Exceptionis Capitis Sancti Clementis (Collected Manuscripts)

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[Fol. 51r] Incipit tractatus exceptionis capitis sancti Clementis pape et martiris, ab Constantinopolini in Cluniacum translati, quem eddidit magister Rostangng Cluniacensis monachus.

Ad corroborandam fidem fidelium et ad augendam deuotionem audientium quomodo vel qualiter vel a quibus factum est vel que fuit causa huius translationis, pro modulo sensuli mei presentibus et futuris notificare[1] studui. Huius facti causa fuit captio sancte ciuitatis Iherosolime, que pluries et[2] pluribus capta[3], ymmo plerumque a plerisque usque ad solum est diruta. Huius ciuitatis casus et clades, que[4] pro peccatis incolarum passa est, audire non est contempnendum[5] quia in ipsa fides et salus seu redemptio nostra sumpserunt exordium atque perfectionem, quia ibi operatus est Dominus salutem nostram in medio terre.[6]

Explicit prefatio.[7]

Incipit translationis narratio.[8]

Legimus in antiquis hystoriis atque prophetis, ubi conditoris nostri miracula et fortia facta patrum narrantur, quod comminatio exidii[9], quam Dominus adversus Iherusalem per uaticinia prophetarum mandauerat, ea se non corrigente, per Nabuchodonosor regem Babiloniorum adimpleta est a Deo.[10] Quidam Nabuzardan, princeps militie sue, non solum ciuitatem Iherusalem expoliauit, sed etiam muros destruxit et alumpnos eius in Babiloniam captiuos transduxit.[11] Huius predicte ciuitatis ruinas Iheremias quadruplici planxit alphabeto, que postea sub Cyro rege Persarum honorificabiliter rehedificata est.[12] Legimus etiam in euuangelio, quod cum Dominus per mediam transiret ciuitatem, quidam ex discipulis eius ait illi: “Magister, aspice quales lapides et quales structure muri eius!” Cui Dominus ait: “Vides has magnas edificationes? Non relinquetur lapis super lapidem, qui non destruatur.”[13] Quod uerbum[14] quamuis preteritorium, celo et terra transeunte, preteriri non potuit, quia ex ore uerbi eterni prodiit ymo per Titum et Vespasianum completum est, qui non solum usque ad solum ciuitatem destruxerunt et inhabitantes Iudeos trucidauerunt, et triginta[15] ex eis pro uno argenteo uendiderunt, uerso ordine[16], quia Dominus triginta argenteis ab eis fuerat emptus. Rursusque eandem ciuitatem Helius Adrianus, Iosepho narrante, funditus subuertit.[17] Sed quomodo deinceps a quibus[18] reedificata[19] uel regnata fuerit, usque ad tempus millesimi nonagesimi noni anni, nam ab incarnatione Domini anno milleno centeno, sed minus uno, Ierusalem Franci capiunt uirtute potenti[20], quere hystorias et inuenies. //

Huius autem captiuitatis captionem uel ereptionem[21] de manu paganorum causa extit[22] Urbanus papa secundus, uir religiosissimus et reuerentissimus, quem diuinia dispositio de claustro Cluniacensi elegit eum in sacerdotem sibi et in culmine summi pontificatus constituit.

Hic celesti desiderio afflatus, cepit deliberare qualiter ciuitas sancta Iherusalem, ab immundis et nefandis hominibus liberata, Christianis et Christiane religioni redderetur, ut ab eis Deus glorificaretur et honorificaretur, ubi Deus multa pro eis passus fuerat.

[Fol. 51r] Here begins the tract concerning the taking of the head of Saint Clement, pope and martyr, translated from Constantinople to Cluny, which master Rostang, monk of Cluny, composed.

To strengthen the faith of the faithful and to increase the devotion of those who hear it, I have endeavored to make known to those present and those in the future, according to the small measure of my limited perception, how and in what way and by whom it was done and what was the cause of this translation. The cause of this event was the capture of the holy city of Jerusalem, which having been seized many times and by many people, truly was razed almost to the ground many times by many people. The fall and destruction of this city, which suffered due to the sins of its inhabitants, should not be hateful to hear since through its destruction, our faith and salvation, that is our redemption, assumed a beginning and an end since there the Lord worked our salvation in the midst of the land.

Here ends the preface.

Here begins the narrative of the translation.

We read in ancient histories and prophets, where the miracles of our founder and the brave actions of the fathers are recorded, that Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians, fulfilled God's threat of destruction, which the Lord had ordered against Jerusalem as foretold by the prophets – since the city did not amend itself. A certain Nabuzard, a general of his army, not only pillaged the city of Jerusalem, but also destroyed its walls and led away its children as captives into Babylon. Jeremiah lamented in fourfold alphabet the ruins of this aforesaid city, which afterwards was rebuilt honorably under Cyrus, king of the Persians. Indeed, we read in the Gospel that when the Lord walked through the middle of the city, one of his disciples said to him: “Master, look at these fine stones and the arrangement of this wall!” The Lord said to him: “You see these great buildings? There will not remain a stone upon a stone that will not be destroyed.” Although that word went unheaded, with the turning of heaven and earth, it cannot be neglected because it proceeded from the mouth of the eternal word. What is more, it was fulfilled by Titus and Vespasian, who not only leveled the city to the ground and slaughtered the Jews living there, but also sold thirty of them for one piece of silver reversing the way in which they had bought the the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. And as Josephus relates, Hadrian completely destroyed the same city once again. But thereafter consult the histories and you will find how it was rebuilt and by whom it was ruled up until the year one thousand and ninty-nine -- that is, one thousand one hundred years from the incarnation of the Lord minus one -- when the Franks took Jerusalem with powerful might.

Pope Urban II, a most pious and revered man, whom divine direction elected from the cloister of Cluny into its priesthood and established on the peak of the highest ponificate, was the cause of the capture, seizure and taking of this city from the hands of the pagans.

Last edit 4 months ago by alester5

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