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Created: By Tadhg Ó Cianáin Date range: 1607–1609.
Benjamin Hazard (ed.)
Beatrix Färber (ed.)
Beatrix Färber (ed.)
Beatrix Färber (ed.)
Beatrix Färber (ed.)
Julianne Nyhan (ed.)
Peter Flynn (ed.)
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Benjamin Hazard (ed.)
Benjamin Hazard (ed.)
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Here are some of the adventures and proceedings of Ó Néill from the time that he left Ireland. First, Ó Néill was with the Lord Justice of Ireland, Sir Arthur Chichester, at Baile Shláine. He received a letter from John Bath on Thursday, the sixth of September, the year of the Lord at that time being one thousand six hundred and seven. It was stated in the aforesaid letter that Maguidhir (Cúchonnacht Maguidhir), Donnchadh Ó
They went in on board ship about midday on Friday. Then they hoisted their sails. They moved close to the harbourside. They sent two boats' crews to get water and to search for firewood. The son of Mac Suibhne of Fanaid, and a party of the people of the district came upon them in pursuit. They fought with one another. With difficulty the party from the boats brought water and firewood with them. About the middle of the same night they hoisted their sails a second time. They went out a great distance in the sea. The night was bright, quiet, and calm, with a breeze from the southwest. Then they proposed putting into Ara through need of getting food and drink. An exceeding great storm and very bad weather arose against them, together with fog and rain, so that they were driven from proximity to land. They traversed the sea far and wide. That storm and unsettled weather lasted till the middle of the following night. Afterwards, leaving Tir Conaill on the left, they direct their course past the harbour of Sligeach, straight ahead until they were opposite Cruach Padraig in Connacht. Then they feared that the King's fleet, which was in the harbour of Gaillibh, would meet with them. They proceeded out into
On Sunday, the thirtieth of September, the wind came right straight against the ship. The sailors, since they could not go to Spain, undertook to reach the harbour of Croisic in Brittany at the end of two days and nights. The lords who were in the ship, in consequence of the smallness of their food-supply, and especially of their drink, and also because of all the hardship and sickness of the sea they had received up to that, gave it as their advice that it was right for them to make straight ahead towards France. Forthwith they directed their course to France. They went on for two days and two nights under full sail. They reached no land at all in that time. Not even did they know well what particular coast was nearest to them.
About midday on Tuesday they saw three very large ships approaching from the south as if coming from Spain. Although they feared that squadron, and though they thought they belonged to the King of England's armament and were in pursuit of them, they considered that it was better for themselves to make for them and imperil their success if they were enemies, or, if they were Catholics, make inquiries and seek direction, than to be in the great danger in which they were in regard to going astray and mistaking the direction and scarcity of drink. They and the squadron came near one another at the end of day. A terrible storm arose at that time so that they and the squadron could not for a time come within speaking distance of one another. Afterwards, however, they spoke with the crews of the ships. They made enquiries
A certain Frenchman who was in the ship said: ‘Be not troubled nor concerned, princes,’ said he; ‘before sunrise tomorrow I will direct you to land in Normandy, a famous province belonging to the King of France.’ To Corunna, a great city belonging to the King of Spain, they had originally intended to go; in consequence of the amount of weariness and hardship they had endured, they were almost as well pleased and as glad to land in Normandy as to reach that city. They directed their course to that harbour. About midnight the sea rose in violent, quick, strong-sounding waves against them. It was the mercy of the Trinity that saved them and kept the ship and all that was in it from being drowned. A party of the gentlemen who were above the hatch were almost in danger of being carried out into the middle of the sea by the strength of the wind and the number of the waves. They were obliged to take down their sails by reason of the strength and power of the waves, and to leave the ship to itself to drift over the sea as God should will.
There were two islands belonging to the King of England called Jersey and Guernsey near them. Were it not for the taking down of the sails they were in great danger of striking on either of these two islands. Even if they landed of their own free will, the faces of the inimical merciless
Then they raised their sails. They proceeded on their way. After leaving the view of the islands they saw widely extended the land of France. When they came near the harbour fear and trembling came upon the Frenchman. He said it was a long time since he had been there before, and that he was in ignorance and great doubt, and could not give suitable guidance into the harbour. Shortly after that they saw a little French boat making for them. They made enquiries of its crew. They said they were fromRouen, a famous city belonging to the King of France. They offered them some gifts for piloting them into the harbour. They agreed to do so. They were before them and behind them throughout the day. When the wind subsided in the evening and the ship could not enter the harbour, the crew of the small ship took leave of them. They said that they could do them no service, and that they would not ask reward for a service they had not rendered. They themselves direct their course toRouen. However, they sent to them without delay a certain boat in which there was theRouen pilot. The pilot came on board to them in the darkness of the night. They raised their sails. They were proceeding throughout the night. In the morning on the next day the pilot directed them into the river ofRouen, south of the new harbour called Harboure de Grâce. About midday on Thursday, St. Francis' Day, the fourth day of October, and their twenty-first at sea, they landed at a little town on the bank of the same river called the Quilleboeuf. They had some rest and repose there for the remainder of the day until the following night. There were
On the next day the governor of the town was with Ó Néill at dinner. He gave him those valuable strange hawks which had been caught at sea. After dinner they hired boats. They sent the Countess, and the daughter of Ó Domhnaill, and the children which were with them, and some of the gentlefolk and their attendants with their luggage by the
As for the women, they proceeded from Quilleboeuf in boats. They had sails up for a while, for another while they had to row, and thus they were until the darkness of the night. The tide turned against them, together with the strength and force of the river, so that they were brought back a long distance. It would be difficult to describe how the ebb and flow of that river used to come. They had no cause of complaint with any danger and storm they endured on sea in comparison with all the trouble and danger of death they experienced then, except that they had wine and water within reach when they were thirsty. A party of the inhabitants of the country came with good boats to assist them. They went that night to a little town on the bank of the river. On the next day they got very good weather. They advanced along the river until they reached a church town called the Abbey of St. Georges, on the north side of the river. They stayed there that night. They sent a messenger toRouen to direct to them everything in the shape of coaches and waggons which they needed. They went with all their company toRouen about midday on Sunday.
During this time Maguidhir and the gentry who were
Matha Ó Maeltuile went post-haste to Paris. The governor's messenger reached the King of France sooner than Matha and got a reply. He returned. The King was returning from hunting when Matha went into his presence. He spoke face to face with him. He told him all the adventures of the lords, how they were prohibited to traverse the kingdom of France until they should have the King's authority. The King said respectfully and kindly that he had received letters concerning the gentlemen before that, and that he had written to the governor about them. Matha went to the King's secretary. He said that no harm at all would come to the princes because of their detention, and that a friendly answer from the King would reach them sooner than Matha would have returned.
The ambassador of the King of England was in the
When Matha Óg came toRouen, and when he learned that the order and direction they received was to go to Flanders first, and not to go to Spain direct until they should be in Flanders, he himself went post-haste to Flanders to tell Ó Néill's son, the Colonel of the Irish in Flanders under the power of the King of Spain, that these lords came from Ireland, that they had trouble and lost their way on sea, that they came to land in the kingdom of France, that they were there hindered so that they were not allowed to take the short journey to Spain, that they were obliged to make straight for Flanders, that they were asking the colonel to come to meet them to the border of France, and also to procure for them a passport and warrant from the Archduke
On Saturday the governor of the city ofRouen came to the place where the ladies were. He ordered them to leave the city without delay that same day, or else to return to the ship from which they came. They received that order with concern and grief, because they thought it was by reason of misfortune happening to the lords that they themselves got this sudden command. Because of their request and to honour them, the governor consented afterwards that they might remain in the city until the following Monday. At the time of vespers on Sunday the lords came toRouen with the passport and warrant of the King of France.
They remained in the city that night. On the next day, the fifteenth of October, they leftRouen with thirty-one on horseback, two coaches, three waggons, and about forty on foot. The governor of Quilleboeuf and many of the gentry of the town came to conduct them a distance from the city. They took their leave of the governor. They received the warrant of the King of France from him. To pay their way they gave him about forty tons of salt which was in the ship in which they came, although he had shown his unkindliness and his ill-feeling before that to them.
Beautiful and varied was the view of the city ofRouen from the high commanding eminence where these nobles bade farewell to one another. Great was the size and extent of the city, fortified and strong, having very many people, with extensive shipping, an excellent quay, and a very good river which extends across the country to Paris. There were many very beautiful islands in the river having much vines and fruitful trees. Around the river there was the levellest, the best inhabited, and most fruitful land that these Irish had ever traversed till then.
The Catholic Faith and power of the Church was conspicuous and strong inRouen. There were thirty-three
These nobles, having set about departing, were seven leagues fromRouen that night, in a small village called La Boissière. As they were leavingRouen, Aodh Óg Ó Néill, the son of Brian, son of Art, separated from the company and lost his way. Maigbhethadh Ó Néill returned toRouen to search for him. Brian's son came in with the company. When Maigbhethadh returned fromRouen he followed the track of another mounted party which had leftRouen. He did not meet his own party till they reached Arras.
It was an humble hostel these princes got in the poor little town we have mentioned, although it happened that the land they had traversed fromRouen to that place was fair, fruitful, and delightful. The little town was in a very beautiful glen on a pretty river. Early in the morning on the following day they proceeded three leagues from there to a town called Neufchatel. They remained there until they heard High Mass with singing and music, and until they partook of dinner. They advanced the same day five leagues to the town called Aumale. The Duke who owned that town was then in exile, and banished by the King of France to Flanders, and was with the Archduke. All his rent and claims were being taken to him in Flanders. They proceeded five leagues from there that night to the town called Poix. Though they reached that town late in the evening, they got suitable accommodation and a convenient place to rest. The King of France has a firm castle with strong defences in that same town. The journey was not long on that day, but it was more hilly, rougher, more marshy than on the other day, and the country more barren.
They went the next day to an important famous city in France named Amiens, the gate of defence of France, a distance of six short leagues. They were detained for a time at the gate of the city till they got directions from the governor of the place. They entered afterwards. After dinner they went to a beautiful gorgeous church called the Church of Mary. The head of John the Baptist was shown to them. It was in a glass of crystal, evident and visible to whomsoever would be present, with many wonders and miracles. A pretty, strong, round city was that town; to it a river comes from the sea, on which boats travel to the town with ease and the help of the tide. That same river is brought and divided in twelve divisions throughout the city, with the necessary bridges over each branch of them. When they came back from the Church of Mary, they took their good post-horses. They proceeded to the Flanders gate. Inside the walls of the city they saw a very strong fort of great strength being built by the people of the city, with many labourers and workmen. Outside the walls there were pointed out to them the trenches and the strong fortresses which were made by the King of France when Amiens was besieged by him at the time it was in possession of the King of Spain, being taken previously with skill and ability by three Irish companies.
They proceeded from thence five leagues to a small village called Contay. They were uncomfortable that night. As they approached the frontier of France and Flanders some of them were somewhat afraid. They obliged the most of their people to remain up in arms watching for them that night, and although the pledges by word and honour of the King of France were sufficient, nevertheless they were afraid when they saw some of their own party who took a different road coming
Early on the morning of the next day they went, arranged ready for defence, two leagues from there to the boundary of Flanders and France. They rested there for a short time. Afterwards they proceeded seven leagues to Arras. They were somewhat afraid of the road, especially of the journey of that day. Having entered that chief city about midday on the eighteenth of October; they remained and rested until the next Monday. They found Maigbheathadh, who separated from them leavingRouen, in that city, though they strongly believed that the road would be dangerous for him. The governor himself, whom the King of Spain had appointed in the town, and the chief men of the city received these lords with kindliness and respect. They came to visit them, and held a splendid banquet with wines. They sent a reverend father with beautiful coaches to direct them to the famous churches which were in the city. Many holy precious relics were shown to them, including a large portion of the Cross of the Crucifixion, the head of St. James, portion of the hair of Mary Magdalen, a cup out of which the Saviour Himself took a drink when He was in human flesh in the world, and numerous other things. Doctor Eoghan Mag Mathgamhna came to meet them from Douai to that place.
A famous important city this was, strongly fortified, firm, extensive, well-built, greater and more beautiful than Amiens, but with no river near it. There was a splendid town hall in the middle of the city having a strong guard of the people of the town continually. There was another
On Monday, the twenty-second of the same month, they bade farewell to the people of the city. They proceeded five more leagues to a famous city called Douai. The people there received them with great respect. They alighted at the Irish College which was supported by the King of Spain in the town. They themselves stayed in the College, and they sent the better part of those with them through the city. They remained there until the following Friday. The reverend father, Flaithri Ó Maolconaire, Irish Provincial of the Friars Minor, and Doctor Robert Mac Arthur met them here, having come from Flanders. During this time they went walking through the colleges of the city. Assemblies of the colleges received them kindly and with respect, delivering in their honour verses and speeches in Latin, Greek, and English. One of the company counted in the Jesuit College a little less than twelve hundred belonging to a single college.
Douai is an extensive city with unsightly houses or buildings, except for the colleges. There is a river
On Friday, the twenty-sixth of this month, these princes went on towards another great city called Tournai, seven leagues from. Douai. They stopped because it was late in the day at a village on the road three leagues from Tournai. On the road before them was the tomb and burial place of an Irish saint, Saint Linard was his name. God performs many miracles through him. And the next day they went to the city. They saw at the gate of the city a strong stone tower which was built by Julius Caesar when the city was besieged by him in the time of the Roman civil war. It is entered from the top, for it has no door at all. The city was defended by the inhabitants with strength and power against Julius Caesar and the Roman Senate at that time. It is chronicled and commemorated by its inhabitants that it was never taken or stormed by violence.
The people of the city received these nobles with honour and respect. They sent coaches to them so that they might go through the city to see its church and its fortress and all its wonders. They went afterwards on a visit to the archbishop of the city. He showed himself kindly and well-disposed towards them. They remained there till the next Monday.
There is a very beautiful river divided in three parts through the city, with three well-made bridges in position, and the city itself is remarkable and ancient with nice
Tadhg Ó Cíanain wrote this in Rome, 1609.
There are a thousand soldiers always guarding and watching the castle with everything they require of great ordnance and ammunition. They have a splendid church inside that there may be no communication between them and the people of the city. As the roads from Douai to Tournai were dirty, and the highways narrow and uneven, the writer and narrator of this could not easily note or observe the country or the land along the route.
On Monday, the twenty-ninth of the same month, they left that city. They came to a small town, pretty and fortified, which was called Ath, seven leagues from Tournai. The governor of the town came outside the walls to meet them and to receive them with respect and honour. He himself in person came to direct them to their hostels. All the ordnance of the place was fired at once to do honour and show pleasure at their coming. The governor himself and the principal men came afterwards to visit them, and he showed them kindness and sympathy. Captain John Blint happened to be in garrison in that town, and he was gentle, kind, and pleased at meeting them.
Next day they went seven leagues from Ath to Notre Dame de Hal. On their way they passed through a pretty town which had been formerly in the time of the war in the possession of the King of France. As the rent of it was of no use to the King he accepted fifty thousand pounds from the Duke of Hal for the ownership of the town. It was called Enghien. They went that night to Notre Dame. It rained heavily on them throughout the journey.
The next day, the thirty-first of October, Ó Néill's
On Sunday, the fourth of November, after having heard Mass, the lords set out in coaches, their nobles and
On the next day they started, and were accompanied by the governor until they had left the town. They went five leagues to Binche, where the Archduke was. The Duke of Ossuna, the Secretary, and Don Rodrigo, the majordomo of the Archduke, came with good coaches and great noblemen to meet them, and welcomed them in the Archduke's name. The Duke himself went in the coach in which they drove. When they reached the town, they alighted at the majordomo's palace. They remained there for a time, as the day had previously been very wet. Their attendants and horses were put up, and they went next to see the Archduke's chapel.
They went next to the Palace. The Infanta, the King of Spain's daughter, and the Archduke came to the door of the Palace to meet them. They received them with honour and respect, with welcome and kindliness, and showed them great courtesy. They brought them to their own private apartments. They spent a while in conversation and questioning one another. Afterwards they took their leave. They the Irish and the Duke of Ossuna, the Duke of Aumale, and many other illustrious noblemen went to dinner. They set out afterwards, taking coaches and a change of horses from their Highness with them, and returned that night to Nyvel. They were treated with as much honour that night as the first night they spent there.
The next day they proceeded to Notre Dame de Hal, and stopped there that night. Early the next morning they went to Brussels, three leagues' journey. Colonel Francisco, with many Spanish, Italian, Irish, and Flemish captains; came out of the city to meet them. They advanced through the principal streets of the town to the door of the Marquis's palace. The Marquis himself, the Papal Nuncio, the Spanish Ambassador, and the Duke of Ossuna came to take them from their coaches. When greetings had been exchanged in abundance, they entered the hall of the Marquis and spent some time in conversation. Afterwards they entered the apartment where the Marquis was accustomed to take food. He himself arranged each one in his place, seating Ó Neill in his own place at the head of the table, the Papal Nuncio to his right, the Earl of Tyrconnell to his left, Ó Néill's children and Maguidhir next the Earl, and the Spanish ambassador and the Duke of Aumale on the other side, below the Nuncio. The rest of the illustrious, respected nobles at table, the Marquis himself, and the Duke of Ossuna, were at the end of the table opposite Ó Néill. The excellent dinner which they partook
It is a small badly fortified and incompact town, yet it was never stormed or taken by force by enemies. It was not by reason of strength of hands or greatness of number; or firmness of walls that that was so, but a figure and picture and statue of Mary the Wonder-worker, in the church of Mary in the town, that causes many miracles and wonders, and very many thousands of people from the neighbouring districts come on pilgrimage there to venerate and implore the Holy Virgin. At one time Gramoures and the destroyers of the Catholic Church laid siege to that town. Regular cannon and large ordnance were discharged against it. There appeared to the enemy a lady with bright garments, and a white napkin in her right hand, standing on the wall opposite them. She caught in the napkin all the bullets that were thrown against the wall, so that no stone was moved, no wall was broken, and no person was killed. Inside the wall she laid down quietly and gently on the ground the bullets out of the napkin. They remain still in the church to commemorate the great miracles, and he who would lift one of them from the ground would be considered a strong man. The enemy raised the siege of the town when they saw the great miracles. Every time since that enemies came about it, it was defended miraculously by the grace of God and the Holy Virgin Mary. From the picture and image alone the town gets its name and designation, and that is but a small portion of its wonderful miracles.
At the time of the siege of the town by Gramoures, which we have mentioned, a certain haughty captain, one of his officers, in boasting speech and vainglorious mockery and insult said that he himself would enter the church and would strike the image with his hand, since the town was being defended by its miracles. Shortly afterwards conflict and battle commenced between the defenders of the town and the enemy. The above-mentioned captain advanced with great strength and vigour into the fight like everyone else. His two hands were cut off, and he himself was captured. He then confessed before the image and the people that he had spoken so much idle, vain words. His two hands are yet plainly to be seen in the church.
Shortly afterwards it was suggested to Gramoures by the devil to get a very large candle made, and to fill the interior of the candle with powder, leaving a coating of wax on the outside. In treachery he sent a message to the superior of the church, saying that he had much regret and repentance for attacking the venerable church where the miraculous image was, and that he was sending a wax candle to it in token of his repentance and penance. He asked as a request that the candle should be lighted by day and night before the image until it was wasted, and that then he would send another candle in its place. He was certain that if the candle burned until the powder would be reached, it would catch fire, and the church and all that was in it would be blown asunder and burned, and that the burning and destruction of the town would be the result. The superior and clergy of the church accepted the gift fittingly and appropriately. They lighted the candle in presence of the image.
After a certain time then it had burned so that it was near the place where the powder was, and on a certain night, when all the doors of the church had been closed, about midnight the bells and chimes of the church of themselves rang miraculously, and were heard all over the town. The clergy and the people of the town arose at once, and proceding
After a time they surmised that it was miraculously the affair happened. They went on their knees and commenced repenting and praying and invoking the Holy Virgin Mary in presence of the image. When they were a while thus, and the candle was burning to the powder, as the people did not understand the mystery of the miracle, the image pointed its hand to the candle. When the superior of the church saw that, he knew that it was because of harm and evil being in the candle that the hand was pointed and the bens had rung. Thereupon he put out the candle, and the bells became silent at once. The clergy drew out a piece of the match, which was in the centre of the candle, and they found the smell of the powder. They then broke off a piece of it. There was hardly half an inch of it left unburned to the place where there were a number of barrels of powder placed in it. The same candle and treacherous powder is today plainly to be seen to commemorate the miracle.
On Friday, the ninth of November, Ó Néill and the Earl and the nobles with them left Notre Dame de Hal. They were, that night in a great city called Louvain, seven leagues distant. Ó Néill stayed in a hostel called 'The Emperor's House', the Earl in another house. They remained thus for ten days. Then Sir William Stanley, an
On Sunday, the twenty-fifth of November, the princes set out with their retinue, thirty horsemen in all. Their intention was to go to Spain. They left their ladies and another portion of their retinue in Louvain. They found before them in Iodoigne a troop of the Archduke's cavalry, to whom it was entrusted to escort them. They remained that night in a little village called Perwez, having journeyed six leagues on an ugly road.
On the next day they went in great sleet three leagues to Namur. When they entered the city a post from Brussels with letters from the Archduke overtook them, ordering them not to proceed any further until they should
There was a very great snow and frost during that time, so that horses and coaches and waggons might travel on all the lakes and rivers of the country. Only by God's grace could the Regular Orders of the Church perform their course of Masses, offices, sermons, and prayers in the churches. An Irish father of the Order of Saint Francis, Diarmaid Ó Conchubhair from Ciannacht Ghlinne geimhin, stated in the presence of Ó Néill that he endured such cold while celebrating High Mass in the monastery that portion of his fingers shed large quantities of blood.
There was a great sheet of ice on the river at Antwerp, and the inhabitants of the city were accustomed to go out on the ice every day for amusement and to cool themselves. One day, when large numbers went to eat and drink, to sport and dance, the ice warmed because of the crowds and numbers of people, and gave a very great roar
The prince remained in Louvain during the Christmas time following, in pleasure and enjoyment, with as much display and costliness as they could. The nobles of the city used to come to make amusement for them with musical instruments, dancers, and performers. Spanish noblemen who were in the city were accustomed to visit them.
Intelligence from Brussels reached them that Cormac mac an Bharúin, Ó Néill's brother, had been sent to England and put in the Tower of London, that Lord Howth and the Baron of Delvin, were confined in the
On the day of the Epiphany following, having heard Mass in the churches, the inhabitants of the city went at midday to their houses and homes. A certain pair of soldiers chanced to go into a certain church of the Holy Virgin Mary. A statue and image of Mary with the figure of her Son in her bosom happened to be on the altar, with a precious, beautiful, bright, conspicuous crown of red gold on the image
When the clergy came to the church in the evening they missed the crown, and were sad and ashamed when they found that the image of Mary was without it. They did not know what to do. But the two men who stole the crown, having travelled from midnight till morning, found themselves inside the church at the dawn of day. When a certain pair of young clerics entered the church early in the morning they found the two soldiers inside, and the crown of Mary under the arm of one of them. He often endeavoured to conceal it under his coat, but could not succeed. Then the clergy of the church and all the neighbouring people of the city gathered and came together. The crown was taken to the image, and the two men taken prisoners. The miraculous event was made known all through the city. The two men confessed before the clergy and laity of the city how everything from beginning to end happened. They did not distort or conceal anything of the affair, but told it as above, saying also that the women knew something of it. No penance
On the eighth of February, 1608, the weather became somewhat damp and wet. A certain amount of thaw set in in the small rivers, though the ice of the large ones did not break. On the river which comes to Louvain there was a small branch going round the outside of the walls near the two palaces where the lords were. There was an exceedingly small streamlet entering this branch and flowing from a garden between the two palaces. A certain man of the Earl's people, who was going with some message to the palace where Ó Néill was, saw a very large salmon in a small hole in a plank on the stream. He drew a weapon at once and killed the salmon. He brought it to the Earl, and came then to Ó Néill's presence. All the nobles of the city who were near them came to see the salmon. They were surprised at his size, and that he was got where he was found. They said they never saw during their lives, and never heard from those who lived before them, that a salmon was ever before got on the river of Louvain, or on that particular branch of it.
The princes were in Louvain until the eighteenth of the same month. They then went to Mechlin, a famous city in the province of Flanders. Having dined with Sir William Stanley, they crossed the great river which goes from Brussels to Antwerp. They stayed that night in a little town
The next day they went to Antwerp. As they proceeded they crossed a very large river which comes from Ghent. It was covered with an enormous sheet of ice. They led their horses by the reins over the ice to the middle of the river. They then put them in boats from a quay of ice, and landed them on a similar one on the other side. They reached a fort in front of the city. of Antwerp called 'The Head of Flanders'. They left their horses there, and came themselves in boats to the city. When they had taken a hostel, they went to view the castle of Antwerp. All admit that that castle is one of the greatest fortresses in Christendom. The river surrounds it, and there are a thousand Spaniards continually guarding it by night and by day, with much regular cannon and large ordnance provided with every convenience and necessity that is required. They have a very pretty church inside. There are two large guns of brass in a
Next they went round the walls of the town. Though the wall is not to be compared with the castle as regards strength, still it is in keeping with it, for the rampart and circuit is twenty-five feet thick without counting the breastworks and sconces, as strong as any in the world, and well protecting one another. There is a great wide ditch around the wall. We could not learn the depth of it because of the great sheet of ice. Although there had nearly been a disaster to the inhabitants of the city a short time before that, as stated above, still there were about twenty thousand persons then sporting and dancing at one time on the ice. The princes remained till evening viewing the city, and then went to their lodgings.
The next morning they went on a visit to the Irish college in the city. That college was very beautiful, with numerous apartments and many students. They heard High Mass that was sung, with sweet, melodious organs and instruments of music of all kinds. Petarcha, a Spaniard of noble birth, was in charge of the college. He insisted on their being present at a banquet with him. Afterwards he brought them to see his own house. He gave to Ó Néill and the Earl two images of the Virgin Mary that were made of the famous tree in which had been discovered shortly before that the miraculous statue of Mary called Notre Dame de Buais, which heals daily and in large numbers the diseased and the infirm by the grace of God and Holy Mary. They then went to see the house and gardens of the Burgomaster, the chief officer of the town. Very pretty and beautiful was that sight, with many statues and pictures of apostles, saints, and holy people
They hastened out of that city after midday, and went three leagues till they reached the river which flows through Ghent. They went to a small town on the bank of the river where the King has a strong castle, with a hundred soldiers always guarding it. Willebroeck is its name. The next day they went to Vilvorde, a very strong town where the Archduke has a strong castle. Every nobleman of the country meriting death by his own misdeeds, who obtains as an act of grace and concession that he shall not suffer death in public before the people, is brought to that same castle. Under God, not many persons in the world except the governor know what death and end they meet, but they never come out again.
That day also they went to Louvain, the famous
On Thursday, the twenty-eighth of February, 1608, the princes with their retinue, set out for Italy, in all thirty-two riding on horseback. Their ladies had a coach. They left two of Ó Néill's sons, Sean and Brian, the Baron, the Earl of Tyrconnell's son, Aodh, the son of Cathbharr, Ó Coinne, Sean Ó Hagain, and others of their nobles and followers in Flanders with the Colonel.
They came that night to a town called Wavre, four leagues from Louvain, with a troop of the Archduke's
This is a compact, fine, strong, well-built city, with good, well-made houses, situated in a very beautiful glen. There is a good river directed and divided in many parts through it, with a large number of bridges and a great supply of boats. On a beautiful high hill over the city the King of Spain has a very strong castle, which has command, headship, and mastery over the whole town, manned with a huge body of cavalry and numerous soldiers always.
From there they went eight leagues to Marche. The soldiers of the town came out one league to meet them. They stayed in it that night. That town is small and fortified, and the King of Spain has a fort in it with a strong garrison.
The next day, Sunday the second of March, they went six leagues to a town called Bastogne. They required no escort that day. From there they went six leagues to Arlon, a town belonging to the King of Spain.
The next day, Tuesday, they went to a town belonging to the Duke of Lorraine, four leagues distant. They had a convoy with them as far as that. It is there the King of Spain's country and that of the Duke of Lorraine meet and separate from each other. There is a very strong fort, built by the Duke, in that town, with many strange
The next day they went on seven leagues to a post-town named Malatur. They proceeded that same day through a very pretty town, Conflans. A difficult river, with a very strong current, over which there was a bridge flowed through it. Father Tomás Strong and Magbhethadh Ó Néill were in danger of being drowned in it, for the horse fell under each of them. They were obliged to resort to swimming.
They advanced from there five leagues to Pont-a-Mousson, a strong and pretty town belonging to the Duke of Lorraine, in which he has a very good palace. They remained there two nights. They sent people before them to the Duke to announce that they were coming to him. There is a famous river running through the town, on which there is a fine bridge, with a very strong castle with numerous guards on a high hill over it, and from this bridge the town gets its name.
They proceeded from there three leagues on the left side of the river. They then crossed it in boats. They went to Nancy, the Duke's chief city, a distance of two
This is a famous and distinguished capital city, one of the strongest, best defended, and most spacious in the countries near it. There is a very deep trench around its
The next day the princes set out on coaches which the Duke gave them to the church of Saint Nicholas, two leagues' journey from the aforesaid city. One of the hands of Saint Nicholas was shown to them. They advanced from there to a little town called Lunéville on the bank of the river we have already mentioned. On Tuesday, the eleventh of March, they proceeded from there eight leagues to the town named St. Die. The weather and the roads were very good throughout that period. On the next day they crossed the mountain of Saint Martin over hard, difficult roads covered with ice and snow. They stopped for a short time in a small town where the Duke's country and Germany meet and separate from each other. They left behind them the Duke's territory, with its abundance of
Give a blessing for the soul of the writer.
There is another small city in the country out of which he gets eleven hundred hogsheads of wine for rent every year. Gold and silver are being continually coined for him. It is not every crowned king in Christendom whose rent and profit out of his dominions each year exceeds his. His country is thirty-five leagues in length, and it is as a garden in the very centre of Christendom, giving neither obedience nor submission to any king or prince in the world, but ever steadfast, strong, and unbending in the faith of God's Church.
From that place they went one league to Bonhomme, the German town that was nearest to them. They travelled two leagues across the mountain to a town named Kaysersberg. They passed through a very beautiful valley in which there was a very good river, much vines and good crops, and numerous pretty villages. That night they went three leagues to a remarkable city which is called Colmar, and is very strong, powerful, and extensive. Near to it is the most beautiful, wide, level, and fruitful plain in the greater part of Christendom. Heretics, however, occupy and inhabit it. They remained there that night. The following day they went through a great, trackless, difficult, unfrequented wood to the river which is named Campser, and separates that portion of Germany and part of Burgundy, a country which belongs to the Archduke. The length of the wood was about two leagues. That night they reached
On the following day they travelled a league, through the town called Niderharga, to the very famous river Rhine. They moved on to Bâle, a fine, strong, old, remarkable city which is built on it. There is a very good bridge in the centre of the city over the river, and numerous boats afford a means of leaving it and getting to it from Flanders and the country around the river. Those who occupy and inhabit it are heretics. There is a very large church in the middle of the city in which there were images, and pictures of Luther and Calvin and many other wicked evil writers. That city is an independent state in itself, and no king in the world claims submission or authority in it. It alone is the main entrance to the land of the Swiss called Helvetia. Afterwards, through fear of conspiracy by the heretics, they left the city. They proceeded two leagues up the river to a small strong town named Liesthal. Its inhabitants were Catholic. It is usual to demand custom in Bâle for the horses of strangers and travellers who cross through the country. The road was even and beautiful, advancing beside the river in a long rich valley. There were two high mountains, with much vines and good crops, on either side of it.
The following day they went five leagues to the town named Sursee. On the road before them there was a beautiful high mountain with many fir and other trees from which pitch is extracted. They passed that day through two towns with very strong walls Olten and Zoffingen, on
The next day, Sunday the sixteenth of March, they crossed the river Rhine by a very long bridge which had a good roof over the whole length of it. They payed custom to the keepers of the bridge. They advanced through a very pretty town named Sempach, and from there to a remarkable city, Lucerne, a distance of two long leagues. The population is Catholic. There is a papal Nuncio in the city, and it is situated on the Rhine, and has strong walls, numerous, beautiful, well-built houses, and many boats and vessels. There are three bridges over the river. From there they and their horses. went in boats across a great lake called Alpnacher-See, which is nine leagues in length and one in breadth. The Alps are all around it. They towed through the lake till they reached a small town, Flüelen Pourlacu at midnight. They remained there that night.
The next day, Saint Patrick's day precisely, the seventeenth of March, they went to another small town named Silenen. From that they advanced through the Alps. Now the mountains were laden and filled with snow and ice, and the roads and paths were narrow and rugged. They reached a high bridge in a very deep glen called the
The next day the Earl proceeded over the Alps. Ó Néill remained in the town we have mentioned. He sent some of his people to search again for the money. Though they endured much labour, their efforts were in vain. Because of the snow and ruggedness and ice of the mountain in front of them, they were scarcely able to ride the next day except in the way that is usual when crossing the Alps. There were strong oxen with sleighs yoked to them bringing all of them that could not travel over the hard road. There is a splendid chapel on the very summit of the mountain erected and built in honour of Saint Gotthard. From it that portion of the mountain has taken its name. Near it there is a convenient hostel in which strangers and those who pass the way get supplies to buy. The roads over which they travelled immediately after having departed from that chapel were neither excellent nor such as would be level enough for riding on wild, spirited, untamed horses, but as they descended from the mountain they were icy, stony, narrow and rugged until they reached a town called Airolo. The worst and hardest portion of the mountain is only three leagues long. After that they went through a very beautiful valley until they reached the
On the following day they went through a very beautiful valley which had much vines, wheat, crops, produce of every kind, with great wide plains, a very beautiful river, and small streams of spring water. They advanced eight leagues to a fine fortified town called Bellinzona. There are three strong castles with many powerful guards in it, which maintain supremacy and command over the town and all the country in the neighbourhood of the road.
The next day they continued to advance through the same valley. They reached another portion of the Alps named Monte Ceneri. There are numerous woods on either side of the road, which was uneven, stony, rough, difficult and hard to travel although there was no snow on it. There were plenty of vines on the summits and sides of the mountain-range near the road. They came to another very beautiful valley called Lugano. That night they
From there they and their horses went in boats across Lake Lugano, which separates Italy and Helvetia, the country of the Swiss, from each other. The lake is only three leagues in width. They had traversed forty-six leagues of the country of the Swiss, and it was strong, well fortified, uneven, mountainous, extensive, having bad roads, and no supremacy, rule or claim to submission by any king or prince in the world over the inhabitants. In themselves they form a strange, remarkable, peculiar state. They make their selection of a system for the government of the country each year. They have fourteen important cities. Half of them are Catholics and the other half are heretics, and by agreement and great oaths they are bound to one another for their defence and protection against any neighbour in the world who should endeavour to injure them or oppose them in upholding the public good with moderation and appropriateness. The names of the aforesaid cities are Lucerne, Bâle, Valais, Soluthurn, Zug, Schwyz, Zürich, Bern, Uri, Stanz, Glarus, Fribourg, Schaffhausen, and Appenzell. It is said of the people of this country that they are the most just, honest, and untreacherous in the world, and the most faithful to their promises. They allow no robbery or murder to be done in their country without punishing it at once. Because of their perfect honour they alone are guards to the Catholic kings and princes of Christendom.
The nobles landed at a small town called
On Sunday the twenty-third of March, after having heard Mass, they proceeded to the great remarkable famous city Milan, a distance of eight leagues over good roads, the day being wet and very stormy. After their journey they remained resting until the following Wednesday. A great respected earl, one of the most excellent soldiers in the world in his time also, as his victory and fortune in battle and good luck showed clearly and evidently to Christendom, Count de Fuentes by name, was chief-governor and representative of the king of Spain over that city and over all Lombardy. He sent the King's ambassador at Lucerne, who happened to be in the city, to welcome them and to receive them with honour. On Wednesday the nobles went in person into the presence of the earl. He received them with honour and respect. There were many noblemen and a very great guard on either side of him. They remained three full weeks in the city. During that time the earl had great honour shown them.
Omitting Paris in France and Lisbon in the kingdom of Portugal, this city is one of the greatest cities in
The princes came on a visit to this church on the evening of Good Friday. They saw many hundreds of men in a splendid procession, with lighted waxen torches about them, and their faces covered so that they might not be recognised. They were scourging, smiting and whipping their bodies until the streets and the churches in which they walked were red with blood and gore. To behold them moved one much to charity and self-examination.
Including the churches and monasteries of communities of religious and priests, there are two hundred and forty-three churches in the city, not counting many chapels that were erected by noblemen for the practice of their devotion. There is a good altar erected in every market-place in the city, where Masses are celebrated each day. There are three parish churches in the castle. On ninety days in the year there is a station and indulgence in the churches of the city. It is the custom that men and women be not together at any station, but they divide the time about the middle of the day. There are seven chief churches in the city which are privileged with all the indulgences of the seven great churches of Rome. It was Pope Gregory XIII who granted these privileges to Cardinal Charles Borromeo, who was archbishop of Milan at the time. The names of the churches are, the great cathedral of Santa Maria del Duomo, San Simpliciano, San Vittore al Corpo, Sant' Ambrogio Maggiore, San Nazaro Maggiore, San Lorenzo Maggiore, and San Stefano Parimente Maggiore. There are many relics of saints and holy people in these churches. Every patron day the tradesmen of the city come in splendid procession to them with banners and standards, and distribute alms and charity at the cathedral. There are six special days each year for the
The lords took their leave of Count de Fuentes on the twelfth of April. He had been kindly and friendly to them at their coming, and he was sad when they left. He gave them as a token of remembrance a collection of rapiers and fine daggers, with hilts of ornamented precious stones, all gilt, and belts and expensive hangers. That night they were in a town seven leagues away named Lodi, a fine, strong, compact place where the King of Spain has a garrison. They had very good roads through
The next day they travelled seven leagues to an ancient remarkable city named Piacenza. There is a very remarkable river close to the city. It is very great and very wide. Those who have not seen it before admire the manner in which people and horses cross it in boats, for it is other boats with hempen ropes that move them skilfully without sails or rowing. The name of the river is the Po. There is a strong old castle, with many strong guards and a level, excellent, wide green, in the city. The Duke of Parma has two small pretty boats with white houses, in which he himself delights and amuses himself up and down the river whenever he wishes. That river divides and separates the Duke of Parma's country from Lombardy.
The following day they went to Parma, twelve leagues' journey. On their way there was one very beautiful river, with a long and firm bridge, and many other rivers besides. When they dismounted at the city of Parma a noble earl of the country came to welcome them and receive them in the name of the Duke of Parma. The next day he came with good coaches to them to conduct them to where the Duke was. He received them with honour and respect. They remained speaking and conversing with one another for some time. Then they took their leave. Near the Duke's garden they were shown a leopard and two lions. They went to see a strongly fortified castle which the Duke has at a distance from the city. It has a plan and structure and position similar to those of the castle of Antwerp in Flanders and the castle of Milan in Italy. There is an army of twenty thousand men, horse and foot, with
On Tuesday, the fifteenth of April, the princes advanced twelve leagues to the town named Bologna. They passed that day through a strong fort belonging to the Duke of Parma. Afterwards they crossed a beautiful river which divides the country of the Duke of Parma from that of the Duke of Modena. They went through the city of Modena. There were great preparations being made there for the amusements and jousting of the next day. On that particular day the Duke's son was bringing home the daughter of the Duke of Savoy. In boats they
The following day Ó Néill went before the cardinal. He received him with great honour, respect and welcome. Bologna is an important city, very large, very strong, extensive, well-built and well-constructed, with numerous churches and monasteries. The body of the great famous noble patron, Saint Dominic, is in a splendid church in the city named Saint James. The cardinal himself has an excellent large palace in the centre of the city. In front of the palace there is a fountain of spring water skilfully arranged, and from it many streams of water shoot up on high. The princes left the city and went to a town named Saint Nicholas. From there they proceeded to a very strong fort belonging to the Pope named Castel San Pietro. That night they went from there to a fine, strong, compact town named Imola, a distance of seven leagues.
On Thursday the seventeenth, of the same month, they passed through a strong
The following day they went three leagues to a strong fort belonging to the Pope named Savignano, and then to a great and famous city called Rimini. It was there they came in sight of the Adriatic Sea. On it is built the famous and remarkable city of Venice. It is twenty leagues from Rimini to Venice. That night they advanced with the sea on their left to the small town Cattolica. Their journey that day was ten leagues. The roads were very good, and as they went along there was fair fruitful land, with much vines, wheat, and abundance of every crop on either side of the road. The Pope has many fine strong towers on the sea-coast through fear of the Turks coming to harm Italy.
On Sunday, the twentieth of the same month, having heard Mass, they passed through a great city belonging to the Duke of Urbino named Pesaro. From there they went to another beautiful strong city, Fano, and to another remarkable famous one, belonging to the same Duke, named Senigallia, picturesquely situated on a very beautiful river, and having large numbers to defend it. They do not allow many people into the interior of that castle to see it. There is an excellent and pretty hostel outside the city. There is a very fine liver and a daisy-covered, clover -flowered
The next day they advanced with the sea on their left to the famous city of Ancona. The Pope has three strong castles there and many strong guards, with all necessaries for defence. They command the city and the country near the bay. Afterwards they pushed on to Loreto. Their journey was nine leagues. They stopped and rested there that night. On the next day they made a pilgrimage to that holy and highly-indulgenced church. They remained in the town a second night.
In the name of God we shall narrate a few of the many, or a small number of the multitude, of the miracles of Loreto, according as we found them written in ancient histories: The chapel of Loreto was ordered and selected by the heavenly Father long before its erection on earth by the tribe of Jesse. In the great, remarkable, worthy city of Nazareth in Galilee that house was first built. It was there that Joachim and Anna, the father and mother of the holy Virgin Mary, lived and remained. It was there too that the holy Virgin was conceived, born, and reared. In that same house the noble archangel Gabriel delivered the message from the heavenly Father to holy Mary whence came the redemption of the children of Adam from the sins and transgressions consequent on original sin. In that house without loss of her virginity she gave birth to our Saviour, Jesus Christ. He was nourished afterwards on
Now there was a certain emperor named Heraclius elected in Rome at that time. He joined with Chosroes, king of Persia, in opposition to the law and faith of the church of God. They destroyed and banished the Catholic faith out of all the land of Jerusalem. They set up in ignorance and disbelief a supposed god by name Mahomet. The inhabitants of the city and the country were prevented by fear from submitting to God's religion in that holy chapel. Pope Nicholas IV, who was in Rome, commenced a war
There was once a certain very noble prior superior in the monastery of Saint George. Because of his good life he is considered by everyone to be a saint. Alexandro was his name. This prior contracted a burning painful fever. He ordered that he should be conducted to the holy house of Loreto. That was done. He prayed and invoked the holy Virgin before the image. It seemed good to her to make known and reveal to that holy prior the secret history
Immediately there came a multitude of legions of angels and archangels to meet the holy Virgin. Then she departed from that holy father. From the brightness and splendour, and the pleasantness of the divine heavenly odour on every side of her, he received health at once. He gave thanks to the holy Virgin and to her miraculous Son. He then journeyed to his home and narrated the events to all he saw.
The report and account of the matter reached the officer who was governing the country, Nicolas Frangipani was his name. He summoned to him the aforesaid father to learn the certainty and true account of the great miracle. When he heard them, he obliged the father to go without delay straight to Nazareth to find out if the story were true. There were four great, worthy, honoured noblemen of the country along with him. They reached Nazareth. Their journey was easy and without difficulty. They made enquiries of the great men of the city as to what had happened to the house. They narrated to them all the deeds and events and miracles connected with the house while it remained with them, how it was at length taken away from them miraculously on the shoulders and breasts of angels, and that they did not know whither it had gone. However, the messengers measured the foundation of it, its length, its breadth, and its circuit. They returned to Tersatto. That
Now there were shepherds guarding their flocks close to the wood. When they observed the great strange wonder, they abandoned their flocks and fled in haste to the city mentioned. They told their parents of the striking and wonderful event which had happened. Then the people
After that the people of the city were wont at all times to make visits of respect in this house, visiting, reverencing and worshipping God and the holy Virgin Mary. Their sick and diseased, and those afflicted with any other trouble, found comfort and restoration of health always there, by God's grace and the mercy of Mary, in the presence of the image and the cross. For that reason many people from other countries came to make a journey, devotion, and a pilgrimage to the holy house, when its great miracles became known. But many heretics and robbers, as it was situated in a lonely dark waste, and as pilgrims went to and from it, used to go to rob and murder near it. When Almighty God
After that, however, simple unwise people in the country wondered at the variety and strangeness of the movements and translations of the chapel. They suggested to the people of the city to put a foundation around it, for in their ignorance they feared lest it might be changed from them for the fourth time. The inhabitants of the neighbouring cities and all the country gathered and assembled. They quickly set works and a foundation around the chapel. The Italians and the people of the neighbouring countries frequented it in large numbers. They marvelled
A certain holy old man of unblemished character and good life chanced to dwell near the chapel. He used to visit it frequently with great devotion and piety of intention. To him first the holy Virgin appeared in person. She told him, as she had told the pious father Alexandro, the prior of Tersatto, of the coming and going, and the whole story and adventure of the chapel, from the first up to that time, of its being transferred and carried miraculously on the shoulders and breasts of angels and archangels, and of the time and period at which it made every one of its changes and movements. She ordered and directed him to make known and truly narrate these things to all who were in his neighbourhood. At once the old man went to the city of Recanati. He told the wonderful tidings to the inhabitants of the city and all their kinsfolk. The people for the most part took small and imperfect heed of the story, regarding it with disbelief. They were all but mocking and ridiculing the old man. Still, when they saw the number of the wonders and miracles every day, they unanimously decided to select sixteen chief men, the wisest, most learned, most conscientious, and most truthful in the province of the Marches, and to send them to Nazareth in Galilee to investigate the origin and meaning of the story of the chapel. These sixteen men took a fleet, with all necessaries for a journey and travel. They set out then, and directed their course over the Adriatic sea. Thus they went till they reached harbour in Slavonia. From that they hastened to the plain of Tersatto. The inhabitants and dwellers in the country, and in that plain in particular, narrated and affirmed how that remarkable, wonderful, holy house came and descended on the plain, its wonders and miracles while it
There was a certain pious nobleman advanced in years who dwelt near the chapel. He was of unblemished character and good life, and Paulus de la Silva was his name. He was accustomed to visit frequently the holy chapel each day. One night, on the feast of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as he was in it praying and beseeching the holy Virgin, he saw with his own eyes a great light, namely, a shining torch, descending on the chapel. He thought it was twelve feet in length and six in breadth. Two hours before the dawn of day it descended thus. For ten successive years, on the same particular night and at the same hour, the nobleman saw the mystery of the great miracles. During that period he never spoke of it to anybody. A short time before death he sent messengers to call the bishop of Recanati and other good bishops. He narrated to them the strange, wonderful miracles which took place in the chapel, giving all his proofs and confirmations. These prelates considered that it was the holy Virgin herself, or angels from her, who used to come at the recurrence of the noble festival mentioned to honour and venerate the great wonderful chapel. After that the story was made known to the neighbouring countries, as is manifest.
On one occasion the bishop of the city of Recanati, whose name was Terremano, came on a pilgrimage to Loreto. He performed his pilgrimage, and having heard the multitude of the wonders and miracles of the chapel, returned to the city of Recanati. A noble and just man, Paulus Rinaldutius, who was in the city at that time, assured the lord bishop that his own grandfather in his old age swore definitely that his own eyes saw the chapel being transported over the sea on angels' shoulders until, wonderfully and miraculously, it descended in the aforesaid wood. A certain
There was a certain great nobleman in France before that time, Petro Orgentorix was his name. He lived in the great city of Grenoble. He had a worthy wife, of noble blood and great beauty, of a distinguished family in France, whose name was Donna Antonia. Another woman in the same city became smitten with jealousy, envy, and hatred of her because of the man. She performed charms of devilry and witchery, of idolatry and heathenism, against her. Thereupon madness and unbearable frenzy came upon the first woman. She lost her senses and intelligence. Those who saw her were of opinion that there was an evil spirit in her, and that became evident afterwards. The nobleman went with the woman, seeking help and relief, to every church and miraculous holy place that he heard of in France. It was of no avail. After that he brought her to the city of Milan in Italy, to the great church of San Iulio, where people affiicted with that disease were accustomed to get
There was a certain honoured, venerable archbishop in the city of Coimbra in the kingdom of Portugal. When he heard of the fame, and renown, and greatness of the many wonders and miracles of the chapel of Loreto, his desire and intention was to build and erect a chapel in its honour. He came to Rome. He was a long time there pleading with the Pope, asking him as a grace and a favour to give him one stone out of the chapel of Loreto, that he might have it as an honoured relic in the church he wished to erect in his own diocese in Portugal. After a long time the holy Father, after consultation and much discussion, gave him that favour and request. He sent letters and a command, under his great seal, to the prior of Loreto, instructing him to give one stone out of the holy chapel to the archbishop. The altar priest of the archbishop himself was the special messenger who brought the letters. When these reached Loreto, they showed the authority and the command of the Pope and the Roman court to the prior. Fear of the Pope prevented the prior from not fulfilling his command, though he was sad and regretted it. The archbishop set out from Rome to the city of Trent. He said he would rest and remain there until the stone and the altar priest should overtake him. The prior and young clerics of the church took one stone out of the chapel. When the father got it he left Loreto on the first of December, and went from there to the city of Ancona. They left Ancona on the third of the same month. They were proceeding every day to the end of that month, they and their horses overpowered with toil, and labour, and every difficulty during that period. They reached Trent, where the archbishop had been awaiting them. Immediately all their horses died from the labour and toil they experienced carrying the stone. The father showed the stone with
When the holy fathers who were Popes in Rome saw the number of these wonders and miracles, from the time of Paul II, the two hundred and fifteenth of those who were in the chair of Peter in Rome up to that time, the year of the Lord being then one thousand four hundred and sixty-four (this Pope himself, Paul II aforesaid, gave these full indulgences for the forgiveness of his crimes, sins, and transgressions to everyone who, with devotion, repentance, and penitence, goes to the pilgrimage of Loreto) to the present, every Pope who was in Rome, to the number of twenty-two, to the reign of this holy father, Paul V, the year of the Lord being now one thousand six hundred and nine, successively exalted and honoured the indulgences of Loreto by confirming every privilege which their predecessors had conferred on it. Everyone thinks and believes that Loreto, without doubt or comparison at all, is the most honoured, venerated, holy, miraculous, and privileged house in all the world. The Popes have granted many gifts and bequests to this house, and it is rich and wealthy, possessing every thing it needs. Kings, and princes, and the Catholic nobles of Christendom send as presents and gifts to it many splendid, precious gems of gold and silver, precious stones, splendid many-coloured garments, mass vestments of all colours, and chains of bright gold. Every nation in Christendom also, which comes to and from it, bestows on it. Ó Néill and the Earl, the lords and the
A certain Pope, whose name was ——, as an increase of glory and honour to this holy chapel, ordered that, on a certain day in the month of December each year, a fair and market should be held beside it, and that any nation in Christendom had the right of coming to that fair. These people brought to the town and all the country every necessary and comfort that they needed, and that increased and greatly enriched the town and the whole country. That frequency of wonders and miracles happens from time to time in the holy chapel, and especially at the occurrence of these fairs. If one person had all the tongues in the world, he could not count, enumerate, estimate or narrate them. That was fitting, for it was no earthly or bodily man like Adam, who was made of common earth, who dwelt and remained there, but our Saviour, Jesus Christ, miraculously made man by the heavenly Father in the womb of the holy Virgin; also, it was not of the bone of a man that she was fashioned, like Eve, but was born a chaste virgin in that house contrary to the course of nature. It was not three angels alone that were in that house, as they were with the patriarch Abraham, but it was the abode and resting-place of all the orders of angels and archangels. In it, also, was the home and abode of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, for nine months in the womb of the holy Virgin, whence it acquired fame and notability, for in it alone the divinity and humanity of the Son of the living God were united. Everyone regards the mountain of Thabor as a holy place, and so it is. After having endured the Cross of passion and martyrdom, from it Jesus Christ ascended to the right hand of His Father. But this house is more noble,
The kings and princes and the titled people of the Catholics of Christendom have given so many presents of gold and silver, of precious stones, of various, wonderful, splendid jewels, and of every instrument of the holy Church to it with earnest devotion that it is one of the richest and wealthiest houses in Christendom, having the fairest, best built, and best made church in the world, with rows of columns of white marble around it, and an even, level circuit of broad, marble stones. It is a walk of a day and a night from Loreto to the frontier of the kingdom of Turkey. There is perpetual, lasting war and conflict between the Pope, the head of the Church and God's vicegerent on earth, and the Turk. However, notwithstanding the number of the hostings and expeditions of the Turks in Italy, especially
The Pope who was styled Leo X built a strong, impregnable rampart, with outhouses for defending and fighting, and with sure, strong, fortified towers, having many regular cannon and much big ordnance of every kind, with all their equipment, about it. The Pope has a troop of horse, and a large guard of soldiers, continually on the watch by night and day, so that no enemies of the Church may take it unawares.
Whoever wishes to perform the meritorious pilgrimage of Loreto must remember that it is with earnest devotion and perfect intention he must journey to it, and not for any earthly or temporal purpose. When he has made his confession completely, without any excuse at all, he must receive the holy Sacrament. Let him avoid any bad companion, and every cause whence mortal sin might come. If there be a church in the town where the pilgrim remains each night, let him prostrate himself with hearty and earnest prayers to holy Mary. If there be no church in the town, let him pray secretly at hours of going to bed and getting up in his sleeping chamber. Especially let him hear Mass every Sunday. He shall not neglect to give, to the extent of his means, charity and alms to Almighty God's poor and indigent. If it be that he is unable to give alms, let him show his kindly feeling to the poor. Let him say an Ave Maria for the soul of each. If weariness of mind or tribulation of spirit befall him, let him make the sign and image of the Cross of the Crucifixion upon himself. Let him consider after that the passion of Christ, or the virtues and
Tadhg Ó Cianáin wrote this, and give thou a thousand blessings for his soul, et cetera, 1609.
Let him proceed and advance gradually each day, according to his power and strength, until he reaches his journey's end. Let him know and consider with all his heart that his period in this world is
We beseech, implore, and adore Almighty God, who created and redeemed the children of Adam, and the holy, heavenly Virgin, who obtained these miracles for this great, strange chapel, that they may grant to us in this life a way in which we shall walk, and progress, and journey to the heavenly seat and the eternal peace, that we may not dwell or habitate with the devil and his rabble host, but in union with the angels and archangels, the patriarchs and prophets, the saints and virgins of the world, in union with the apostles and disciples of the Son of Almighty God, in union with the divinity and humanity of the Son of God, in union with the nine orders of heaven who did not transgress, in union with the holy Virgin Mary, in the union which is nobler than every union, in union with the noble, holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. We implore the mercy of Almighty God, through the intercession of holy Mary, that we may reach and occupy that union in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Having invoked and besought the holy Virgin Mary and her wondrous Son in that holy chapel, and having diligently performed their pilgrimage according to the regulation of the Church, Ó Néill and the Earl, the lords and the nobles who were with them, bade adieu to the holy image and the cross we have spoken of, to the holy chapel, and to the great church. They set out and proceeded on the road to Rome on the twenty-third of April, 1608, the day of the week being Wednesday. They went through a great city, Recanati, distant one league from Loreto,
On the following day they proceeded through the town which is named Valcimara, and through another named Camerino. Afterwards they went to Muccia, and to Nuovacasa, in all a distance of nine leagues. There were two extensive lakes one on each side of the road they travelled that day. After that they advanced to a fine, strong town named Serravalle, and passed it on the left. The direction they took next was through a very long, incompact town, Verchianno, to the well-known, great city which is called Foligno. There was a certain hermit of holy life in a great rocky cleft by the roadside. He had constructed, with his own hands, a house and a habitation in the middle of that rugged rock. The Earl and the Baron, Maguidhir, and the son of Ó Domhnaill, with a party of nobles accompanying them, proceeded from Foligno to the great, famous city named Assisi to make a pilgrimage; in that place is the body of the noble, famous, illustrious, worthy patron, Saint Francis, of whose virtues, and miracles, and wonders the whole of Christendom is full, and on whom there broke forth five wounds like unto, and in commemoration of, the Passion of Christ and the Five Wounds. His body is preserved with honour and veneration, attended by wonders
Ó Néill went on to Montefalco. There is a certain church in that town where the body of Saint Clare, who was a daughter of the Duke of Lombardy, and who had died two hundred years before, having lived a good, holy life in the world, is exhibited plainly to all. Her body has not undergone much change or transformation, no more than if she were only asleep. There is a crucifix between her blessed hands. On either side of her there is a splendid order of nuns who were consecrated in her own name. When her heart was opened after her death, the inscription and the instruments of the Passion of Christ were found marked and figured in it, an image of the cross and the crown, of a hammer and a pincers, of a spear and a scourge, and three nails. After that three precious, splendid gems were discovered in her heart. The three were of exactly equal size. When one of them is put into a scales it balances the other two. On one occasion a small portion was broken off one of them, and the fragment, when placed in a scales, was exactly equal in weight to the three stones. Theologians of the Church and commentators on the Holy Scripture consider and are of opinion that it is as a figure and resemblance of the heavenly Holy Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who are co-eternal, alike, and equal, that these three splendid
When Ó Néill had performed his pilgrimage in that church, together with those who accompanied him, he moved on one league until he reached the great city which is called Spoleto, and which is strong and extensive, situated on an even, level piece of ground by the side of a very high mountain. The rapid, rushing, violent torrent from that mountain frequently does harm to those who inhabit and dwell within the city. They are accustomed to use bridges of a certain kind which span the streets between either side, joining the neighbours' houses at the time and season of this violent flood. There are fourteen splendid churches above the city on the side of the mountain. On its very summit is an excellent chapel, belonging to the Order of Saint Francis, having the most costly, most splendid, and most beautiful altar in that part of Italy. In the city the Pope has a very strong castle, having many strong defenders. There is a very good bridge, one of the highest in the world, skilfully constructed from the castle to the side of the mountain.
The princes went the next day to Strettura, then to Terni, to Narni, and to Otricoli. Eleven leagues they travelled on that day. On Sunday the twenty-seventh of April, 1608, after having heard Mass,
The following day they went to Prima Porta, a distance of three leagues. They stopped there that night. They sent on some persons before them to Rome. After that they went two leagues to Ponte Molle. Peter Lombard, the archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland, came with a noble young man in his company, having a large number of coaches sent by cardinals, to meet them to that place. The steward of each of a certain number of the cardinals came to them to welcome them and to receive them with honour in the cardinals' name. Then they proceeded in coaches. They went on until they came to Rome. Porta del Populo was the name of the gate by which they entered the city. They went on after that through the principal streets of Rome in great splendour. They did not rest until they reached the great church of San Pietro in Vaticano. They put up their horses there, and entered the church. They worshipped, and went around, as if on a pilgrimage, the seven privileged altars or great merit which are in the church. Afterwards they proceeded to a splendid palace which his Holiness the Pope had set apart for them in the Borgo Vecchio and in the Borgo Santo Spirito. They had fifteen coaches, all except
On the fourth of May, the day of the week being Sunday, and the year of the Lord being then one thousand six hundred and eight, his Holiness the Pope consented to their coming in person into his presence at three o'clock in the afternoon. The cardinals sent a number of good coaches, and some of the most excellent and most beautiful horses in the world, to them, to conduct them to the place where the Pope was. They went to the splendid palace which is called Monte Cavallo. The holy Father, Paul V, was awaiting them there. When they appeared before him, he received them with respect, with kindness, with honour, and with welcome. Then they themselves and their followers, one after another, kissed with humility and reverence his holy foot. They were about one hour of the day in his presence, and he was courteous, glad, and kind to them during that time, asking them of what occurred to them and how they had fared. They took their leave after having received holy benediction. They gave thanks to God and the holy Father for the respect and the reverence wherewith he had exhibited his great, merciful kindness to them. From there they went to Cardinal Borghese, the son of the Pope's sister. He showed them
When they had recovered from the fatigue of their journey, they proposed to make a visit to the cardinals, one after another, in their own palaces. On Thursday, the eighth of May, they went before Cardinal Colonna, a noble Roman, of the true stock of the Roman people. He received them with honour. In short, they paid a special visit to each of thirty-seven cardinals in succession. They all showed them kindness, welcome, and honour. There were five others in the city whom they were unable to see before they left it.
On Ascension Thursday—the fifteenth of May in 1608—in particular each year the Pope gives a general benediction in public to all Catholics who chance to come before him. On that day, then, the princes had selected for a visit the palace of Cardinal Ascoli, which is in front of the great palace of the Pope. Many thousands of people are accustomed to come to seek that benediction. After a time they saw the holy Father approaching on a beautiful, high balcony which is at the side of the palace, and which was covered with cloths of satin and silk of all varieties of colours. He was carried reverently and respectfully in a splendid, bright chair, covered with gold and red velvet, and on his head his crown of red gold, encircled with diamonds and precious stones. The precious stone which fastened his splendid garment cost [...]. The cardinals and the bishops were around him, and the canons and young clerics of Saint Peter's. His guard of Swiss soldiers was on either side of him. In front of him were two very large
On the following Saturday, the seventeenth day of May, 1608, the Earl with a number of the nobles came to make a meritorious pilgrimage to the seven chief churches of Rome. On the eve of Pentecost Sunday exactly the Pope held solemn vespers in the chapel, which is called Cappella Paolino. An invitation to the vespers came to the princes. They all set out at once, except only the Earl, who had somewhat of a feverish sickness. A place of honour was selected for Ó Néill, close to the holy Father and opposite him. When solemn vespers had been sung, a group of friars of Saint Dominick, to the number of about two thousand, came before the Pope. They were in processional order, and had elected a particular General for all Christendom over themselves and their Order on that day. All in succession kissed the foot of the Pope. He gave a blessing to them and to all present. Then he went to his palace, and all returned to their homes. On Whit Sunday there was a splendid station and an indulgence for all sins in the great
On Monday, the next day, the orphans of that church went in a splendid procession to the church of San Pietro. A company of the papal guard preceded them on the way, and on either side there was a revered, respected priest who was an earl and a director over the church, with all the younger clergy singing sweetly as they advanced behind them. Including boys and girls their number was four hundred and eighty-three. Of these, three hundred and forty-seven were girls. Of boys, the eldest of whom did not exceed fourteen years, there were one hundred and sixteen. They were styled 'the Pope's children', for scarcely anyone knew the fathers of many of them, but they were reared and supported for God's sake by the kindness of the holy Father. Through a special iron grating each child of them is introduced into the church before it has completed four days and nights of its life in the world. All of them who have not received baptism by that time are baptized then. After that each of them is brought up, reared, instructed, and educated in every appropriate way until they are finally well provided for. The veronica was exhibited to these children of the Pope on that day, that is to say, the holy, well-known, very miraculous napkin which the virgin of that name applied to the glowing red, crimson-cheeked face and the pure, glorious, wounded countenance of Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, when He was in suffering, and distress, and weakness under the hands of merciless enemies, carrying the Cross of His Passion and
The holy, splendid, great church of Santo Spirito was built in the beginning by a certain nation of Germany which was called Saxony. For that reason the settlement was named Sassia. On its severance and separation from the Germans, Pope Innocent III gave it great honour and respect, gifts and great indulgences, and abundance of rents and lands. To this church the Pope who was named Sixtus IV granted a great increase in all its necessaries. He built and erected many splendid, costly, well-made buildings in it. It is estimated and calculated that, apart from the Pope's title, his empire and kingship, and all the gold and silver metal which is coined for him, this house alone could be compared with him in regard to yearly rents, for they were worth about twenty thousand crowns each month. When the Roman State saw that, they exacted a portion and a
On Thursday, the twenty-ninth day of May, 1608, the anniversary of the day on which the holy Father, Paul V,
On the Trinity Sunday following, the ladies went into the presence of his Holiness the Pope. He received them with honour, with affability, and with welcome. They one after the other kissed his foot. He gave them a blessing, and they returned home. On that same day, as a mark of respect and honour to the holy woman we have spoken of, the greater part of the Orders and of the young clerics of Rome came in large numbers, and in a splendid, respectful, grand procession, to the church of Saint Peter. After that, they went from Saint Peter's to the church of Sancta Maria Nova, where the monument and tomb of that noble saint is. There were, indeed, many thousands of ecclesiastics there. It was not possible to number or count them, there were so many of them. The people of Rome lit fires in their palaces and at the doors of their houses, with many candles and bright torches over
On the Thursday of Corpus Christi an order came from the holy Father to the princes that eight of their noblemen should go in person to carry the canopy over the Blessed Sacrament while it was being borne solemnly in the hands of the Pope in procession from the great church of San Pietro in Vaticano to the church of Saint James in Borgo Vecchio, and from there back to the church of Saint Peter. They came into his Holiness' presence. They carried the canopy over the Blessed Sacrament and the Pope, and never before did Irishmen receive such an honour and privilege. The Italians were greatly surprised that they should be shown such deference and respect, for some of them said that seldom before was any one nation in the world appointed to carry the canopy. With the ambassadors of all the Catholic kings and princes of Christendom who happened to be then in the city it was an established custom that they, in succession, every year carried the canopy in
Tadhg wrote this, and a blessing on his soul, 1609.
The procession was reverent, imposing, and beautiful, for the greater part of the regular Orders and all the clergy and communities of the great churches of Rome were in it, and many princes, dukes, and great lords. They had no less than a thousand lighted, waxen torches. Following them there were twenty-six archbishops and bishops. Next there were thirty-six cardinals. The Pope carried the Blessed Sacrament, and the Irish lords and noblemen to the number of eight bore the canopy. About the Pope was his guard of Swiss soldiers, and on either side of him and behind him were his two large troops of cavalry. The streets were filled with people behind. It was considered by all that they were not less in number than one hundred thousand. When they reached Saint Peter's, the Pope laid the Blessed Sacrament on the great high-altar. Then he went on his knees. He prostrated himself, prayed, and invoked. Afterwards he gave Benediction to all. He retired to his palace after that, and everyone who was there went to his palace or his home.
On the Saturday following, exactly, Maguidhir, that is, Cúchonnacht Maguidhir, took leave of the princes. He set out for Naples, a well-known, famous city, which belongs to the King of Spain, forty-one leagues from Rome. Sémus, son of Éimher, son of Cúuladh, son of Aodh Ruadh, Mag Mathghamhna and a few others went along with him.
On Thursday, the twelfth of the same month, Ó Néill and the Earl, and all that were along with them, set out for a pilgrimage of the seven great churches of Rome. They had with them the permission
Bitter woe! We have certain information of the harmfulness of the air of Rome; yesterday, the twenty-fourth of September, 1609, the son and proper worthy heir of O Neill, Aodh O Neill, Baron of Dún Geanainn, he who would have been lord of Cenél Eoghain and the northern half of Ireland without contention or opposition, was buried.
The nobleman rose when he heard the story. He hastened to the place where the church is. He found the hill filled and covered with snow and ice. That was strange. He proceeded to the bishop who was superior over that part of the city. It had happened that a similar vision had been revealed to the lord bishop that same night. They both then set out, and a large crowd of other people with them. They came to the place where the snow was. They gathered it and took it away with their own hands. After that a splendid church, wealthy and beautifully constructed, one of the biggest and finest in the world, was erected and built, and it was blessed and consecrated in honour of the holy Virgin in that same place.
After that they came to the church of Saint Laurence, one mile outside the walls of Rome. When they had performed their pilgrimage according to the order of the Church, one of the stones with which Stephen the martyr was stoned, and the broad marble flag on which the body of Saint Laurence was laid after having been roasted on a gridiron, were shown to them. On it portion of his blood and gore is still visible to all, and glass vessels which contain some of his blood and fluid, as also a piece of the iron of the gridiron on which he was baked and roasted. In that same church there are the bodies of Saint Laurence and Stephen the martyr, a holy vessel in which a noble holy maiden named Lucilla was baptized, and many other relics. It was the Emperor Constantine the Great who built and erected that church in honour of these holy martyrs. It was Sylvester the Pope who consecrated it.
The princes came inside the walls of the city again. They went to Santa Croce in Gerusalemme and performed their pilgrimage. There were exhibited to them a certain vessel which contains portion of the Precious Blood of
Next after that they went to the chief church of the archbishop of Rome, the Pope, Saint John Lateran's is its name. When they had performed their pilgrimage, there were exhibited to them the head of Zacarias, the father of John the Baptist; the head of Saint Pancratius, which continued to shed blood on one occasion for three days and nights when heretics and destroyers of the Catholic faith burned this church, namely, Saint John Lateran's; a part of the relics of Mary Magdalen; a shoulder of Saint Lawrence; a tooth of Peter; the chalice out of which John of the Bosom drank a poisonous draught at the command of the merciless, wicked Emperor Domitianus, which by God's
On one occasion, when a troublesome malady and a painful, violent sickness seized the Emperor Constantine the Great, he was in trouble and very great distress. The learned doctors and the skilful physicians could not bring him any assistance or relief. His pain and peril were very great. A certain wise, holy, old man, who chanced to be in the city, advised the Emperor to summon Sylvester the Pope, who was concealing himself in secret and pathless places in a great rugged mountain fourteen miles from Rome. This was done. When his Holiness the Pope came into his presence, the Emperor submitted with his whole heart and intention to the faith of Christ according to the Catholic Church, and after his having received baptism in the trough we have spoken of, he became immediately healed of pain, disease, sickness, and weakness. At once he granted to the Pope this palace in which his church was built. It had been his own residence up to that time. He besought his Holiness to bless and consecrate the church in the name and honour of John the Baptist and John of the Bosom. That was done on the tenth day of November following. The age of the Lord then was three hundred and
After that the princes went to Scala Santa, which is named 'the Holy Stair,' near and in proximity to the aforementioned church. There are twenty-eight steps in the length of that stair, and it is constructed of long, broad, bright marble stones. It was in the special, particular palace in which Pilate was, in the city of Jerusalem, that it was first placed and erected. When the Saviour, Jesus Christ, was seized by the unbelieving Jews at the time of His Passion, by that high stair they brought Him, bound and fettered, before and into the presence of the judge Pilate. From the strong, forcible, unsparing, unmerciful dragging which they gave Him, He was knocked down in the middle of the stair, so that portion of His precious blood was spilled. The trace of that precious innocent blood still remains on the stone. There is an iron grate over it to protect it. At the end of the stair there are three doors of uniformly white marble which were in Jerusalem, placed in the palace of that same Pilate. The Lord passed through these three doors before He appeared before Pilate. In front of the stair is a splendid tabernacle which is called Sancta Sanctorum. It is one of the richest chapels in precious relics in all Christendom. In it there is an image and picture of Jesus Christ, which Luke the Evangelist made with his own hands when Christ was in this world, at the age of twelve years, and it is ornamented splendidly, beautifully, and wonderfully with gold and silver and wonderful, variegated precious stones. Nicholas III who was Pope in Rome consecrated that holy chapel under the invocation of Saint Lawrence the martyr. To not many people is the interior
The princes set out afterwards from Scala Santa to the great, remarkable church named San Sebastiano. On their way they went to the wonderful chapel which is named Domine quo vadis. This is how the naming of that chapel first came about: at one time when torture, oppression, and persecution were practised by the pagans and the destroyers of the Church against the prince and head of the holy apostles, namely, Peter, he thought of leaving Rome Alas, alas, the death of Aodh has wrung and pierced our heart. and of going into secret and pathless places, and into wild woods, through fear of being put to death, even though he was Pope. Having come to the place where that church is, alone and unrecognized, he beheld the Saviour approaching him. Peter, when he had recognized Him, said: ‘Domine quo vadis,’ ‘Lord, whither goest Thou.’ The Lord said: ‘I go, to Rome that I may suffer again the Cross and Crucifixion and a bloody Death once more.’ Peter said: ‘O Lord, to cast reproof and reproach upon me Thine honour speaks these words, and I shall return to Rome, and I shall endure death and martyrdom for Thy sake.’ That was true, for Peter returned to Rome. He remained there until he was, put to death as a noble, great, and glorious martyr, as is known to all.
They reached San Sebastiano, a very beautiful church which was built by a noble holy woman of the race of the Romans themselves, namely, Saint Lucina, in honour of Saint Sebastian. There is a splendid chapel in that church where the body of Peter and the body of Paul were for a long time. Everyone who shall enter that place with devotion and compunction of heart has a like amount of indulgence for his sins as if he were to make a pilgrimage of the churches of Peter and Paul. After that, they went into a cave in the ground named Coemeterium Callisti, that is, the cemetery of Callistus. In that cemetery there were buried one hundred and seventy-four thousand martyrs. In that cave the apostles and disciples of the Lord used to remain to avoid and escape the pagans. Eighteen Popes were buried in it after having been put to death as noble, great, and glorious martyrs by unbelieving heretics. Each person who goes through it with devotion and compunction of heart has remission and indulgence for all sins. In that church there is one of the arrows by which Saint Sebastian was put to death, together with the blessed marble stone on which the Saviour stood during the time that He was conversing with Peter the apostle at the chapel mentioned called Domine quo vadis, and the track of His feet is in the rock still. The body of Saint Sebastian and that of the noble, great, holy woman, Saint Lucina, and the body of Stephen the Pope are in that same church, together with many other relics.
After that they proceeded to the Caffarella, a splendid, beautiful spot, having a table of marble, and a large number of streamlets of pure, cool water, skilfully, strangely, and wonderfully carried to the Emperor a long time ago by the Roman people. Having taken their dinner in that place, they went to the church of Mary of the Annunciation, and
From there they went to the church of Saint Paul. They performed the pilgrimage of its seven meritorious chief altars. There were shown to them one of the hands of Saint Anna, the rough iron chain with which Paul was bound and fettered when he was imprisoned by the Romans, the head of the Samaritan woman, one of the fingers of Saint Nicholas, and a great number of other splendid relics. The
After that they went to the church of San Pietro in Vaticano, the chief seat of Peter in Rome. On the way they went to a little chapel named the chapel of Peter and Paul. When Peter and Paul were taken prisoner by the unbelieving Romans they were conducted out of the city to that place. They took leave of each other. Then Paul was brought to be beheaded to Tre Fontane, for the Romans had a law that no one of the Roman people should be put to death except outside the city. Peter, however, who was
When they had made the pilgrimage of the seven chief privileged altars of the church of Saint Peter's, the head of the noble, great Apostle, Saint Andrew, was shown to them, it having been transported to Rome at one time by a prince of the Moors, at the time and period when Pius II was Pope, and he himself came first in person two miles outside the walls of Rome, to Ponte Molle, in a splendid procession to receive the head of the holy, noble Apostle from the prince. After that there were exhibited to them the head of Luke the Evangelist, the head of Saint James the younger, the head of Saint Sebastian, the head of Saint Thomas, bishop of Canterbury, the head of Saint Amandus, the hand of Stephen the martyr, the hand of Saint Christopher the martyr, together with many other relics of saints and holy men. Under the chief high altar of the church there is one half of the relics of Peter and Paul. There is a very beautiful tabernacle over the south corner
At the end of that highly meritorious pilgrimage, the princes went to their palace. They stayed and rested, recovering from their weariness and fatigue, after their pilgrimage, which was pious for their souls though full of labour for their bodies.
Here we shall say a few words on the description of Rome, as far as we have learned it by experience, we having lived in Rome for a long period now. There are
Divine grace followed Honuphrius, for he was filled with wisdom and learning, and with the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Besides he grew in size, in beauty, and in comeliness. On one occasion the Order elected Honuphrius as their superior. He would not accept their election, and he said he would go into secret and pathless places to search for the Child companion that he had once met in the field in the bosom of the Holy Virgin Mary. He would not be denied. He bade farewell to the abbot and to all the friars, and went into the desert of Egypt. As he was approaching the edge of the desert, he saw a fiery torch shining in the air above. He was frightened and startled thereat, and threw himself upon his knees. He commenced doing penance and praying. The angel of God came to him and said to him: ‘Fear not, noble Honuphrius, for God has given thee assistance, and as a miraculous sign to thee, He has shown the bright torch which thou seest.’ Honuphrius became glad on hearing the words of the angel. He gave great thanks to God, and then entered the desert. As he proceeded into a secret, hidden, pathless place, he saw approaching him an elder of great age in the habit
On one occasion when he thought of the Child companion whom he was searching for, he put off at once all that remained of the old habit which he had brought out of the monastery thirty years before. He left the tree, and the well, and the hut. He then set out on his way through the desert. He continued for a long time thus without food or clothing. After that he fell into a weakness and heavy sickness. One day, as he was in these straits, he saw the angel of Almighty God coming to him with repast and food from heaven. He gave thanks to his Lord. The angel used to bring him the heavenly food, the Blessed Sacrament, every Sunday with his own hands in the same way as he brought him the food of the body in the course of the week. He was for thirty years more in the desert without meeting or converse with anyone, but only the
One day Honuphrius besought the old man, for the honour of God, to hear his sins, and to give him the absolution of the Church for all his transgressions and vices. The old man did thus. When Honuphrius had made his full confession, his soul separated from his body, having triumphed over the world and the devil, as he lay in the arms of the hermit. Thereupon, there came a trembling and a dreadful earthquake in the desert all around them, and the trees commenced to strike and smite one another throughout the forest. After that, the old man saw six angels, with lighted torches and many kinds of music, descending from heaven on either side of the body of Honuphrius. After these were two other angels, an incense-boat in the hand of one of them, and a thurible in that of the other. They scattered the sweetness and fragrance of the incense about the body. Visible and evident to the old man, as the angels returned, was the soul of the noble, holy man, Honuphrius, transported by two of the angels in the shape and form of a bright dove. He saw then the Saviour Himself coming from the citadels of the heavenly palace, and receiving that soul into His own hands. The old man was sad and lonely for his lovable companion and fitting mate-fellow. He was so advanced in years, and so infirm, that he did not know how he should bury the body. In a short time afterwards he saw two fierce, powerful lions coming towards him. He trembled and shuddered. He was certain that the lions would kill himself, and devour the body of his companion. Then the lions came towards the body of Honuphrius. They fell on their knees. They commenced to kiss and lick his feet and his hands. They then began to strike the ground with their paws, and to make signs to the old man asking him in what particular place he wished to have a grave and burial-place dug. He selected
On the twenty-ninth of June, the feast of Saint Peter, the ambassador of the King of Spain came with the revenue of the kingdom of Naples to the Pope. He came with great honour, dignity and state. There were about five or six hundred horsemen, together with a great number of coaches, and many footmen in splendid livery.
It was a wearisome and unusual experience for the Earl of Tyrconnell, the son of Ó Néill, and the son of Ó Domhnaill, to spend so long without moving out of Rome. They proposed and determined that they should leave it for a time, and should go to make holiday and take a change of air. The three set out, taking with them a page and a footman. Alas! their trip was attended with ill luck and misfortune. They went to a certain town on the sea coast named Ostia, on the bank of the Tiber, fifteen miles from Rome. They stayed for two days and nights on both sides of the river. The Reverend Doctor Domhnall Ó Cearbhaill followed them. These noblemen next returned to Rome. Their journey to Ostia was no source of rejoicing to their friends, for all are agreed that that particular place is one of the worst and most unhealthy for climate in all Italy. Indeed, it was not long until it proved so to them, for the Earl took a hot, fiery, violent fever on the eighteenth of the same month in 1608, the day of the week being Friday. On Saturday, the following day, Cathbharr, the son of Ó Domhnaill, caught the same fever. On the Monday afterwards, the Baron was stricken with it, and Domhnall Ó Cearbhaill in a short time after him. The page and the footman who were with them both got the fever in a very short time. The Earl had a violent sickness and great pain during a period of eleven days. He made a full confession and received the Holy Sacrament. His soul separated from his body and he died, by the grace of God and the Church, after victory over the world and the devil, about midnight on Monday. On the following day,
As for Maguidhir, when he had been for a space of seven full weeks in Naples, he proposed and resolved to go to Spain. He set out by sea from Naples in the direction of the great, famous city which is named Genoa. He and his retinue landed for one night at the place where the river Tiber meets the sea, near and close to the identical place where the noblemen we have spoken of above were affected by the bad, injurious, and unhealthy climate. A wild and raging, painful and harmful, fever seized Maguidhir and Sémus, son of Éimher, son of Cúulad Mag Mathghamhna. After that they were brought to the great city of Genoa. They both died on the twelfth of August, 1608, after having made their full confession and received the Holy Sacrament. There were only six hours between their deaths, Sémus Mag Mathghamhna having died sooner than Maguidhir. Though their retinue and their followers in the city were not numerous, still, when their doings and their nobility were spoken of, a number of the clergy and noblemen of the city gathered about them in splendid procession, and they were buried with Franciscan habits about them in the great monastery of the Friars Minors in that same city.
The Baron and the son of Ó Domhnaill lay in the fever during all that time. By order of the doctors they were brought to a splendid palace on Monte Citorio
Alas! this account is hardly very pleasing.
When they had been some time there, the son of Ó Domhnaill died on the fifteenth day of September. It may well be believed that it was not through good fortune or the best of fate that it happened to Ireland that so many of the choicest of the descendants of Míl Easpáinne died suddenly, one after another, in a foreign and strange land, far removed from their own native soil. The son of Ó Domhnaill was buried in the habit of Saint Francis, after having had a great funeral and splendid cortege following him in procession, in the same monastery of San Pietro Montorio, in the same manner as the Earl, and close to his tomb.
The son of Ó Néill was a full half year lying in deadly peril and danger of death; but great thanks be to God, who granted to him that he should escape death for another space, and that he should have his health restored. And that is but a portion of the misfortune of each of them, and of the harm done them by the unhealthy, injurious air of Ostia.
On the first of August, the day of Lughnas exactly, 1608, Ó Néill went to a splendid meritorious church with the title of Saint Peter ad Vincula, which was erected and built in the name and honour of the Apostle Peter. The stout, rough, iron chain with which Peter was tied and bound, when he was imprisoned by the unbelieving Jews, was exhibited to him. At one time there was but one half of that chain in Rome. The Empress Helena brought the other portion of it to Rome. When the two portions were put side by side, they dosed and united together miraculously and strangely, as if they had never been separated at all previously. Besides, it was that chain which of itself
On the fifteenth of the same month, the day of the first feast of Mary, Ó Néill went to another famous church which is named Sancta Maria in Trastevere. There was a splendid, meritorious pilgrimage in that church, together with an indulgence for all sins. That edifice was a meeting-place and house of assembly for the Roman Senate during a very long period of time. In the end they determined to give it up as a residence and home to indigent, retired officers and to old soldiers who had outlived the days of vigour and strength. These held it for a long time. On the night that Christ was born, that is, the night of great Christmas exactly, a deep spring of oil sprung and leaped miraculously and wonderfully out of that church. It was streaming and flowing like a great river for the space of a day and a night, and went out into the middle of the river Tiber. When Callistus I the sixteenth Pope after Peter, heard of it, he built a splendid chapel above the spring, and he dedicated it in the name of the Holy Virgin Mary. Were it not that the house of Loreto alone had been for a long time previously chosen and consecrated in the name of Mary and her Son, this would have been the first church which was dedicated in honour of Mary in the whole of Christendom. The year of the Lord at that time was two hundred and twenty. When Gregory III was Pope in Rome, this church was enlarged by him, so that it is a great, splendid, meritorious church. The year of the Lord at that time was seven hundred and twenty. The tombs and burial place of four Popes are in it namely, Callistus,
The twenty-fourth of the same month, the feast of Bartholomew exactly, Ó Néill went to a famous island on the Tiber which is named Isola Tiberina. There is a splendid monastery belonging to the Order of Saint Francis on that island. The body of Bartholomew the Apostle is in the monastery, having been brought by the Emperor who was named Otho II from Benevento to Rome. There is a great number of relics of saints and holy men, in addition to that, in that holy church, as also pictures and images of Saint Catherine, Saint Agatha, and of many other noble, remarkable, holy women, executed and constructed artfully, artistically, and exquisitely in the same state and condition in which they were when they were martyred and put to death by the unbelieving Jews. The monastery of Saint John, and a good hospital where many works of charity and mercy are always carried on, are on that island.
On the twenty-ninth of September following, the feast of Saint Michael, Ó Néill went to the church of Saint Michael in the Borgo. By Pope Gregory it was first erected. For a long time there had been a very great plague in Rome. The majority of the inhabitants and those who dwelt in the city died at that time. Gregory and all the Romans who still lived went in splendid procession of penance from the monastery of Ara Coeli to the church of Saint Peter, with an image of the Holy Virgin Mary which is in the monastery borne in front of them. As they passed over the bridge of Sant' Angelo, which crosses the river Tiber, they saw with their bodily eyes the angel of God above them in the air, and in his hand a bare sword covered and besmeared with red gore. He afterwards alighted on the high rock on which the castle of Sant Angelo was built. When he beheld his Holiness the Pope, he sheathed his sword. The Pope and the Romans understood from that
On Wednesday, the third of September, his Holiness the Pope went in a splendid procession, in which the nobles of the Romans were in his company, from the church of Mary of Sant' Angelo to that of Santa Maria Maggiore; and on the following Friday from the church of Mary of Minerva to that of Santa Maria della Pace. Ó Néill was along with them on these occasions.
On the fourth of October, the feast of Saint Francis, Ó Néill went to a splendid monastery which is named San Francesco. That splendid church was the foundation house, the seat and residence, and the place of fasting and abstinence of Saint Francis in Rome. There is a splendid chapel in this monastery, where the worshippers do penance, and pray, and beseech Almighty God.
Give a blessing for the soul of the writer.
In it also is a wonderful, strange orange tree. The holy Saint Francis planted it in the beginning with his own blessed hands. On each orange that grows on the tree there are five small round lumps in the form of a cross. Theologians and commentators on the Holy Scripture think that it is in sign and commemoration of the five wounds which
On the first day of November, the day of Samhain in particular, Ó Néill went to Santa Maria Rotonda, a splendid, beautiful, remarkable church which was built by the Roman Senate long ago, a long time before the birth of Christ. In honour of all the gods it was first erected. Its length and height and breadth are the same. In the very top of it there is a single thirty foot window, circular and wide, which admits light to all the altars in the church. The doorway is all made of one stone, both jambs and lintel, and it is twenty-eight feet wide, while its height is about that of two pikes, one placed on the other. In that church there is a miraculous image of Mary which Luke the evangelist made with his own hands at the time that Holy Mary was in the world. There are fourteen columns, as large as any in all Christendom, situated in front of the church. In it there are the bodies of Saint Anastatius and Saint Ratio and a large number of relics of other saints and holy people.
After that Ó Néill went to the church of Saint Gregory on the thirteenth. There was a pilgrimage and a great, meritorious indulgence in it on that day. It alone was the chief seat and fixed residence of that Gregory. In it there is a splendid round table of pure white marble from which he was accustomed to distribute each day their requirements in food, and drink, and every alms, to Almighty God's poor and needy. On one occasion the Lord Himself came in person to the table among the strangers, in the same way as the others, as a mark of respect and honour to him for his
On the twentieth of November there came to Rome from the Christian King of France, to offer his submission and humility to his Holiness the Pope, and to kiss his foot on his behalf, an ambassador extraordinary. The Duke de Nevers was his name. He was Duke of Retel, High Prince of Arques, Prince of Porsien, Marquis of l'Isle, Earl of Montserrat, and Governor and Lieutenant-General under the King in the province of Champagne and Brie. Carlo Gonzaga de Clèves was his baptismal name. The Duke entered Rome in great splendour and grandeur, by the gate of Sant' Angelo in particular, near and close to the church of Saint Peter. There were three score mules drawing their carriages at the head of the procession, wherein were his livery, his plate, and his valuables, and upon their heads were grand, variegated, particoloured embroidered clothing, with conspicuous, silken combs. After these there were twelve mules carrying beautiful, short, painted trunks, and on each mule there was a sheet of red velvet adorned with gold and silver thread, and the coat of arms of the Duke himself skilfully wrought on each sheet. On each mule there were very broad, strong blinkers1, and they were all made of pure bright, refined silver. The long hooks, and all the buckles and nails of their bridles and harness were likewise made of silver. There were tall plumes, with variety of all colours, standing on the heads of the mules. Long, stout reins of red silk, having large tassels at their ends, were attached to the bridle of each mule. A great guard of the Pope's cavalry came after these, having gone out from the city with the Pope's brother, John Baptist Borghese, to meet the Duke. The Cardinals'
As they entered by the gate of Sant' Angelo the Romans commenced a great burst of music. They had numbers of trumpets and of every musical instrument. At the great palace were the trumpeters of the Pope. The guard of the palace fired all the large and small ordnance as soon as the cavalcade had gone by them. Likewise the guard of the Castle of Sant' Angelo continued firing the large ordnance. One who had never seen it would imagine from the sound and rumbling of the large ordnance being discharged, and from the prancing of the wild, beautiful, mettlesome horses, that the streets and market-places through which they advanced were trembling and quaking. The Duke then proceeded through the principal streets of the city, with the same great state and honour about him, until he came to his palace which was ready to receive him. The palaces and buildings on either side of the streets were filled with people wishing to view them. When the Duke