Arquebus

“ There, in the open space before the church, stood, on a great stone, an anvil thrust through with a sword; and on the stone were written these words: "Whoso can draw forth this sword, is rightful King of Britain born."
At once there were fierce quarrels, each man clamouring to be the first to try his fortune, none doubting his own success. Then the Archbishop decreed that each should make the venture in turn, from the greatest baron to the least knight; and each in turn, having put forth his utmost strength, failed to move the sword one inch, and drew back ashamed. ”

“ Now when the mandate of the Lord Archbishop went forth, summoning all the chief people of the land to the assay of that miracle (for, indeed, it was a miracle to draw forth a sword-blade out of an anvil of solid iron) , all the realm became immediately cast into a great ferment, so that each man asked his fellow, “Who shall draw forth that sword, and who shall be our King?” ”

“ Receive this kingly sword, brought now from the altar of God, and delivered to you by the hands of us the bishops and servants of God, though unworthy.
The King stood up, the sword was girt about him by the lord great chamberlain, and then, the King sitting down, the archbishop said:—
Remember him of whom the royal Psalmist did prophesy, saying, "Gird thee with thy sword upon thy [Pg 228] thigh, O thou most mighty, good luck have thou with thine honour, ride on prosperously, because of truth, meekness, and righteousness;" and be thou a follower of him. ”

“ He was silent; and the judge, turning to the woman, said, "Girl! by the law of the land, you are doubly the wife of this knight. First, because he freed you from a violator; and secondly, because you contracted yourself to him. Why hast thou denied thy husband admittance into his own castle?" She, also, was unable to answer, and the judge condemned both to be crucified. This was done accordingly, and much praise was given to the judge for the sentence he had pronounced.
APPLICATION.
My beloved, the emperor is God; the woman is the soul, and the violator, the devil. The knight is Christ ”

“ I desire that one point should be especially noted by them that read this book, viz. that I do not like in any passage to speak of two emperors or Cæsars in the story at the same time, as we read of in the Latin; but I everywhere speak of one emperor as being concerned in the persecution of the martyrs; just as our own nation is subject to one king, and is accustomed to speak of one king, and not of two. ”

“ It was a semi-civilized age and land in which churchmen did not hesitate to appeal to the sword, and the archbishop clad himself in armor, and with helmet on head and sword by side, set out on a crusade of his own against the man he deemed an unworthy and oppressive king. ”

“ Even the king himself did not dare to omit the customary “adoration” of the Perfects, for which he was duly excommunicated by the inquisitor, but the pope recognized the difficulty of his position, and wisely gave him a dispensation for associating with heretics. [346]
Although many Catholic churches were built, the legate reported, on a visit to Rome, that the land was too full of heresy for other cure than the sword. The king’s position was too insecure for him to venture on persecution, which would infallibly have led to a revolt. ”

“ His empire was divided between his two sons, Honorius and Arcadius, who were unworthy or unequal to maintain their great inheritance. The barbarians, released from the restraint which the fear of Theodosius imposed, recommenced their combinations and their ravages, while the soldiers of the empire were dispirited and enervated. About this time they threw away their defensive armor, not able to bear the weight of the cuirass and the helmet; and even the heavy weapons of their ancestors, the short sword and the pilum, were supplanted by the bow,—a most remarkable retrograde in military art. ”

“ The Archbishop draws the sword from the sheath, and places it naked in the hands of the King, who, having lowered it, offers it to God and replaces it upon the altar.
To the ceremony of the sword succeeds the preparation of the holy chrism. The Archbishop has the reliquary opened containing the holy ampulla, which is taken from a little chest of gold; he withdraws from it, by means of a golden needle, a particle which he mingles with the holy chrism on the patin. ”

“ In short, the regalia are here fetishes, which confer a title to the throne and control the fate of the kingdom. Houses are built for them to dwell in, as if they were living creatures; furniture, weapons, and even lands are assigned to them. Like the ark of God, they are carried with the army to battle, and on various occasions the people propitiate them, as if they were gods, by prayer and sacrifice and by smearing them with blood. ”

“ The emperor assented—"but," said he, "let us study in the first place to be reconciled to God." They were then both confessed, and their contrition was perfect as sincere. Afterwards sending for the knight, they revealed, amid a flood of tears, their crime. "My lord," he replied, "that ye may be reconciled to God, hear what I counsel. As well for your own sins, as for the sins of your father, hasten to the Holy Land; and before you embark, call together the noblemen of the kingdom, and explain to them your intent. And because your sister is your only heir, charge them to be obedient to her. ”

“ My beloved, the emperor is our Lord Jesus Christ; the tournament is the conquest between God and the devils; the shields are some of the attributes of the Almighty, and the field is human nature. The shield bearing three golden apples, is the Trinity in Unity, against which the knight—that is, any man—strikes, when he commits a mortal sin. The reward of the conqueror is eternal life. ”

“ My beloved, the emperor is God; the knight Christ, and the wife the soul. If the soul err, the law of God commands its death. Christ fights against the devil, and loses an arm, that is, all the austerity which incarnation confers. ”

“ Yes, in that blessed hour of our freedom the Archbishop will extend his sacred and free hand, and pronounce a blessing over his venerated tomb; the young warrior sheathing his sword, red with the blood of his tyrannical oppressors, will strew it with laurel; the statesman will consecrate it with his oratory; and the poet, resting upon the marble, will become doubly inspired ”

“ The sceptre of His empery Subdues the worlds from end to end. Yet still the sword goes through her heart, For still on earth His Church survives. In her that woman holds a part: In her she suffers, wakes, and strives. ”

“ I have seen inexhaustible treasures, I have seen arms, I have seen swarms of armed monks, knights, and common soldiers,—and as many relics as one sees with the Holy Father in Rome, and I tell you that my soul trembled within me at the thought of the possibility of fighting them. ”

“ The child who was born is Jesus Christ, whom many persecute; but who will finally triumph over all his enemies. The squires, are the divine power and grace operating upon the heart. The child is placed in a tree—that is, in the church; and the duke, who preserved it, is any good prelate. The slain hare, is our carnal affections, which ought to be destroyed. The letter which the emperor wrote with his own hand, is every evil imagination which possesses the heart. ”

“ After which Ptolemy, who had the king's seal intrusted to him, read the king's testament, which was to be of force no otherwise than as it should stand when Caesar had inspected it; so there was presently an acclamation made to Archelaus, as king; and the soldiers came by bands, and their commanders with them, and promised the same good-will to him, and readiness to serve him, which they had exhibited to Herod; and they prayed God to be assistant to him. ”

“ So it was ordained, and then there was made a cry, that every man should essay that would, for to win the sword. And upon New Year's Day the barons let make a jousts and a tournament, that all knights that would joust or tourney there might play, and all this was ordained for to keep the lords and the commons together, for the Archbishop trusted that God would make him known that should win the sword. ”

“ The magnificence of these spectacles is no longer rivalled by the pageantry of our days. The multitudes of dukes and counts, of bishops and abbots, knights and nobles with their retinues, the splendor of their attire, the strangeness of their faces and their tongues, the martial array of warriors, the mystic magnificence of the papacy with all its orders in such picturesque costume, the aspect of secular Rome, of judges and senators, of consuls and duces, of the militia with their banners, in curious, motley, fantastic attire ”

“ I Vitalianus, pope, grant thee, King Wulfere, and Deus-dedit, archbishop, and Abbot Saxulf, all the things that you desire. And I forbid, that any king, or any man, have any ingress, but the abbot alone; nor shall he be Subject to any man, except the Pope of Rome and the Archbishop of Canterbury. ”

“ Then came images of other men who were famous for some deed or invention or brilliant trait. Behind them were the cavalry and infantry in armor, the race-horses, and all the funeral offerings that the emperor and we and our wives, together with distinguished knights and peoples and the collegia of the city, had sent. They were accompanied by an altar, entirely gilded, the beauty of which was enhanced by ivory and Indic jewels.
5
When these had gone by, Severus mounted the Platform of the Beaks and read a eulogy of Pertinax. ”

“ The singing is then resumed, and the king delivers the regalia to the nobles appointed, and returns to his throne. Homage is done, and the king, according to custom, creates eight knights.
It will be noticed that this order is based on the Roman rite. The presentation of the king by the [149] Chancellor has taken the place of the presentation by bishops; the king is anointed as in the Roman rite; the brandishing of the Sword is Roman, and there is no Ring. ”

“ If any of the nobles of the kingdom shall have dispossessed an archbishop or bishop or archdean, the lord king should compel them personally or through their families to do justice. And if by chance any one shall have dispossessed the lord king of his right, the archbishops and bishops and archdeans ought to compel him to render satisfaction to the lord king. ”

“ Even the supreme pontiff, armed not only with the temporal sword as are kings and princes, but with the spiritual also, so that even under the very shield, so to speak, of any prince, you cannot protect yourself from him ”

“ I think that your Lordship and his Eminence the Archbishop of Mayence, whom God preserve and confound, both lack imagination. The Archbishop, with his forty thousand men, circles you round at safe distance from your garrison walls. He sits there to starve you out without losing a soldier, being as deficient in courage as in brains. ”

“ We (name) , by the grace of God (title) , (office) of the holy empire. Be it known to all by these presents ... that we have constituted our faithful subjects (names) our true, legal, and special representatives and agents, to treat with our fellow-princes and electors, ecclesiastical and secular, and to agree and decide with them concerning a suitable person to be elected king of the Romans; to be present, deliberate, name, consent to, and elect the king of the Romans and future emperor in our name and for us ”

“ And the emperor said unto his wife and his soldiers, “Let them alone so that they may become treasure with our God and Lord Jesus Christ, and may make entreaty to Him for us in their prayers; for everything which is in this world, and the glory thereof, passeth away like a dream, and they will gain a kingdom which doth not pass away.” And in those days the Archbishop of the city of Rome died, and the bishops and all the priests gathered together so that they might take counsel and appoint an archbishop. ”

“ It is as if the Emperor upon His seat, looking down upon the arena where the gladiators are contending to the death, could not sit quiet amongst the flashing axes of the lictors and the purple curtains of His throne, and see their death-struggles, but must spring to His feet to help them, or at least bend down with the look and with the reality of sympathy. ”

“ Her eyes have a way of twinkling when the Archdeacon is at his best which always upsets me. The Archdeacon, his face still raised toward the large battle picture, added that there is nothing finer than the service of one’s country, nothing more inspiring for a man and nothing more likely to lead to fame. ”

“ So far as concerns himself I doubt not that the Archbishop is the most unambitious of men, but to the marriage of his ward with a sword maker I fear he would refuse consent which he would gladly give to a marriage with an Emperor. ”

“ My beloved, the two knights are the devil and the first man. The first, envious of human happiness, possesses a deformed wife, that is, pride; the second had a beautiful wife, which is the soul. The leprosy is iniquity, which drove us from Paradise into the university of the world. The son of the emperor is Christ, who took upon himself our nature ”

“ Amidst the sacred but licentious crowd of priests, of inferior ministers, and of female dancers, who were dedicated to the service of the temple, it was the business of the emperor to bring the wood, to blow the fire, to handle the knife, to slaughter the victim, and, thrusting his bloody hands into the bowels of the expiring animal, to draw forth the heart or liver, and to read, with the consummate skill of an haruspex, imaginary signs of future events. ”