DE NUGIS CURIALIUM on Meridiane and Gerbert by Walter NAAAAAAP this is kinda most of most jevel i found by this day19:25 Jun 03 2021
Times Read: 184
One day Gerbert left the city at noon as if for a
walk — all the while grievously tormented by hunger
— and, with all his thoughts far away, strolled deep
into a grove. There, in the very heart of the forest,
he found a woman of wondrous beauty, sitting upon
a great cloth of silk with a huge heap of money
before her. He tried to slink away undetected,
for he feared a phantom or a trick. But, calling
him by name, she bade him trust her, and, with the
appearance of pity, promised him the present sum,
and as large a store of wealth as his heart could
desire, if he would only disdain the mayor’s daughter
who had spurned so haughtily his suit, and would
attach himself to her, not as to a sovereign lady,
but as to a mistress of his own rank. She added :
Meridiana by name and born of the best stock, I
have ever strivgn above all for this, to find a man
in every way my peer, so that I could count him
worthy to pluck the first flowers of my maidenhood ;
but, until thou earnest, I h§.d discovered no one
who did not lack something of what I craved.
Therefore, as thou pleasest me at every point, do
not delay to taste all the joy which God in the
Highest, thy master and mine, raineth down from
heaven upon thee. Unless thou provokest me to
just wrath, thou wilt be blest with all bounty of
money and rank ; only, when thou fully blossomest
forth once more through my care, thou must repel
thy lady disdain with the same scorn by which
she has made thee wretched. For I know that
she will repent and will turn again to what she
once despised, if she have the chance. If she had
shrunk from thy love through mere maidenly in-
stinct, her conquest of thee would have redounded
to her credit. But this alone was the reason for
her insolent rejection of thee, v r ho, by general
opinion, wert the most lovable of all (her suitors),
that she might smile on others without exciting any
distrust, thus veiling Aphrodite with the false robe
of Minerva. Under the cover of thy repulse others
marched on to mastery. Alas ! Pallas is driven
away and under the shield lurketh a Gorgon. Thy
obvious overthrow hath given a shelter to the foul-
ness of a wanton ; if thou shalt with proper spirit
declare this creature for ever unworthy of thy
embraces, I shall make thee pre-eminent among all
the lofty ones of the earth.
Perhaps thou fearest
a cheat and thou art trying to shun the craft of
the sucubus demon in me.
Footless is this fear,
for those whom thou fearest are also on their guard
against the tricks of men,
and they entrust them-
selves to no one unless ample security iff given;
and never do men bring back anything but sin from
those demons whom they have deceived.
For if
indeed, as seldom, the. demons bring success or
wealth — these (seeming blessings) pass away in such
futility and vanity that they are -of no account, or
else they lead to the distress and destruction of the
deceiver.
But I exact from thee no security, for
I have learned to the full the nature of thy sincerity.
Nor am I trying to be made secure, but to make
thee secure.
I am glad to give thee everything,
and I want thee to carry all this (money) away
before our union, and often to return for more
until thou shalt prove by discharging all thy debts
that it is not fairy gold, and thou shalt not fear
to make just return for the outlays of true love.
I desire love, not sovereignty, nor indeed do I wish
to be thy equal, but thy maid-servant ; in me thou
wilt find naught which will not to thy senses smack
of love ; true judgment can detect in me no token
of enmity.’
Meridiana said these and many things to like
purpose, although needless, for Gerbert, greedy for
the things that he had lost, snatched her with hearty
assent almost in the midst of her words, eager to
escape through plenty the thraldom of poverty
and to enter with speed into the pleasing peril of
Venus. Hence the suppliant promised all, and
plighted his troth and — what was not asked —
joined to his oath kisses, leaving inviolate all else
that pertaineth to chastity.
Gerbert returned heavy-laden, pretending to his
creditors that he had received a remittance, and
he cleared himself of his debts slowly, to prevent
rumours of treasure-trove.
From now on, free
(from embarrassment) and abounding in the gifts
of Meridiana, he grew rich in chattels, he increased
his staff qf servants, he heaped up stores of clothing
and coins, he filled his cellars and larders, so that
his plenty at Rheims was like the glory of Solomon
in Jerusalem.
Moreover, the full delight of his bed
was no less, though the great king was the lover
of many and he of one.* Every night he was
taught by her, who had full knowledge of the past,
what to do during the day.
These were nights like
those* marvellous ‘ noctes ’ of Numa, in which
Romans feigned that sacrifices were made and that
colloquies of the gods were in men’s ears, inasmuch
as he worshipped one (goddess) from whose teach-
ings he secretly sweated wisdom in nightly study.
Gerbert profited to the full from his double instruc-
tion, both of the bed and-of the benches, and he rose
in glorious triumph to the highest pinnacles of fame ;
nor did the lore of the lecturer in his lesson advance
him less than that of the lecturess of his liaison —
the second in winning his way to heights of fame,
the first in acquiring those arts that produce sweet-
ness and light. In a short time he became every
one’s master, distancing all men — the bread of the
hungry, the robe of the needy, and the ready re-
demption from all oppression — and there was no
city that did not envy Rheims.
When the ‘ wretched daughter of Babylon ’ who,
through her pride, had brought him into the depths
heard and saw these things, she awaited with
eager ears the wonted messages and marvelled at
and chid the delay ; and when at length she
realized that she was spurned, then she, for the first
time, ‘ glowed with fierce fires ’ which she had
scornfully repelled. Now she lived more cleanly
and walked more meticulously and met him more
modestly and spoke more reverently ; and because
she felt that she had altogether fallen into contempt
and dejection, she quaffed malice of mind from the
very beaker in which she had given her lover frenzy
to drink. She madly seized the bit, caring not
whither the reins guided or drew, but r obedient
throughout the whole course to whatever spurs
urged her ; and she strove to lure him to her hook
with the devices with which he had' once tempted
her — that is, with every known bait. But in vain
did she lay her snares,* stretch her nets, cast her
hooks. For the avenger of old hatred and flatterer
of new love denied what love is wont to give and
cast at her what hatred is wont to inflict. Having
wasted all its efforts, the woman’s love grew to
madness, and her bitter anguish exceeded her sense
of sorrow ; and just as the stupor of the limbs
admitted no medicine, so the spirit of exhausted
hope felt no solace. An old woman living near
Gerbert aroused her one flay, just as if she were
bringing the dead to life, and, through a hole in
her cottage wall, pointed him out walking alone
in his little orchard during the heat of the day after
his meal. In a little while they saw him lie down
under the shade of a branching oak and compose
himself in sleep. She could not compose herself,
but, casting aside her gown, she gave herself wholly
to him under his cloak in only her smock ; and,
though veiled, excited him with kisses and embraces.
From the man, full of wine and food, she easily
obtained her wish; for the heat of youth and of
the season, and the warmth of wine and the fullness
here came together to one banquet of Venus. In
such wise, forsooth, Apollo and Pan, Ceres and
Bacchus, ever attend Venus, but, from the notable
gathering of these, Pallas (goddess of wisdom) is
ever excluded. The woman loaded Gerbert with
kisses and caresses, and, though sparing of words,
she bestowed flattering blandishment, until he re-
called Meridiana in the confusion of shame and
with the trepidation of a mighty fear. Wishing
ashamedly to escape (the amorous girl), he left her
with a promise to return, and in the accustomed
grove sought at the feet of Meridiana pardon for
his fault. She haughtily disdained him for a long
time, but finally she demanded and obtained of
him homage for security, because he had been
found wanting, and he safely continued in her
service.
In the meanwhile it happened that the Arch-
bishop of Rheims came to his end, and Gerbert, as
the reward of high repute, was enthroned in his
stead. Some time after that, when he was staying
in Rome in connection with the business of his
newlv-found dignity, he was made by the Pope,
Cardinal and Archbishop of Ravenna; and after
a little while, upon the death of His Holiness, he
mounted by public election to his chair. During
the whole time of his priesthood, he did not once,
at the giving of the sacrament, partake of the Lord’s
body and blood (either because of fear or reverence),
but by dexterous stratagem pretended to do so.
Meridiana, however, appeared to him in the last
year of his papacy, assuring the pledge of his life
to him, until he should celebrate mass at Jerusalem ;
he thought to escape by his vow of biding at Rome.
But it came to pass that he was celebrating mass
in that church where, by popular report, was placed
that beam which Pilate had fastened upon the top
of the Lord’s Cross, inscribed with the record of
His passion — hence the church is called to this day
Jerusalem — and lo, he beheld opposite to him
Meridiana clapping her hands, as though in joyous
expectation of his next coming to her. Having
grasped the meaning of the vision, and having
learned the name of the place, he called together
all the cardinals, the clergy, and the people, and
made confession, leaving unrevealed no fault of
his whole life. He moreover decreed that to clergy
and people the mass should be given in the presence
of all men. Hence many celebrate the mass on
an altar reared in the midst, while the Pope in his
chair partaketh with his face fixed on the faces of
them all.
Gerbert made truly holy the short remnant of
his life by constant and earnest repentance and
reverently made his last confession. He was buried
in the Church of St. John Lateran, in a marble tomb
which perpetually sweateth, but the drops do not
unite into a stream unless as a prophecy of the death
of some wealthy Roman. Men say that, when the
parting of a Pope is at hand, the stream floweth
to the ground, but when the death of some noble,
it poureth out even to the third or fourth or fifth
part of the other, as if indicating the dignity of each
man by its smaller or larger flow. Although Gerbert,
on account of his avarice, may have been long held
fast by the glue of the devil, yet he ruled with
splendour and with sureness of hand the Roman
Church; and it is said that some of his wealth
so hath endured to the times of all his successors.
We have heard that Pope Leo initiated the con-
ditions under which the heirs of Peter Leonis, by
disinheriting St. Peter, still possess Castellum
Crescentii (Castel San Angelo). This Peter Leonis,
a Jew, was converted to our faith by the work, of
Pope Leo, and took from him the name Leonis ;
and Pope Leo eagerly endowed him with revenues
and estates and entrusted to him the guard of the
aforesaid castle, to his great glory and honour.
Pp. -. Qerbert. — Gerbert or Pope Sylvester . (-)
»v as often reputed a^rcerer m tfce Middle Ages (Olleris, (Euvres de
Gerb&ct, clxJkxviii.-cxcviii.). William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum,
’?.‘, makes him the possessor of a magical head that predicts his
death at * Jerusalem ’ ; and John of Bromton, -, also tells of
his homage to the devil, of the opening of earth at his incantations,
of the glimpse of treasures which he was unable to touch and of
his end at the church* of Jerusalem in Lateran.’ Giraldus
(Gemma, . ) tells of his avoidance of the sacrament. No mediaeval
writer except Map mentions Gerbert’s association with a fairy
lady ; but Ordericus Vitalis ( . xxiv.) relates that, when Gerbert
was master of a school, he had a conference with the devil and
learned that he would be translated from R. to R. and as pope
would be R.’ (Rheims, Ravenna, Rome). His connection with
Meridiana recalls such lays as Desire, Graelent, LanvaL The
Jerusalem motive is adapted to Henry iv. (H. iv., Pt. n. iv. iv.),
It has been prophesied to me many years I should not die but at
Jerusalem.’
P. , . . Metamorphoseos . — Liebrecht, Zur Volkskunde , p. ,
finds m the Matre morphoseos of the text a concealed reference to
the Metamorphoseos of Apuleius and points to the change to an ass.’
The translation follows rather closely Webb’s interpretation of this
doubtful passage in The Classical Review, , . The reference
to Scylla, Webb derives from Ovid, Metamorphoses, xiii. .
P. , . . Meridiana — Henno with the Teeth finds Ins lady
at midday in a grove (iv. ix.) and the followers of Herla are seen
at midday (iv. xiii.). This superstition is mirrored in the Vulgate
demonio meridiano , the destruction that wasteth at noonday
(Ps. xci. ), which is quoted by Map, .
P. , . . The bundle of twigs . — This oriental story serves its
turn in the dumb show of the first English tragedy Gorboduc .
P. , . Hinton shows that the passage refers to the arrival
in England of the news of the election of Lucius in. (Hubald, Bishop
of Ostia), September , , as the successor of Alexander hi.
(-).
Melvis, Peter de, .
Menestratus,
Meridiana, a phantom, f.
Merlin,
Messina,
Metamorphoseos,
COMMENTS
-
Zurix
20:24 Jun 03 2021
what makes mee curios do after kiling her husband OttoII She even orders murder of her son OttoIII cuzh she even send for same wife princes as herself young byzantian princess as gift to son .... but when new princes arives she was alredy widow ...
so the role she was educated in Ottowan court was sucsesfuly done and no more Otovan lineage aka males existed .... destruction of holy rome received deadly vound. funny Teofuny died to ... mision compleate 30 years yound and butiful .... just do her white sarcophagus truly still bares the corp[se ???
Zurix
20:27 Jun 03 2021
ya can imagine with probability 100% to whom he can ordered such dirty worx .... yeah the devotie Gerbert as soon as OttoIII put him on papatrone the holy unity meet their fate ...