title: Vita et passio S. Thomae Cantuariensis

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 190, coll. 345A–352B

source_text:
## INCIPIT PROLOGUS IN VITAM, PASSIONEM ET PROCESSUM SANCTI THOMAE CANTUARIENSIS ARCHIEPISCOPI ET MARTYRIS SUPER ECCLESIASTICA LIBERTATE.

[0345A]

Professores artium, etc. [n: ( Vide Vitam S. Thomae auctore Edwardo Grim, col. 1 usque ad Pie igitur etc. col., 2.)]

Pie igitur parere cupientes quorumdam devotioni, qui gesta martyris pretiosi plenius nosse solliciti sunt, operam dedimus ut quatuor historiographorum labores et studia, magni videlicet Hereberti de Boseham, Joannis Carnotensis, Willelmi Cantuariensis, et Alani abbatis Theuskesberiae, qui martyris pretiosi stylo luculento universa depinxerant utpote qui per totum imperiosae nobilitatis suae tempus pariter et abjectae humilitatis sancto familiarius [0345B] adhaesere, sub unius narrationis serie historialiter texeremus: id summopere praecaventes ne de substantia negotii sive de veritate totius rei gestae, a primordio perfectae virilis inchoationis usque in diem quo pro Deo suo et Ecclesiae libertate per martyrium cursum vitae consummavit, quidquam per silentium deperiret. Sane uti plerisque videtur, Herebertus qui singula dicere potuit ex scientia utpote qui ea quae vidit et audivit testatur, amore magistri justo prolixior metas compendii excessit. Joannes vero publicae potestatis turbine moto, succincta utens veritate citra perfectum calamum extorsit: reliqui etiam duo quia non plene satisfecere rei gestae summam scire sitientibus studendi nauseam ministrarunt et fastidium nihilominus studiosis generarunt. Opus [0345C] igitur Domino largiente, aggredientes, licet difficile, sed ut credimus, posteris acceptabile, brevitate competenti studuimus consulere deficatis: et veritate plena satisfacere studiosis. Nec tamen adeo prolixitati detraximus gratia complacendi, ut aliquid de necessario contingentibus omittamus: haud quod cupidos plenae historiae fraudare velimus vel in modica veritate. Nimis enim est absurdum ut quis de praeconiis cujuscunque dicat praetermittendum, cujus mores et opera proponit ad imitandum. Nimis, inquam, absurdum est in parte aedificii diruere, cujus consummationis finem perfectum intendit magnifice propalare. Gloriosi igitur martyris meritis et oratione patrocinantibus ad laudem ipsius et gloriam qui sanctis suis virtutem praestat in via et praemia largitur [0346A] in patria, praesenti operi indulsimus ad horam, ut et compendiosa prolixitas et taediosis tollat fastidium, et studiosis lectoribus majorem provocet appetitum. Nostrae igitur devotioni linea rectitudinis nusquam aberrando per beati patris nostri merita gloriosa Spiritus veritatis inspiret, ut quod pia aggredimur intentione, pura fide plena prosequatur oratio.

*Explicit prologus in Vitam et passionem sancti Thomae martyris: et incipit quadrilogus in Vita, passione et processu ejusdem martyris.*

## CAPITULUM PRIMUM. DE VITA ET MORIBUS PARENTUM SANCTI THOMAE.

Electus igitur ante mundi, etc., *usque ad* veritati [ *eadem quae habentur apud Edwardum Grim., supra, [0346B] col.* 3.]

## CAPITULUM II. DE ORTU MIRABILI BEATI THOMAE.

Nunc autem, ut paulo altius sermonem historiae repetamus, non abs re duximus in principio inserendum de conjugio patris ac matris admirandam satis utique rei gestae meditantibus veritatem, ut exinde videlicet facile advertatur quanta cura ac pietate a solis ortu et occasu, genere et conditione tam diversos congregavit in unum praedestinatio mirifica Salvatoris, de quorum sane progenie sponsam suam Ecclesiam per mundum universum triumphaliter sublimari et decorari praetendit.

Praefatus igitur Gilbertus aetate juvenis crucem [0346C] Dominicam causa poenitentiae votivae arripuit Jerosolymam iturus, quemdam de familia sua Ricardum nomine secum assumens, ipso solo pro serviente contentus. Quo tandem prospere pervenientibus, inter Christianos et gentiles insidiis habitis: loca sancta orationis causa cum aliis ingressus est. Sed cum licuit redire, omnes visitantes pariter capti sunt et catenati atque in carcere cujusdam Amiraldi praeclari principis paganorum detenti, ut singulis diebus qualemcunque sibi victum laboribus impositis quodammodo compararent. Qui Gilbertus per annum integrum et dimidium in captivitate Sclavorum, more serviens, cum honoratior caeteris atque praestantior haberetur, in oculis Amiraldi prae omnibus gratiam et favorem invenit in tantum ut frequenter coram eo [0347A] sed tamen in vinculis ad mensam veniret, discumbentes visitaret, invicem de terrarum notitiis ac gentium diversarum moribus rite conferrent. Multa etiam ob gratiam ipsius collata sunt suis beneficia concaptivis, procurante insimul privatim in quantum licuit filia ejusdem Amiraldi puella curiali admodum et decora unica patris sui, quae utique miro affectu ipsum Gilbertum prout patebit inferius diligebat. Quadam autem die nacta opportunitate puella liberius loquendi cum eo inquisivit ab eo de qua terra et civitate exstiterit oriundus, de fide et de religione et conversatione Christianorum, et quae foret credentium spes et saeculorum praemia futurorum. Qui cum responderet quod Anglicus esset et Londoniarum civitatis incola, atque inquisita de fide [0347B] Christi prout melius noverat exposuisset, consequenter et ipsa ab eo scistitavit dicens: « Num mortem libenter pro Deo tuo et fide Christi quam profiteris conservanda intrepide exciperes? » -- « Libentissime, inquit, pro Deo nostro moriar. » Quo audito, puella mox quasi verbi ex virtute tota mutata profitetur se Christianam fieri ipsius ob causam, dummodo ipsam in conjugem accipere in sua fide sponderet. Tacuit attamen ille secum deliberans, et timens nimirum fallaciam, acquiescere statim noluit promittendo precibus insistenti, imo tergiversando de die in diem prorogavit, nolens cito praestare consensum. Cumque puella affligeretur vehementer et in dies ob dilationem, ut moris est mulierum, plus anxia efficeretur, Gilbertus interim cum suis concaptivis de fuga cogitans [0347C] post annum et dimidium nocte quadam diruptis catenis et carcere aufugerunt, totumque noctis residuum quousque Christianorum fines attigissent conciti peregerunt. Mane autem facto, cum praepositus operum more solito ut eos ad opera mitteret consueta carcere fracto non reperisset, in manu valida ipsos insequitur, donec Christianorum terminis obstantibus omni spe jam fraudati reverterentur, non parum irati. Puella vero haec audiens memorata ex illa hora de profectione sua et fuga post ipsos illico cogitavit et ipsa. Cumque super haec diebus ac noctibus mire cogitativa efficeretur, et in meditatione exardesceret cautius evadendi, nocte quadam universis somno depressis, sola nullo sciente secum assumpto modico [0347D] quidem ad viaticum necessario, ut expeditius iter ageret satis difficile attentandum, multiplici se tradidit discrimini fugiendi, nihil curans de universis haereditario jure sibi pertinentibus, sufficientiam divitiarum sibi reputans desiderium suum complesse pro voto. O mirandam nimis hujus mulieris tam audaciam quam amorem tanta difficilia et ardua praesumentis! Non haesitavit, cum esset tam ingentis substantiae gloria nobilitanda paterna, irrecuperabiliter eadem carere, non trepidavit fragilis et delicata paupertatem poenalem subire, nec per tot terrarum spatia et naufragantis maris innumera periculorum genera dubitavit sola discurrere, dum unius hominis tam remoti et ignoti amorem quaereret, cum etiam nec de vita ipsius vel inventione [0348A] securitatem haberet, imo necdum secura de conjugio et si quaesitum hominem reperiret. Proficiscens igitur pertransiit prospere paganismum et cum quibusdam peregrinis et mercatoribus repatriantibus qui linguam ejus noverant versus Angliam navigabat. Cumque transcursis omnibus periculis obiter obviantibus Angliam applicuisset atque a suis comitibus jam dissociata fuisset, nihil aliud interrogare pro itinere noverat nisi tantum: Londonia, Londonia. Quo tandem perveniente quasi bestia erratica per plateas civitatis incedens et obviantes quosque explorantis more circumspiciens, derisui habebatur omnibus et maxime pueris intendentibus in eam et per vicos incedentibus ob disparem ipsius habitum et linguam simul admirantibus. [0348B] Contigit vero quod sic per plateas et vicos incedens contra domum praefati Gilberti, ubi manebat, in solemniori scilicet et frequentiori civitatis foro, ubi nunc in honorem sancti Thomae hospitalis domus constructa est, casu fortuito deveniret. In qua quidem divulgatum est quod quaedam juvencula mulier quasi idiota pueris eam et aliis sequentibus et irridentibus evagaretur. Audiens autem Ricardus serviens Gilberti superius memoratus quasi ad spectaculum cum caeteris et ipse accurrit. Qui cum propius accedens eam agnosceret, statim cum summa festinatione recucurrit ad dominum suum, narrans ei secreto hanc filiam Amiraldi fuisse ad quam admirationis causa intuendam hominum copia confluebat. Quo audito, supra modum admirans nec [0348C] credere valens, eo quod impossibile ut sic eveniret omnino videretur, dominus Ricardo non potuit fidem dare, donec ipso in juramento diutius persistente minus incredulus aliquantulum redderetur. Cogitans tandem causam adventus ipsius, arbitratus est tamen consultius ei alibi providendum quam eam secum in domo propria retinendo, jussit Ricardo ut ad quamdam matronam viduam ei vicinam eam adduceret, quae ipsam tanquam filiam suam in omnibus exhiberet. Quem cum videret puella et ipsum agnosceret, mox quasi mortua cecidit jacens in exstasi resupina. Cumque ab illa mentis alienatione expergefacta ad se reversa resideret, ad dictam matronam Ricardus eam sicut dominus ejus imperarat [0348D] adduxit. Gilbertus vero de adventu puellae secum pertractans coepit animo fluctuare per diversa, et cogitationes concipiens invicem repugnantes, incidit in mentem ejus episcopum Londoniensem consulendum adire apud Sanctum Paulum, ubi quadam die sex episcopi aderant super arduis regni negotiis vel Ecclesiae tractaturi. Quibus coram positus, cum rei gestae veritatem superius memoratae per ordinem exponeret, mox Cicestrensis episcopus prae caeteris propheticam prorumpens in vocem, indubitanter asseruit hanc vocationem non humanam sed potius fuisse divinam, et necessario magnifici operis prolem edituram, cujus sanctitate et labore universalis esset Ecclesia ad Christi gloriam sublimanda. Concordantibus et caeteris qui aderant [0349A] episcopis in hanc sententiam et ut idem Gilbertus puellam, dummodo baptizari vellet, duceret in uxorem, adducta est statuta die in crastino in Ecclesiam Beati Pauli dictorum episcoporum in praesentia, ubi et baptisterium competenter exstitit praeparatum in quo debuerat baptizari, Cumque interrogaretur in medio posita, prout mos exigit Ecclesiae, per saepedictum Ricardum communem eorum interpretem si vellet baptizari, respondit: « Hujus rei causa a valde remotis huc adveni, dummodo Gilbertus velit mihi in conjugio copulari. » Baptizatur igitur puella, sex episcopis grande cum solemnitate baptismi agentibus sacramentum, eo quod praeclari sanguinis esset femina imo vocatione clarior admodum et divina. Gilberto traditur mox ab [0349B] episcopis in conjugium cum celebritate, conjugali breviter de fide Catholica prius instructa. Quam cum ad propria duceret, prima mutuae in unum concordiae nocte sanctum Thomam futurum Cantuariensem archiepiscopum et martyrem genuerunt. In crastino vero Gilbertus tanto ad terram sanctam afficiebatur desiderio revertendi, quod suspiriis agitatus magis assidue quam frequenter vultum tristitiae praetenderet insuetum. Cogitat interea uxoris suae juvenculae tenerum sexum fragilem, aetatem lubricam, linguam etiam patriae ignotam et ob ista nimirum pericula non parva per absentiam suam eidem posse de facili provenire. Uxor vero ipsius cum vultum illius secus quam heri et nudiustertius animadverteret in diversa mutatum, metuebat vehementer [0349C] et cogitabat, ne forte ipsa esset causa. Institit igitur precibus diebus ac noctibus, sciscitando tantae tristitiae veritatem, nec aliquando destitit donec patefacta plane fuerant quae latebant. Gilbertus igitur precum instantia fatigatus cum desiderium suum uxori reserasset, illa vero utpote magnae spei mulier et in fide Christi roborata non solum voto viri sui annuit, imo rogavit et hortabatur ut quid concepisset in mente quo complacere suo crederet Creatori, nulla de se habita consideratione tam prompte exsequeretur quam devote, et adjecit: « Spero, inquit, firmiter et de Deo meo tantum confido qui ad agnitionem sui nominis me vocavit, quod te etiam absente me non deseret sed [0349D] sicut et priusquam ipsum agnoscerem ab omni intactam periculo conservabit: tantum pro solatio peto Ricardum mihi relinquas, eo quod lingua mea melius eruditus necessitatibus meis caeteris potius noverit ministrare. » Quibus auditis, Gilbertus admodum laetus effectus parat sibi necessaria. Ordinatisque quae uxori suae et familiae competebant quam citius poterat Hierosolymam profectus est ubi per tres annos et dimidium moram faciens postea repatriavit. Invenitque Thomam filium suum admodum forma decorum et cunctorum in oculis intuentium gratiosum.

## CAPITULUM III. DE VISIONIBUS MATRIS EJUS PER QUAS FUTURAM CREDIMUS SANCTAE SOBOLIS EXCELLENTIAM PRAEFIGURARI.

[0350A]

Brevi ergo intervallo, etc., *usque ad* figuravit [ *eadem et haec quae apud Edwardum Grim reperias, supra, col.* 3-4.]

## CAPITULUM IV. QUALITER SE HABUERIT IN JUVENTUTE.

Jam puerilibus annis evolutis, optimis coepit pollere moribus, ingenio clarus, acceptus eloquio, vultu juxta gravitatem jucundus, venustus aspectu, forma satis elegans, gratum sese omnibus et amabilem exhibebat. Quem etiam secundum utrumque hominem [0350B] multiplici naturalium gratia bonitas ditavit divina, ut in mysterium magnum vas videretur excisum, et ex naturae beneficiis futurus praediceretur antistes: quemadmodum visio coelestis puerum adhuc plenius intimavit.

Nam, dum aliquo tempore febre corriperetur, et ipsa invalescente ardens jam sensim per omne corpusculum ex intimis sudor erumperet, visa est domina quaedam statura procera, vultu placido et aspectu decora, in lecto decumbenti astitisse, et puero de sanitate pollicita confortato, duas claves aureas tradidisse sibi in manu in haec verba: « Thoma, » inquiens, « hae sunt claves paradisi, quarum tu adhuc es habiturus custodiam; » et, his dictis, disparuit.

[0350C]Tempore autem quo pater ejus in religiosa domo Mertoniae eum priori Roberto aliquandiu nutriendum tradiderat, venit quadam die pater filium visurus: introductoque puero coram priore pater procidens pronus adoravit. Indignans vero prior ait illi: « Quid agis? procidis ad pedes filii? quod ei facis ille facere tibi deberet. » Cui pater in secretis ait: « Domine, ne mireris, scio ei quid facio: erit quidem puer iste magnus coram Domino. » Expavit nimirum pater tam mirifica de filio sibi divinitus revelata, quae tamen prae admiratione sub sigillo silentii censuit occultanda. Postquam vero litterarum studiis traditus liberales artes attigit, quatenus lascivia aetatis et angustia temporis promisit, in illis profecit.

[0350D]Ab ineunte autem aetate, sicut referre solitus erat, didicit a matre timorem Dimini et beatam Dei genitricem tanquam ducem viarum suarum et vitae patronam dulcius invocare: et post Christum in illam totam fiduciam jactare.

Matre vero defuncta, sibi patrique relictus vicesimum secundum aetatis annum otio impendebat. Parisiis vero per aliquot tempus studens, reversus, receptus est in partem sollicitudinis reipublicae Londoniensis, ubi laudabiliter se habens didicit prudentiam hujus lucis, qua postmodum probe noverat communia Ecclesiae Anglorum et publica totius regni negotia manifeste tractare, venitque ad virum quemdam in civitate genere insignem et multarum possessionum [0351A] praecipuum cui firmiter adhaesit: varias saeculi sequens curiositates nunc venatu nunc avium captura quibus maxime pascebatur animus juvenilis. Pro libitu nunc domi cum patre, nunc rure cum divite morabatur. Factumque est ut in hunc modum dimissus sibi scholaribus studiis praepropere renuntiaret. Die vero quadam accidit ut ad ripas eunte Thoma simul cum divite, motam de flumine anam accipiter insequeretur, secutusque divertentem in flumine cum ipsa pariter mergebatur. Quod videns adolescens, miseratus accipitrem jam periturum, equo desiliit, seque in gurgitem ut avem eriperet praecipitavit; sed priusquam avem contingeret raptus ipse intra alveum fluminis, et nunc mersus sub aquis, nunc undarum vi impellente levatus periclitari [0351B] coepit, et penitus periisse putabatur ab intuentibus, dum nullus adesse potuit qui manum porrigeret pereunti. Denique ad molendinum, quod tunc forte molebat, aquae tractu perlatus, ubi primo aquae exitibus propinquavit, stetit rota nec se movit semel, quousque vivus quidem sed vehementer afflictus adolescens extractus est. Sed fovit afflictum medica manus Salvatoris, quem inter undas desperatum protexit ne exstingueretur lucerna futurus in Israel, cujus morte pretiosa tanta cernimus beneficia provenisse.

Ad curiales itaque se transferens occupationes, coepit in florem saecularis prudentiae pubescere, et [0352A] fructu discretionis pollere. Tanto namque rationis vigebat acumine, ut prudenter inauditas et difficiles solveret quaestiones; adeoque felici gaudebat memoria, ut quod semel in sententiis aut verbis didicerat, fere quoties volebat posset sine difficultate proferre: quod multi litteratiores assequi non valentes, tantam mentis perspicacitatem, praesertim in homine variis occupationibus dedito, miraculo ascribebant. Nimirum dispensatio divina, quem vocabat ad majora, ita erudiebat et exercebat in minoribus, quasi in quibusdam futurorum praeparatoriis ut in collationibus aut sermonibus (ut dici solet) ad manum necessaria haberet. Ad praesagium etiam futurae constantiae ferunt adolescentis animo tam pertinaciter adhaesisse amorem veri, quamvis saecularia sectaretur, [0352B] ut vix aut nunquam joco vel serio quidquam protulerit contrarium veritati: et quam perfecte id ipsum impleverit, postquam factus est vir, sequentia declarabunt.

[n: ( Post haec quadrilogus iste prior fere ad verbum concordat cum secundo quadrilogo, de quo posthac dicturi sumus. At pro tribus quinque libros complectitur; quorum quartus De Gestis post martyrium est; quintus epistolas quasdam circiter 70 continet. Quod dixisse sufficiat de hac compilatione. Liber ipse, quo continentur haec, jam rarus factus, satis magni pretii aestimatur et venditur. Est in bibliotheca Sancti Audomari liber ms. de Vita S. Thomae, qui idem fere est cum primo quadrilogo edito, et praeter ea paucula de obsidione Tolosae ex opere Willelmi filii Stephani excerpta habet. )]

english:
## HERE BEGINS THE PROLOGUE TO THE LIFE, PASSION, AND PROCEEDINGS OF SAINT THOMAS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY AND MARTYR, CONCERNING THE LIBERTY OF THE CHURCH.

[0345A]

The professors of the arts, etc. [n: ( Vide Vitam S. Thomae auctore Edwardo Grim, col. 1 usque ad Pie igitur etc. col., 2.)]

Wishing therefore dutifully to comply with the devotion of certain persons who are anxious to know more fully the deeds of the precious martyr, we have taken pains to weave together as a single continuous narrative, in the manner of history, the labors and studies of four historians — namely of the great Herbert of Bosham, John of Chartres, William of Canterbury, and Alan, abbot of Tewkesbury — who had depicted the whole story of the precious martyr in a brilliant style, inasmuch as they clung to the saint quite intimately throughout the whole time both of his commanding nobility and of his [0345B] abject humility. And in this we took the greatest precaution that nothing of the substance of the matter, or of the truth of the whole course of events, from the first beginning of his full manhood down to the day when for his God and for the liberty of the Church he completed the course of his life by martyrdom, should perish through silence. To be sure, as it seems to very many, Herbert, who was able to tell each detail from knowledge — inasmuch as he bears witness to the things he saw and heard — was longer than was right out of love for his master, and overstepped the bounds of a compendium. John, on the other hand, when the storm of the public power was stirred up, employing a compressed truth, wrenched away his pen short of completion. The remaining two also, because they did not fully satisfy those who thirsted to know the sum of the matter, served up a queasiness at study and no less bred distaste in the studious. Undertaking [0345C] therefore this work, the Lord being bountiful — a difficult one, but, as we believe, acceptable to posterity — we have striven to consult with fitting brevity for the [sic: *deficatis*], and to satisfy the studious with the full truth. Nor yet have we so cut back on length for the sake of pleasing that we omit anything of what bears upon necessity; not that we wish to defraud those who desire the full history, even in a small point of the truth. For it is exceedingly absurd that anyone should say that something is to be passed over among the praises of a man whose character and works he sets forth for imitation. Exceedingly absurd, I say, it is to pull down a part of the building whose finished consummation one intends magnificently to display. With the merits and the prayer of the glorious martyr as our patronage, therefore, to the praise and glory of him who grants strength to his saints on the way and lavishes rewards [0346A] in the fatherland, we have given ourselves to the present work for a time, so that a compendious length may both take away distaste from the weary and provoke a greater appetite in studious readers. May the Spirit of truth, then, through the glorious merits of our blessed father, so breathe upon our devotion that it nowhere strays from the line of rectitude, so that what we undertake with a dutiful intention a prayer full of pure faith may carry through.

*Here ends the prologue to the Life and passion of Saint Thomas the martyr; and here begins the fourfold account of the Life, passion, and proceedings of the same martyr.*

## CHAPTER ONE. ON THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE PARENTS OF SAINT THOMAS.

Chosen therefore before the world, etc., *as far as* to the truth [ *the same as the things found in Edward Grim, above, [0346B] col.* 3.]

## CHAPTER II. ON THE MARVELOUS BIRTH OF BLESSED THOMAS.

But now, that we may take up the thread of the history from a little further back, we have judged it not beside the purpose to insert at the beginning an account of the marriage of his father and mother — a truth altogether marvelous, at any rate, to those who ponder the course of events — so that from it, namely, it may easily be observed with what great care and mercy the wondrous predestination of the Savior gathered into one two persons so different in origin and condition, from the rising of the sun and from its setting, from whose offspring indeed he purposed that his bride the Church should be triumphantly exalted and adorned throughout the whole world.

The aforesaid Gilbert, then, being a young man in years, took up the Lord's cross [0346C] for the sake of a penance he had vowed, intending to go to Jerusalem, taking with him one of his household, Richard by name, and content with him alone for a servant. And when at length they had arrived prosperously, ambushes having been laid between the Christians and the heathen, he entered the holy places with others for the sake of prayer. But when it was permitted to return, all the visitors alike were taken and put in chains and held in the prison of a certain Emir, a distinguished prince of the pagans, so that each day they might in a fashion procure themselves such food as they could by the labors imposed upon them. This Gilbert, for a whole year and a half in the captivity of the Slavs, serving after the manner of a slave, since he was held to be more honorable and more excellent than the rest, found grace and favor in the Emir's eyes above all others, so far that he frequently came before him [0347A] to table — though still in chains — and would visit those reclining there, and they would duly confer with one another about the knowledge of lands and the customs of various peoples. Many benefits also were conferred on his fellow captives on account of his favor, procured at the same time privately, so far as was permitted, by the daughter of that same Emir — a girl altogether courtly and comely, the only child of her father — who indeed loved this Gilbert with a wonderful affection, as will appear below. Now on a certain day, having got the opportunity of speaking with him more freely, the girl inquired of him from what land and city he came, and about the faith and the religion and the manner of life of Christians, and what might be the hope of believers and the rewards of the ages to come. And when he answered that he was an Englishman and a dweller in the city of London, and had set forth what she asked about the faith [0347B] of Christ as best he knew, she thereupon inquired [sic: *scistitavit*] of him, saying: « Would you undauntedly meet death gladly for your God and for keeping the faith of Christ which you profess? » — « Most gladly, he said, would I die for our God. » Hearing this, the girl, at once wholly changed as it were by the power of the word, declares that she will become a Christian for his sake, provided only that he would pledge to take her as his wife in her new faith. He, however, kept silent, deliberating with himself, and fearing of course some deceit, was unwilling to consent at once by making a promise to her as she pressed him with entreaties; rather, shuffling, he put it off from day to day, unwilling to grant his consent quickly. And when the girl was vehemently afflicted, and day by day, on account of the delay, grew more anxious, as is the way of women, Gilbert meanwhile, taking thought with his fellow captives about flight, [0347C] after a year and a half, on a certain night, broke their chains and their prison and fled; and at speed they covered the whole remainder of the night until they had reached the borders of the Christians. But when morning came, and the overseer of the works, coming as usual to send them to their accustomed labors, did not find them, the prison being broken open, he pursued them with a strong hand, until, the borders of the Christians standing in the way and every hope now baffled, they turned back, not a little angered. And the aforesaid girl, hearing this, from that hour thought at once, she also, about her own setting out and flight after them. And when over this matter she became wonderfully full of thought by day and by night, and burned in the deliberation how she might get away more safely, on a certain night, when all were sunk in sleep, alone and with no one knowing, taking with her a small [0347D] provision necessary for the journey, so that she might travel the more unencumbered on a road that had to be attempted with much difficulty, she gave herself over to the manifold peril of flight, caring nothing for all the things belonging to her by hereditary right, and reckoning it a sufficiency of riches to have fulfilled her longing according to her wish. O the exceedingly marvelous daring, and no less the love, of this woman, who took upon herself things so difficult and steep! She did not hesitate, though she was to be ennobled with the glory of so vast a paternal estate, to be irrecoverably deprived of it; frail and delicate as she was, she did not tremble to undergo punishing poverty; nor did she shrink from traversing alone such spaces of lands and the countless kinds of perils of a shipwrecking sea, while she sought the love of one man so far off and unknown — since she had not even any assurance of his life or of finding him, [0348A] nay, was not yet even assured of the marriage, even if she should find the man she sought. Setting out, therefore, she passed prosperously through the pagan lands, and sailed toward England with certain pilgrims and merchants who were returning home and who knew her tongue. And when, all the perils that met her on the way being got through, she had landed in England, and had now been parted from her companions, she knew how to ask nothing else for her journey but only this: London, London. And when at length she arrived there, walking through the squares of the city like a straying beast and looking about at all who met her after the manner of one searching, she was held in derision by all, and most of all by the boys who stared at her and walked along through the streets, marveling alike at her strange dress and speech. [0348B] But it happened that, walking thus through the squares and streets, she came by mere chance opposite the house of the aforesaid Gilbert, where he was living — namely in the more notable and more frequented market of the city, where now a hospital house has been built in honor of Saint Thomas. And there it was noised abroad that a certain young woman, as it were witless, was wandering about with boys and others following her and mocking her. Now Richard, Gilbert's servant mentioned above, hearing it, ran up himself along with the rest as if to a show. And when, drawing nearer, he recognized her, he at once ran back with the utmost haste to his master, telling him privately that this was the Emir's daughter, to gaze upon whom a crowd of men was streaming together out of wonder. Hearing this, and marveling beyond measure, and not [0348C] able to believe it — since it seemed altogether impossible that it should have so fallen out — the master could not give credence to Richard, until, as Richard persisted for a long while in his oath, he was rendered somewhat less incredulous. Considering at length the reason for her coming, he judged nevertheless that it was more prudent to provide for her elsewhere than by keeping her with him in his own house, and ordered Richard to bring her to a certain widowed matron who was his neighbor, who should treat her in all things as her own daughter. And when the girl saw him and recognized him, straightway she fell as though dead, lying on her back in a trance. And when, roused from that alienation of mind and come to herself, she sat up, Richard brought her to the said matron as his master had commanded. [0348D] But Gilbert, turning over within himself the girl's arrival, began to waver in mind among various courses; and, conceiving thoughts that fought against one another, it came into his mind to go and consult the bishop of London at Saint Paul's, where on a certain day six bishops were present to treat of the difficult affairs of the kingdom or of the Church. And when he was set before them, and was expounding in order the truth of the events recounted above, straightway the bishop of Chichester, breaking out before the rest into a prophetic utterance, asserted without hesitation that this calling was not human but rather divine, and that of necessity she would bring forth offspring of a magnificent work, by whose holiness and labor the universal Church was to be exalted to the glory of Christ. And when the other bishops who were present [0349A] agreed in this judgment, and that the same Gilbert should take the girl to wife, provided only that she were willing to be baptized, she was brought on the appointed day, on the morrow, into the Church of Blessed Paul in the presence of the said bishops, where a baptistery had also been suitably prepared in which she was to be baptized, And when, set in the midst, she was asked — as the custom of the Church requires — through the oft-mentioned Richard, their common interpreter, whether she wished to be baptized, she answered: « For the sake of this thing I have come hither from very far off, provided only that Gilbert be willing to be joined to me in marriage. » The girl is therefore baptized, the six bishops performing the sacrament of baptism with great solemnity, because she was a woman of distinguished blood — nay, far more distinguished by her calling, and that a divine one. She is straightway given by [0349B] the bishops to Gilbert in marriage with festivity, having first been briefly instructed as a wife concerning the Catholic faith. And when he was leading her home, on the first night of their concord together they begot Saint Thomas, the future archbishop of Canterbury and martyr. But on the morrow Gilbert was seized with so great a longing to return to the Holy Land that, agitated by sighs, he wore an unwonted look of sadness more constantly than merely often. He considers meanwhile his young wife's tender and frail sex, her slippery age, and her ignorance too of the tongue of the country, and that on account of these things no small dangers could easily come upon her through his absence. But his wife, when she noticed that his face was changed to something quite other than yesterday and the day before, was vehemently afraid [0349C] and kept thinking that perhaps she herself was the cause. She pressed him therefore with entreaties by day and by night, asking the truth of so great a sadness, nor did she ever leave off until what lay hidden had been plainly disclosed. Gilbert therefore, worn out by the insistence of her prayers, when he had unlocked his longing to his wife — she indeed, as a woman of great hope and strengthened in the faith of Christ, not only assented to her husband's vow, but even asked and exhorted him that whatever he had conceived in mind, by which he believed he might please his Creator, he should carry out as promptly as devoutly, taking no account of her. And she added: « I hope, she said, firmly, and trust so much in my God who called me to the knowledge of his name, that even in your absence he will not forsake me, but [0349D] just as, even before I knew him, he kept me untouched by every danger, so he will keep me still. Only this I ask for my comfort, that you leave me Richard, because, being better taught in my tongue, he will know how to minister to my needs better than the rest. » Hearing these things, Gilbert, made exceedingly glad, prepares what he needs. And when he had set in order what was fitting for his wife and household, he set out as quickly as he could for Jerusalem, where, making a stay of three years and a half, he afterward returned home. And he found his son Thomas exceedingly comely in form and gracious in the eyes of all who beheld him.

## CHAPTER III. ON THE VISIONS OF HIS MOTHER, BY WHICH WE BELIEVE THE COMING EXCELLENCE OF HER HOLY OFFSPRING WAS PREFIGURED.

[0350A]

After a short interval, then, etc., *as far as* he prefigured [ *these also are the same as what you may find in Edward Grim, above, col.* 3-4.]

## CHAPTER IV. HOW HE CONDUCTED HIMSELF IN HIS YOUTH.

Now that the years of boyhood had rolled by, he began to be strong in the best of characters: bright in intelligence, welcome in speech, cheerful of face in a way consistent with gravity, charming in appearance, altogether elegant in form, he showed himself pleasing and lovable to all. And in respect of both the inward and the outward man [0350B] the divine goodness enriched him with a manifold grace of natural gifts, so that he seemed a vessel hewn out for a great mystery, and from the benefits of nature was foretold as a bishop to come — even as a heavenly vision more fully made known while he was still a boy.

For once, when he was seized by a fever, and, as it grew stronger, a burning sweat was already breaking out little by little from within over his whole small body, a certain lady seemed to have stood by him as he lay in bed — tall of stature, calm of face and comely of aspect — and, when the boy had been comforted by her promise of health, to have handed him two golden keys into his hand with these words: « Thomas, » she said, « these are the keys of paradise, the keeping of which you are yet to have; » and, when she had said this, she vanished.

[0350C]Now at the time when his father had handed him over to prior Robert in the religious house of Merton to be brought up for a while, the father came one day to see his son; and when the boy had been brought in before the prior, the father fell forward and did reverence to him. But the prior, indignant, said to him: « What are you doing? Do you fall at the feet of your son? What you are doing to him, he ought to be doing to you. » To whom the father said in private: « My lord, do not wonder; I know what I am doing to him: this boy will indeed be great before the Lord. » The father was of course in awe at things so marvelous divinely revealed to him about his son, which nevertheless, out of wonder, he judged should be hidden under the seal of silence. And after he had been handed over to the study of letters and had taken up the liberal arts, he made progress in them so far as the wantonness of his age and the shortness of the time allowed.

[0350D]And from his earliest years, as he was accustomed to relate, he learned from his mother the fear of [sic: *Dimini*], and to call more sweetly upon the blessed Mother of God as the guide of his ways and the patroness of his life, and, after Christ, to cast his whole trust upon her.

But when his mother had died, left to himself and to his father, he was spending his twenty-second year in idleness. Then, after studying for some time at Paris, he returned and was received into a share of the care of the commonwealth of London, where, conducting himself in a praiseworthy manner, he learned the prudence of this world, by which afterward he well knew how to handle openly the common affairs of the Church of the English and the public affairs of the whole kingdom. And he came to a certain man in the city, distinguished in family and foremost in many possessions, [0351A] to whom he attached himself firmly, following the various curiosities of the world, now in hunting, now in the taking of birds, on which a young man's spirit is chiefly fed. At his pleasure he stayed now at home with his father, now in the country with the rich man. And it came about that, left to himself in this fashion, he prematurely renounced the studies of the schools. But one day it happened that, as Thomas was going along the riverbanks together with the rich man, a hawk pursued a duck it had started up from the river, and, following it as it turned aside into the river, was plunged under the water along with it. Seeing this, the young man, pitying the hawk that was now about to perish, leapt down from his horse and flung himself into the eddy to rescue the bird; but before he could reach the bird he was himself swept away within the channel of the river, and, now sunk beneath the water, now lifted by the driving force of the waves, he began to be in peril, [0351B] and was thought by those looking on to have utterly perished, since no one could be at hand to stretch out a hand to him as he was dying. At last, carried by the pull of the water to a mill which happened at that time to be grinding, as soon as he came near the outflows of the water, the wheel stood still and did not move once, until the young man was drawn out — alive indeed, but grievously distressed. But the healing hand of the Savior cherished the afflicted man, whom it protected amid the waves when he was despaired of, lest the lamp that was to be in Israel should be put out — by whose precious death we see that such great benefits have come to pass.

Betaking himself, therefore, to the occupations of the court, he began to come to the flower of worldly prudence, and [0352A] to be strong in the fruit of discretion. For he flourished with so keen an edge of reason that he prudently resolved unheard-of and difficult questions; and he rejoiced in so happy a memory that whatever he had once learned, in judgments or in words, he could bring forth almost as often as he wished without difficulty — a thing which many more lettered men, unable to attain it, ascribed to a miracle, so great a clearness of mind, especially in a man given over to various occupations. Doubtless the divine dispensation was in this way training and exercising in lesser things one whom it was calling to greater, as in certain preparations for what was to come, so that in conferences or in sermons (as the saying goes) he might have what was necessary ready to hand. As a presage too of his constancy to come, they report that the love of truth clung so tenaciously to the young man's mind, although he followed worldly pursuits, [0352B] that scarcely ever, or never, in jest or in earnest did he utter anything contrary to the truth; and how perfectly he fulfilled this very thing after he became a man, what follows will declare.

[nt: ( After this point the earlier *quadrilogus* agrees almost word for word with the second *quadrilogus*, of which we shall speak hereafter. But in place of three it comprises five books, of which the fourth is *De Gestis post martyrium*; the fifth contains some seventy letters. Let this suffice to have been said of this compilation. The book itself in which these things are contained, having now become rare, is valued and sold at a considerable price. There is in the library of Saint-Omer a manuscript book on the Life of St Thomas, which is nearly the same as the first *quadrilogus* as published, and which besides has those few things about the siege of Toulouse excerpted from the work of William fitz Stephen. )]


site: migne

author: Richard of Saint Victor

languages: en la

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 196, coll. 1031A–1032C

source_text:
## De comparatione Christi ad florem et Mariae ad virgam

[1031A]Virgo Dei genitrix virga est, flos Filius ejus; quia recte dicitur virga beata Virgo Maria, virga recta, [1031B] virga erecta et in coelum usque porrecta, virga gracilis, virga flexibilis, virga florigera, virga fructifera. Recta per fidem, erecta per speciem, procera per longanimitatem; per humilitatem gracilis, per compassionem flexibilis, per virginalem conceptionem florigera, per partum salutis fructifera. Virgo Dei Genitrix virga est, flos Filius ejus. O quam bene, quam recte flos dicitur, qui ex virga virginali producitur! Quid flore tenuius, quid flore tenerius? Quid ad tactum lenius, quid ad portandum levius? Quid flore formosius, quid flore fragrantius, quid flore fructuosius si effectum attendimus? In flore namque mellificatio, ex flore fructificatio. Ex flore itaque favus et fructus. In favo mel et cera, in fructu potus et esca. Si parva sunt ista, addo quia et in flore est [1031C] medicina. Quid namque flore tenuius, cum astringitur; quid tenerius, cum atteritur; quid lenius, cum attrectatur; quid levius, cum portatur; quid speciosius, cum aspicitur; quid fragrantius, cum odoratur; quid utilius, si effectus attenditur? Septem itaque sunt quae in flore miramur, tenuitatem, [1032A] teneritudinem, lenitatem, levitatem, pulchritudinem, odorem, utilitatem. Ex his itaque collige virginis [1032B] ille Filius qualis invenitur ab illis quibus in florem vertitur. Nam qui incredulis et praevaricatoribus est lapis offensionis et petra scandali, flos est spe et amore inhaerentibus illi; flos utique mirabilis, spe et utilitate singularis; flos, inquam, est Filius virginis. Flos tenuis ad indignationem, tener ad miserationem, mansuetudine lenis, damnatione levis, pulcher per conversationem, fragrans per repromissionem, utilis per remunerationem. Est ergo tenuis in flagellis, tener in misericordiis, lenis in donis, levis in praeceptis, pulcher in exemplis, fragrans in promissis, fructuosus in praemiis. Hic flos factus est nobis medicina, ex illo mel et cera, in ipso potus et esca. Medicina in redemptione, potus et esca in justificatione, mel et cera in glorificatione. [1032C] Ex hac medicina sanitas sempiternae incorruptibilitatis; ex ejus esca refectio internae satietatis; ex ejusmodi potu ebrietas aeternae securitatis; de illius cera splendor summae claritatis; in ejus melle dulcor indeficientis felicitatis.

english:
## On the Comparison of Christ to a Flower and of Mary to a Rod

[1031A]The Virgin, Mother of God, is a rod; her Son is the flower. For rightly is the blessed Virgin Mary called a rod: a rod upright, [1031B] a rod raised erect and stretched even up to heaven, a rod slender, a rod pliant, a rod flower-bearing, a rod fruit-bearing. Upright through faith, raised erect through vision, tall through long-suffering; slender through humility, pliant through compassion, flower-bearing through virginal conception, fruit-bearing through the childbearing of salvation. The Virgin, Mother of God, is a rod; her Son is the flower. O how well, how rightly is he called a flower, who is brought forth from the virginal rod! What is more delicate than a flower, what more tender than a flower? What gentler to the touch, what lighter to carry? What more beautiful than a flower, what more fragrant than a flower, what more fruitful than a flower, if we attend to its effect? For in the flower is the making of honey, from the flower the bearing of fruit. From the flower, therefore, come both honeycomb and fruit. In the honeycomb are honey and wax; in the fruit are drink and food. If these things are small, I add that in the flower too there is [1031C] medicine. For what is more delicate than a flower, when it is pressed; what more tender, when it is crushed; what gentler, when it is handled; what lighter, when it is carried; what more comely, when it is beheld; what more fragrant, when it is smelled; what more useful, if its effect be considered? There are, then, seven things that we marvel at in the flower: delicacy, [1032A] tenderness, gentleness, lightness, beauty, fragrance, usefulness. From these things, therefore, gather [1032B] of what sort that Son of the Virgin is found to be by those for whom he is turned into a flower. For he who to the unbelieving and to transgressors is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, is a flower to those who cleave to him in hope and love; a flower indeed wonderful, singular in hope and usefulness; a flower, I say, is the Son of the Virgin. A flower delicate unto indignation, tender unto compassion, gentle in mildness, light in condemnation, beautiful through his manner of life, fragrant through his promise, useful through his reward. He is therefore delicate in scourgings, tender in mercies, gentle in gifts, light in precepts, beautiful in examples, fragrant in promises, fruitful in rewards. This flower has become for us medicine; from him, honey and wax; in him, drink and food. Medicine in redemption; drink and food in justification; honey and wax in glorification. [1032C] From this medicine comes the health of everlasting incorruption; from his food, the refreshment of inward satiety; from such drink, the inebriation of eternal security; from his wax, the splendor of highest brightness; in his honey, the sweetness of unfailing happiness.

license_source: Public Domain Mark 1.0

license_translation: CC BY-NC 4.0

license_apparatus: CC BY-NC 4.0