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Authors: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
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festive, so that the Apostles would not be shamed by what transpired.
Also at Praxta, there was a mad dog, and the men clubbed it to death, but only after it had bitten four people of the village, including, I regret to tell you, my wife. All have been laid to rest at the side of the road with crosses to mark them, so that other mad animals will be warned away. I have kept watch for my wife, to be sure that her ghost does not wander, unsaved, but I have not seen her, so I thank Our Savior for preserving her and bearing her to Paradise.
In Satto Riva the orchards have been struck with a blight, so that the apples form but do not increase, leaving only small, hard lumps hanging on the trees. Some wish to cut down the orchards and burn the wood, but others believe that the bad fruit should be removed and new grafts made. No final decision has been made, but with famine only a year behind us, I cannot think that anyone would decide to take down trees. It is only the apples that have been stricken: lemons, peaches, and berries continue to thrive, and so the specter of hunger does not loom over us as it did two years ago. I have asked the monks of Sant’ Luchas to pray for us, and the Abbott has said that they would, for their orchards have also seen apples fail them this year.
At Harmut the shepherd with the largest flocks has been accused of using his daughters as his wife. This has angered his wife’s family, for they fear he will not honor her in age, and will send her back to them while he has his daughters to pleasure him and give him sons, which his wife has failed to do. We are taught that this is wrong, but in these villages, it is not so uncommon that the people understand why a man might do this. I cannot bring him to the Bishop because the villagers would rise against the Church if I did. So I must pray for his deliverance and the delivery of his wife, who may yet suffer. Perhaps if I find husbands for the daughters, all this will pass and the village will not be shamed by his actions. I have urged him to Confess to God all he has done, but he sees no error in the urges of his flesh, for he says that he is guarding himself against lust—without his daughters to assuage him he might be tempted to impose on women who are not entitled to his protection. He says that Karlus himself keeps his daughters with him, and all the world accepts it. Nothing I say can change his view of that. I know many in the village share his sentiments, and so I cannot confront him, or ask for more concessions to the expectations of the Church.
Submitted in duty on this day, the Feast of Sant’ Evurtius, Bishop of Orleanus, for your consideration and your contemplation, by
Patre Lupus,
witnessed by Fratre Boddulf of Sant’ Luchas.
Chapter Three
S ANT’ M ARTIN’S DOMINATED T OURS , although it was a short distance from the town itself, connected by a road that bristled with impromptu businesses, like a traders’ carnival that had set down for a short while, though it had been there for decades. People traveled between the monastery and the town in ox-drawn carts, on donkeys, horses, mules, and on foot, many of them with their trades on their backs, some hoping for sanctuary, a few preying on all the rest. The abbey was a sprawling cluster of buildings surrounded by high walls that enclosed all the amenities of a small town: dormitories; dining halls; stables; barns; pigstys; a goat shed; a sheepfold; a brewery; a creamery, a bakery; a mill; an oil-press; a winepress; a tannery; a grainery; a smithy; a workshop for turners and coopers; a weavery; two bathhouses; rabbit coops; chicken coops; beehives; an infirmary; a hostel for travelers and another for refugees seeking sanctuary; four latrines; a laundry; a school; a library; an herb garden; a vegetable garden; a night garden; four ambulatories; a muniment hall; a scriptorium; a petitioners’ court; and a collegium where manuscripts and maps were copied, studied, and stored;
Also at Praxta, there was a mad dog, and the men clubbed it to death, but only after it had bitten four people of the village, including, I regret to tell you, my wife. All have been laid to rest at the side of the road with crosses to mark them, so that other mad animals will be warned away. I have kept watch for my wife, to be sure that her ghost does not wander, unsaved, but I have not seen her, so I thank Our Savior for preserving her and bearing her to Paradise.
In Satto Riva the orchards have been struck with a blight, so that the apples form but do not increase, leaving only small, hard lumps hanging on the trees. Some wish to cut down the orchards and burn the wood, but others believe that the bad fruit should be removed and new grafts made. No final decision has been made, but with famine only a year behind us, I cannot think that anyone would decide to take down trees. It is only the apples that have been stricken: lemons, peaches, and berries continue to thrive, and so the specter of hunger does not loom over us as it did two years ago. I have asked the monks of Sant’ Luchas to pray for us, and the Abbott has said that they would, for their orchards have also seen apples fail them this year.
At Harmut the shepherd with the largest flocks has been accused of using his daughters as his wife. This has angered his wife’s family, for they fear he will not honor her in age, and will send her back to them while he has his daughters to pleasure him and give him sons, which his wife has failed to do. We are taught that this is wrong, but in these villages, it is not so uncommon that the people understand why a man might do this. I cannot bring him to the Bishop because the villagers would rise against the Church if I did. So I must pray for his deliverance and the delivery of his wife, who may yet suffer. Perhaps if I find husbands for the daughters, all this will pass and the village will not be shamed by his actions. I have urged him to Confess to God all he has done, but he sees no error in the urges of his flesh, for he says that he is guarding himself against lust—without his daughters to assuage him he might be tempted to impose on women who are not entitled to his protection. He says that Karlus himself keeps his daughters with him, and all the world accepts it. Nothing I say can change his view of that. I know many in the village share his sentiments, and so I cannot confront him, or ask for more concessions to the expectations of the Church.
Submitted in duty on this day, the Feast of Sant’ Evurtius, Bishop of Orleanus, for your consideration and your contemplation, by
Patre Lupus,
witnessed by Fratre Boddulf of Sant’ Luchas.
Chapter Three
S ANT’ M ARTIN’S DOMINATED T OURS , although it was a short distance from the town itself, connected by a road that bristled with impromptu businesses, like a traders’ carnival that had set down for a short while, though it had been there for decades. People traveled between the monastery and the town in ox-drawn carts, on donkeys, horses, mules, and on foot, many of them with their trades on their backs, some hoping for sanctuary, a few preying on all the rest. The abbey was a sprawling cluster of buildings surrounded by high walls that enclosed all the amenities of a small town: dormitories; dining halls; stables; barns; pigstys; a goat shed; a sheepfold; a brewery; a creamery, a bakery; a mill; an oil-press; a winepress; a tannery; a grainery; a smithy; a workshop for turners and coopers; a weavery; two bathhouses; rabbit coops; chicken coops; beehives; an infirmary; a hostel for travelers and another for refugees seeking sanctuary; four latrines; a laundry; a school; a library; an herb garden; a vegetable garden; a night garden; four ambulatories; a muniment hall; a scriptorium; a petitioners’ court; and a collegium where manuscripts and maps were copied, studied, and stored;
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