WILLIAM BISHOP OF PAMS

WILLIAM, BISHOP OF PAMS, COMFORTS A CERTAIN THEOLOGIAN

He told me that the bishop, William of Paris, had related how a great master of divinity had come to him and told him he desired to speak with him. And the bishop said to him: “ Master, say on.” And when the master thought to speak to the bishop, he began to weep bitterly. And the bishop said: “ Master, say on; be not discomfited; no one can sin so much but that God can forgive him more.” “ And yet I tell you,” said the master, “ that I cannot choose but weep; for I fear me I am a miscreant, inasmuch as I cannot so command my heart as to believe in the sacrifice of the altar, like as holy Church teaches; and yet I know well that this is a temptation of the Enemy.”

“ Master,” said the bishop, “ pray tell me, when the Enemy sends you this temptation, does it give you pleasure?” And the master said: “Sir, far from it; it troubles me as much as anything can trouble me.” “ Now,” said the bishop, “ I will ask you whether, for gold or silver you would utter anything out of your mouth that was against the sacrament of the altar, or the other holy sacraments of the Church? ” “ Sir! ” said the master, “ be it known to you that there is nothing in the world that would induce me so to do; I would much rather that every member were tom from my body than that I should say such a thing.”

“ Now I will say something more,” said the bishop. “ You know that the King of France is at war with the King of England, and you know too that the castle that lies most exposed in the border-land between the two is the castle of la Rochelle in Poitou. Now I will ask you a question: lithe king had set you to guard la Rochelle, which is in the danger our border-land, and had set me to guard the castle of Montiheri, which is in the heart of France, where the land is at peace, to whom, think you, would the king owe most at the end of the war to you who had guarded la Rochelle without loss, or to me, who had guarded the castle of Montiheri without loss ? ” “ In God’s name, sir,” said the master, “ to me. who had guarded la Rochelle without losing it.”

“ Master,” said the bishop, “ my heart is like the castle of Montiheri; for I have neither temptation nor doubt as to the sacrament of the altar. For which thing I tell you that for the grace that God owes to me because I hold this firmly, and in peace, He owes to you four-fold, because you have guarded your heart in the war of tribulation, and have such good-will towards Him that for no earthly good, nor for any harm done to the body, would you relinquish that faith. Therefore I tell you, be of good comfort, for in this your state is better pleasing to our Lord than mine.” When the master heard this, he knelt before the bishop, and held him self for well appeased.

FAITH OF THE COUNT OF MONTFORT ONE MUST NOT ENTER INTO CONTROVERSY WITH JEWS

The sainted king told me that several people among the Albigenses came to the Count of Montfort, who was then ;guarding the land of the Albigenses for the king, and asked him to come and look at the body of our Lord, which had become blood and flesh in the hands of the priest. And the out of Montfort said, “ Go and look at it yourselves, you who do not believe it. As for me, I believe it firmly, holding to holy Church teaches of the sacrament of the altar. And to you know what I shall gain,” said the count, “ in that luring this mortal life I have believed as holy Church reaches? I shall have a crown in the heavens, above the angels, for the angels cannot but believe, inasmuch as they are God face to face.”

He told me that there was once a great disputation between clergy and Jews at the monastery of Cluny. And there was at Cluny a poor knight to whom the abbot gave bread at that place for the love of God; and this knight asked the abbot to suffer him to speak the first words, and they suffered him, not without doubt. So he rose, and leant upon his crutch, and asked that they should bring to him the greatest clerk and most learned master among the Jews; and they did so. Then he asked the Jew a question, which was this: “ Master,” said the knight, ’ I ask you if you believe that the Virgin Mary, who bore God in her body and in her arms, was a virgin mother, and is the mother of God? customized guided tour”

And the Jew replied that of all this he believed nothing. Then the knight answered that the Jew had acted like a fool when neither believing in her, nor loving her he had yet entered into her monastery and house. “ And verily,” said the knight, “ you shall pay for it! ” Whereupon he lifted his crutch and smote the Jew near the ear, and beat him to the earth. Then the Jews turned to flight, and bore away their master, sore wounded. And so ended the disputation.

The abbot came to the knight and told him he had com mitted a deed of very great folly. But the knight replied that the abbot had committed a deed of greater folly in gathering people together for such a disputation; for there were a great many good Christians there who, before the dis potation came to an end, would have gone away misbelievers through not fully understanding the Jews. “ And I tell you,” said the king, “ that no one, unless he be a very learned clerk, should dispute with them; but a layman, when he hears the Christian law missaid, should not defend the Christian law, unless it be with his sword, and with that he should pierce the masseter in the midriff, So far as the sword will enter.”