint
Iohn shewid to mediuers sowles paymed in another fire and summe
were closid with plates of yren brennyng al abowte, and on pe
platis weren letters and wordes wel wreten and porow pe wordes
nayles of yren hote brynneng, smeten in to here bodies; and pan
y saw fendes take owt pe tonnges and pe hertes of somme of po
Sowles, shredyng hem smalle and castyng in here faces as it were
brynnyng fire/ And among thilk Sowles, y saw on so punysshid
of pe which seint Iohn said, “pilk is [ thi eme, William, pat was
person of suche a place.” And I wist well pat he was dede. XVI."
wynter to fore pat time. Thanne seint Iohn said, “pese ben pe
sowles of persones and vicaries and prestis/ And pe letters pat
pow seist was goddes seruice pat peishuld haue said with deuocion;
but for pei had more lust in pleyng and other flesshly and worldly
lustes and myrthes than yn here seruice, therefore now pus thei be
payned with pese brynnyng nailes in there flessh/ And for thei
were never well, as them thowght, but if pei myght be occupied in
hakyng or huntyng or oper diuers synnes and vaniteis, levyng
goddes service, holy prayers, and other goostly deuocions, pat is
longyng to goddis pristes, and yoven evel ensample to pe comen
people bi hire lewid levyng, and with hire tongis not occupied in
devowght praiers and goddis seruice and behouefull to be people,
but hire hertes and hire tungis occupied in thowghtis and wordes
of synne and vaniteis, therfore fendes payneth hem nowe, shredyng.
and cuttyng here tunges and hertes in hudious payn and wo to
hem "//* And pan seint Iohn shewid to me a grete hous stronglich
* [Addit. MS., f. 122 b : xI gere before bat tyme. *[This passage reads as
follows in the Addit. MS., f. 12% b : And yf thay had servyd god as thay schuld
haue done by reson of per charge bat thay toke, greett blysse in hevyn myght
thay have hade. Alas bat syche (f. 123 a) presty's Schuld be callyd goddys
knyghtys bat feghtys euery day agayne per lege lorde; and perfore thay Schalbe
70 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
ywallid abowte and pat hous was al vp aboue," and in pat hous was
pe most stenche pat ever y feld; and pere y saw sowles al makid,
and pere among hem was passyng cold. And there y saw dyvers
pressis ipiled wyth clothis and owt of [ pat clothe come mothis
and other diuers wormes and pe fendes toke poo wormes stoppeng
and puttyng them into pe moughthes and throtes of po sowles. And
there y saw many dowblettes ythrow offendes vppon po sowles, pe
whiche dowbelettes were not hote, but yet with them pei were
gretely paymed and punysshid; and pan I saw the fendes turnyng
here arses toward pe Sowles, shytyng vppon hem, the whiche dirt
stonk so fowle pat it was a passyng payn; and in to pat hous come
grete passyng haulstones owt of pe eyr, smytyng summe of po
Sowles, summe on pe hedes, and summe on pe bodies, and al to-
brosid hem// Then seint Iohn said, “pese ben pe Sowles of men
of holy chirche, as persones, vicaries, and other prestes pat shuld
haue tawght good doctrine and good exemple haue yevyn to pe
comen people; for pei did noght so, now thei be punysshid diuer-
sliche in pe paynes pat thow seist; and pei suffren now this passyng
cold to teche hem what pe pore and pe makid people suffreden when
thei myght haue refresshid hem. These wormes pat comyn owt of
pese clothes were po mothis pat engendred in here clothis pat pei
might haue holpen with penedy people, and now pei shul not
be fed with none other mete but with pe same wormes; and the
dowblettes pat pow seist draw on [thilk [sowles] * weren dowb-
lettes that myse prestes vsid in this world, as pei had ben secular
men; for per cam no frute of pe curates and pristes of teching
and of good ensample yevyng to the comyn people, but stynkyng
synne and vnklene levyng, therfore pei shullyn now suffre pe
stenche and pe dirt of pese fendes duryng pe will of god/ And
pilk sowles pat pow seist smyten and brusid with the grete hail-
stonis ben pe Sowles of thilk persones and vicaries pat rayn, haill,
and snow defowled here auters and here chauncelles bi hire mys-
F. 142 b.
F. 143 a.
callyde be ryght of ther false gouernance, the dewlys knyghtys and goddes
traytores; and for syche ar they now pynyde and schalbe whylys goddys Wyllis.
And for per herttys and per tongys were occupyde in ydyll thoght and ydyll
speche, perfore thay suffyr now so howge paym; for when they wolde not purches
them blys as thay myght haue done and bat full mykylle, god wyll bat thay
haue now per purchese and bat is mekyl care and sorow more then any tonge
can tell. And Sant Jon schewid me a grett house, etc. *[Addit. MS., f. 123 a.
all open aboun. *[Crossed out in the MS., but necessary for the sense.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 71
143 b.
144 a.
kepeng where goddis body shuld be sacred and diuine seruice said,
spendyng pe goodes pat god sent hem to kepe with pat charge
and many other, in synne and wrecchidnesse. And now all these
Sowles ben closid in pese high walles for as moch as thei closid
hem self whiles thei leveden in pis world in hire owne houses,
for pei wold not here pe crie of pe pore and the nedy people”//
And pan seint Iohn led me forthe toward a water, the which was
blak and fowle to sight; and yn thilk water were mony fendes,
yellyng and makyng gresly noyse; and over pat water y saw a
gret brygge and brode as me semed, and on pat brigge [ I saw a
bisshop goyng and with him mony clerkes and diuers officers and
many other mayne; and when he had go a good while on pat
brigge, y saw fendes with grete strenghe pullyng and teryng adown
the pilers of pe brigge, and the bisshop sodaynly fallyng into pe
water and his meyne with him; and in the fallyng my thowght y
saw a bright angell takyng away the myter and the cros fro pe
bisshop and vaneshid away/ And than y saw many diuers sowles
and fendes among hem takyng pilk bisshop, teryng, draw.yng, and
plunchyng him in pat blak water/ And he suffred perynne many
diuers turmentes and moche woo/ And pan seint Iohn said, “this
was a bisshop which leved not wel to the plesyng of god as his
degre and his astate asked ; and therfore he is now paymed with
this diuers paynes. pat brigge pat pow seist was a brigge pat he
lete make in the world, whiles he was on lyve, for esement of pe
comen people; but for as moche as he did it to be made principally
for vaynglorie and also pe goodes pat it was made with weren
falsliche goten, taken yerlyche bi his office, gold and siluer, mayn-
teyneng pe synne of moche people in lecherie, therfore god hath
suffred pese fendes to draw down this brigge; for if it had be
made with godes trulych goten, it shuld haue ystoundyn him now
in grette stede. And these sowles pat pow seist paymenge him [ in
these paynes ben pe sowles of thoo pat he suffred in pe world to
liue in synne for loue and covetise of worldly lucor which he
myght haue amendid, if he had don is dever; and therfore it is
pe wil of god pat he and his officers pat suffred hem in synne, be
punysshid with hem in these paynes duryng the wil of god.”
finis reuelacionum penalium." -
"[The Addi. MS is without this finis.
72 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
F. 144 b.
And when seint Iohn had shewid meal pese paynes and many mo
pan y can or may tell or bithink, y said to him, “may ther be ony
remedi or mytigacion to pese sowles pat be pus ypayned in these
diuers paynes?”; and he said thus, “William, god forbede it els;
for pow shalt wnderstond pat pese sowles may be holpen owt of
pese paynes principalliche bi the mercy of god and bi pe good
dedis pat here frendes and pe people levyng in be world may do
for hem; as to lernyd men, as bi masses singyng, saing of Sawters,
placebo and dirige; commendacions, . VII. Salmes and the . xv.
psalmes, with peletenye; bi almes dede and bi pilgrimage; and
also bi lewid men, with pe Paternoster, pe Aue Maria and pe
Crede; almes dede, fastyng and pilgrimage; and bi many other
good dedis; for right as thow seist if a man is [ hond or his fote
were put into a vessell ful of hote scaldyng water, yf a man put
perto a quantite of cold water, sum what the hete of the scaldyng
water wold abate/ And so ofte he myght put perto more cold
water and more pat pe hete shuld not greve him. In the same
wise so many prayers and good dedes may be do for po sowles pat
ben in payn of purgatorie pat pe goodnesse and bi the mercy of
god and pe good dedis done for hem, pat pei myght be delyuerid
owt of payn’// Then seint Iohn went with me a litill space and
sone he vanysshid owt of my sight and thanne y was mochel adred
when he was gone fro me, and forthe y Zede bi the water side, the
whiche water was greislyche and depe, and moche greisly noise y
herd perynne; and vnderstode pat pere shuld have ben a brigge
over pat water as y had herd say in pe world/ And y saw none and
was the more agast and adrede. Thanne y herd a more grisliche
noyse of fendys comyng bihind me pan ever y herd bifore; and bi
pat noyse my sprite and my wittes failidden me so pat y had no
mynd on the passion of god ne of none other prayer; and pan pat
blissid virgen, Seint yve, cam bihinde me and saide, “thow mad-
man, haue mynde in pi hert of the glorious passion of owre lord,
ihesu crist, goddissone of hevene, and mark the withe thi praier”/
And pany said, “ihesu crist, goddissone of heuene, for pi passion
pat pow suffredist for me and al synful on erthe, haue mercy on
my sinful bodi and [g]if' me grace so for to do pat is most plesaunt
* [Ms. if.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 73
to the and saluacion for my bodi and my sowle.” And than y
markid me with my praier/ And pan al pat noise pat y herd
vaneshid away fro me and y went forthe bi the water side on my
right honde/. And on pat other side of the water y saw nothyng
but an highe roche; and so long y went on pat water side paty
saw an highe towour on the ferther side of pat water, and there y
saw mo light pan y did on al pe way bifore. On pe top of pe
towrey saw a fayre woman stondyng, and [she]' lokid to me; and
pan y was right gladde and knelid down on my kneis and with as
good hert and deuocion as y had, said. v. pater in pe worship of
owre lordis. V. woundes, and . v. aues in pe worship of owne ladi
is. v. ioyes, and marked me with my praier. Or y rose I lokid to
pe towour and saw a ladder fro pe top of pe towour reching vnto
145 b. the grownd where y knelid; and [ for gladnesse I rose vp and
went to the ladder. And hit was so litill as me thowght pat it
wold onnethe bere onything; and be first rong of the ladder was
so [hye]* pat onnethe might my fynger reche therto; and patrong
was sharper pan ony rasor, as me thowt, and a noney drow my hond
therfro/ And pan I herd a grisly noyse comyng fast toward me,
and y markid me with my praier and al pat noyse vanyshid away;
and pany lokid to pat ladder and pere y saw a corde comyng fro
pe top of the towre to pe fote of pe ladder. And pat woman bad me
knitte pat corde a bowte my myddell; and so y did, an yede to pat
ladder agen and reght my hond to patrong; and po y feld perong
of no sharpnesse andbi pe help of pat woman and of myne owne
grypyng, y steied vppon pat ladder and po y herd a thowsand
more noyse, grisly and hidow.us in pe water vnder me, and in pat
lond pat y com fro, pan y herd ony tyme bifore. pan bipe help
of owre lord ihesu crist and his merci and pat woman, pat was
aboue pat towour, y was sone broughte to be top of pat towour,
where y was passid al maner of drede. And po y fel on kneis and
elbowis to fore pat faire woman and said, “ihesu crist, goddessone
of heven, mot quite yow and worship yow for yowre grete and
gracious help and for yowre corde.” And pan pat faire woman said,
146 a. “the yender cord is thilk corde pat pou Iyavest to the chapman pat
was robbid wiht iwes” when he cam where yow were asking almes
"[Ms. omission. *[Addit. MS., f. 124 b : And be fyrst style was so hye, etc. .
* [Addit. MS., f. 1% b : when he was robbyde of the Vys.
74 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
F. 146 b,
for the loue of god.” And pan pe woman went evyn fro pe towre
and y folowid/ And pere we cam into a faire contree and al the
erthe of pat contree was clere as cristal ston; and no gras growyng
in pat contree but there growid many treis, and pe fairest pat ever
y saw with myne yen, and swetter of sauour pan al pe spicers
shoppes [of all pe warlde];' and many wonderfull breddes on the
treis, singeng on hire singyng mony dilectable songus, and Suete
notes makyng and singyng/ In pat contre me thowght wonder
meri and fayn y wold haue biden peryn and wonder fast y gede in
pat contree forthe. pe ferther pat y zede and sowght, the better
me likid. And pere cam agenst me a faire company of monkis,
channons, and pristes, clothid al in white, and welcomed me wel
tenderlich as powgh y had be here owne brother, of oon fader and
of oon moder; and ofte pei lowtid and thonkid god hertly pat y
was passid al thilk peroles and gresly sightes pat y had bi fore
sein, herd, and be yn ; and pat ever y did ony good dede in this
world, pei thonkid me therfore, yn so moche pat for a candell pat
y set Sumtyme in a chirche bifore an ymage, not for pe ymage but
in worship of pat seint pat pe ymage bitokened, y was thonkid
perfore; and y stode, talkyng with hem, ther come a bisshop
revershid with a cros [ in his hond, and on that cros an ymage of
owre lord, ihesu crist, as he suffred paine on the rode; and pe
bisshop was bare fote, and so were al tho pat were there. And
whan pe bisshop cam neighe, thei fellen al on kneis and askid his
blessyng, and he yaf it pem with good wille. And y in a side bi
my self set on my kneis, askid pe bisshop his blessyng as pat oper
compeny did, and he with his hond blissid me. Thanne said pe
bisshop, “loved an[d] heried be god, William, pat pow art wel-
come heder pat hast passid a perilous place. Worship be owre
lorde ihesu crist, goddessone of heven.” And the bisshop said to
me many wordes, and among other he said, “Alas, alas, William,
Alas, for mekill people in the world synneth in trust of goddis
mercy and pat bigileth many man and woman.” And these ruful
wordes rehersid a bowte a . xii. times; “Alas,” he said, “whi nel
not pe people in pe world take hede to pegrete goodnesse pat owre
Nota.
* [M.S.: Shoppes bat ever—; Addit. MS., f. 1% b : then all be spyssers schoppys
of all be worlde. - -
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 75
Nota.
F. 147 a.
lord, ihesu crist, hath do for hem, pat pei wold for his love and
his kindenesse pat he hath shewid to them, lefe here synnes and
hire wikkidnesse or here synnes lefe hem, with ynward sorow of
hert shryveng hem clene of here synnes to them pat power haue;
and shew how ofte and pe tyme and the place ſ and the degre of
the person pat pei have synned with, and hire onkindnesse and
turnyng agen to synne; and wilfulli and mekely take penaunce
and fulfil it, and thanne continue in good levyng; and than pei
shul nat be punysshid in pe orible paynes pat pow sawest, but thei
shul haue grete thonke of owre lord ihesu crist, for pei for his
loue forsakyn and withstoden here synnes, suffreng pe burdon of
many temptacions; and seintes in heuen shull be ioifull and worship
hem therfore”/ And whan pis bisshop had talkid with me a good
while he said, “William, pow passe agen into py contree, and be
pow a good man in thi leuyng and pan pow shalt come heder to
vs; and if pow turnest to thi synne agen, thow shalt come to thilk
paynes which pow now hast ascaped.” And pan y Said, “holy
fader, if it be plesing to owre lord, ihesu crist, I beseche yow for
his loue pat y myght a while rest me in pis contree, for here to be
me thinkithe ful mery.” And pan pe bisship said to me, “let be,
William ; pow maist not abide here as now, but be a good man
and pow shalt come heder/ And y counsaill the pat pow aske no
thing pat is displesyng to goddes will, for y say the it is synne to
covete it. But thow shalt wend agen in the blissyng of god and
myne; but yet er thow goo, [ thow shalt se examinacion of a
prioresse of a nunnery, for hir Sowle is comen hether now to here
iugement”/ And tho the Bisshop and pe company went forthe
and y folowid after for to paty come to pat place on an high hill
where pat sowle abode. And there were wonder many fendes
abowte pat sowle/ And anon on of the monkis pat come withe
the bisshop opend a boke of pe nonnes rule and law after which
she shuld haue levid, and of euery poynt bi him self askid how
she hadde rulid hir and as wel of hire sustern, the which she
shuld haue gouerend also as hir self/ And certayn she had litil
defens for hir self; for there pe fendis accusid hir aſn]d said pat
she come to religion for pompe and pride, and for to haue habun-
". 147 b.
* [Addit. MS., f. 135 a. And then on of be monkys that cam with be byschoppe
opynde a boke of all evyll dedes bat sche hade done, etc. w -
76 Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
daunce of the worldes riches, and for ese of hir bodi and not for
deuocion, mekenesse, and lownesse, as religious men and women
owght to do; and po the fendes said, “it is wel knowen to god
and to al his angels of heven and to men dwellyng in that contree
where she dwellid ynne, and all the fendes of hell, bat she was
more costluer in puler weryng,' as of girdelles of siluer and over-
gilt, and ringes on hir fingers, and siluer” bokeles and overgilt on
hir shone, esy lieng in nyghtes, as it were or an emprise in the
world, not daynyng hir for to arise to goddis servis; and with all
dilicate metes and drinkes she was fedde.” And pan yn certayn
that nonne in gret [ wepyng said, “it is wel knowen to owre lord,
ihesu criste, goddissone of heuen, pat y serift and ful repentaunce
of al my misdedis done bifore pat tyme; and in ful purpos was to
leve my synne and nice vaniteis and pride, and for to haue take
me only to goddis seruice; for y know me gilti in gouernaunce
and therfore y forsake his rightful iugement and take me holy to
his grete mercy”/ And pan pe bisshop enioyned hir to payne
enduryng evermore til pe day of dome for pat she wol not forsake
ne leve hir pride and evel gouernaunce for to it forsoke hir, and
pan Sho had no space of penawnce doyng/ And pan pe bisshop
lokid to me, and so dud al his company, and pei saiden ful tenderly
wepyng,” “Alas, pat worldly men will not take hede in here hertes,
how moche kindnesse and mercy god shewethe to hem, and do
kindenesse agen kindenesse; but thei do not so, for pei be evir
rebell agenst pe wil of god, doyng pride and al other synne; and
therfore pe shul haue ful mychell woo, payn, and tribulacion, but
pei amend hem”/ Than pe bisshop said to me, “William, passe
thow home in pe blissyng of god and myne, and say as pow hast
F. 148 a.
* [Addit. MS., f. 135 b : hytt is well knowne . . . bat sche Agayne hyr ordyr
was of mysgovernance in werynge of pelleure and gyrdyllys of syluer and golde
rynges on hyr fyngyrs and sylluer bokyllys on hyr schone. *[M.S.: siluers.
* [The Addit. MS. breaks off with this speech unfinished; the speeches of the Addit.
M.S. are generally much freer than the descriptive or narrative parts. The closing pas-
sage is as follows, f. 125 b : Alas, alas, bat wordely men wyl not take hede with all
ther myght, How mekyll kyndenes and mercy owne lorde, Jhesu criste, hase
schewyde vnto all vnkynde wrechys in erthe, That euery day feghttys agayn hym
and agayn hys cummandementys, And synnys in be VII dedely synnys and in per
V wyttys, Weche unkynde saulys be callyde vnwytty, for ther wyttys turnys them
to foly. For god ordende them to gett them hevyn with them And thay purches
them helle. For per—
Saint Patrick's Purgatory. 77
T. 148 b.
herd and seen to them pat pis bilongithe to/ And lyve rightfully
and pow shalt come to ever lestyng ioy; and drede be noght of thi
way as thow passist home warde for thow shalt [ see none evil
sprites that shul disese the ; thow shalt not faile of thi way; ”
and with that y toke my leve. Anone y was at the dore where y
went first ynne. Wherfore al cristen men patheryn or redyn this,
I beseche yow for the loue of god pat ye haue me in yowre praier,
And ye shul be yn myne.
Explicit.
L IF E.
I was born September 1, 1872, at Cincinnati, Ohio. I was prepared
for college at Wittenberg Academy in Springfield; and in 1890 was
admitted as Freshman to Wittenberg College. After the regular
course of four years, I was graduated from that college with the
degree A. B.
In October of the same year I entered the Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity. I remained in residence at the University for three consecutive
years, following courses in English, French, and German. In my
third year I was appointed Scholar in the English department. The
same year I accepted an appointment as instructor in English in
Teachers College, New York City.
I take this opportunity to fulfil the pleasant duty of thanking my
various instructors for the constant and willing help they have gener-
ously afforded me; I am indebted also to Mr. J. A. Herbert of the
British Museum for many courtesies. To Professor Bright I wish to
acknowledge deeper obligations; he above all has helped me in the
realization of the high purpose and aim of all scholarly scientific effort.
TEACHERS COLLEGE,
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY,
1899.
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