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• 1 2022-07-02T07:02:30-07:00 Poem to the Holy Tear, Bodleian Library MS. Rawl. poet. 224, fols. 1r–6r. 42 Translation and transcription of poem; Rawl Poet plain 2024-07-02T18:47:10-07:00

  MS Rawl. poet 224 opens with a vernacular poem recounting the legend of the Holy Tear. It was written in the northern dialect of middle French , and consists of 275 octosyllabic verses, covering folios 1r to 6r.

  The poem opens in the first section with a narrative of the story of Lazarus, inspired by the Gospel of John.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

  Folio 1r
  From the high and sovereign reign,
  God our Lord descended.
  He took on human nature,
  To redeem his creatures,
  And to give them (it) knowledge,
  Of him and of his great power.

  Folio 1v

  Before he suffered his passion,
  For human redemption,
  He performed miracles and signs,
  Which are very worthy of memorializing.
  Among them he made one
  Which is very well-known to everyone,
  Among them St. John, minister of God,
  In the eleventh chapter,
  Said thus in this manner:
  That Lazarus, who was the brother
  Of Martha and the Magdalene,
  Left human life,
  Wherefore he was buried
  And buried in the earth.
  Thus, the two sisters summoned him
  To Jesus Christ they begged,
  That he come to visit their brother,
  In order to raise him (from the dead).
  And when Jesus, the savior of the world,
  In whom all compassion dwells,
  Saw his friend was dead,
  From where he was, he left,
  And all his disciples (left) after him,
  And [all] his apostles went quickly.
  When he arrived at the house,
  Where the two sisters made great mourning,
  Crying over their brother’s death,
  Whom Jesus loved so strongly,
  So that he began to shudder,
  Our Savior, [he] groaned,

  
  In the next section, the poem details the miracle of the Holy Tear: how angel collected it, placing the tear in a heaven-made vessel and giving it to Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene then kept the Holy Tear with her, then passing it on to St. Maximin, who brought it to Constantinople.
  
  

  Folio 2r
  And from the eyes of his head he shed tears, 
  From the eyelash which the angels celebrate.
  Then after (he) went to the tomb,
  And in a high voice called out
  Lazarus, and said “Come out,”
  “You, who reside with the dead.”
  Thus, Lazarus, who stank
  Because he had already been (dead) four days,
  In the sepulcher
  And immured in a tomb,
  Was risen full of life.
  Wherefore Jesus was praised
  By all of the Jews, great and small,
  Who had come to this place.
  Therefore, hear, in the name of God,
  What occurred in this place,
  And in this very holy sanctuary,
  And to this very noble monastery,
  The tear that Jesus wept,
  Was worthily brought.
  As soon as it fell from the eyes,
  Of Jesus Christ, the son of God,
  The angel received it lovingly.
  And as we can see it clearly,
  (The angel) placed it in precious vessels.
  And [it is] a marvel to behold
  Because there is neither break,
  Nor seam, nor opening.
  And no one, neither wise nor learned,
  Was able to perceive,
  

  Folio 2v

  How it was squeezed into these vessels,
  To be guarded within (them).
  The vessel which is the largest
  Looks white of color from above. 
  It is not [made of] crystal, or glass,
  Not of any metal, nor of stone,
  But by the divine will
  The angel made it so magnificent.
  And the other is placed within this [one],
  Which [is] gold of color with double handles.
  I assure you, there it shines,
  The worthy and precious tear
  That the Savior Jesus cried.
  It is the beautiful color of blue.
  Then, after, when it was placed,
  Just as it says in our report,
  From the angel, to Mary Magdalene
  Who, full of the love for Jesus,
  Kissed it preciously.
  And she, most devotedly,
  Kept it as long as she lived,
  As we find in an ancient writing.
  And after, when she died,
  [she] left it to Saint Maximin,
  Who was the bishop of Marseille,
  The notable city of Province.
  Then after, in the noble town,
  And city of Constantinople,
  It was very preciously kept.
  [It] was kept there until this year,
  
  The narrative pulse then shifts to the foundation of La Trinité by Geoffrey Martel and Agnes of Burgundy as a result of a miraculous apparition of three stars falling into a well as a sign of the Trinity.
  

  Folio 3r
  For  [one] speaks of it, in the year one thousand forty.
  When the count of the Angevins,
  Geoffrey Martel, thus named,
  Founded this renown temple,
  By divine inspiration,
  And holy revelation,
  Hear [a] marvelous thing,
  As he and his good wife,
  Agnes, countess of Poitiers,
  Looked out very gladly
  There through the crenellation
  Of the castle, which is in a high place.
  For the noble people mentioned above,
  Came on three Saturdays in a row.
  Three large lances full of fire,
  Descending from heaven on this place
  And all three were assembled 
  Into one, as she chose.
  Thus, by the admonition,
  And good disposition,
  And the council of clerics and sages,
  They founded with great courage,
  And at their own expense,
  This most worthy monastery,
  In honor of the Trinity.
  And for them and for their friends,
  The black monks prayed to God,
  They are exempt from the bishop,
  From the (papal) legate, and from the archbishop.
  Folio 3v
  In the period mentioned above, the emperor,
  Of Greece requested help,
  From Henry, noble king of France.
  In making an alliance with him,
  To expel the Turks out of Greece,
  Who were greatly oppressing him.
  And the king, to keep faith,
  Sent him his most valiant warrior,
  The good count Geoffrey Martel,
  Because there was no other in France,
  Who could display such valiant courage as he,
  To confront such an outrage,
  That the Saracens and Turks were making,
  Against God and his servants.
  When the count came to this region,
  To fight for God,
  Against the Turks, and in such a way
  That he very soon had them fleeing,
  And when the count, from Greece
  Had valiantly expelled the Turks,
  He wanted to take his leave from the Emperor,
  To return to his country.
  And so to pay them back,
  The emperor wanted to give him
  A great deal of gold and silver,
  And [a] great abundance of treasures.
  But the count refused them,
  And apologized [for not taking them],
  And asked instead for,
  Some relics, of which
  Folio 4r
  The Emperor had a great number in the treasury,
  Relics of the saints of God, our Lord.
  Thus, the emperor commanded,
  And requested to his treasurer
  That these be given to him [Geoffrey] according to his pleasure,
  Everything from which he would like to choose.
  And when the count was
  In the sanctuary, looking at
  The relics, which were plentiful,
  The relics of several saints, male and female,
  A cleric secretly said to him,
  That the teardrop of Jesus Christ,
  Which he had shed
  When Lazarus rose,
  Was there in this treasury,
  It was not covered in gold,
  But it was in fact the best,
  Even though it was small.
  Then the count rejoiced
  Greatly at what he had heard,
  And took the tear in a dignified way, 
  And thanking God greatly,
  he gave it to his people,
  Who were very diligent,
  In leaving this country,
  To return to theirs.
  Then afterwards the noble count,
  Of whom one should tell a great tale,
  Returned to his company,
  Which had left earlier.
  

  Folio 4v
  But then, when the emperor
  Learned well that this noble lord
  Had his precious reliquary,
  Which he loved beyond all others,
  He became angry at that moment.
  And without delaying any further,
  He sent some of his people
  To quickly arrest
  The count, who was on his way back,
  And was carrying the Holy Tear.
  [They] hastily went here and there,
  And located count Geoffrey.
  And then they commanded him,
  And demanded on the orders of the emperor,
  The tear shed by Jesus,
  Which he had carried with him,
  And the other relics he would have,
  Among those that he had wanted.
  Thus the above-said count,
  Graciously responded,
  That those who had already crossed the sea,
  Were the ones who were carrying the relic.
  And furious and very despondent,
  They (sheriff and heralds) left the count,
  The sheriffs and heralds,
  And imperial messengers.
  Thus, the good count Geoffrey,
  Had no longer any fear or terror of them.
  But he advanced so much,
  And rode so quickly,

  Folio 5r
  That he caught up with those
  Who had previously gone ahead of him,
  And who were carrying the holy relic,
  [Which was] authentic above all others.
  Then, finally, what followed is that
  The above frequently-said prince [brought]
  The tear of our lord,
  Jesus Christ, our redeemer, 
  As an offering,
  With great joy and devotion,
  In this holy and worthy oratory,
  And very excellent monastery.
  And the noble monks,
  Who in showing so much joy,
  Received it in good faith,
  With very great solemnity,
  That no one knew [what] to think or say,
  Since God wanted to choose 
  This place to honor the tear,
  And to worship it with devotion.
  God does great miracles 
  On sick and disordered eyes
  Of people, who by devotion
  And devout intention,
  Require it for their need.
  Many people from far and near,
  Who were sick in the eyes,
  Some with one, others with two [illnesses],
  Who were either suddenly wounded,
  By a lance or other weapon,
  
  The final section of the poem details the pilgrimage and miracles of the Holy Tear.
  
  Folio 5v
  Or too great a headache,
  Or on account of the nefarious winds of a tempest.
  When forced to come, they showed great faith 
  Either several [together] or by oneself.
  [Through] Jesus Christ and his holy tear,
  They gained [their] health without any pretense.
  Some, as soon as they voiced their wish sometimes who have made their voice,
  Immediately regained their health.
  Others, also coming,
  Gained health upon their return 
  Some, in groups of nine,
  And others in kissing it
  Still others came from places [This must be an error: it could be lieux instead of tieux]
  Who had never seen with their own  eyes,
  And Who had received strong sight,
  By the power of the holy tear,
  Who more fully want to know,
  Or to especially see it.
  Read or hear in these images
  Which are displayed  here all around with  such beauty
  Because there are great wonders,
  Which man has never heard with his ears
  Even though there is no man,
  Who can know how many there are
  But some have been taken out
  And ratified by many. 
  So that we may always remember
  The miracles that daily of all the days,
  God makes to loyal Christians,
  Who suffer in their eyes this place,
  
  Folio 6r
  By the power and the virtue,
  Of the tear of the king Jesus.
  Thanks be to God.

   

  
  A sixteenth-century copy of the poem copied into a miscellany of saints’ lives now at the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris differs from the Bodleian poem only by one line (with a few differences in wording and spelling), demonstrating that the Bodleian poem was part of a textual tradition celebrating multiple facets of the cult of the Holy Tear at La Trinité.