Two Lives of Saint Colette: With a Selection of Letters by, to, and about Colette (Volume 94) (The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series) 1649590660, 9781649590664

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Pierre de Vaux and Sister Perrine de Baume

Two Lives of Saint Colette With a Selection of Letters by, to, and about Colette E D I T ED AND T R ANS LAT ED B Y

Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski

The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series, 94

TWO LIVES OF SAINT COLETTE

The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series, 94

SENIOR EDITOR

Margaret L. King SERIES EDITORS

Jaime Goodrich Elizabeth H. Hageman EDITORIAL BOARD

Virginia Cox Anne Cruz Margaret Ezell Anne Larsen

PIERRE DE VAUX AND SISTER PERRINE DE BAUME

Two Lives of Saint Colette With a Selection of Letters by, to, and about Colette •

Edited and translated by RENATE BLUMENFELD-KOSINSKI

2022

© Iter Inc. 2022 New York and Toronto IterPress.org All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 978-1-64959-066-4 (paper) 978-1-64959-067-1 (pdf) 978-1-64959-068-8 (epub) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Renate, 1952- editor. | Vaux, Pierre de, active 15th century. Vie de sœur Colette. English. | Baume, Perrine de, b. cerca 1408. Vies de sainte Colette. English. | Colette, Saint, 1381-1447 Correspondence. English. Title: Two lives of Saint Colette : with a selection of letters by, to, and about Colette / Pierre de Vaux and Sister Perrine de Baume ; edited and translated by Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski. Description: New York : Iter Press, 2022. | Series: The other voice in early modern Europe. The Toronto series ; 94 | Includes translations based on Vaux’s 1494 manuscript that was housed at the convent of the Poor Clares in Amiens, now in the archives at Amiens, and Baume’s known as Manuscript 2 in the Monasterium “Bethlehem” of the Zusters Clarissen-Coletienen in Ghent, and a copy made in 1494 from the original. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Translations from Middle French. | Summary: “Two contemporary lives of the fifteenth-century Saint Colette of Corbie, a spiritual seeker, a Franciscan reformer, the founder or reformer of seventeen Clarissan convents, and one of the most influential of all pre-modern European women in terms of her impact on her social and cultural world”-- Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2021046938 (print) | LCCN 2021046939 (ebook) | ISBN 9781649590664 (paperback) | ISBN 9781649590671 (pdf) | ISBN 9781649590688 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Colette, Saint, 1381-1447. | Christian saints--France--Biography--Early works to 1800. | Manuscripts, Medieval. | Poor Clares--History--Sources. Classification: LCC BX4700.C67 T86 2022 (print) | LCC BX4700.C67 (ebook) | DDC 271/.97302 [B]--dc23/eng/20211101 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021046938 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021046939 Cover Illustration Portrait of Saint Claire of Assisi and Saint Colette (c. 1520), by the Master of Lourinhã. National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon, Portugal. Wikimedia Foundation. “File:Santa Clara e Santa Coleta (c. 1520) - Mestre da Lourinhã (MNAA, Inv. 1823 Pint).png.” Wikimedia Commons. Page last modified September 2, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Clara_e_Santa_Coleta_ (c._1520)_-_Mestre_da_Lourinh%C3%A3_(MNAA,_Inv._1823_Pint).png. Cover Design Maureen Morin, Library Communications, University of Toronto Libraries.

For Antoni – as always

Contents Acknowledgments

ix

Illustrations

xi

Introduction Saint Colette in Her World Schism and Division The Franciscans and Reform A Brief Biography of Colette of Corbie The Sources Early Life and Religious Exploration Franciscan Reformer Colette and Ecclesiastical Politics Colette in Her Cloister—and on the Road Writing and Living Reform Devotional Life Illnesses Miracles Demons, Ghosts, and Other Apparitions

1 1 2 4 8 8 10 15 20 24 25 28 32 34 37

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie, by Pierre de Vaux

41

The Life of Saint Colette, by Sister Perrine de Baume

173

Letters by, to, and about Colette

239

Map

267

Chronology

269

Bibliography

277

Index

285

Acknowledgments Working on Saint Colette naturally leads to the question “What is a community?” She founded so many, was a part of so many, and was always conscious of what it meant to live in one. I have been fortunate to be part of a scholarly community for many decades, but continue to be awed by the generosity of so many of my friends and colleagues. For this translation of the Lives of Saint Colette I received much encouragement and much very concrete help, for which I am extremely grateful. Two previous volumes for The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe were produced in collaboration with two friends and colleagues who again came through for me. Bruce Venarde, dear friend and collaborator on Two Women of the Great Schism (vol. 3, 2010), contributed translations of some of the Letters, read and critiqued the Introduction, and was always available for discussion of the most intricate Latin phrases. Earl Jeffrey Richards, collaborator on Othea’s Letter to Hector, by Christine de Pizan (vol. 57, 2017), untiringly provided information on sometimes obscure quotations from the Church Fathers by zooming through what he calls the “piste Brepols,” the Brepols Library of Latin Texts, and helped with some thorny translation issues. As he did for my previous book on Ermine de Reims, André Vauchez shared information and offered encouragement. Cecilia Gaposchkin designed a lovely and informative map in record time. Sean L. Field answered many questions, read the whole manuscript, and saved me from embarrassing errors. Anna Campbell repeatedly gave me advice and supplied a photo of Henry VIII’s letter about Colette. Andrea Pearson generously shared her beautiful photos of the Pierre de Vaux manuscript with me and gave me advice on various questions. My correspondence with Alessandra Foscati enriched my thinking about medical miracles. Catherine M. Mooney clarified several issues about the Order of Saint Clare for me. Ludovic Viallet generously shared his research with me and sent me a scan of the Letters of Colette, translated into modern French by the nuns of Paray-le-Monial. He also invited me to join the newly formed research group on Saint Colette. As she did for Othea’s Letter to Hector, Iter Press’s brilliant copy editor Cheryl Lemmens made this book better and richer. Writing this book mainly during the Covid-19 pandemic—with all libraries and archives closed—made me all the more conscious of how much we rely on the kindness and generosity of other scholars. To all those who shared their knowledge and resources with me, a huge thank you! As I have done for many decades, I dedicate this book to my dear husband Antoni A. Kosinski, the perfect interlocutor, a man who hardly ever tires of hearing about holy women. January 2022 ix

Illustrations Figures 1–10 come from Manuscript 8 of the Monasterium “Bethlehem” of the Zusters Clarissen-Coletienes in Ghent, and are reproduced with their permission. This manuscript was produced for Margaret of York (1446–1503), the third wife of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, who gifted it to the convent. It dates from between 1468, the date of their marriage, and Charles’s death in 1477. A detailed description of the manuscript is provided by Albert Derolez in “The Illuminated Manuscript Belonging to the Bethlehem Convent in Ghent,” in Vita Sanctae Coletae, 1381–1447, ed. Charles van Corstanje, with Yves Cazaux, Johan Decavele, and Albert Derolez (Tielt, Belgium: Lannoo; Leiden: Brill, 1982), 149– 53. The illuminations are analyzed by Andrea Pearson in “Imaging and Imagining Colette of Corbie: An Illuminated Version of Pierre de Vaux’s Vie de Colette,” in A Companion to Colette of Corbie, ed. Joan Mueller and Nancy Bradley Warren (Leiden: Brill, 2016), 130–72. Figure 1.

Folio 19 recto. Colette’s vision of Hell, in which she is protected from its demons by iron bars.

Figure 2.

Folio 23 recto. On the left, demons cause the lady to rip open her dress. On the right, Colette appears before Pope Benedict XIII and several cardinals; her coach can be seen in the background.

Figure 3.

Folio 23 verso. In the background, Colette presents her request to Pope Benedict XIII. In the foreground, he puts the veil of the Poor Clares on her head. Countess Blanche of Geneva, the baroness of Brisay, Henry de Baume, and others witness the scene.

Figure 4.

Folio 30 recto. On the left, Colette receives the miraculous white cord, while in the center an angel gives her gold coins to help her build her convents. One is under construction on the right.

Figure 5.

Folio 40 verso. At left, Colette and Saint Francis have a vision of Saint Anne and her family, the Holy Kinship. At right are pictured Margaret of York with her husband Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy. In the right background, Saint John the Evangelist hands Colette a golden ring.

Figure 6.

Folio 104 recto. At left, demons visible “from the shoulders up,” with “well-combed hair.” At right, demons carry cadavers from the gallows to Colette’s cell.

xi

xii Illustrations Figure 7.

Folio 130 recto. On the right, Colette is dying, surrounded by her sisters, with Pierre de Vaux sitting beside her bed. Her soul is carried to heaven by angels. On the left, Colette appears to a sister after her death.

Figure 8.

Folio 142 recto. This image combines the miracles of Blanche of Geneva, of a gentleman from Burgundy, and of Colette and her nuns in their traveling wagon—all of them rescued from perilous waters, as told in V 207, V 210, and V 210.3.

Figure 9.

Folio 49 recto. A demon uses a bellows to blow out Colette’s lamp while another one spills oil on her book. At right Colette relights her candle.

Figure 10.

Folio 160 recto: On the right, friar Pierre d’Aisy, suffering terribly from migraine, in his bedroom and walking in the garden. On the left, his vision of Saint Colette, who will cure him.

Figure 11.

Map of France and surrounding regions, showing Burgundian possessions and convents founded or reformed by Colette of Corbie.

Introduction Saint Colette in Her World Saint Colette of Corbie (1381–1447) was a “new” saint, a woman living in the turbulent world of fifteenth-century France. The two biographies translated in this volume were written by two people who were close to her and spent decades working and traveling with her: by Pierre de Vaux, a Franciscan friar, her confidant and confessor, just after her death, and by Perrine de Baume, a fellow nun and niece of Colette’s mentor and confessor Henry de Baume, about twenty-five years later. These kinds of saints’ Lives are quite different from the legends of the early Christian saints who remained popular throughout the Middle Ages. Saints such as Catherine of Alexandria, Margaret of Antioch, or Alexis hailed from a distant past, and their legends were constantly reworked and translated into many languages. Their cults continued to flourish in many parts of Europe. But in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries it became more common to find Lives of contemporary holy people—many of them women1—composed by those who knew them, wishing to exalt them and propose them as models to other Christians. Many of these Lives, such as those of Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), Elizabeth of Hungary (1207–1231), Francis of Assisi (ca. 1181–1226), Birgitta of Sweden (1303–1373), or Raymond of Capua’s Life of Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), were written with a view to their subjects’ canonization. Elizabeth, Francis, and Birgitta were canonized just a few years after their deaths, but others had to wait decades or even centuries: Catherine was canonized in 1461 and Hildegard, although beatified in 1326, only made the final step onto the altars in 2012. Colette’s two biographies, both written in the French of the mid-fifteenth century, represent first-hand testimony from two confidants, but they are quite different in form: Pierre de Vaux strove to compose a traditional hagiographic account, while Perrine de Baume dictated a memoir, giving us her thoughts as they came to her. Both clearly hoped for their beloved subject’s canonization, but centuries passed with repeated unsuccessful efforts, and it was not until 1807 that Colette finally became an official saint. Who was this Colette, the “little handmaid of our Lord” and the “glorious mother,” as her two biographers always called her? 1. See Alastair J. Minnis and Rosalynn Voaden, eds., Medieval Holy Women in the Christian Tradition, c. 1100–1500 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2010). For France, see Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, “Holy Women in France,” in that volume (241–66), which presents brief biographies and a list of primary sources for all presently known holy women in France from about 1100 to the mid-fifteenth century. As well, see André Vauchez, Sainthood in the Later Middle Ages, trans. Jean Birrell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), for a comprehensive study of this period.

1

2 Introduction Saint Colette of Corbie, a restless spiritual seeker who spent most of her life as one of the most important reformers of the Franciscan Order, was born into a time of multiple crises. The plague epidemic that had killed millions still lingered in many parts of Europe, the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453) that pitted England against France was still not over,2 and the Great Schism (1378–1417) was tearing apart the Western Church, dividing Europe into different regions whose rulers pledged obedience to two different popes, one based in Avignon, the other in Rome. Despite this religious and societal turbulence, however, Colette succeeded in establishing convents of her own order, an offshoot of the Poor Clares, throughout Western Europe, and in reforming a number of others—often in the face of difficulty and of opposition from other religious orders (including parts of the Franciscan Order, which she sought to reform). Colettine communities can be found throughout the world today in countries as far away from each other as Germany, Norway, the Philippines, and Japan. Throughout the centuries, Colette has been invoked particularly as a patron saint of expectant mothers. She is known to us primarily through the two biographies in this volume and through letters by, to, and about her, some of them translated here.3 About twenty of them were painstakingly collected and translated into modern French by nuns of the Order of Saint Clare. They reveal her efforts to found her own communities, and the support she received not just from religious figures but from the nobility and both French and English royalty. Before we take a closer look at the life and works of Colette, however, some background on the divisions affecting both the Roman Catholic Church and its religious orders will help to place this remarkable woman in the context of her times.

Schism and Division The crisis of a divided church deeply affected many Christians at the time in both the religious and secular spheres.4 A conflict between the papacy and Philip IV, king of France, had led to the election of a French pope, Clement V, in 1305. Clement moved the papal court to France, where it was established at Avignon for 2. On the later phases of the Hundred Years’ War during Colette’s lifetime see Jonathan Sumption, The Hundred Years War, Vol. IV: Cursed Kings (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015). 3. Many medieval saints are also known through copious testimonies gathered from their contemporaries at their canonization trials. This is not the case for Colette, whose canonization was delayed until 1807. On the many centuries of delays and their causes see Anna Campbell, “Colette of Corbie: Cult and Canonization,” in A Companion to Colette of Corbie, ed. Joan Mueller and Nancy Bradley Warren (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2016), 173–206. 4. On the many people concerned with this crisis see Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Poets, Saints, and Visionaries of the Great Schism, 1378–1417 (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006). For a concise summary of the conflict, see pages 2–11.

Introduction 3 almost all of the fourteenth century; all subsequent Avignon popes were French. Toward the end of the century, however, there were more and more calls for a return of the papacy to Rome. Pope Gregory XI (r. 1370–78) finally heeded these calls, but died shortly after his arrival in Rome. The cardinals assembled to elect a successor, but the conclave was encircled by the irate Roman populace, clamoring for an Italian pope. The cardinals had in fact elected an Italian, Archbishop Bartolomeo Prignano of Bari, as Pope Urban VI, but the uproar was later used to present the cardinals’ decision as a disputed election, one conducted under duress. Soon the cardinals realized that they had elected an authoritarian despot who wanted to curtail their luxurious lifestyle in the pleasant surroundings of Avignon. Just a few weeks later they decamped from swampy Rome to the more healthful climate of Anagni and proceeded to elect another pope, Robert of Geneva, a relative of King Charles V of France (1338–1380), as Pope Clement VII (r. 1378–94). In a letter to Charles V they described Urban as an oppressive and rabid monster and declared Urban’s election invalid, but stated no theological or doctrinal differences. In the wake of this double election, all the European powers were forced to pick a side. In choosing a pope, England and France echoed the hostilities that had pitted them against each other in a dispute over territory and inheritance rights: England opted for the Roman pope, France for the one in Avignon. The Spanish kingdoms deliberated for a long time and finally chose the pope in Avignon, while, not surprisingly, the Holy Roman Empire adhered to the Roman pope. After Clement’s death in 1394 the Spanish cardinal Pedro de Luna was elected as Pope Benedict XIII (r. 1394–1417), and on the Roman side several popes followed Urban VI after his death in 1389. Countless unsuccessful efforts were made to resolve this crisis, which also extended to many monastic orders. Thus the Franciscans had two Ministers General throughout the Great Schism, eight different ones adhering to the Roman obedience, and three to the Avignon obedience.5 In 1409 the Council of Pisa resulted in three popes (although France and England now adhered to the same pope), and it was only at the Council of Constance (1414–18) that the delegations from all the countries involved finally agreed on one pope, Martin V (r. 1417–31), a scion of the powerful Italian Colonna family, and forced the three other popes to abdicate. The Franciscan Order also reunited in 1421 under the Minister General Antonio Vinitti. The Great Schism was over, but as the Hundred Years’ War dragged on, another crisis of the Church erupted at the Council of Basel. Convoked in 1431 5. J. R. H. Moorman, A History of the Franciscan Order: From its Origins to the Year 1517 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968), 384. Anna Campbell, in “Contextualising Reform: Colette of Corbie’s Relations with a Divided Church,” Franciscan Studies 74 (2016): 353–73, points out that in some provinces, the different administrative parts of the Franciscan Order were divided because dioceses within them chose to adhere to a different pope (357).

4 Introduction by Pope Martin V and continued by his successor Pope Eugene IV (r. 1431–47), it had two main tasks: to discuss whether the Council should take precedence over the papacy when it came to decisions on the future of the Church, and to decide what to do about the Hussite heresy, a movement begun by the theologian Jan Hus, who had been burnt at the stake by the Council of Constance in 1415. Eugene’s ongoing struggles with the Council of Basel came to a head when the council suspended him in 1438, deposed him as a heretic in 1439, and elected its own pope: Amadeus VIII, duke of Savoy, who became antipope Felix V. Despite the council’s machinations, however, the exiled Eugene IV eventually returned to the papacy in 1443, and the Council of Basel was finally declared closed in 1449. As we will see, Colette played a part in some of the conflicts during this complicated and eventful period.6

The Franciscans and Reform The most important current that determined the course of Colette’s life was the growing desire for church and monastic reform that swept through most of Europe: The middle and later part of the fourteenth century saw widespread reform movements across various religious communities endeavoring to return to the original precepts and communal standards of their foundations. Augustinians, Dominicans, as well as Franciscans underwent reform, and so-called observant communities dedicated to this endeavor emerged; for all, the meaning of poverty was one of the central issues.7 What did monastic reform mean in this era? By the time Colette appeared on the scene the Franciscan Order was about a century and a half old. Francesco 6. Details will also be explained in the notes to each Life. References to specific paragraphs in my translations of the biographies by Pierre de Vaux and Perrine de Baume will be given parenthetically: V = Vaux; P = Perrine, followed by the paragraph number. 7. Christopher MacEvitt, The Martyrdom of the Franciscans: Islam, the Papacy, and an Order in Conflict (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020), 152. For a detailed account of Colette’s reforms, see Duncan Nimmo, Reform and Division in the Medieval Franciscan Order: From Saint Francis to the Foundation of the Capuchins (Rome: Capuchin Historical Institute, 1987), 443–77. An excellent concise analysis of the different currents of the Franciscan reform, as well as Colette’s role in this conflict, is Marie Richards, “The Conflict between Observant and Conventual Reformed Franciscans in Fifteenth-Century France and Flanders,” Franciscan Studies 50 (1990): 263–81. For a detailed study of the impact of the Colettine reform on the wider Franciscan reform movement see Ludovic Viallet, “Colette of Corbie and the Franciscan Reforms: The observantia in the First Half of the Fifteenth Century,” in Mueller and Warren, eds., A Companion to Colette of Corbie, 76–100.

Introduction 5 di Bernardone—later known as Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226), or Il Poverello because of his absolute embrace of poverty—renounced his father’s wealth, reportedly stripped himself naked in the streets of Assisi, and left his family in order to form, with some companions, a community devoted to the ideals of poverty, obedience, chastity, penance, fasting, working and begging for alms, and fraternal love.8 The friars were also allowed to preach with the permission of local bishops. Francis did not see himself as the founder of an order, but soon realized that even his initial rather small group of followers needed some guidance. He composed a first simple rule in 1209 and a more detailed one in 1223 that was approved by Pope Honorius III, and it is this rule that is still followed by the Order of Friars Minor, the First Order of the Franciscans. After Francis’s death the Franciscans continued to grow into a well-organized pan-European order, divided into provinces and headed by Provincials under the jurisdiction of the Minister General of the entire Franciscan Order. The origins of the Order of Saint Clare, known as the Poor Clares or the Second Order of the Franciscans, are not quite as clear. Like the early Franciscans, the followers of Clare were at first an informal group of women seeking a religious life outside of the established monastic orders. Chiara di Faverone, known in the English-speaking world as Saint Clare of Assisi (ca. 1194–1253), came from a family of the minor nobility, which meant that she was well educated and adhered to the spiritual ideals of her social class, including concern for the poor, mostly in the form of almsgiving.9 Clare’s passion for poverty became the guiding light of her life and religious aspirations. Aware of the activities of Francis and his brothers, she decided in 1212 to leave her family and join them. Francis welcomed her into the religious life of his creation, composing a brief forma vivendi (rule for living) that stressed an ethic of evangelical poverty and charity. In order to avoid scandal, however, Francis first brought Clare to a nearby house of Benedictine nuns. Eventually Clare and a group of female companions were given permission by bishop Guido of Assisi to install themselves near the chapel of San Damiano, which was already serving as a center for the Franciscans; here, the friars “recuperated from their travels and did chores for the women.” Preaching and begging, 8. Moorman, A History of the Franciscan Order. A very accessible biography of Saint Francis is André Vauchez, Francis of Assisi: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Saint, trans. Michael F. Cusato (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012). 9. For a concise account of the origins of the Clarissans see Alison More, Fictive Orders and Feminine Religious Identities, 1200–1600 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), 33–40. More detailed accounts are in Lezlie S. Knox, Creating Clare of Assisi: Female Franciscan Identities in Later Medieval Italy (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2008); Bert Roest, Order and Disorder: The Poor Clares between Foundation and Reform (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2013); and Catherine M. Mooney, Clare of Assisi and the Thirteenth-Century Church: Religious Women, Rules, and Resistance (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016).

6 Introduction the hallmarks of the male Franciscans, were of course impossible for women, but they combined “physical labor and possibly some type of hospital service with a life of prayer and meditation.”10 Ugolino of Ostia, the future Pope Gregory IX (r. 1227–41), became their Cardinal Protector, knowing full well that this new group needed some kind of rule in order to be able to continue and eventually receive papal approval. In 1219 he composed a forma vitae or rule for them, and decades later in 1253 Clare composed her own forma vitae, but it was not until a decade after her death that an Order of Saint Clare was created by Pope Urban IV (r. 1261–64).11 As Alison More observes, “Urban’s imposition of a rule and a regular identity was consistent with the spirit of institutionalization that became increasingly prevalent in the thirteenth century.”12 Neither the First nor the Second Order of the Franciscans, then, let alone the so-called Third Order,13 was created as an institutionalized monastic order by Saints Francis and Clare, but evolved over a period of decades and even centuries into the highly organized orders that dotted the map of Christian Europe when Colette appeared on the scene. With growing institutionalization came growing wealth, and a gradual moving away from the ideals that had motivated Francis and Clare to rebel against their lives of privilege and to shun the monastic orders that already existed in the early thirteenth century. Clare had in fact tried to prevent the encroachment of wealth and possessions in her request for the “privilege of poverty” that was eventually granted her by the pope: Clare’s “privilege of poverty” was a legal exemption that Clare obtained after a daunting struggle with the papacy that enabled Clare and her sisters to opt out of the feudal financial system of attaching property to their monastery. According to papal policy monasteries were to have landed endowments that earned a regular income to protect their inhabitants from fickle benefactors, political upheaval, and natural disaster.14 10. Roest, Order and Disorder, 15. 11. For details on the development of the 1253 forma vitae see Mooney, Clare of Assisi, chap. 8. 12. More, Fictive Orders, 34–35. 13. The Third Order, or Tertiaries, were laypeople wishing to pursue a life of penitence. They were not enclosed, and often continued to live with their families. On Third Orders more generally see Alison More, “Institutionalizing Penitential Life in Later Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Third Orders, Rules, and Canonical Legitimacy,” Church History 83 (2014): 297–323. 14. See Joan Mueller, “Colette of Corbie and the ‘Privilege of Poverty,’ ” in Mueller and Warren, eds., A Companion to Colette of Corbie, 101–29, at p. 106. For the wider context of later developments of the ideals of poverty, see James D. Mixson, Poverty’s Proprietors: Ownership and Mortal Sin at the Origins of the Observant Movement (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2009). On the development of the Clarissan Rule, see Julie Ann Smith, “ ‘Faciat eas litteras edoceri’: Literate Practices in the Clarissan Formae

Introduction 7 In the view of many Clare’s followers, the rule thrust upon the Order of Saint Clare in 1263—the so-called Urbanist rule—perverted this all-important ideal of evangelical poverty. A second rule approved by the papacy in 1263—Isabelle of France’s rule for the order of the Sorores minores (Sisters Minor)—was followed at houses such as Moncel, where Colette tried out the religious life for a short period of time. But it too veered away from Clare’s original ideal of evangelical poverty, and proved unsatisfactory for Colette.15 The Europe-wide movement that reflects this desire for a return to original monastic ideals, especially that of poverty, is commonly called the Observant reform movement. It extended to many different orders and many different regions. It was an often controversial movement, and, because it included rebels who questioned the established order of the medieval Church, accusations of heresy were leveled against some of its most radical adherents—communities such as the so-called Spiritual Franciscans, a loose group of Franciscans who only after the fact were seen as having formed a more organized movement.16 In France the Observant reform originated in the 1380s at the Franciscan house of Mirebeau, and can be connected to Henry de Baume, one of Colette’s confessors and an important mentor. Colette and Henry would work for reform within the Franciscan Order, and establish a number of reformed “Coletan” friaries in France. Yet even within the Observant movement there were differences. Henry de Baume had apparently left the friary at Mirebeau because of its decision to place itself under the authority of a Vicar General rather than the Franciscan Provincial, who in turn reported to the Order’s Minister General. This internal dispute over administrative structures would pit the Observant Franciscans against the Coletans in the friary at Dole, and Colette herself against the Observant reformer John of Capistrano—two battles she would eventually win.

Vitae,” in Nuns’ Literacies in Medieval Europe: The Antwerp Dialogue, ed. Virginia Blanton, Veronica O’Mara, and Patricia Stoop (Turnhout: Brepols, 2017), 23–41. 15. The Urbanist rule is named after Pope Urban IV (r. 1261–64). On Isabelle of France’s rule see Sean L. Field, The Rules of Isabelle of France: An English Translation with Introductory Study (St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2013). For a history of the Rule of Saint Clare and how it is observed in modern times, see also the introduction to La Règle de l’ordre de Sainte Claire avec les statuts de la Réforme de Sainte Colette (Bruges: Desclée de Brouwer, 1892). 16. See David Burr, The Spiritual Franciscans: From Protest to Persecution in the Century after Saint Francis (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001).

8 Introduction

A Brief Biography of Colette of Corbie17 The Sources Colette’s biographers, Pierre de Vaux and Perrine de la Roche et de Baume (b. ca. 1408), both spent decades with the saint. Not much is known about Pierre de Vaux, most often referred to as Pierre de Reims, except what we can gather about him from his biography of Colette, his letter to the citizens of Amiens in 1443 (translated in the section on Letters), and a few other references.18 He was Colette’s companion and eventually her confessor, and wrote his biography of Colette shortly after her death in 1447. Around that time, he became the Visitator for Colette’s convents.19 He made one business trip to Rome for Colette’s reform, but otherwise seems to have spent all his time living near Colette or traveling with her from convent to convent. His biography of Colette is modeled on Saint Bonaventure’s mid-thirteenth-century Life of Saint Francis, who had been canonized in 1228, a mere two years after his death. Pierre’s text is divided into chapters, beginning with Colette’s life story (including the beginning of her reformist activities and the persecutions she experienced), then moving on to chapters on each 17. This brief biography can do nothing more than give a sense of Colette’s place in the complicated world of the fifteenth century and of the major elements of her reforms, her spirituality, and her charisma. Almost all of the information about Colette’s life comes from the two biographies translated in this volume. Additional details can be gleaned from some letters by, to, and about Colette translated in the section on Letters. For a much fuller picture of Colette’s life, see the massive study by Elisabeth Lopez, Colette of Corbie (1381–1447): Learning and Holiness, trans. Joanna Waller (St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2011), originally published as Culture et sainteté: Colette de Corbie, 1381–1447 (Saint-Etienne: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Etienne, 1994). It draws on a wide variety of documents, including accounts of eyewitnesses collected after Colette’s death with a view to her canonization. Lopez’s Petite vie de Sainte Colette (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1998) also gives an excellent overview of Colette’s life and times. For a concise biography see Simone Roisin, “Colette de Corbie,” in Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. 13 (Paris: Letouzey, 1956), cols. 238–46. 18. Pierre de Vaux dit de Reims et soeur Perrine de la Roche et de Baume, Les Vies de sainte Colette Boylet de Corbie, réformatrice des Frères Mineurs et des Clarisses (1381–1447), ed. Ubald d’Alencon, Archives Franciscaines 4 (Paris: A. Picard Fils, 1911). Ubald d’Alençon (hereafter “Ubald d’Alençon” or “Ubald”) was the religious name of Léon-Louis Berson (1872–1927), a Capuchin friar and historian. See his introduction to the Vies, xxviii–xlii, for information on Pierre and Perrine, and xxii– xxviii, for the many later biographies of Colette. For Pierre de Vaux (hereafter “Pierre de Vaux” or “Pierre”), whose life is discussed on pp. xxviii–xxxiii, no precise birth or death dates are available; since he was often called Pierre de Reims, it was assumed that he was from that town in Champagne. Ubald d’Alençon provides a detailed biography of Perrine (hereafter “Perrine” or “Sister Perrine”) on pp. xxxiv–xlii. Although Perrine’s full name was de la Roche et de Baume, she is generally referred to as de Baume, a practice I follow here. See also Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 3–5. Twelve manuscripts of Pierre’s text and three of Perrine’s survive. For more information, see the preface to the translation. 19. On the function of the Visitator, see below.

Introduction 9 of Colette’s principal virtues, such as the three main Franciscan ideals of poverty, obedience, and chastity, followed by chapters on her special devotion to Christ’s Passion and the Eucharist. In many ways, in fact, he presents her as a second Saint Francis.20 The biography, which ends with an account of her gift of prophecy and miracles, is filled with lively anecdotes and fascinating details of Colette’s life that only an eyewitness could have recorded. Pierre’s admiration of Colette and his close emotional attachment to her shine through on every page. We have more information on Perrine, daughter of Alard de la Roche et de Baume and the niece of Henry de Baume, Colette’s mentor and previous confessor. Her father’s castle served as a rest stop for Colette and her companions after a decisive trip to Nice (described below) to meet with Pope Benedict XIII in 1406, and after she had to leave Corbie in 1408; Perrine may have been born around that time. Perrine spent some thirty years with Colette, in seven different convents. After Colette’s death, she occupied the position of mistress of novices for a time.21 Probably around 1471, just when the first inquiries for the canonization of Colette were launched, she dictated her memoirs to Father François des Maretz, who then served as confessor to the Poor Clares in the Hesdin convent. Perrine quotes—and modifies—long passages of Pierre’s text that had already been circulating in several manuscript copies at the time,22 but she uses a completely different structure—basically no discernible structure at all. There are no chapter divisions, but a long series of separate paragraphs with occasional subheadings. In view of a possible canonization trial, she adopts the stance of a witness, often saying “I testify that” and adding her name and age.23 Because she was a female 20. See Nimmo, Reform and Division, 460–67, for a detailed analysis of the parallels between Francis and Colette. Bonaventure was Minister General of the Franciscans from 1257 to 1274. 21. This was around 1458, as we learn from a letter by Agnès de Vaux published in La Règle de l’ordre de Sainte Claire, 286. Agnès, one of Colette’s closest friends, was the abbess at the convents of Auxonne and Hesdin, and appears often in the biographies. 22. How much Pierre may have relied on Perrine’s (probably oral) testimony is a question I am investigating in an article comparing the perspectives and methods of the two biographers, one male, one female. As far as I can determine, there exist only two other cases of Lives composed by a male and female biographer who had personal relationships with their holy subjects: Saint Radegund (ca. 525–587) and her biographers Venantius Fortunatus, bishop of Poitiers, and the nun Baudovinia, as well as Margherita Colonna (ca. 1254–1280), whose two Lives were penned by her brother Giovanni Colonna and Stefania, a Franciscan nun who knew Margherita well. See Sainted Women of the Dark Ages, ed. and trans. Jo Ann McNamara and John E. Halborg, with E. Gordon Whatley (Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press, 1992), 60–105, and Visions of Sainthood in Medieval Rome: The Lives of Margherita Colonna by Giovanni Colonna and Stefania, trans. Larry F. Field, ed. and introd. Lezlie S. Knox and Sean L. Field (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2017). 23. Indeed, Marie Richards argues that Perrine’s text was meant to supply the missing eyewitness testimony in order to complement Pierre’s biography; see “Franciscan Women: The Colettine Reform of the Order of St. Clare in the Fifteenth Century” (PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1989), 261–62.

10 Introduction religious and not a male confessor, she had access to many facets of Colette’s life that Pierre—however close he was to the saint—did not. Many events inside the convent walls, especially at night, could not be known to any man. Perrine thus opens a window for us into some of the most intimate and revealing moments of Colette’s life.

Early Life and Religious Exploration Saint Colette of Corbie (1381–1447) was born Nicolette as the daughter of Robert Boëllet (or Boilet or Boylet), an elderly carpenter at the local Benedictine abbey, and his equally elderly and extremely pious wife Margaret Moyon, a widow for whom this was the second marriage.24 A mature child (what hagiographers call a puella senex, or an “old girl”), she attended the local abbey school and had friends whom she tried to engage in pious games.25 Although her parents were very devout, they feared that she was overdoing her piety and tried to prevent her from attending too many masses. As her biographer Perrine de Baume tells us, her friend Adam Mangnier once helped her climb out of her window so that she could attend the recitation of matins in the overnight hours, a move that caused her father to build her a little oratory in their own house.26 In Corbie, little Colette saw herself as a savior for dissolute women whom she approached with offers of help and consolation, attempting to convert them to a better life.27 She was small, but grew miraculously when her tiny stature caused detractors to speak to her parents and urge them to rein in her pious overtures to these women. After a pilgrimage and a prayer to Christ,28 the fourteen-year old girl experienced a growth spurt and could henceforth spread her pious messages unimpeded.

24. Colette’s mother was supposedly sixty years old when Colette was born. Postmenopausal women giving birth miraculously is a frequent motif in saints’ lives, but Elisabeth Lopez—who has written the most thorough study of Colette—speculates that Colette may have been adopted (“Sainte Colette,” in Sainte Claire d’Assise et sa postérité: Actes du colloque international organisé à l’occasion du VIIIe centenaire de la naissance de Sainte Claire, UNESCO (29 septembre–1er octobre 1994), ed. Geneviève Brunel-Lobrichon et al. (Paris: Les Editions franciscaines, 1995), 193–217, at p. 194. We also learn that Colette’s mother had been married before and widowed (see, for example, V 67). There are references in both Ubald d’Alençon’s introduction and Perrine’s biography to Colette’s niece, but no siblings are mentioned, so it is possible that Colette’s mother had children from her first marriage. 25. As Lopez writes, “Benedictine abbeys provided two types of education: the school itself for young monks and those considering joining and ‘little schools’ open to the children living around the abbey. These gave a rudimentary education, particularly to boys” (Learning and Holiness, 13n16). 26. P 3. For a discussion of matins and other prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours, see 29, below. 27. V 10. 28. Neither biographer indicates where Colette went, but her biographer Alphonse Germain believes she most likely traveled to the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Barbières in the small town of Albert in

Introduction 11 Colette’s parents died when she was seventeen, and the Benedictine abbot Dom Raoul of Roye became her guardian. He had plans of marrying her off, but Colette resisted, going so far as to crash one of the abbot’s dinner parties in order to enlist the support of his pious guests for her own plans for a religious life. But she was not certain which direction this life should take. Her search for the perfect fit took many twists and turns before she became a Poor Clare, that is, a member of the Second Order of the Franciscans.29 Colette’s search for her true vocation gives us a panoramic view of the choices open to a young woman desiring a religious life at the dawn of the fifteenth century. First, Colette decided to become a beguine after getting rid of everything she owned.30 Colette disliked the beguine life, however, and decided to become a conversa or lay sister with the Benedictines in Corbie.31 She then moved to the royal abbey of Moncel near Pont Saint-Maxence in Southern Picardy as a “servant,” but the lack of true poverty of this abbey (which followed the 1263 rule of Isabelle of France, known as the Rule of the Sorores minores)32 disturbed her. She returned to Corbie, where her mentors became impatient with her lack of direction. One of these mentors, the reformist Franciscan Jean Pinet, guardian of the Hesdin friary, advised Colette to become a recluse, since none of the available convents was strict enough for her.33 For four years, from 1402 to 1406, she lived in an anchorhold, that is, a cell constructed for her adjacent to the church of Saint Etienne in Corbie.34 Becoming an anchoress or recluse was an option for women who desired an enclosed life of today’s Département Hauts-de-France, about 20 km from Corbie. See Sainte Colette de Corbie: 1381– 1447 (Paris: Charles Poussielgue, 1903), 16. 29. P 12. 30. Beguines were pious lay women who, starting in the thirteenth century, began to form groups that often lived in special “béguinages” and usually made their living from needlework and similar tasks. Some of them continued to live at home. Supported early on in France by such holy personages as King Louis IX, they were also often seen as suspect because they were not enclosed in convents. On the Beguines, see Tanya Stabler Miller, The Beguines of Medieval Paris: Gender, Patronage, and Spiritual Authority (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014). 31. Lay sisters were responsible for most of the manual work in the abbey. 32. Isabelle of France (1225–1270) was the daughter of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castille, and sister of Louis IX (later Saint Louis). She had founded the Sorores minores of Longchamp in 1260. Although Isabelle was never formally canonized, Longchamp had a local Office approved for her in 1521; it was extended to the whole Franciscan Order in 1696. See Sean L. Field’s The Writings of Agnes of Harcourt: The Life of Isabelle of France and the Letter on Louis IX and Longchamp (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2003) and Isabelle of France: Capetian Sanctity and Franciscan Identity in the Thirteenth Century (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2006), as well as Field, The Rules of Isabelle of France. 33. For the important role that Pinet played at the beginning of Colette’s reforms and for many years to come see Duncan Nimmo, Reform and Division, 446–47. 34. Bert Roest, “The Poor Clares during the Era of Observant Reforms: Attempts at a Typology,” Franciscan Studies 69 (2011): 343–86, at p. 348.

12 Introduction penance and meditation but could not afford the dowry necessary for entry into one of the established orders such as the Benedictines or the Cistercians. Life in an anchorhold was not one of total seclusion, for although Colette would have liked to reside in a remote, isolated place,35 her hermit’s cell was actually in the middle of town. Recluses were often consulted by townspeople, and some of them even seem to have set aside specific office hours, as it were, for giving advice and succor: “Unburdened by social obligations, they were free to act as the Spirit moved them. That meant listening to people; instructing them if they lacked knowledge; hearing their confessions; helping them find answers to questions about life and death.”36 For Colette we have no testimony to this effect, but we do learn that her cell was constructed especially for her, that from it she could hear the masses that were celebrated in the local church, and even that it had some interior décor: when the devil zoomed through the chimney into her cell and broke the wall she used a painting of the Virgin to block off the hole.37 At one point her cell is invaded by moving trees—signifying herself and her future followers—and this is the signal that she has to move again: shortly before this invasion, Saint Francis appears to Colette in a magnificent vision, commanding her to reform his three orders.38 Colette was aided in this mission by Henry de Baume (ca. 1367–1439), a Franciscan friar who became one of her closest friends and mentors, and, at the suggestion of Father Pinet, her confessor.39 Henry, born to a noble family in Geneva, was well connected to the duke and duchess of Savoy, who would become important supporters of Colette. He belonged to the reformist Burgundian 35. As Pierre states, John the Baptist “went into the desert and solitude,” but Colette did not, “for she was a girl and for that reason it was not suitable for her to go there” (V 4). Anneke Mulder-Bakker explains: “Men could build a hermitage in the forest, a possibility unimaginable for women.” See Lives of the Anchoresses: The Rise of the Urban Recluse in Medieval Europe, trans. Myra Heerspink Scholz (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005), 13. 36. Mulder-Bakker, Lives of the Anchoresses, 12–13. 37. V 20–21 and P 12–13. The incident with the devil is told in P 73. Interestingly, Colette uses a portrait painted on canvas—still relatively rare in the early fifteenth century—to block the hole. 38. V 29–30 (P 17 has a much-abbreviated version of this vision). The three Orders are the First Order of Saint Francis, the Second Order of Saint Clare, and the Tertiaries. For a close reading of this vision see Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, “Saint Colette de Corbie (1381–1447): Reformist Leadership and Belated Sainthood,” in Women Intellectuals and Leaders in the Middle Ages, ed. Kathryn Kerby-Fulton, Katie Ann-Marie Bugyis, and John van Engen (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2020), 303–17, at pp. 306–9. In a later vision, recorded only by Perrine (P 64), when Colette is mortally ill, she sees Saints Mary Magdalene and Clare stand before the Lord’s throne and ask Him to let Colette join them in heaven. Saint Francis, however, intervenes and argues that he still needs Colette on earth as a Franciscan reformer. He wins. 39. His Life and one of his letters were edited by Ubald d’Alençon in “Documents sur la réforme de sainte Colette en France,” Archivum Franciscanum Historicum 2 (1909): 600–8.

Introduction 13 friars, whom Pope Benedict XIII had already authorized to “reintroduce rigor and discipline into the Clarissan order.”40 Henry wrote theological treatises—as well as a book praising Colette’s virtues, as we learn from both Pierre’s and Perrine’s biographies (V 14, P 9). However, Colette threw it into the fire because her extreme humility would not permit any praise of her to be documented.41 Through his connections to the highest nobility and to the Franciscan reform movement, he became the ideal supporter for Colette, who, as a simple carpenter’s daughter, lacked the connections that would enable her to build a career as founder and reformer. But how did Henry find Colette? Henry had been on his way to Jerusalem as a pilgrim but abandoned this journey when, at a stop in Avignon, he encountered a recluse named Marie Amente who directed him to Corbie and to Colette. Miraculously she knew that Colette had received a divine mission to reform the Franciscan Order.42 Henry thus became a key figure in Colette’s reformist activities, connecting her to powerful supporters such as Blanche of Geneva (the relative of the late pope Clement VII), Blanche of Savoy, the dukes and duchesses of Burgundy, and two French kings, Charles VI and his son Charles VII.43 The modern Franciscan friar Charles van Corstanje highlights the extraordinary nature of Colette’s early career. Describing the way in which Colette left her cell and traveled to Nice to see Pope Benedict XIII, who made her a Poor Clare and invested her with the power to found a Clarissan reformed house, he calls it a “new and strange event in the history of the Church! The Pope chose a woman to reform an order of which she was not even a member. And this woman, without any recognized theological training, was to head the whole family of St. Francis and St. Clare, when her wisdom came only from the Holy Ghost.”44 No woman before Colette had ever reformed an entire order, let alone a male order. 40. Roest, “The Poor Clares,” 349. Further details in this paragraph are also drawn from this article. 41. Ubald d’Alençon speaks of the seventeenth-century biographer of Colette, the abbé de SaintLaurent, who claimed that he used two notebooks that Henry de Baume had composed in secret after Colette burnt his first biography. The abbé reported that he used a scroll and a large notebook belonging to Henry, both since lost, alas. See “Documents sur la réforme de sainte Colette en France,” 600. 42. Nancy Bradley Warren, “The Life and Afterlives of St. Colette of Corbie: Religion, Politics, and Networks of Power,” in Mueller and Warren, eds., A Companion to Colette of Corbie, 6–31, at p. 9. 43. Details of this support and of Colette’s many foundations can be found in Warren, “The Life and Afterlives of St. Colette of Corbie” (cited above), and in Monique Sommé, “The Dukes and Duchesses of Burgundy as Benefactors of Colette de Corbie and the Colettine Poor Clares,” also in Mueller and Warren, eds., A Companion to Colette of Corbie, 32–55. 44. Charles van Corstanje, ed., with Yves Cazaux, Johan Decavele, and Albert Derolez, Vita Sanctae Coletae (Tielt, Belgium: Lannoo; Leiden: Brill, 1982), 130. Nimmo makes the important observation that “in strict canonical terms the notion of a nun empowered to reform an Order of men makes no sense. Nevertheless, the evidence of the biographical sources is hard to deny” (Reform and Division, 448).

14 Introduction Henry clearly sensed that extraordinary events were in the offing. Before he arrived in Corbie, he had already alerted his powerful friends to this newly discovered holy woman, but Colette first needed to be released from her vows of being a recluse before anything else could happen. With the support of Henry, she obtained permission to leave her cell from the bishop of Amiens, Jean de Boissy, in August 1406, and left Corbie with a group of supporters, including Henry de Baume and the baroness de Brisay. In October this group traveled to the Mediterranean port city of Nice for a meeting with Pope Benedict XIII. This pope was in an embattled position at the time. When he was still Cardinal Pedro de Luna he had promised that, if elected pope, he would soon abdicate so that a unified election could end the Great Schism. In 1394 he was indeed elected, but showed no inclination to abdicate. The French king grew impatient with him, and the Council of Paris withdrew the French kingdom’s obedience from him in 1398. It was restituted after some time, but in 1406, just when Colette arrived in Nice, a renewed withdrawal of obedience loomed. Did this pope’s somewhat precarious position enter into his decision to grant a positive reception to the future saint? Perhaps. Pierre de Vaux’s chapter 6 gives a riveting account of her audience with the pope, including an attack of madness that struck one of Colette’s traveling companions, demonic interference, and the dramatic death by pestilence of a number of cardinals who opposed the pope’s willingness to grant Colette’s request of being made a Poor Clare and a reformer, claiming she was too young.45 Pope Benedict authorized her “to found a monastery with the privilege of observing the strictest poverty.”46 The term “privilege” makes reference to the “privilege of poverty” that Saint Clare had fought very hard to obtain and that was granted her by Pope Gregory IX in 1228. The promise of poverty was also inherent in Clare’s Form of Life, approved for San Damiano by Pope Innocent IV in 1253.47 And although Pope Benedict did not authorize her explicitly to reform all three Orders, that is the Friars Minor, the Poor Clares, and the Tertiaries, as Pierre claims in paragraph 15 of his Life, she in fact embarked on a reforming mission that included the male First Order of the Franciscans. Thus, at the age of twenty-five, she was launched on her career as one of the greatest reformers of the 45. Perrine’s version (P 18–21) is somewhat less dramatic: no demons here. Both Pierre and Perrine state that the pope made her an abbess, but this fact is not proven. The papal bull dated April 29, 1406—that is, before Colette had left Corbie—makes no mention of it. It states that she is allowed to found a monastery of Poor Clares, following the Rule of Pope Innocent IV. See Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 54. See also Blumenfeld-Kosinski, “Saint Colette de Corbie,” for an interpretation of the scene of this woman’s attack of madness as an “out-of-control sexualized bodily danger” presenting a marked contrast with Colette’s pious and sober appearance (311). 46. Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 54. 47. See Joan Mueller, “Colette of Corbie and the ‘Privilege of Poverty’.” For a history of the Poor Clares see Roest, Order and Disorder; Knox, Creating Clare of Assisi; and Mooney, Clare of Assisi and the Thirteenth-Century Church.

Introduction 15 Franciscan Order, a career in which she encountered both the support and opposition of other powerful reformers, notably William of Casale (ca. 1390–1442) and Saint John of Capistrano (1386–1456).

Franciscan Reformer Colette had hoped to found her first community in her hometown of Corbie, but the town’s location in an area disputed between the two papacies made it impossible for a woman empowered by a pope they considered schismatic to succeed there.48 Neither the citizens of Corbie nor the monks of the Benedictine abbey of Saint Pierre wanted a new foundation associated with Pope Benedict XIII, who was for them the fomenter of the Schism. Fleeing her own region’s hostility, Colette traveled to Henry’s homeland of Savoy, where her first community was housed in a castle belonging to Blanche of Geneva. This was a wait-and-see period in a politically fraught situation caused by conflict between two branches of the French royal family: the House of Orléans led by Louis, duke of Orléans, younger brother of French king Charles VI, and the House of Burgundy led by Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, and then the son who inherited that title, John the Fearless. After John the Fearless ordered the murder of Louis of Orléans in 1407, the bloody conflicts between the Orléans faction (now called the Armagnacs after Bernard VII, count of Armagnac, the father-in-law of Louis’s son Charles) and the Burgundian faction forced Colette and her company to bide their time in Blanche’s castle.49 Then, in 1409, after the Council of Pisa that resulted in three popes, Colette began to negotiate the bulls authorizing her new foundations, addressing herself “to the pope who seemed best placed to give her the permission that she needed to press ahead with her agenda.”50 Soon after the forced hiatus in Savoy, Colette “took over the nearly derelict Urban Clarissan house in Besançon” and began to introduce her reforms. After founding a convent at Auxonne, Henry and Colette proceeded to Dole, where after some conflict (see below) the friars agreed to adopt the reforms: “Thus was created the first of the so-called ‘Coletan’ Franciscan houses which provided serving friars for the Colettine nuns, initially under the guidance of friar Henry de Baume, who by 1427 was made general vicar of this emerging network of 48. With its location in Picardy, Corbie was close to the Flemish lands, which had never fully adhered to the rule of the Avignon popes Clement VII and Benedict XIII for whom the French kingdom opted during the Great Schism. This may explain the hostility its citizens expressed toward Colette, whose mission, as we saw, had been consecrated by Benedict XIII. See Lopez, Petite vie, 36. See also Nancy Bradley Warren, Women of God and Arms: Female Spirituality and Political Conflict, 1380–1600 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005), chap. 1. The year 1406 marked the second subtraction of French obedience from Benedict XIII, leading up to the Council of Pisa. 49. For more on this conflict see below, 20. 50. Campbell, “Contextualising Reform,” 360.

16 Introduction Franciscan friaries in the service of the Colettines.”51 As we can see throughout the two Lives, Colette, like other female religious in orders observing strict enclosure, needed the help of friars: “they were not only active as chaplains and convent preachers but also took care of other business, such as the management of the monastic properties, and the negotiations with lay stewards and procurators.”52 In the two Lives we witness Colette’s constant interactions with the friars, who are tasked with responsibilities such as securing alms or negotiating with workers, or dispatched on missions to other convents. No matter where the friars are, Colette is seemingly able to commune with them on a psychic level, thus confirming the friars’ closeness to her and her community.53 Enclosure was one of the most important rules for the Poor Clares and the Colettine nuns, but in fact Colette traveled ceaselessly throughout her life in order to found and reform Franciscan houses. In her massive study of Colette, Elisabeth Lopez includes two maps tracing Colette’s travels from 1406 to her death in 1447; we see her criss-crossing parts of Western Europe from Flanders to the Mediterranean and as far east as the German city of Heidelberg on the Neckar River. All in all, she founded or reformed seventeen Franciscan monasteries.54 51. Roest, “The Poor Clares,” 349. Roest uses the term “vicar” to describe Henry’s position as leader of the Coletan friaries, but this is not to be confused with the Vicar General of the Observant Franciscans; as Roest goes on to note, “Colette and Henry remained formally under the umbrella of the Franciscan provincial and general ministers, avoiding absorption into the parallel order structures developed by the regular Observance sub vicariis” (351). 52. Roest, Order and Disorder, 265. 53. A lovely story of resuscitation told by Perrine illustrates Colette’s closeness to friars such as François Claret, the guardian of the convent at Dole, whom she had met in 1412: after the friar fell gravely ill and was believed to have died, “it seemed to him that he was led before God’s judgment to receive grace and mercy. Then he was sent to the glorious Virgin Mary, and after that to the apostles, then before the martyrs, the confessors, and finally the virgins, who all uniformly judged that he should be given back to our glorious mother through whose intercession and supplication his soul was put back into his body. Soon after, he was resuscitated and was completely cured. I heard this from friar François several times.” (P 84). 54. Corstanje calls her travels and foundations a “veritable ‘Tour de France’ on donkey-back” (Vita Sanctae Coletae, 131). Colette also traveled in a wagon, as we learn from both Pierre and Perrine (see Fig. 8). See note 68 below for the privileges that allowed Colette to travel so much. Her foundations and reforms, in chronological order, were: Besançon (reform in 1410), Auxonne (1412), Poligny (1414– 1417), Seurre (1421–1423), Moulins (1421–1423), Aigueperse (1423–1425), Decize (1419–1423), Le Puy-en-Velay (1425–1432), Béziers (reform in 1434), Vevey (1424–1426), Orbe (1426–1428), Castres (1426–1433), Lézignan (1430–1436), Heidelberg (1437–1443), Hesdin (1437–1441), Ghent (1441– 1444), and Amiens (1442–1445). See Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 554. Lopez also lists the aristocratic supporters and first abbesses for each foundation. For some of the circumstances surrounding the foundations in Ghent and Amiens see the introductions to letters by Colette and by Pierre de Vaux in this volume, 248–52 and 254–60. For more information on the support Colette received for specific foundations see Warren, “The Life and Afterlives of St. Colette of Corbie,” and Monique Sommé, “The Dukes and Duchesses of Burgundy.”

Introduction 17 Needless to say, Colette’s efforts at reform were not always met with approval. In 1426 in Chambéry, for example, despite the support of Amadeus VIII of Savoy, there was opposition from both the Urbanist Clares and the Conventual Franciscans,55 and Colette moved on to Vevey instead. There, Jacques II de Bourbon (ca. 1380–1438), count of La Marche and former king of Naples, one of Colette’s most ardent supporters, decided to become a Franciscan Tertiary while his son became a Franciscan friar, a testament to Colette’s charismatic powers.56 Sometimes conflicts and hostility erupted.57 A good example is what could be called the “Dole affair,” which occurred early on in Colette’s career as a reformer. Sister Perrine, decades after the events, recalled this tense moment: I heard that our glorious mother told a good father named friar Jehan Foucault that, at the beginning of the reform of the Order of Saint Clare, our Holy Father the pope gave her the convent of the Friars Minor in Dole in Burgundy, in order to reform it and to populate it with friars and sisters of her choice. . . . And realizing that she needed good friars to assist her poor sisters, both in worldly and spiritual matters, she put these notable fathers in charge at this beginning of the reform, and they were so zealous and so truly observant of the estate of poverty that in a short time they proved so useful that [in the convent] there now was a group of great reputation and perfection, who were of great help to her and her sisters. A short time after that came others from the Order of Saint Francis, but not to assist the sisters. In order to take away the convent from them, they interceded so much with the lords of the city and the Parlement that the good fathers at the convent no longer knew what to do or to say. (P 71–72)

55. The Urbanist Clares followed the rule of Pope Urban IV, which allowed them more property than Colette would have permitted. The Conventuals were the Franciscans who opposed the reforms requiring absolute poverty. The Order was thus split between the Conventuals and the Observant branches of the Franciscan Order but continued under one Minister General. They were finally officially separated in 1517 by Pope Leo X. 56. Lopez, Petite vie, 105–6. For references to king Jacques see also the Letter from William of Casale, translated in the section on Letters. King Jacques’ conversion, and Colette’s role in it, are described in detail by the chronicler Olivier de la Marche (1425–1502). See Olivier de la Marche, Mémoires, ed. Henri Beaune and Jules d’Arbaumont (Paris: Renouard, 1883), 1:192–93. On the importance of this king in Colette’s life and career see Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 303–7. 57. Opposition to Colette’s reforms is mentioned as an important element in her 1807 canonization documents, in which her enemies’ accusations against her as a witch, a magician, and an invoker of demons are cited to underline her martyr-like endurance; see Louis Sellier, Vie de Sainte Colette, vol. 2 (Lyon and Paris: Alfred Caron, 1855), 212.

18 Introduction Pope John XXIII (r. 1410–19), who became the third pope after the Council of Pisa, had in fact entrusted Colette with reforming this monastery, founded in 1372 as an Observant house, because the friars lived more like Conventuals than Observants— that is, they did not strictly observe the vow of poverty, but were rather well-off. The “good father” Jean Foucault was by no means happy with Colette’s interference and began a civil suit against her.58 The inhabitants of Dole turned against Colette and her sisters and refused them alms, “so that the abbess of Auxonne had to give them food three times a week for a whole year.”59 Foucault’s success in opposing Colette’s reforms at Dole is shown, as Marie Richards explains, by the fact that the Dole friary appears among the signatories to a petition by Observant Franciscans to the Council of Constance in 1415 (“a set of requests” known as the Quaerimoniae). The Council approved the Observants’ request to follow their own administrative structure of being governed by a Vicar instead of by a Provincial in a decree dated September 23, 1415. Later, however, the Dole friars asked to have their friary removed from the Quaerimoniae, arguing that they had been added to the petition in a fraudulent manner. Pope Martin V approved their request in a decree dated August 23, 1426. It thus took more than a decade to untangle the paperwork, but by 1426 the Dole friary was firmly committed to Colette, as we can see from the detailed and emotionally charged episode we find only in Perrine, one that dramatizes the Dole friars’ admiration for Colette and their urgent need to hear her speak about the love of the Lord (P 44).60 While Pierre tells a story of persecution that might be the Dole affair in vague terms, without naming names (V 188), probably not wishing to insist too much on Colette’s conflicts with various adversaries, Perrine identifies both the Dole monastery and Jean Foucault, claiming that an outside group of friars (perhaps a reference to the Observant friars at Mirebeau) wants to “take away” a monastery from Colette’s sisters, who appeal to the legal authorities in Besançon. The judge there orders a vote from the “lords of the city” just as one of them, Estienne de Grand Val, is leaving the city. But his vote is needed to break the tie, and as soon as he is outside the city, he has a vision of Colette miraculously floating in the air to meet him, signaling to him with her hands, and shouting loudly, “Master Estienne, go home, go home quickly, and you will win the case.” He rushes back to the city and casts the deciding vote that allows the sisters to keep their convent (P 72). Toward the end of Colette’s life, unfortunately, the outcome for one of her most desired foundations, the one in her hometown of Corbie, was not blessed with such luck. Her campaign for creating a Colettine house there was mired in lawsuits and never came to fruition. As we can see from the three missives 58. For more details on this complicated affair see Richards, “Franciscan Women,” 60–62. 59. Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 155. 60. For more details on the importance and evolution of the “Dole affair” see Richards, “The Conflict,” 265–67.

Introduction 19 translated in the section on Letters, even the intervention of the French king Charles VII, to whom Colette had appealed in a well-reasoned letter in 1445, made no difference to the opposition of the local Benedictine abbey, the very one at which Colette’s father had worked as a carpenter. Colette makes her case that a Colettine foundation will in no way harm the Benedictines, but they will have none of it, and in 1446 she is forced to concede in a final letter to the monks.61 One of her arguments in the first letter had been that in no city had the local residents or monks been harmed by the presence of one of her foundations in their town. We can assume that some of the conflicts described above may have made the rounds of local rumor mills, for in a missive to the citizens of Amiens in 1443 (translated in the section on Letters), Pierre de Vaux takes care to forestall any concerns that the sisters’ presence could lead to harm or discord. This letter, the only other text we have by Pierre, is an extremely valuable document. In contrast to his hagiographic Life of Colette, his letter reveals his awareness that Colette was often seen as a source of conflict and that a hostile reception by the local population and other religious orders was a real possibility. He thus describes in detail the numerous followers she has attracted, many of them of the highest nobility, as well as the benefits communities have derived from the presence of the sisters. And he insists that the sisters have no intention of preaching, thus reassuring the local clergy and male religious houses in Amiens that their right to preach and to derive income from the town will not be infringed! Of course, most of her foundations were successful. Supported by local rulers and citizens, Colette and her sisters were welcomed in cities all over France and even in the Holy Roman Empire, as the foundation in Heidelberg shows; it was created between 1437 and 1443 with the help of Louis III of Bavaria and his wife Matilda, or Mechtilde, of Savoy. The citizens of Ghent, a town then under the rule of the duke of Burgundy, were especially eager to welcome Colette and her sisters. As early as 1426 they had asked Colette to establish a house there, and in 1427 Pope Martin V authorized this venture in a bull. The magistrates voted in favor, donations were collected, and in 1440 the convent was finished according to Colette’s plans. In several letters Colette directly addressed several of the town notables to thank them for their material and spiritual support. She also explained her absence: it was too dangerous to travel on the roads at the time, and it would take another two years for her to come to Ghent. It was there that she would die five years later, and it is in this convent that Colettine sisters to this day guard the beautiful illustrated manuscript of Pierre de Vaux’s biography of the saint that Margaret of York, the third wife of the Burgundian duke Charles the Bold, had commissioned and gifted to the convent some fifty years after the saint’s death.62 61. For details see Sommé, “The Dukes and Duchesses of Burgundy,” 47–50. 62. On Margaret’s relation with the Colettines in Ghent, see Harry Schnitker, “Multiple Memories: Pierre de Vaux’s Vie de Sainte Colette, Burgundy and the Church,” in Mémoires conflictuelles et mythes

20 Introduction

Colette and Ecclesiastical Politics While an itinerant Colette founded and reformed her convents, political events continued to unfold, although most of them remain invisible in the two Lives. The Hundred Years’ War was ongoing, and as noted above, a civil war had erupted in France after the assassination of Louis, duke of Orléans, the king’s brother, on the orders of their cousin, John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, in 1407 (John would himself be assassinated in 1419). The Armagnac faction supported the royal house of Orléans, while the Burgundian faction supported the English. The religious conflict of the Great Schism came to an end in 1417 at the Council of Constance, with the three popes in place after the 1409 Council of Pisa forced to abdicate. The secular conflict of the Hundred Years’ War, however, entered a particularly dangerous phase when in 1415 the battle of Agincourt delivered most of France into the hands of the English; in 1420 the French king Charles VI recognized his son-in-law, the English king Henry V, as his heir. Joan of Arc, drawn into the conflict by a divine vision to deliver France from English control, managed to have Charles VI’s son crowned as King Charles VII in 1429, only to be burnt at the stake two years later.63 Finally, in 1435, the Treaty of Arras between Charles VII and Philip the Good (now duke of Burgundy after the death of his father, John the Fearless) brought a measure of peace to embattled France, but large regions of the country were devastated and in constant danger of destruction. A dramatic episode in Pierre’s biography (V 141) shows us how plans for a convent in an unnamed city had to be abandoned when it was completely destroyed by “armed men.”64 Bands of roving ex-soldiers, the so-called “grandes compagnies” or “free companies,” made travel extremely dangerous. The serious risks that all travelers, and especially women, were exposed to during this period are illustrated by Colette’s numerous encounters with would-be robbers—sometimes resolved by human intervention and sometimes by a miracle—as well as her remarks on the dangerous roads, “fraught with peril,” in her first letter to the citizens of Ghent (translated in the section on Letters). Introducing one of concurrents dans les pays bourguignons (ca 1380–1580), Rencontres de Luxembourg (22–25 septembre 2011), Publications du Centre européen d’études bourguignonnes (XIVe–XVIe s.) 52 (2012): 149–62. For an analysis of the manuscript and its illustrations, see Andrea Pearson, “Imaging and Imagining Colette of Corbie: An Illuminated Version of Pierre de Vaux’s Vie de Colette,” in Mueller and Warren, eds., A Companion to Colette of Corbie, 130–72. This is Manuscript 8 of the Monasterium “Bethlehem” of the Zusters Clarissen-Coletienes in Ghent, the source of the illustrations in this volume (henceforth “MS 8”). A briefer description is offered by Albert Derolez in “The Illuminated Manuscript Belonging to the Bethlehem Convent in Ghent,” in Corstanje et al., eds., Vita Sanctae Coletae, 149–53. 63. There has been some unproven speculation that Joan and Colette may have met. See Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 146–47. 64. Since Pierre does not indicate either the date or the region, it is impossible to determine who was responsible for this destruction.

Introduction 21 the most dramatic episodes in Colette’s travels, Pierre shows us Colette caught between two warring factions: Once by chance she was in one of her convents, located in a town that suffered grievously from this war and that tried diligently to keep itself safe. As soon as she arrived there, even though she came from the other side, people said that she favored their side. And right after her arrival the devil saw to it that there was great trouble, as you will now hear. (V 168) Although Pierre remains vague on where the episode takes place, we learn from Perrine (P 74.3) that this town was Decize, whose location on the border between the areas controlled by Charles VII and those controlled by the Burgundians may explain the term aultre partie used in the French original. But since neither Pierre nor Perrine indicates a date, it is difficult to say which precise period is referred to here. This extremely brief summary of several very complicated decades is meant only to underline that most of these events go unmentioned or remain vague in the two Lives. One exception is the Council of Basel, for which we have both letters and passages in the biographies that give us some idea of Colette’s stature in the world of Church politics and the nature of her involvement. First, we witness Colette’s gift of prophecy as she foresees the future papal succession. As Perrine reports: I heard from our good father friar Henri and from sister Agnes Visemelle that when our glorious mother was in the south, in Languedoc, she felt and knew and revealed the death of our Holy Father Pope Martin and the division of our mother Holy Church; and she had foreknowledge of and predicted the end of the Council of Basel and the election of Pope Felix three years ahead of time, an event that caused her great pain in her heart. (P 76) Amadeus VIII of Savoy was indeed elected pope as Felix V, in opposition to the reigning pope Eugene IV, in November 1439. Perrine describes how both Henry de Baume and Pierre de Vaux forced Colette to try to intervene before the duke accepted the schismatic election: Sister Agnes Visemelle told me that she was present in the convent at Vevey when our glorious mother sister Colette spoke with the antipope, the Duke of Savoy and brother of Monseigneur de la Marche. There was only she herself and my good father friar Henry and the good father de Reims who went to get this lord. Our glorious mother

22 Introduction was forced by Our Lord to tell him that he would not become pope, because if he did, great harm would befall Holy Church. The way that our glorious mother was forced by Our Lord was as follows: she could not take the Eucharist, for she absolutely did not want to speak with this lord, telling the good fathers friars Henry and Pierre de Reims that she was a poor and simple creature, and that she would not know how to speak to this lord, or tell him what Our Lord was forcing her to do. (P 53) Finally Colette agrees to speak with Amadeus, and is able to take the Eucharist, but in vain. She “knew the precise moment when he accepted this dignity and told the sisters who were with her, ‘At this hour the antipope consented and accepted to the harm of our mother Holy Church’.”65 Interestingly, Pierre speaks only of Colette’s prophecy (V 169), but omits this rather disturbing scene of coercing Colette to intervene, one in which he was a participant. Colette’s intervention was sought in a quite a different manner by the president of the Council of Basel and papal legate, Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini. On February 25, 1436, Cesarini wrote to Colette to ask her to intervene on his behalf with Jacques II de Bourbon to have him reinstate Bishop Bernard Cazilhac to the seat of Albi, in southern France.66 He clearly believed in her ability to influence the count: We beg that you would, in a matter so highly to be recommended, give favorable assistance to the said bishop, as much as you are able, so that the ordinances and decrees of the sacred Council may be carried out; and so that they may be observed, and in order to give aid and support to the said Bishop, that you would guide by your counsels and exhortations his most serene Highness King Jacques, with whom we know you have much influence, and in whose realm lies a great part of the said diocese. Cesarini’s second letter, more than two years later, affectionately asks Colette to pray for him, and alerts her that he is sending her “with this letter twelve Rhenish florins for your garments so that when you wear them you will remember me.” The other powerful men who corresponded with Colette—John of Capistrano and William of Casale—had a direct influence on her reforms, and on the writing, editing, and acceptance of her Constitutions.

65. See Campbell, “Contextualising Reform,” 369–72. 66. See Campbell, “Contextualising Reform,” 366–68. For more details, see the notes to Cesarini’s letters in the section on Letters.

Introduction 23 William was the Minister General of the Franciscan Order, and although he was thus her superior he was also a close ally.67 In 1434, he gave permission to Colette and Henry de Baume “to observe the rule of Clare together with the Constitutiones.”68 Pierre de Vaux tells us that he, at Colette’s request, wrote some “beautiful and good ordinances” (V 15), a complement to her Constitutions. The interest William showed in her reform work is evident from one of his letters, translated below: he wants to discuss her writings and would like to meet with her in Savoy to do so. He also acknowledges Colette’s absolute authority over the sisters when he writes from Toulouse in 1439 that he knows that the sisters will not obey any of his orders unless Colette specifically permits it.69 John of Capistrano was less supportive. He had been appointed as a reformer of all Clarissan convents, and tried to streamline and consolidate the many different Franciscan reform movements of the fifteenth century; naturally, he saw Colette’s reform as one that needed to be brought into the fold. As Lezlie Knox observes: More than any other individual friar, John of Capistrano was responsible for institutionalizing the Observant Reform among the Clarisses. He achieved this through a combination of spiritual exhortation, personal influence, and ultimately, administrative policy.70 But these three strategies failed him with Colette. Through her direct connections with the Colettine friars Pierre de Vaux and then Henry de Baume, she was able to freely exercise her authority as abbess and reformer. A merger with the Observants would have seriously restricted this authority. Most importantly, the friars would have taken over as directors of the convents, and as Visitators would have had the power to dismiss the abbesses elected by the nuns.71 Indeed, Colette 67. Richards, “Franciscan Women,” 46–49. 68. Roest, “Poor Clares,” 352. On the Constitutions, see chap. 4 of Lopez, Learning and Holiness. William also gave Colette the important privileges of “visiting her monasteries, of moving her sisters and friars as she wished, of having her own room in which to eat and sleep and hear Mass, and generally of acting as an independent head of a religious Order” (Moorman, A History of the Franciscan Order, 554). These privileges explain why Colette could travel so much, while Poor Clares normally took a vow of enclosure. See, below, item 6 in Colette’s Constitutions. 69. Warren, Women of God and Arms, 22–23. 70. Knox, Creating Clare of Assisi, 132. One of the letters translated in the section on Letters is based on the English version provided by the sisters of the Poor Clare community Ty Mam Duw in Nottingham, England (). For subsequent actions of John of Capistrano see Knox, Creating Clare of Assisi, 133–43. For a comprehensive discussion of the conflicts between the Conventuals and Observants from 1417 to 1446 (including Colette’s role) see Moorman, A History of the Franciscan Order, chap. 35. 71. Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 327, and Lopez, Petite vie, 76.

24 Introduction is said to have “exhorted her sisters with urgency that they should never join the above-mentioned ‘family’ (the Observants) for it would result in their destruction and great desolation.”72 The two antagonists came face to face in the winter of 1442. John of Capistrano arrived in Besançon as papal legate of Eugene IV to consult with Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy. He wished to assure himself of Philip’s support for Pope Eugene IV after the election of the antipope Felix V, and to negotiate who should replace William of Casale, who had just died, as Minister General of the Franciscans. John intended to present Colette with a plan to absorb her reform into the wider Observance. As Elisabeth Lopez describes it dramatically, a surprise visit by John disturbed Colette in her oratory in Besançon and resulted in long discussions from which Colette emerged victorious: John would not infringe on Colette’s authority to direct her own order.73 One of the major points he concedes is indicated in part of a letter sent to Colette in November 1442: “I declare that you have power to appoint one or more friars of our Order to fill the office of Visitator of the nuns in the said convents.”74 Thus, at least during Colette’s lifetime, the independence of the Colettine sisters was assured. The next five years saw about half a dozen new foundations, including the ones in Ghent and Amiens discussed above. Colette did not live to see the end of Hundred Years’ War or the abdication of the antipope Felix V, her former friend Amadeus VIII of Savoy. He finally agreed to step down in 1449 and to recognize Eugene IV’s successor, Pope Nicholas V (r. 1447–55). Colette died on March 6, 1447, in her convent in Ghent, with her confessor and future biographer Pierre de Vaux by her side. None of the conflicts with John of Capistrano and the Observants that occupied so much of Colette’s time appear in the two Lives. Instead, Pierre de Vaux and Sister Perrine show us “the little handmaid” and “the glorious mother,” the terms they use respectively to refer to Colette,75 occupied—within the convent walls and in her travels—with keeping her reformed communities in operation, while at the same time leading an intense spiritual life of devotion and asceticism.

Colette in Her Cloister—and on the Road From the beginning of his biography, Pierre de Vaux stresses that Colette always preferred seclusion and solitude to public life. Thus the Lives of this active and 72. Quoted by Richards, “The Conflict,” 275. 73. Lopez, Petite Vie, 74–76, and Blumenfeld-Kosinski, “Saint Colette de Corbie,” 312–13. 74. On the function of the Visitator see Roest, Order and Disorder, 66 and 263. The Visitator had to make sure that the sisters had what they needed for both their spiritual and material lives and “to find out whether the nuns were living up to the standard of the rule and their house constitutions” (Roest, 263). 75. Both terms have religious significance. In Luke 1:38 Mary responds to the angel Gabriel: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord,” and Mary, of course, is the glorious mother of Christ, as Colette is the glorious mother of her order.

Introduction 25 charismatic reformer read in great part like that of an ascetic devoted to penance, harsh bodily practices, and prayer.76 Colette had visions, notably the one in her anchorage in which Saint Francis commanded her to leave her cell and become a reformer; she performed miracles (often simply by making the sign of the cross), and, according to Pierre, surpassed all the ancient saints in virtue and the rigor of her asceticism. Yet there she is, traveling with her sisters and often some of her friars from place to place, sometimes building her own enclosure from blankets or drapes in a hostel on the road. She negotiates with her superiors, various city notables, merchants, and workers. There are some references, as we just saw, to contemporary political and ecclesiastical events, but they often remain vague and we find few precise names or locations. The tension between the constrictive, straitjacket-like feeling of hagiography and the day-to-day reality of this extraordinary woman’s life informs both biographies, and challenges readers to understand not only the biographers’ close emotional attachment to their subject but the ultimate purpose of their texts: to contribute to a process that would take another 360 years, the canonization of Colette. In this section we will briefly explore her cloistered and devotional life, her thaumaturgic and telepathic powers, and her many encounters with demons and apparitions.

Writing and Living Reform The ideals that guided Colette’s reforms and her spiritual life can be gleaned from her Constitutions, a text finished in the 1430s,77 which was modeled on the Rule of Saint Clare. In 1410, Colette had sent a friar to Assisi to obtain a copy of the Rule of Saint Clare, which at that point was almost two hundred years old.78 Colette’s Rule, however, was often more severe than that of Clare; indeed, William of Casale wrote to Colette of his worries that her Rule would be “imposing too heavy a burden on your sisters.”79 In fifteen chapters of the Constitutions, Colette treats the 76. See Richards, “Franciscan Women,” and Blumenfeld-Kosinski, “Saint Colette of Corbie,” for an analysis of Colette’s leadership strategies and qualities. 77. Colette wrote a number of other texts such as the Sentiments, comments on the Rule, and her Testament. For these texts see Lopez, Learning and Holiness, part 2, chap. 5, and especially the important article by Bert Roest, “A Textual Community in the Making: Colettine Authorship in the Fifteenth Century,” in Seeing and Knowing: Women and Learning in Medieval Europe, 1200–1550, ed. Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker (Turnhout: Brepols, 2004), 163–80. 78. See Mario Sensi, “Clarisses entre Spirituels et Observants,” in Sainte Claire d’Assise et sa postérité: Actes du colloque international organisé à l’occasion du VIIIe centenaire de la naissance de Sainte Claire, UNESCO (29 septembre–1er octobre 1994), ed. Geneviève Brunel-Lobrichon et al. (Paris: Les Editions franciscaines, 1995), 101–18, at p. 104. 79. Edited in La Règle de l’ordre de Sainte Claire, 112–88, followed by Colette’s “Sentiments” and her thoughts about the Rule of Saint Clare (209–27), and translated by the nuns of Ty Mam Duw (). For a detailed comparison between the Constitutions and the Rule

26 Introduction following, in this order: 1. The entry into the religious life; 2. The garments of the sisters (three habits are allowed; cut and size are specified); 3. The Divine Office; 4. Abstinence; 5. Confession and communion; the confessor (who must be of a suitable age); 6. Enclosure; 7. Election of the abbess, officers, and discretes (the abbess is elected by the sisters and to be confirmed by the Minister General);80 8. How to hold a chapter; 9. Silence, and the way of speaking at the grille and in the parlor;81 10. Poverty; 11. Occupation of the sisters; 12. Sick sisters; 13. Correction; 14. The doorkeeper; and 15. The Visitator. This last, complex chapter deals with the choice of the Visitator, who must be a Franciscan friar of “good morals” and conduct his visit, which would consist of a sermon and the quizzing of all the sisters on their obedience to the Rule, in two to three days.82 Perhaps the most notable difference between the two rules was that Clare saw the abbess as the sisters’ servant while Colette saw her more as the sisters’ boss, whose permission needed to be sought for all actions in the convent. As Lopez points out, “in her admirable chapter ten, Clare set out a theological concept of the life and emphasized that the abbess was the servant of her sisters.” Clare believed that the sisters obeyed the Rule “as the expression of their own choice,” while “for Colette, the reverse was true. Sisters transgressed the rule and tended toward laxity if the abbess did not intervene.”83 Thus we find in chapter 13 of the Constitutions a description of a cell designed for the punishment of sisters who expose their souls to damnation and the Order to dishonor, as well as rebellious and obstinate sisters who will not amend themselves. Those who talked back to the abbess would have to take their meager meal of bread and water on the floor.84 Colette herself adopted some of these penances in her daily life as an expression of humility. Perrine gives us this glimpse of Colette’s habits: “When she was eating alone, apart from the others, having her small meal, she was very rarely sitting at the table but most often sat on the ground, and she was very annoyed when she

of Saint Clare see Lopez, Learning and Holiness, part 2, chap. 4. Lopez quotes William’s letter on p. 265. On Rules generally, see Bert Roest, Franciscan Literature of Religious Instruction before the Council of Trent (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2004), chap. 2. 80. A “counselor or ‘discrete’ ” was a sister “elected by the conventual chapter, . . . who formed, together with the vicaress, the council of the abbess, charged with helping her in the government of the community” (Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 562). 81. The parlor was a room in which the nuns could communicate with the friars, family members, and visitors from the community through a grille. Perrine speaks several times of one of the confessors conversing with the sisters through the grille. 82. This list is based on Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 237. 83. Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 243. 84. Constitutions, in La Règle de l’ordre de Sainte Claire, 171.

Introduction 27 had to sit on a chair” (P 11). However, occasionally Colette’s imperiousness came to the fore as well.85 In the area of poverty, Colette seemed to be a little more flexible than Clare. Although a woman could enter the Order only if totally stripped of all earthly goods, she could nonetheless give some of her possessions to the convent upon entering. As Elisabeth Lopez shows, “Colette introduced a new distinction between possession and use of goods.”86 Throughout the two Lives we can witness Colette’s efforts to deal with the issue of material possessions. There are many instances when she was conflicted about accepting alms, including construction materials for some of her convents, knowing that she needed the means to build and keep up her foundations, and yet wanting to renounce all earthly possessions. An excerpt from Sister Perrine’s biography illustrates how Colette dealt with this conflict: Several notable people from various estates, thinking about the great work she was doing in God’s honor and for the salvation of souls, gave her gold, silver, precious stones, jewels, cloths or scarves, in order for her to build convents, not too often but every now and then. But of all the goods, great or small, that were given to her personally, she would rather have died than use them for anything but the things the donors had intended. And everything that was given to her for the needs of her own person, she gave up for sale in order to contribute everything she could to the advancement of the building for Our Lord, and she could not and would not keep any of it. (P 25) Pierre, also aware that money is needed for construction, couches the infusion of cash in miraculous terms: And, as mentioned above, for the multitudes of the women who came to join the Order she had to construct many convents, and sometimes she did not have enough money to pay the workers, and she could not get it through any human effort. Our Lord did not fail her, but sent her all the money she needed in fine gold.87 And often 85. Certain moments in the two Lives offer hints that Colette’s humility was sometimes less than perfect and that she did indeed assume the role of boss, always in the sisters’ best interest, of course. Once, she violently pushed a sister who held her book during the divine office because Colette knew telepathically that the sister’s thoughts were straying (V 137). Another time she rang a bell for a sister who, although very ill, had to drag herself to Colette’s room in order to serve her (V 239). Colette of course eased her pain and the sick nun was thus available for more service. 86. Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 249. On poverty, see chap. 10 of the Constitutions. 87. See fig. 4 for the miraculous gift of gold coins for the construction of the convent on the right.

28 Introduction the sum was five écus, and these écus were wondrously good and beautiful and in one piece. . . . (V 46) Alms were crucially important for the efficient functioning of the Order and could sometimes even be found in paradise. In a touching episode Perrine tells us how Colette was enraptured for such a long time that the sisters called a doctor. But she exited the rapture without any medical help and told the sisters “how she had seen Saint Anne with her noble offspring who walked through paradise with a golden basket, asking the blessed saints for alms for the Order” (P 43). In Pierre’s version, Saint Anne does not appear as a fundraiser in heaven but as a saint asking the other saints in paradise for their special prayers to God, so that He might help Colette’s reform (V 85).88 Colette’s views on poverty and money were conditioned by the Observants’ imperative to observe strict evangelical poverty and the realities of living in the fifteenth-century world in which workers had to be paid. Even so, and quite remarkably, Colette was at one point accused by her detractors of running a moneylending business and of being a usurer (V 189, P 77)—an indication of the myriad difficulties she had to overcome.

Devotional Life Colette’s devotional life features many practices that define medieval religious life: regular confession (which was compulsory for all Christians once a year after the 1215 Fourth Lateran Council); a devotion to the Eucharist and the saints; prayer; observation of feast days; fasting at least during Lent and on Fridays; and doing penance for a variety of sins. In holy personages these practices often reached excessive levels: thus devotion to the Eucharist could lead to visions of a child in the host or of bloody flesh on a platter;89 prayer was often accompanied by uncon88. Saint Anne is not a biblical character but appears for the first time as Mary’s mother in the secondcentury Protoevangelium of Saint James. It was especially in the later Middle Ages that she became an extremely popular figure. She was believed to have been married three times, and was thus seen as the creator of the Holy Kinship. See V 85 and P 43, and the notes there, for more on Saint Anne and Colette’s objection to her three marriages. Although Saint Anne is often seen as patroness of wealth, the episode of collecting alms does not seem to be a traditional element in her legend. It is depicted in the Saint Anne altarpiece in the Historical Museum in Frankfurt, Germany, on a panel showing Colette praying to Saint Anne, who is holding a begging bowl. The panel is reproduced as fig. 20 in the Introduction to Kathleen M. Ashley and Pamela Sheingorn, eds., Interpreting Cultural Symbols: Saint Anne in Late Medieval Society (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1990), and as fig. 36 in Virginia Nixon, Mary’s Mother: Saint Anne in Late Medieval Europe (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004). On the cult of Saint Anne see also Jennifer Welsh, The Cult of St. Anne in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (London and New York: Routledge, 2017). 89. See Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, The Strange Case of Ermine de Reims: A Medieval Woman between Demons and Saints (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015), 70–79. Colette sees Christ’s

Introduction 29 trollable weeping;90 fasting could become so extreme that it almost killed its practitioners; penance could take the shape of self-harm and even self-mutilation.91 We can find all of these practices in the two Lives. At the same time, the religious life of the laity, the clergy, and monastics was well ordered through the feast days of the liturgical year and the Hours that shaped the day for observant Christians.92 The lives of Colette and her sisters inside the convent walls were governed by the canonical Hours that required prayers at certain times of the day. Matins was usually rung at midnight and the other Hours followed: Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. Matins and Lauds were often performed together, recited between midnight and dawn, and the other Hours were usually separated by three hours, with the evening devoted to Vespers and Compline. Essential for the observance and practice of all Christian rites was the breviary, a collection of texts that often appears in the two Lives. It usually begins with a calendar, “essential for making sure that right devotions are performed on each day in the year; for the content of each service varies according to the season, the day of the week, the saints’ days and other feasts, both fixed and moveable.”93 It also contains the psalter,94 canticles, and hymns, as well as the full text of the Divine Office and prayers for each day of the liturgical year. In addition, there are prayers for each saint’s day and texts for different categories of saints, such as apostles, martyrs, and confessors. All of these elements appear at many moments in the two Lives as Colette and her sisters go through the days, months, and years. For the nocturnal prayers the sisters were usually awakened by a bell. In one especially dramatic story (V 168, P 75) we find a rather confused sister, the sacristaine,95 who wakes up in a daze and rings what she believes to be the sacrifice as a platter filled with chopped-up flesh like that of an innocent child (V 84, P 34.2). See The Strange Case, 71, and Caroline Walker Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1987), 67. 90. Perrine notes that sometimes Colette was so wet from weeping that she looked as if someone had dragged her from a river (P 62.2)! 91. See Rachel J.D. Smith, Excessive Saints: Gender, Narrative, and Theological Invention in Thomas of Cantimpré’s Mystical Hagiographies (New York: Columbia University Press, 2019), and Richard Kieckhefer, Unquiet Souls: Fourteenth-Century Saints and Their Religious Milieu (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984). 92. Colette was passionately devoted to feast days and made sure they were observed, even on the road. She strong-armed governors of certain towns to move their market days so as to avoid holding them on feast days, and persuaded a merchant not to travel with his wares on a feast day (P 15–16). His obedience to Colette saved him from a violent robbery to which his non-observant colleagues fell victim. 93. John Harthan, The Book of Hours: with a Historical Survey and Commentary (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1977), 12–13. 94. Colette is often shown reciting the Psalms, and in one instance a vexatious demon pours oil from Colette’s lamp on her Psalter in order to ruin it. The Psalter is miraculously restored (P 31). 95. This is the female form of “sacristan” that both Pierre and Perrine use.

30 Introduction midnight bell several hours early. The town’s watchmen immediately interpret this unusual bell ringing as a sign that some sort of treasonous attack is in the offing. In the fifteenth century clocks were already quite common in towns across France, and so, with one look at the clock, the watchmen realize that this could not be the midnight bell. Furious, they vow to attack the nuns, but as they approach the convent it is suddenly 1 a.m., so that the bell seems to have been rung correctly after all. Needless to say, this resetting of the clock is a divine miracle that protects the nuns, for the confused watchmen return to their watch towers. The Hours are used throughout the two Lives to demarcate the different periods of the day. Each Hour has its own prescribed prayers. Colette prays both “vocally” and “mentally,” that is, without speaking a prayer aloud. In an extraordinary passage Pierre tells us that Colette’s prayers were often so fervent that a firebrand seemed to emerge from her mouth, burning her veil. He sees this as a sign that her prayers reached the divinity and were accepted. Perrine’s version is less dramatic, but she tells us of an additional detail: sometimes a rose appeared on Colette’s lips when she prayed (V 83, P 33). The Divine Office was usually celebrated communally, although often Colette preferred to be alone. Both Pierre and Perrine tell us that when Colette was outside one of her convents, she would attend a public mass, but when she was inside, she preferred to celebrate it in private (V 94, P 61). The highlight of religious ritual was the Eucharist that ordinary Christians were supposed to receive once a year, but that holy women, especially in the late Middle Ages, desired much more often.96 Colette was so passionately devoted to the Eucharist that she cried and wept, claiming she was unworthy to receive Christ; her streams of tears often stunned and frightened those around her. She would then remain enraptured for many hours (V 111, P 42). Pierre dramatically describes the extreme pains—reenacting Christ’s passion—that Colette experienced while receiving the host. But at times Colette’s devotional schedule had to be adjusted to her work schedule: Perrine informs us that often Colette took the Eucharist at matins (midnight), that is, earlier than usual, because she had early morning business to attend to. Thus, Colette’s devotional routine is on the one hand marked by raptures and seemingly out-of-body experiences, but on the other has to give way occasionally to her professional obligations as abbess and reformer. Another feature of daily life in a convent is asceticism. Colette modeled it in an often extreme way. She wore a hair shirt, slept on bare planks without sheets, and in a shocking act of penance, Perrine tells us,

96. See Caroline Walker Bynum, “Women Mystics and Eucharistic Devotion in the Thirteenth Century,” in Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion (New York: Zone Books, 1991), 119–50.

Introduction 31 our glorious mother sister Colette had an iron belt that she tied around her virginal flesh, and she wore it for such a long time that the flesh grew over this ring and one could only see its buckle. Once, when she was in the convent at Besançon, our good father friar Henry de Baume ordered her, by holy obedience, to remove it, for he saw that it hurt her too much, telling her that the Order still needed her very much. She did as ordered. She attached an iron hook to the belt and turned so that the hook pulled the belt until it came off, taking with it parts of her flesh. (P 51)97 She wore no shoes, rejected warm clothing even in a cold climate, fasted or ate moldy bread (P 54), and covered all her food with tears (V 17). As for extreme fasting, we find in Pierre’s version a collision between the biblical or hagiographical model and the realities of life that he observed: “not eating anything” soon becomes “fasting on bread and water”: When one looks at the plain and small portions she ate one would find that she lived more divinely than humanly. Who would be able to naturally fast for forty days and forty nights, without eating or drinking anything? And nonetheless, by God’s grace, she fasted like this. For several spans of forty days she fasted, despite her great weakness, on bread and water. (V 114) One little egg would last her for days, but we also learn that she had some culinary preferences (namely little river fish—heads and tails removed—over fat and large fish, V 115) and concern for hygiene, for she usually boiled her water in glass vessels before drinking it (V 118, P 62.2). To emphasize Colette’s abstinence, Pierre de Vaux compares her to Saint John the Baptist (V 7), for whom Colette felt a special devotion. Saint John is the ringbearer in some of the accounts of a holy woman’s mystical marriage with Christ, for example in the legend of Saint Catherine of Alexandria.98 Pierre 97. We find exactly the same practice in the story of Ermine de Reims (d. 1389). Her confessor, Jean le Graveur, wants her to remove it (Blumenfeld-Kosinski, The Strange Case, 82–83). Jean wants to restrain Ermine’s tendency for self-harm, but Pierre cites a political reason: Colette is still needed for the Reform and therefore must strive for good health. A similar practice is found as far back as the sixth century: in Venantius Fortunatus’s Life of Holy Radegund, Radegund (ca. 525–587), the queen of the Franks and abbess at Poitiers, wraps herself in iron chains so tightly “that her delicate flesh, swelling up, enclosed the hard iron.” The chains’ removal results in copious bleeding. See Sainted Women of the Dark Ages, 81. 98. Her story was known especially through the thirteenth-century version in Jacobus de Voragine’s collection of saints’ lives, The Golden Legend. A more contemporary famous example of mystical marriage is Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), to whom Christ Himself presented a wedding ring;

32 Introduction recounts in his chapter on Colette’s purity that “Our Lord sent her a very precious and beautiful ring made of fine gold that was not made by human hands; Saint John presented it to her and sweetly and graciously placed it on her finger as a gift from the sovereign king and prince of virginity and of all cleanness” (V 66). Perrine, for reasons we cannot know, offers a different version: she tells us very briefly that Saint John the Baptist himself married Colette—with a ring that Perrine saw many times (P 52).

Illnesses There is no doubt that Colette suffered all her life from chronic illnesses. Both Pierre and Perrine see her extreme sufferings and the patience with which she endures them as a sign of holiness. Indeed, Pierre claims that her suffering surpassed that of all previous martyrs: It was terrible, for not a week went by when she did not suffer one or two martyrdoms of which one was that she was roasted like Saint Laurent,99 and although the fire did not come from nature, it was real as far as its effect and operation were concerned, for God’s power makes it possible that there can be an effect of fire without actual fire, just as there can be a fire without actual effect. And this martyrdom lasted for an entire night. Sometimes she was tormented like Saint Vincent,100 sometimes she was crucified, sometimes she was skinned, at other times she was roasted or boiled. Sometimes it seemed to her that her heart was being cut in half and that someone filled it with salt, and then, once it was salted, it was closed up again. Sometimes it seemed to her that she had a burning torch in her stomach that burned her up completely, and sometimes it seemed to her that she had glowing coals in her eyes that burned up and consumed her eyes. Sometimes it seemed to her that her body and limbs were pierced through and through by sharp and burning pieces of iron. (V 124)

see Raymond of Capua, Die “Legenda maior” (“Vita Catharinae Senensis”) des Raimund von Capua. Edition nach der Nürnberger Handschrift Cent. IV, 75. Übersetzung und Kommentar, ed. and trans. into German by Jörg Jungmayr (Berlin: Weidler, 2004), 1:12, 160–62. For John as Christ’s (that is, the bridegroom’s) friend and “best man,” see John 3:28–29. 99. Saint Lawrence was a third-century Spanish deacon in Rome. He was martyred by being roasted on a rack and is hence the patron saint of cooks. 100. Saint Vincent of Saragossa was a third-century Spanish saint martyred under the Roman emperor Diocletian. He was burned on a rack after his flesh was torn and salt was rubbed into his wounds.

Introduction 33 Less dramatic are Perrine’s observations. Here, in the manner typical for her account, she combines her own experiences with what she heard from friars Pierre de Vaux and François Claret: Among the illnesses she suffered and that tormented her there was a swelling of the body that increased and decreased, and although it was very painful and grievous for her, she suffered it with benign patience. And also often other illnesses attacked her, and she suffered pains throughout the day. Because of these pains she wanted to lie down in bed, although she found little or no rest in it, for as soon as she lay down new pains gripped her that lasted all night until morning or sometimes till noon. Nonetheless she bore it all patiently. This is what I heard her say. I also saw that on Sundays and feast days she suffered greater pains and more painful maladies than on other days. And I even heard from friar Pierre de Reims and friar François Claret that her suffering was more grievous and greater the more solemn the feast day was. (P 63–63.2) Colette often had serious eye trouble, an especially grievous illness since it kept her from reading in her breviary. At times burning coals seemed to be scorching her eyes (P 63.2). She also suffered from arthritis, which induced her sisters to bring her a kind of space heater, consisting of fire on a shovel, because she refused to have heat in her cell and oratory (P 51). Colette suffered continuously, but she frequently offered assistance to the sisters and others who fell ill with a variety of ailments or were in some kind of danger. Some of the assistance was practical and from this world, while some was more miraculous. The miracles Colette performed while still alive open a window onto her relationships with her own community, the inhabitants of the towns where her convents were located, and sometimes even with people she met while on the road. People often turned to her when illness struck. Once, when Colette visited one of her convents, she heard about a sister who was kept isolated in a room because of the danger of contagion. Colette asked to see her, and comforted her. Then she asked for a vial filled with water. As soon as our glorious mother received it, she put into her mouth as much as a small ladleful and sprayed it on the sick woman, and she did this as long as the water lasted. With each mouthful that she sprayed over her, the sick woman felt more and more relieved and her illness diminished. When the water was gone, the sick woman found herself completely cured and healthy again. Our glorious mother said to her, “Go back

34 Introduction to the community, carry your cot to the dormitory, and move out of your little room.” (P 47) Similarly, Colette cured a sister who could not keep down any food by feeding her with pre-chewed bread (V 232, P 91). Often a touch or a kiss by Colette sufficed to heal a sister. And sometimes, her hair was enough to cure someone, as in the story of friar Pierre d’Aisy, who in his function as Visitator in Besançon came across a seriously ill friar who was about to suffocate from an abscess in his throat. At first Pierre was at a loss for what to do to help, but then by chance he remembered that he had some precious hairs of the handmaid of Our Lord with him. He took them, together with the Rule of monsieur saint Francis that he always carried with him, and made the sign of the cross over the sick friar, and immediately the huge growth and abscess that was strangling him burst, and he vomited it out and soon was cured. (V 230).101

Miracles This miracle occurred during Colette’s lifetime, but of course Colette also performed some posthumous miracles. Proof of miracles was necessary for any canonization, and by far the largest number were healing miracles.102 Throughout the thirteenth century the papacy had formalized the procedures for canonizations, trying to stem a tide of popular cults that had no official sanction.103 Elaborate trials were organized at which witnesses had to testify to a saint’s virtuous life, but especially to his or her miraculous powers. Although Colette was not canonized until 1807, we need to read the lists of her many thaumaturgic miracles in the two Lives as evidence that was meant to be presented at a trial. Pierre devotes all of chapter 20 to the miracles Colette performed during her lifetime, while Perrine scatters miracle healings throughout her text. Just about every imaginable medieval illness appears in the miracles: migraines, including a terrible one that 101. See Robert Bartlett, Why Can the Dead Do Such Great Things?: Saints and Worshippers from the Martyrs to the Reformation (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2013), 352, on this ailment and miraculous cures. Saint Francis’s hair could also perform miracles: in one example a doctor who had cared for Francis put some of Francis’s hair into a crack of his newly—and clearly shoddily—built house to save it from collapse. This favor, Bonaventure states, was the payment for the care the doctor had given Francis. See Bonaventure, The Life of Saint Francis, trans. and introd. Ewert Cousins (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1978), 7.11, 247. 102. For a comprehensive overview of the idea of miracles see Bartlett, Why Can the Dead Do Such Great Things?, chap. 9. The subsections on healing miracles, saints and demons, and saints and animals are especially useful for an understanding of the two Lives. 103. See Vauchez, Sainthood in the Later Middle Ages.

Introduction 35 drives one of Colette’s friends, friar Pierre d’Aisy, to despair (V 257, P 94); gout, quartan fever, plague, dropsy, epilepsy, various abscesses and swellings, fistulas. Interestingly, however, paralysis and blindness—the afflictions most commonly found in medieval collections of miracles that occur at a saint’s shrine—are not often part of Colette’s repertoire.104 To this day, many devotees of Saint Colette venerate her as a patron of childbirth. Colette herself never bore a child—although Pierre de Vaux compares her suffering while taking the Eucharist to painful labor (V 111)—but she facilitated many apparently hopeless childbirths through her saintly intercession.105 In one case, she prevented a Caesarean section that at the time would surely have killed the mother: as the barbers were already being summoned for the operation,106 Colette’s prayers led to a safe delivery. Even more dramatically, Colette resuscitated a stillborn baby by ordering it to be exhumed and praying over its body (V 203). Prayers to Colette by women in the throes of a difficult labor thus were most often answered. Since Colette and her sisters moved around so much, they often encountered travelers in trouble. Roads were treacherous in the Middle Ages; there were 104. Bartlett, in Why Can the Dead Do Such Great Things?, gives us the statistics compiled by PierreAndré Sigal that show paralysis and blindness as by far the most common ailments cured at shrines. Irina Metzler, in Disability in Medieval Europe: Thinking about Physical Impairment during the High Middle Ages, c. 1100–1400 (London and New York: Routledge, 2006), scrutinizes eight miracle collections and comes to the same conclusion (191–259). Of course, collections that originate at pilgrimage sites have a different purpose than a biography. For Bartlett’s statistics, see Pierre-André Sigal, L’Homme et le miracle dans la France médiévale (XIe–XIIe siècle) (Paris: Cerf, 1985). 105. For a typology of medieval childbirth miracles see Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, “Gautier de Coinci and Medieval Childbirth Miracles,” in Gautier de Coinci: Miracles, Music, and Manuscripts, ed. Kathy M. Krause and Alison Stones (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007), 197–214. Mireille Laget, in Naissances: L’accouchement avant l’âge de la clinique (Paris: Seuil, 1982), gives a good overview of the medical interventions possible in such critical situations (230–60). Often, as in the two Lives, doctors or barbers were called by desperate midwives or family members before a saint was appealed to. It is important to remember that “a doctor’s advice was not seen as rivaling divine healing. More likely they were considered to be mutually complementary, not contestants”; see Sari Katajala-Peltomaa, Gender, Miracles, and Daily Life: The Evidence of Fourteenth-Century Canonization Processes (Turnhout: Brepols, 2009), 122. On “medical pluralism,” with an emphasis on the healing miracles of Francesca Romana, see Jenni Kuulalia, “The Saint as Medicator: Medicine and the Miraculous in Fifteenth- and SixteenthCentury Italy,” Social History of Medicine 2020, hkaa053, . Many examples of this complementarity and pluralism appear in the accounts of Colette’s healing miracles. But occasionally doctors were punished for their erroneous diagnoses, as in V 206! 106. Caesareans were performed post-mortem at this time, that is, only when the mother had died during labor. On who was performing Caesareans in the fifteenth century, see Renate BlumenfeldKosinski, Not of Woman Born: Representations of Caesarean Birth in Medieval and Renaissance Culture (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1990) chap. 3. See also Alessandra Foscati, “ ‘Nonnatus dictus quod caeso defunctae matris utero prodiit’: Postmortem Caesarean Section in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period,” Social History of Medicine 32 (2019): 465–80.

36 Introduction few signposts and few bridges. In a series of episodes that illustrate the power of the sign of the cross, Perrine recounts an especially dramatic incident: Once, when she returned from a journey necessary for the good of the Order, she and her companions came to a big and deep river, and they could find no bridge or ferry or anyone who could help them cross it. Our glorious mother, trusting in the goodness of Our Lord, made the sign of the cross and also had her confessor make it, and with great faith they safely crossed this river, some on foot, and some on horseback. Not long after that, several people on horseback came to this same part of the river in order to cross it as well. Seeing that the others before them had safely crossed, they said mockingly, “If these bigots and hypocrites crossed safely, there’s no reason that we couldn’t cross as well.” Thus, they presumptuously threw themselves into the river, where they all drowned. (P 41)107 There are other moments when Colette protects herself and other travelers from dangers of the road or even would-be robbers, sometimes even miraculously using a foreign language that transforms the highway robbers into a group of bodyguards for the rest of Colette’s trip (V 77, P 32).108 In addition to the danger of being robbed, female travelers faced the danger of rape, as Pierre suggests when he writes that a group of violent men confronted Colette and her sisters and “assaulted them with carnal and indecent words” (V 78).109 In Colette’s letter of 1438 to the citizens of Ghent (translated in the section on Letters), Colette even refuses to travel at all, citing the dangers of the open road. Sometimes Colette did not even have to be present to save a traveler’s life. A merchant, setting out on a trip in dreadful weather, had the good idea to commend himself to Colette before his departure. As he rode through a field covered in water and snow with zero visibility, [h]e arrived at a certain passageway which was so dangerous that he had to risk death in order to pass it: he could have fallen into a deep hole filled with water and snow. In this mortal danger he remembered the little handmaid of Our Lord, and in his heart commended himself to her holy prayers. As soon as he had made this commendation, he saw the handmaid guarding the perilous passage and she 107. Pierre tells the same story in V 100. 108. On miraculous xenoglossia see Christine F. Cooper-Rompato, The Gift of Tongues: Women’s Xenoglossia in the Later Middle Ages (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010). 109. André Pidoux de La Maduère sees in this story a veiled reference to the dangers of rape that female travelers had to confront: Sainte Colette (1381–1447) (Paris: Librairie Victor Lecoffre, 1907), 133.

Introduction 37 made a sign with her hand, indicating that there was no way he could cross and that he should turn around, which he did immediately, realizing clearly that he had avoided a deadly peril because of her merits. (V 91)110

Demons, Ghosts, and Other Apparitions The presence of demons, both visible and invisible, was taken for granted in medieval culture. Minions of the devil, they were intent on vexing people by tormenting them, tempting them, or preventing them from observing religious rituals. It was a sign of holiness to wage a battle against them on the model of the early Christian saints such as Saint Anthony the Great, the legendary desert father of the third and fourth centuries CE, who was both tempted by lascivious creatures and tormented by hideous animals.111 Colette’s entire life was marked by demonic attacks that she fended off valiantly. Here are just a few examples. Some of the demons liked to sabotage Colette’s devotional practices:112 When she wanted to pray to Our Lord, either with words or mentally, immediately a huge multitude of demons appeared before her, as flies when the weather was good, and in many different shapes: there were cruel beasts, such as wolves, leopards, lions and such, and filthy, abominable animals such as toads, snakes, serpents, and other big and small animals. There were also shapes that looked like reasonable men and women who showed themselves from the shoulders up.113 And some of these animals showed themselves to be more cruel and filthier than others, and there were some small ones that appeared beautiful and gentle; and there were also faces of men and 110. The phrase “because of her merits” appears frequently in connection with Colette’s miracles. It emphasizes that Colette, like other saints, must be seen as an intercessor—not a miracle worker— whose merits move God to grant a miracle. 111. See David Brakke, Demons and the Making of the Monk: Spiritual Combat in Early Christianity (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006). The term for demon used in the two Lives is common in all French texts of this period: “enemy.” Following previous practice, I translate the word as “demon” when the text says “an enemy” and as “devil” when it says “the enemy.” 112. For Ermine de Reims, we have similar occurrences. Demons sabotage her pious devotions, but they do even more than in Colette’s case: they challenge the most basic Christian doctrines, such as the value of baptism or confession. Ermine was a simple lay woman, with a minimal knowledge of these doctrines. The demons do not assail the much more educated and knowledgeable Colette in the same way! (See Blumenfeld-Kosinski, The Strange Case, 79–85, on demonic challenges of Christian doctrine, and all of chap. 4 on demons.) 113. These peculiar demonic apparitions are shown fol. 104r in Manuscript 8 of the Monasterium Bethlehem of the Zusters Clarissen-Coletienes in Ghent. See fig. 6.

38 Introduction women that appeared beautiful and they had lots of beautiful hair, well combed. (V 159) Although other people were usually unable to see Colette’s demons, occasionally one of the sisters did and even came to Colette’s aid. In one case, a sister intervened by directly addressing the demons: “she said, ‘Come toward me, come to me and leave my mother be.’ And there was such a multitude and abundance of these figures that she took a stick with which she herded them behind the little handmaid of Our Lord” (V 161). Demons also assailed other people in the two Lives. A sister in the convent of Besançon, for instance, tried for six years to confess her sins, but every time she was headed toward the confessional her path was blocked by “a big and indecent knight” (P 35), clearly a demon representing a shameful secret or desire. In Pierre’s version, the devil—no description is given—prevents the sister’s confession by appearing to her and making her feel “great shame” (V 87). Interpreting the many, many demonic encounters in the two biographies will allow readers to compose a late medieval panorama of demons and their functions. Among the other apparitions in the two Lives are ghosts, such as the ghost of Dom Raoul of Roye, abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Corbie, who had tried to marry off the orphaned Colette against her will. Seven years after his death he frightens Colette by appearing to her with a horrible noise of rattling chains (P 49). But ghosts could also be helpful, as we see with Father Pinet, the guardian of the convent at Hesdin who had been Colette’s confessor while she was a recluse in Corbie. He died in 1405 but offered his ghostly services about thirty years later, when Colette had fallen from a carriage while working on founding her convent in Hesdin. Her arm came out of its socket and no one could help. It then happened that the good father friar Jehan Pinet, who had died and was buried at the convent of Friars Minor at Hesdin and who had been the confessor of this virgin at her anchorhold in Corbie, appeared to her and reprimanded her by saying, “Colette, why have you been waiting to turn to me? I would have healed you instantly.” And so she was immediately entirely healed. (P 48) We also encounter apparitions of miraculous animals, such as a white lamb that kneels before the Eucharist.114 Perrine simply tells us about these wonderful apparitions, while Pierre interprets them: the whiteness of the lamb and of another divine animal signifies innocence and purity, the virtues that Colette embodies (P 26 and 26.2, V 60 and 61). The white lamb appears in Pierre’s chapter 9, “On Chastity and Virginity,” and it is here that he at length praises these virtues in 114. A genuflecting lamb also appears in Bonaventure’s Life of Saint Francis (8.7, 256).

Introduction 39 Colette’s life. He even tells us that she would not read the Old Testament “because in those times these virtues were not observed by these old fathers, and she never wanted anyone to speak of them. But she loved the New Testament, where these virtues were valued and praised by the prince of virginity and by His glorious virgin mother” (V 64).115 Colette starred in a number of miraculous appearances, as for example when she appeared to an ailing sister to offer her a little healing apple (V 222.3). After her death, she consoled—as a ghostly apparition—several sisters who had been especially devoted to her (V 196, 197). In one of the most moving passages in Perrine’s biography we share the experience of a sister who had never met Colette, but her ardent prayer to the Virgin Mary that she should send Colette to her convent allows her to see the beloved mother of her Order as a luminous visitor. And just to make sure that the sister recognizes her, little angels proclaim, “This is sister Colette” (P 82). One of the most important visionary appearances of Colette to a faraway recipient was to Vincent Ferrer (1350–1419), the fiery Dominican preacher from Aragon, canonized in 1455, who was a staunch supporter of Pope Benedict XIII but later came to regret this choice. It fell to him to proclaim the decree of the Spanish kingdoms to renounce Benedict XIII at the Council of Constance which finally ended the Great Schism.116 According to Henry de Baume, Vincent had a vision of Colette praying before Christ, urging Him to end the Schism.117 Both biographers recount that because of this vision Vincent traveled to France to meet with Colette, according to Perrine, at the convent in Poligny (V 84, P 34).118 This 115. Lopez wonders about how much of the Bible Colette really knew (Learning and Holiness, 121). French Bible translations began to appear in the thirteenth century, so even people who knew no Latin could have access to it. Interestingly, however, in his letter to the citizens of Amiens in 1443 (translated in the section on Letters), Pierre assures his readers that Colette and the sisters were not reading any forbidden books in French (“en romant deffendu”)—but without saying what these books might be. See Pierre de Vaux, “La Lettre de P. Pierre de Vaux aux habitants d’Amiens (1443),” ed. Ubald d’Alençon, in Etudes franciscaines 23 (1910): 651–59, at p. 655. 116. On Vincent’s role in the Great Schism and at the Council of Constance, see Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Poets, Saints, and Visionaries, 78–81 and 202–8; on his meeting with Colette, 94–95. On his life, see Philip Daileader, Saint Vincent Ferrer: His World and Life (New York: Palgrave, 2016). On his cult, see Laura Ackerman Smoller, The Saint and the Chopped-Up Baby: The Cult of Vincent Ferrer in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2014). 117. Pierre-Henri Fages, Histoire de Saint Vincent Ferrier, apôtre de l’Europe (Paris: Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1892–94), 2:188. For a critical evaluation of this visit see Campbell, “Contextualising Reform,” 360–62. This visit took place in 1417 while Vincent was preaching in the region of Franche-Comté. 118. Lopez, Learning and Holiness (22), says Besançon, but without indicating a source. Poligny is a small town in the Jura mountains, in today’s Département de Franche-Comté. Founded by Colette in 1415, the convent of the Poor Clares exists to this day (at 13, rue Sainte-Colette). After various destructions in the seventeenth century and during the French Revolution, the chapel was rebuilt in 1838. For its five hundredth anniversary the convent hosted a colloquium entitled “Colette de Corbie, la

40 Introduction vision has the important function of uniting a Franciscan and a Dominican in the joint quest for the salvation of sinners and for an end to the Great Schism. In its combination of the spiritual and the political it epitomizes the two parts of Colette’s life that she managed to meld perfectly: her spirituality informed every one of her actions in the world of politics and reform. Our two witnesses, Pierre de Vaux and Perrine de la Roche et de Baume, painted extraordinarily detailed and moving portraits of their beloved Colette. Of course, they were not the only ones to speak of her, both during her lifetime and after her death.119 She was mentioned in many letters, a few of which I translate in the section on Letters. The three most important early testimonies were related to the beginning of the efforts to initiate an official canonization trial, which turned into an obstacle course of several centuries.120 In all of these testimonies we see a devout and determined woman whose exceptional charisma attracted those around her, allowing her to enlist them in her reform work. We see a woman whose rich and astonishing spirituality was complemented by extraordinary organizational and administrative talents, a true saint and leader.121

résurgence d’un charisme,” published as Sainte Colette et sa postérité, with a preface by André Vauchez (Paris: Les Editions Franciscaines, 2016). 119. See Anna Campbell, “Creating a Colettine Identity in an Observant and Post-Observant World: Narratives of the Colettine Reforms after 1447,” in Religious Orders and Identity Formation, ca. 1420– 1620: Discourses and Strategies of Observance and Pastoral Engagement, ed. Bert Roest and Johanneke Uphoff (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2016), 32–47. 120. Elisabeth Lopez presents the three most important early ones in part 1, chap. 8 of Learning and Holiness. On the many centuries of efforts to canonize Colette see Lopez, Learning and Holiness, part 3, chap. 6, and the excellent detailed analysis by Anna Campbell, “Colette of Corbie: Cult and Canonization,” in Mueller and Warren, eds., A Companion to Colette of Corbie, 173–206. See also Roest, “Creating a Textual Community,” on the correspondence between Colette’s female followers. 121. For a close analysis of her leadership qualities see Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, “Saint Colette de Corbie.” The canonization bull of 1807, by emphasizing mostly Colette’s asceticism and humility, erases the “woman who drew authority from her visions and commanded the respect of powerful contemporaries,” presenting “a more generalized classic paradigm of female holiness” (317).

Pierre de Vaux The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie Preface to the Edition and Translation Both biographies were written in Middle French, which was spoken and written from about the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries. Ubald d’Alençon, the editor of the 1911 edition of the Middle French texts, used the 1494 manuscript housed at the convent of the Poor Clares in Amiens, now in the archives at Amiens,1 as the basis for his edition of Pierre de Vaux’s biography of Saint Colette. He considers this manuscript a faithful copy of the original. For Perrine de Baume’s text he used Manuscript 2 in the Monasterium “Bethlehem” of the Zusters ClarissenColetienen in Ghent, also a copy, made in 1494 from the original. (See Ubald d’Alençon’s introduction, xlii–xlix, for information on the manuscripts.) Ubald d’Alençon adopted the numbering for the paragraphs from the Latin version made by the Bollandists in Acta Sanctorum Martii, vol. 1: 531–626 (Antwerp: Jacob van Meurs, 1668) for easy cross-reference, but the editor’s numbering is sometimes different from that of the Bollandists. He indicates this discrepancy by using square brackets, a practice I also adopt in my translation and also signal in some notes. Because the Bollandist editors used several manuscripts for their edition—the text had been translated into Latin as early as 14502—they numbered some paragraphs as bis (second) and ter (third), a numbering which Ubald d’Alençon also adopted, and which I transcribe as, for example, 99.2 or 99.3. In the manuscripts, neither Pierre de Vaux’s nor Perrine de Baume’s biography numbers the paragraphs. Pierre’s text is divided into chapters, while Perrine’s offers only occasional titles for sections. The illustrations in the text come from the beautiful Manuscript 8 at the Monasterium “Bethlehem” of the Zusters Clarissen-Coletienen in Ghent (produced between 1468 and 1477), commissioned by Margaret of York, the duchess of Burgundy.3 As Albert Derolez points out, the images depict many events from the Life of Colette; they “were all especially created for Pierre de Vaux’s text and 1. Amiens 21–08, according to Fr. Bernhard Hodel, OP (personal communication in May 2021). 2. See Johan Decavele, “Pierre de Vaux, Saint Coleta’s Confessor and Biographer,” in Vita Sanctae Coletae, ed. Charles van Corstanje with Yves Cazaux, Johan Decavele, and Albert Derolez (Tielt, Belgium: Lannoo; Leiden: Brill, 1982), 145–48. He indicates that the Latin translation was made by “the Franciscan Etienne Juilly and Master Etienne Ghevelart in 1450,” followed by a Netherlandish translation by Olivier de Langhe in Ghent, and followed in turn by several other Latin translations published in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (147). 3. On this manuscript see Albert Derolez, “The Illuminated Manuscript Belonging to the Bethlehem Convent in Ghent,” in Corstanje et al., eds., Vita Sanctae Coletae, 149–53, and Andrea Pearson, “Imaging and Imagining Colette of Corbie: An Illuminated Version of Pierre de Vaux’s Vie de Colette,”

41

42 PIERRE DE VAUX not based, as was often the case [in medieval art], on existing examples or iconography” (152). • [Latin preamble]4 3. Here follows a brief account of the most perfect and holy life of the devout religious of glorious memory named sister Colette of the Order of saint Clare, in this world the first reformer of her Order and, as I believe without a doubt, in the other world coregent with her in glory. Her life as it appears in this text is crudely and awkwardly represented, in the hope that before long some notable person, equipped with beautiful eloquence, learning, and knowledge, will compose this life more fittingly and more orderly, as she deserves. You should know that her entire life and her greatness are not recited here because my understanding and my memory are so small as to be almost non-existent. Despite this smallness I have presumed to write and recite—by permission and order of the Reverend Father Minister5—this small recollection so that the excellent grace that Our Lord in His sovereign goodness chose to bestow on her will not be forgotten. I call her the little handmaid, that is, the little servant of Our Lord, because of certain things of which I have knowledge. For I know that before God she was often called like this. This account or recollection contains twenty chapters of which The first chapter tells of her childhood, and the grace He bestowed on her mother and father. The second chapter speaks of her profound humility. The third speaks of her obedience and how she was called to the evangelical life. The fourth how she kept and made others keep God’s commandments and observe feast days.

in A Companion to Colette of Corbie, ed. Joan Mueller and Nancy Bradley Warren (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2016), 130–72. I thank Professor Pearson for providing the digital images. 4. The Latin preamble in the 1911 edition (not translated here) is not part of Pierre de Vaux’s biography, but is numbered 1–2 in the manuscript. A note on my translation practice: both Pierre de Vaux and Perrine de Baume often write extremely long sentences (often as long as fifteen lines), with rather unclear syntax and referents. There are many instances of “this” or “it,” and many times a “she” that refers to several different women in one paragraph, without any proper names. I have divided up the very long sentences, and sometimes supply a referent in brackets. I also retain the inconsistent spelling of proper names. Pierre de Vaux, for example, is often referred to as Pierre de Reims. The word “enemy,” for devil or demon, appears in both singular and plural. I usually translate the singular as “devil,” and the plural as “demons.” In medieval culture there was no real distinction between the devil and demons from hell. Sometimes I add explanatory notes on specific choices in translating certain terms. 5. Antonio Rusconi was Minister General of the Franciscan Order from 1443 to 1449.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 43 The fifth chapter tells how God showed her a frightening vision and of the consent she gave, when forced by God, to reform the Order of Saint Clare. The sixth tells how she went to see our father the pope and how he made her a professed religious and an abbess. The seventh how she began the reform of the Order of our lady Saint Clare and the persecutions people made her suffer. The eighth how she loved holy poverty. The ninth chapter speaks of her chastity and virginity. The tenth chapter speaks of the sacrifice of holy prayer and how these prayers were acceptable to Our Lord and profitable for several people. The eleventh speaks of the great love and devotion she had for the Passion of Our Lord and of the miracles that were done through merits by the sign of the cross. The twelfth tells of the devotion and reverence she had for the sacrament of the altar and of her receiving the very precious body of Jesus Christ. The thirteenth tells how she was austere and harsh to herself but compassionate toward others. The fourteenth speaks of the grievous pains and torments she endured. The fifteenth speaks of the gift of prophecy and the great knowledge that God gave her. The sixteenth tells of the enemies that persecuted her. The seventeenth speaks of how the special graces of God’s friends were renewed in her. The eighteenth of the patience she had while being persecuted. The nineteenth speaks of the consolation of her last days and of her death. The twentieth speaks of the miracles she performed while still alive. Chapter 1: How God gave to His handmaid knowledge of Himself beginning in her childhood, and the grace He bestowed on her mother and father 4. One of the great graces God has given to His human creation is His gift of special knowledge of Him. Our lord Saint Augustine, when he spoke alone to God, humbly requested this grace: “Lord, please give me the grace of knowing you.”6 It was this special grace that God deigned in His sovereign goodness to give to the glorious handmaid when she was still a child. She was not more than four years old when she was beginning to have knowledge of Him. This is not naturally or commonly an age when children have knowledge of anything, let alone 6. This is an allusion to a famous prayer by Saint Augustine (354–430 CE): “Deus semper idem, noverim me, noverim te” (“God, always the same, let me know myself, let me know you”). See his Soliloquiorum (Soliloquies), 2.1.1, in Patrologia Latina 32, col. 885. This prayer has been studied by Donald X. Burt in “Let Me Know You . . .”: Reflections on Augustine’s Search for God (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2003).

44 PIERRE DE VAUX knowledge of God. The grace she received was more divine and supernatural than human and natural. And just as we read about the glorious Saint John the Baptist, who, after receiving in his childhood several instances of special knowledge of God, fled from this world and despised it and went into the desert and solitude,7 the glorious handmaid of Our Lord, when God by His grace had given her knowledge of Him in her childhood, began to flee from the youthful and pretty dissolute girls and to despise the world and worldly vanities and pleasures. And if she did not personally go into the desert—for she was a girl and for that reason it was not suitable for her to go there—nonetheless was she voluntarily and personally solitary in her father and mother’s house, where she lived in a little space closed off and separated from the others and which was arranged like a little oratory, where she occupied herself with thinking about God, loving and fearing Him, serving Him humbly and praying to Him devoutly. She rarely left this space, and when she had to, she was very annoyed and felt shame and estrangement among the worldly people. 5. And this virtuous condition of feeling shame in the world that God had given her lasted not only throughout her childhood but her entire life. Thus, every time she left the enclosure for reasons necessary for religious tasks or her little prayer room and was in the presence of other people, however close and familiar they were to her, she was thoroughly filled with shame. And in her view, she never said or did anything in public that was as useful as that which she did before God in secret and solitude. Sometimes young girls came to visit her and tried very hard to get her to join them at games and worldly diversions, but she never wanted to agree to this.8 And sometimes when she felt in her spirit that they were about to come and ask for her, she went away and hid in some secret place, under the bed or some other place, until they had left. 6. She was of small stature and young,9 but she was great and fervent in her desire to love God perfectly and to serve and fear Him and to make sure that He was known, feared, and loved by everyone. She was young, but in her virtuous way of life, honest morals, and mortifications, she was old. Her senses were not open or given over to the outside world, to things that could hurt her conscience. Her way of life was more heavenly than earthly, and more angelic than human, for she was 7. See Luke 1, 3:1–20, and 7:24–35; Matthew 3:1–12; and Mark 1:1–8. This is the first of a series of comparisons with Saint John the Baptist. 8. This is the hagiographical motif of the puella senex, or old child. See Donald Weinstein and Rudolph M. Bell, Saints and Society: The Two Worlds of Western Christendom, 1000–1700 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982), chap. 1: “Children.” 9. The editor of the Lives, Ubald d’Alençon, examined the remnants of Colette’s bones at the convent of Poligny and estimated that she was between 1.60 and 1.65 meters tall (about 5’2” to 5’4”); she also had a slightly protruding jaw. These characteristics are discussed in his note (a) to Pierre de Vaux’s para. 6 (V 6).

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 45 so well behaved that in her conduct one could not detect any levity or vanity. And all her thoughts, her words, and her deeds were produced in purity and loyalty of conscience, and with no other goal than to please God and edify other people. 7. To those people who loved and feared God it truly seemed as if God had given to the world a new treasure of graces and virtues for reasons unbeknownst to them. Some devout people thought that just as Saint John the Baptist used his foreknowledge of the first coming of Christ to announce it and to preach penitence, so the handmaid of Our Lord was sent by God before the second coming in order to exhort and admonish people to get their hearts so disposed that they would be able to appear with more confidence at God’s severe judgment, which is the second coming. And just as we said that the young Saint John the Baptist as a child practiced penitence and abstinence in the desert, she in her small solitary space and according to her small capacities vanquished and mortified her young little body by nourishing it soberly and abstinently, by laying it down hard and cruelly on wooden planks and covering it with mats, and by wearing next to her tender flesh crude ropes full of knots. 8. In addition to giving her an abundance of grace and virtues, it pleased God to endow her with outward graces, such as physical beauty, gracefulness, and amiableness. Her face and body were beautiful, although throughout her entire life she judged herself to be a very ugly creature, outside and inside. Her coloring was white and red, and the color white could very well signify the purity and cleanness of her conscience, and the color red the perfect love she had for God and with which her heart was on fire. She was for the longest time ignorant of this physical beauty, for she truly believed she had none. Once her beauty was made very clear to her, she was very sad and afflicted about this and turned to God for a remedy and asked Him humbly to take this beauty away from her, and immediately the color red was taken away from her face, and all her life she remained of one color, in her face, her hands, and her entire body. She was also so graceful that one wanted to see and listen to her, and she was very amiable toward good and bad people. Many notable people greatly admired the divine grace and the virtuous life that were so abundant in such a young little girl. 9. And especially her father and mother, who were honest people leading a good life by keeping God’s commandments as much as they could and doing pious and charitable works, when they saw that their only child had begun to lead and continued to lead a life of such great excellence and perfection, admired her and felt great joy and consolation. And they were not ungrateful for or ignorant of this special grace, namely that God had given them such a noble treasure, and many times they gave thanks to God. And they took great pleasure in their child’s holy life and in all her words and good deeds. And they firmly believed that by means of her meritorious works they could acquire God’s grace. And indeed, through the beautiful teachings she showed them and the beautiful exhortations she gave

46 PIERRE DE VAUX them, they resolved to do even better than before and guarded diligently against offending God by keeping their conscience pure and clean and by persevering in being virtuous. 10. And their good hopes were not disappointed, for God showed them a sign of love and gave both of them special graces. Among those He gave to the father, who was a kind and peaceful person, was the grace of pacifying those people who were divisive and in discord; he diligently executed this grace, for as soon as he learned that there were some people in discord or fighting with each other he dropped his work10 and immediately went there and did not cease his efforts until he had led them to a good peace. And God also gave him the grace to have pity and compassion for the poor members of the Christian community and to help and console the poor dissolute women or those who had committed some misdeed. When they and the other poor members had been led back and converted back to Jesus Christ through the admonitions of the little handmaid of Our Lord, he prepared one of his houses and gave it to them and provided for their needs. God also wanted to give special graces through her to her mother, who was a very devout woman, loving and fearing God, living harshly and soberly, and practicing various penances. Every week she confessed herself at least once and received the precious body of Our Lord.11 And both of them together sweetly tolerated and permitted that the little handmaid of Our Lord could do anything that God made her want to do.12 Consequently, several people who were ignorant of God’s will, were incited by the devil to gossip and say, “In view of the youth and smallness of the child, we would never let her do such things.” The father steadfastly said many times in response to them, “I am certain that our daughter does only good things.” 11. The child was disconsolate and pained by the words these people said to her father concerning her small stature; and once when she went on a pilgrimage out of devotion to some saint and was praying to Our Lord she remembered the things people had said to her father. So she began to speak humbly and devoutly: “Alas, Lord, does it please You that I remain so small?” And as soon as she had finished her prayer, she found that she had grown and that on the way back she was taller than on the way there. And when she realized that God had truly made her grow, she became animated and took courage to be more daring, putting to practice the graces and knowledge that God had given her. Several good girls and notable women visited her and she agreed to spend some time with them, and they did not speak of gossip or nonsense but of good and salutary teachings, that 10. He was a carpenter at the Benedictine abbey in Corbie. 11. After the Fourth Council of the Lateran (Lateran IV, 1215), all Christians were required to confess themselves and take communion at least once a year, although many devout people did so more often. 12. But cf. Sister Perrine’s account of Colette sneaking out the window at night to attend matins (prayers recited in the overnight hours) with her friend Adam (P 3). On matins, see note 23 below.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 47 is, of the perfect love of God, of the profound humility of our savior Jesus Christ, of His Passion and His anguished death, and that we have to serve Him diligently and devoutly and have to keep His holy commandments. We have to guard against offending Him mortally, flee from earthly joys, hate carnal pleasures, and detest the bodily delights in which some of them indulged greatly. And some of them who were free and had no obligations left everything they owned behind and gave themselves over to God as religious, and others remained loyally and piously in the state they were obliged to remain in. Chapter 2: Of her profound humility 12. Saint Augustine says that “humility is the root of all other virtues.”13 For just as a root is necessary for the tree which without it loses its life and beauty, so humility is so necessary for all the other virtues that without it they should not even be called virtues, nor would they be able to beautify the soul before God. And just as the height, the strength, and the beauty of the tree comes from the root and its depth in the earth, so the excellence, the dignity, and the perseverance of virtuous people comes from the virtue of humility and the depth of its root. We want to consider diligently how this virtue of humility was deeply rooted in the heart of the little handmaid of Our Lord sister Colette, and how from childhood to her death these virtues shone forth in her words and deeds. We know clearly that she was pleasant and gracious before God in this miserable valley and that she is elevated and glorious up there in heaven. Our lord Saint Bernard says that one degree of humility is that a person does not want to have a reputation of being humble but rather of being vile.14 Although she always was in the state 13. Although Ubald, following Pierre de Vaux, ascribes this quotation to Augustine, it is actually from a sermon of the twelfth-century Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), French abbot and religious writer, and the founder of the Cistercian Order. See Bernard of Clairvaux, Sancti Bernardi opera, ed. Jean Leclercq, Charles Hugh Talbot, and Henri-Marie Rochais, vol. 5 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1968), 73–111, at p. 76. The same statement appears in a treatise by Bonaventure (whose Life of Saint Francis provided a model for Pierre): his DePerfectione Vitae ad Sorores (The Perfection of Life: To Sisters), written specifically for the Poor Clares. According to Fr. Wilfrid, O.F.M., editor of a translation of the treatise as published in 1923 (with a second edition in 1928), the work “was addressed to a Poor Clare of Bonaventure’s acquaintance, probably Isabella, the sister of St. Louis, King of France. Following the advice and rules of life and conduct given to her in these pages, Isabella advanced in virtue and persevered” (xx). For more on Isabelle and Colette’s connection to her foundation see notes 15 and 32 of the Introduction. 14. The quotation comes from a work attributed to Saint Bernard, Tractatus de statu virtutum (Treatise on the state of the virtues), part 1; see Patrologia Latina 184, col. 793. The Tractatus de statu vertutum was originally attributed to Saint Bernard, but is not now considered one of his works; see, e.g., Three Pseudo-Bernardine Works, trans. and ann. by the Catena Scholarum at the University of Notre Dame, introd. Elias Dietz (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press; Athens, OH: Cistercian Publications, 2018).

48 PIERRE DE VAUX of innocence of marvelous purity and cleanness of conscience, she showed great disdain for her person by calling herself vile and dirty and abominable before God, affirming that she was worse than all evil sinners in this world. And people recited to her the excessive offenses of some sinners that they had perpetrated in this time; she responded that their misdeeds were nothing compared with hers, and that hell was not big enough to punish her sufficiently. Because of these faults that she judged to be in her conscience, she did not consider herself to be a true religious or worthy of entering a religious order, but for the love of Our Lord, who through His extreme humility made Himself our servant in this miserable world, she desired fervently to become the servant of some good and devout nuns. And in order to fulfill this desire she, who was still in her worldly garments, went humbly to present herself at a monastery of religious women,15 an action which she believed to be God’s wish. But Our Lord had predestined her for an even greater state of perfection and He demonstrated to her immediately that it was not His pleasure that she should live in the abovementioned monastery, and He made her leave at once, never to return. 13. Nonetheless, this humble desire to be a servant was not extinguished or diminished in her mind, rather it grew and became greater; and even though she knew well that our glorious father Saint Francis had requested from God that she should be tasked with reforming his three Orders and should become the mother and principal of this reform,16 as it will become apparent more amply below, she judged herself in her heart to be insufficient and unworthy, and therefore she did not consent to do it, and proposed that she would even be ready to go and meet our Holy Father the pope to ask him humbly to begin the reform of these Orders, and also so that she could petition the Holy Father to let her be a servant of the reformed sisters of the Order of Saint Clare, which is the second Order of Saint Francis.17 And in order to do this properly she asked permission from the Holy Father to get a little room near the reformed monastery so that she could serve these sisters diligently and decently. And finally the will of God—which no one can oppose—was done, and she was named and made lady, mother, and abbess of the entire abovementioned reform, and the pope appointed her for this task without her knowledge. And with all this her original desire to be saintly and humble was not thwarted, for all her life she called and proved herself through her deeds to be the servant and handmaid of this Order and subjected to it. This will become clear in various ways below, but was visible most clearly in all the letters 15. Sister Perrine makes clear that this was the Royal Abbey of Moncel in Pont Saint-Maxence (P 7); see the notes to that paragraph. Interestingly, Pierre omits Colette’s stay with the Benedictine nuns in Corbie, as well as her vision of Saint Francis waving her away (P 6). 16. The three orders are the Franciscans, the Poor Clares, and the Third Order of Saint Francis. 17. The chronology of these events is somewhat garbled here, since Colette spent four years as a recluse between 1402 and 1406. See the Chronology of Events for the timeline of Colette’s life.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 49 she wrote in which she always called herself an unworthy servant and useless supplicant. In the Constitutions she wrote for her sisters to help them to keep the rule more firmly, she always referred to herself as sister Colette, the small and humble handmaid and unworthy servant of Our Lord, poor and useless sister of the Order of Saint Clare.18 She never allowed anyone to say or write anything in her honor or praise. At the beginning of the reform the brothers and sisters were allowed to call her mother as they were officially permitted to do, and also in some prayers that they used to pray for her they called her mother. But she did not want to tolerate this and made them call her simply and humbly “sister.” 14. Among others at the beginning of the reform there was a reverend notable father, a man of the most religious and saintly life, named friar Henry de Baume, who had great knowledge of the special graces that God had given her.19 And so that these graces would not be forgotten but rather kept in perpetual memory, known only to God and himself, he secretly composed a book about these special graces which contained many marvelous things that no one had ever heard about. She learned about this book and she summoned the reverend father and spoke to him rather harshly, declaring that she had to reprimand him for everything that he had written in her praise in that book; and she said that she was a great sinner and had many defects that merited reproach and condemnation. And she immediately made him bring the book to her and she threw it in the fire and burned it so that all memory of it would be lost.20 God often wanted to give her great knowledge but she totally refused it, saying, “Lord, all I want is to know You simply and if You want to give me any grace let it be the forgiveness and remission of all my faults and sins.” 15. The reverend father General who is the head of the entire Order once, at her request, wrote some beautiful and good ordinances for all the religious so that they would be better adhered to in the future.21 There, he wrote a few lines in 18. See her Constitutions, which elaborate the Rule of Saint Clare: La Règle de l’ordre de Sainte Claire avec les statuts de la Réforme de Sainte Colette (Bruges: Desclée de Brouwer, 1892). On the contents of the Constitutions, see the Introduction, 25–26. 19. Henry de Baume (ca. 1367–1439), a Franciscan friar and author of religious treatises, became one of Colette’s closest friends and mentors as well as her confessor. He was born to a noble family in Geneva and was well connected to the duke and duchess of Savoy, who would become important supporters of Colette. He belonged to the reformist Burgundian friars. Ubald d’Alençon edited his Life in “Documents sur la réforme de sainte Colette en France,” Archivum Franciscanum Historicum 2 (1909): 600–8. 20. Intriguingly, Ubald d’Alençon reports that in 1630 the abbé of St. Laurent consulted two writings about Colette by Henry de Baume, a scroll à l’antique and a thick notebook that Henry supposedly composed in secret after Colette had burnt his first texts. Today, neither the scroll nor the notebook can be found. See Ubald d’Alençon, “Documents sur la réforme de sainte Colette en France,” 600. 21. William of Casale. See the Introduction, 23.

50 PIERRE DE VAUX praise of her and even though they were necessary and are still very necessary for the good of this Order, she never took any pleasure in them or wanted to listen to them. When the Constitutions had to be read in her presence, and when the reader arrived at these few lines in which she was called mother of the others, she was greatly afflicted, just as we read about Our Savior Jesus Christ who through His great sweetness and humility was close to and familiar with poor sinners and often helped and comforted them. Similarly, even though she hated sins and was greatly displeased by the offenses that were committed against God, she nevertheless was never horrified by or considered heinous the people who committed sins, be they religious or others, and piously recited to them how Our glorious Savior Jesus Christ descended from the heavens for sinners and that she was one of them and was therefore on their side. And she often comforted and consoled them charitably and humbly, and for this reason many of the poor sinners came to her and revealed to her their great and enormous sins that they had never dared to tell a priest; and she received and listened to them so humbly and admonished them so graciously that she made them know God and realize the offenses they had committed against Him, and she did not cease to work and labor until the poor souls were freed from the snares of the devil and put under God’s hand. 16. When it pleased our Holy Father the pope that she should execute the office of abbess, as he had ordered in such a diligent and saintly manner, she did so to God’s honor and the salvation of souls and to the benefit of the Order. And she joked that at first she had no convent and that when she did have one she had no enclosure, and that at the beginning they found many occasions to fall into transgressions, but that nonetheless through God’s goodness and through His good administration there was never any disorder or confusion. And yet she always said that she never did any good and that she spoiled everything and destroyed the good of the Order. 17. Whenever she had to preside in the chapter or refectory or somewhere else, she had such fear and trembling that it seemed to her that she saw visibly before her eyes her sovereign judge, and that she was not worthy to be in the presence of her judge. Wherever she was, whether in places of reverence or honor, and especially when she was in the company of others, she always wanted to have the lowest and most humble place.22 And when she was alone, she usually was on her knees or sitting on the floor. And only rarely, unless someone prevented her from doing it, she would throw herself on the ground from some height. When she was given her small and poor meal and she was alone she would most often take it sitting on the ground, weeping and sighing so much and so piteously that she and her food were all covered with tears. Sometimes when was suffering or ill, as it happened to her, she needed the help of some sister to say the Holy Office or other 22. In the parable of the wedding guests, Christ exhorts his followers to always take the lowest seat at the table (Luke 14:7–11). Colette thus follows Christ’s admonition.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 51 prayers. To show her unworthiness she preferred the novices to the professed nuns, and she never thought she was worthy to begin the Office or the prayers; rather, out of humility, she gladly said the verses and readings of matins,23 and the sister who helped her, even if she was the poorest and most simple novice in the convent, she made her the leader and let her begin and end the Office because of her great humility. Before she became a religious, she gave help and comfort to poor thieves and lepers, and she was very diligent to bring them things and do some good for them and to bring them alms with her own hands. And whenever she was seated at the table with her father and mother, as soon as she heard them ring she got up in order to bring them something to eat,24 and she gave them the best things she could find. And often, when she could do it secretly, she served them very humbly, and without horror or disgust she ate and drank with them; and sometimes she gently and charitably bathed them and washed their feet and wounds and very humanely cleaned and purified them.25 Chapter 3: Of obedience, and how she was called to the evangelical life 18. Obedience, says one of the ancient fathers, is a precious treasure through which one acquires the kingdom of paradise that was lost through disobedience.26 The glorious handmaid of Our Lord was greatly and divinely endowed with this 23. The Holy Office: the Divine Office, or Liturgy of the Hours, which prescribes prayers for specific hours of the day. Matins are one of the canonical Hours, usually the latter portion of the overnight hours (from about 2 or 3 a.m. until dawn). 24. A reference to the bells (or clappers) lepers had to carry in order to warn people of their coming. See Françoise Bériac, Histoire des lépreux au Moyen Age: Une société d’exclus (Paris: Editions Imago, 1988), which reproduces on its cover a fifteenth-century manuscript image of a leprous man carrying a clapper. See also Luke Demaitre, Leprosy in Premodern Medicine: A Malady of the Whole Body (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007), 55–59. Plate 3 shows wooden clappers from a slightly later period. As Catherine Peyroux argues, it is important to remember that “the term leprous was not used in the Middle Ages solely as a description of a single medical pathology.” In general, “leprosy is a chronic, degenerative disease that principally affects the skin, the peripheral nervous system [. . .], and the skeleton, especially the extremities and the skull.” See “The Leper’s Kiss,” in Monks and Nuns, Saints and Outcasts: Religion in Medieval Society. Essays in Honor of Lester K. Little, ed. Sharon Farmer and Barbara H. Rosenwein (Ithaca, NY, and London: Cornell University Press, 2000], 172–88, at p. 176. 25. With these acts Colette imitates not only Christ but also Saint Francis, who attributed his transformation to an encounter with a leper. See André Vauchez, Francis of Assisi: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Saint, trans. Michael F. Cusato (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 22–25. Francis’s biographers Thomas of Celano and Bonaventure interpreted the leper as Christ (Vauchez, Francis of Assisi, 200). For many more examples and an interpretation of the kiss as an act of devotion, a corporal act of mercy, see Julie Orlemanski, “How to Kiss a Leper,” Postmedieval 3 (2012): 142–57. 26. The connection between Adam and Eve’s disobedience and the loss of paradise is a common theme found in many of the Fathers, often in prefaces to prayers.

52 PIERRE DE VAUX noble and precious treasure of obedience. Just as we read that the holy apostles were called vocally by Our Lord to follow his holy life, so was she called mentally to the holy evangelical life.27 And just as the holy apostles promptly obeyed when they were called by Our Lord vocally, so was she promptly ready to obey when He called her mentally, that is, when He put it into her mind to take on the evangelical life. Monseigneur Saint Andrew was called three times by Our Lord: the first time to have knowledge of Him; the second time to become familiar with Him; and the third time to become His disciple and follow Him.28 In the same way the handmaid of Our Lord was called three times mentally: the first time when He gave her that grace in her childhood to know Him, as it was told above; the second time, to become familiar with Him, was when He called her to reflect on the Holy Gospels; and the third time when He gave her evident signs that He wanted her to embrace the evangelical life. 19. Two things are comprised by the evangelical life. That is, the commandments that are obligatory and counsels that are voluntary. As far as the commandments are concerned, all people who want to reach the kingdom of paradise, if they are of age and possess knowledge and discretion, must obey these commandments and keep them in their entirety. As for the counsels that are voluntary, she was called to them and inspired by God; they are called voluntary because one vows and promises them without being forced or coerced. But once they are promised and vowed, they become like the obligatory commandments and one is obligated to keep them. There are twelve principal rules, but they can be reduced to three: obedience, poverty, and chastity. And these three rules encompass the foundations of any religious life, and, together with perpetual enclosure, she voluntarily and solemnly promised and vowed to keep them and joined the Third Order of Saint Francis.29 And she had herself enclosed in a very small and poor anchorhold, situated near a church where she could hear holy mass and receive the sacrament of the altar.30 27. The distinction between “mental” and “vocal” is frequent in Pierre’s text, also in reference to prayer: quiet prayer is “mental,” while “vocal” prayer means a recitation of a prayer. 28. See Matthew 4:18–22. 29. This was in September 1402, when she became a recluse in Corbie, living in an anchorhold nestled against the wall of the church of Saint Etienne—and thus became both a tertiary and an anchoress. The bull that granted permission for the construction of the anchorhold, and Colette’s entry into it, was published by Abbé Florimond Auguste Douillet; see his Ste Colette, sa vie, ses oeuvres, son culte, son influence (Paris: Bray et Retaux, 1869), 277. 30. That is, the Eucharist. This whole paragraph lays out the foundation of the perfection all Christians should strive for, and that Colette achieved. The twelve “voluntary counsels” necessary for this perfection supplement the Ten Commandments and are drawn from the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. The three most important, especially for Franciscans, are poverty, chastity, and obedience. Their three enemies are the world (that is, the desire for material belongings), the flesh (or carnal longings), and the devil (who opposes obedience). This triad appears again and again in Pierre’s

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 53 20. And so that all this could be better and properly managed, God gave her as a helper a religious from the Order of monseigneur Saint Francis, a man of good and honest life, prudent and knowledgeable and who observed the Rule, although he had not resided in a convent of the Observance, for in his time none of them had yet been built in France, his native land.31 He devoutly and solemnly enclosed her in this anchorhold, where he gave her great help and comfort for a long time. And he very wisely advised her in many of her great enterprises and taught her many beautiful things, which occupied a special place in her memory throughout her life. To this religious God through His grace wished to reveal in a special vision the hard pains, great labors, and excessive sufferings that His handmaid suffered for love of Him and for the salvation of souls. He showed him a very pleasant and beautiful young virgin who was working at cultivating a vineyard, and He demonstrated to her how to cut out indecent things from the vines and repair them properly as it was necessary for these vines. And the same things were demonstrated to her for her life, during which she labored virtuously, as her deeds show and confirm. She had foreknowledge of his death and predicted it, and he died while she was still living in the anchorhold, and after his death at least once a year, no matter where she was, by God’s grace he visited her and manifested himself to her beautifully and gloriously; and afterward she was very joyful in Our Lord and was greatly comforted. 21. She lived for four years in this space and she very virtuously profited from it, as did all other creatures that wanted to strive to love God perfectly and save their souls. As regards herself, she led a very sober and harsh life there, wearing a coarse and inhuman hair shirt and wrapping around her vulnerable and tender body three cruel iron chains that wounded her innocent flesh very painfully; and she lay on the floor naked, putting her head on a hard block of wood as a pillow. And she practiced such great austerity and penitence that it seemed that any vicious concupiscence and evil inclinations were mortified and extinguished in her, for her body and all her senses were ready and prepared to obey God’s spirit without rebellion, and she obeyed not only the commandments that were shown to her from the outside but also those that were known to her by inspiration and that God put into her heart and thoughts; she was always ready to follow all of them. 22. Often, in the hours after her prayers and meditations, she was busy with poor and sick people who were in need of counsel and assistance, and she labored very writings and also in Colette’s exhortations. The other nine counsels are charity, gentleness, mercy and almsgiving, simplicity of speech, avoiding occasions for sin, right intention and simplicity in works and purpose, conformity of deeds and doctrine, freedom from undue anxiety, and fraternal correction. 31. This was Jean Pinet, guardian of the convent of Hesdin. He died in 1405, before Colette left her anchorhold. See the Introduction, 11 and 38.

54 PIERRE DE VAUX effectively through exhortations and salutary admonitions to free them from sins and the snares of the devil from hell and to bring them to the knowledge and perfect love of God. And she showed them clearly that nothing in this world, however worthy or precious it may be, can be compared to His perfect love, and also that the world and all that belongs to it are transitory things of short duration and are nothing but vanity and affliction of the spirit. In all these exhortations and admonitions, she made sure to say that the commandments of God and Holy Church should be kept diligently with humble obedience. Keeping these commandments was from a young age so imprinted in her heart that she remembered them with special care throughout her life. 23. And likewise, she kept the commandments of her prelate and superiors before she entered into the religious life. And after she became a religious, she made sure that in all occupations and exercises the commandments were strictly kept and that one obeyed them in all licit things as one would obey God’s lieutenant. This is apparent through the ordinances that she added in her rule to these words of the Rule [of Saint Clare] once she was a nun: “The subjects [the sisters] must remember that for God they have abandoned their own will.”32 Or she would say, “My sisters, you must be careful that any time anything is commanded or forbidden by your superiors, you must not use your own good sense or will or your own counsel but, for the love of Our Lord who did the bidding of God His Father there above, you must promptly and voluntarily obey and submit to the will and determination of your superior;33 for it is better to relinquish one’s own good sense, will, and counsel for the love of God than to acquire all the riches of this world and to retain one’s own good sense and will. And you should believe that there is no road that leads to hell that is wider than one’s own will, nor any road leading to heaven that is shorter than the renunciation of one’s will. And I ask you to obey all your superiors for the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who for all of us came to the valley of this present misery, obeying His Father all the way to His anguished and painful death and passion. You must promptly and joyfully obey in all things, without exception, without contradiction or rebellion, nor must you show any signs of displeasure, for there is no sacrifice in the world that pleases Our Lord more than true obedience.” 32. This sentence is in chap. 10 of the Rule of Saint Clare; see La Règle de l’ordre de Sainte Claire, 21. The corresponding chapter in Colette’s Rule is 13. For a comparison of the two Rules, see Elisabeth Lopez, Colette of Corbie (1381–1447): Learning and Holiness, trans. Joanna Waller (St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2011), part 2, chap. 4. 33. Interestingly, the French word Pierre de Vaux uses here is “présidente,” a term that was created in the 1263 Rule of Isabelle of France for the nun elected to fill in for the abbess in case she was ill or absent. See Sean L. Field, The Rules of Isabelle of France: An English Translation with Introductory Study (St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2013), 105. It was not used in the Rules of either Saint Clare or Colette.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 55 Chapter 4: How she kept and made others keep God’s commandments and how she had the feast days honored 24. Above all other things she wished that those women newly entered into the religious life should be taught and indoctrinated with God’s commandments, for they are obligatory and necessary for the salvation of souls. And so that they should be observed loyally and without any transgression, she desired that feast days and solemn occasions should be observed well and devoutly, and not only by these nuns but also by all true Catholics. 25. As regards her convents, she would not agree as long as she lived that any food for the sustenance of the sisters and friars should be bought on feast days. And although she was pleased that on feast days alms for the love of God should be asked for, she would not tolerate that any alms or gifts for herself or the sisters, whether asked for or freely given, would be brought in by cart or on horses or donkeys. And although by right it is permitted on feast days—unless they are the most solemn feasts—to bring and transport on carts or horses stones or wood to poor hospitals or churches or to poor beggars, she nonetheless did not want to permit or tolerate that any work or transport was done for any buildings or any other purpose. And once it happened that by the inadvertence or ignorance of those in charge of the convent a repair of the church of this convent was done as an alms gift in this manner. But she reacted with such great sadness and pain that some people thought the convent would be destroyed or struck by lightning. Because of her great desire for celebrating feast days and solemn occasions more devoutly and reverently she wished that all meals for Sundays should be prepared on Saturday, and likewise for the evenings before solemn occasions. And she humbly entreated all those who preached or spoke about God’s words, whether secular or religious people, that they should preach God’s Commandments to the poor people and show them the great offenses that were committed against Him and His Ten Commandments. 26. In several cities and good towns located in various regions there was a custom to hold markets and fairs on Sundays and even on feast days of the Virgin Mary or of the apostles. This caused her great pain in her heart. She labored so efficiently, be it through notable sermons she asked others to preach or through humble requests and supplications that she herself addressed to the lords and leaders of these cities and good towns, that these markets and fairs were moved to other free days of the week. And with some rich and powerful merchants, who had servants and tradesmen at the great fairs that were held in various regions, she so succeeded through salutary exhortations that they told them to stop in some city on the Sundays and feast days that occurred while they were on the road and to observe and celebrate them together with their animals and their whole family.

56 PIERRE DE VAUX 27. Whenever she led her sisters to a newly constructed convent or some that had been built a while ago—in whatever region it might be, in France or the Empire;34 in whatever season it might be, winter or summer; in whatever situation it might be, peace or war—if a Sunday or some other holiday occurred while they were traveling, she and all her companions stopped in whatever town, big or small, they happened to be. They stayed there in order to observe and celebrate this holiday, and very often three or four masses were said in her presence, and sometimes she had High Masses sung in a solemn manner. And several times, she and her nuns received the precious body of Our Lord during these masses. Once, among other trips, as she returned from visiting one of her far-flung convents, she stopped in a small town with fewer than twelve houses on a Saturday. She had to stay in this little town for two days, the first because it was a Sunday, and the second because it was a holiday that she had to observe and that fell on a Monday. The entire countryside was full of armed men, and by God’s grace none of them entered this little town in the two days she was there, although she saw them roam around the town the entire two days she was there. 28. Some notable merchants had proposed that they could give her everything they could earn through their business on holidays for the love of God, but she did not want to consent to receiving even a single denier,35 saying that this money was not acquired justly. Chapter 5: How God showed her a terrible vision and how she was forced by God to agree to reform the Order of Lady Saint Clare 29. A marvelous and frightening vision was shown to her by God. In this vision she saw and recognized all the different estates of the Church and of secular society, from the highest to the lowest, and the system of government of each of these estates. Then were shown to her the faults and offenses that each of these estates, from the highest to the lowest, had committed against their governments and against God, to His great displeasure. She also saw the horrible pains and grievous torments with which every one of them was punished according to his just deserts. She was so terribly frightened by these horrible pains and grievous torments that for eight days it seemed to her that she herself had to fall into these horrible torments. And when this vision was finished, she suddenly found an iron bar in the middle of her window that was strong enough to support her, and she grabbed it and held on to it with her hand so that she would not fall into these torments, and she later had great trouble letting go of it. 34. “Romans ou alemans” (Romance or German) are the languages spoken in France and the Holy Roman Empire, but Colette uses them to designate geographical areas here. 35. One livre equaled the value of a pound of silver; it was subdivided into 20 sous, which equaled 240 deniers.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 57

Figure 1. Folio 19 recto. Colette’s vision of Hell, in which she is protected from its demons by iron bars.

58 PIERRE DE VAUX And this vision of the estates and their faults and punishments was so firmly imprinted in her heart for the rest of her life that she always remembered them. And because of these offenses and faults that she knew had been committed against the divine sovereign majesty, she carried in her heart great sadness and enormous pain for a long time. Several times each day and night she prayed humbly and fervently to God for the correction of the poor sinners, which devout prayers God by His sovereign grace and merciful compassion listened to and granted. 30. And it was shown to her that this correction would be done through the reformed Orders that monsieur Saint Francis had instituted.36 In order to correct and reform these Orders we can take the example of the glorious Virgin Mary and our savior Jesus Christ, her dear child, who wanted to throw three lances in order to confound and destroy the world, especially for the sins of pride, avarice, and voluptuousness. But the Virgin Mary presented to Him monsieur Saint Francis and Saint Dominic as two champions who could virtuously fight and preach against these vices for the correction of these sinners. Similarly, our glorious father Saint Francis, in the presence of the glorious Virgin Mary and the blessed angels of paradise, presented his handmaid to our glorious savior Jesus Christ and humbly asked Him that He should let her undertake the abovementioned reform of his Orders. Thus she would correct the sinners of all the estates that she had seen in her vision, and he asked that she should be the first and principal person to undertake this reform; and this presentation was pleasant and agreeable to our Lord. And He graciously granted the request and petition of monsieur Saint Francis that he had presented to Him. This permission regarding the reform and correction that should be undertaken filled the abovementioned handmaid of Our Lord with great joy, but she also felt great sadness because her glorious beloved mother and monsieur Saint Francis wished that she should be the first and principal person to undertake this reform, and she believed herself to be incapable and unworthy. She could not wholeheartedly consent, even though it was made clear to her in her prayers that it had to be done this way and that it was God’s will. At one point she excused herself by saying that she was a simple young woman who knew nothing,37 at another point by mentioning the vow she had made never to leave her anchorhold. And several times she feared that the devil from hell tried to deceive her. 31. Because of these difficulties she humbly approached all devout people she knew and whose acquaintance she could make, and from the learned and 36. That is, the First of Order of Saint Francis and the Second Order of the Poor Clares, founded by Francis and his disciple, Clare of Assisi. See the Introduction, 5–6. The Dominican Order was established in 1216. 37. She was twenty-five at the time.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 59 knowledgeable people, who loved and feared God, she sought counsel and advice. All of them uniformly and by God’s grace judged that she should do it and told her so. And so that she could be sure and have no doubt that it was God’s will that she should undertake this reform and correction she asked that God by His grace show her some visible signs as evidence. The first sign was that she became mute like Zacharias, the father of Saint John the Baptist,38 and for three days she did not say anything; then she was blind for three days and did not see anything. And when she consented, she spoke and saw again. 32. Then in her little anchorhold, which was a really small place, as mentioned earlier, God by His grace suddenly made appear and grow a very pleasant and marvelously beautiful tree; its leaves were all green and its blossoms were yellow as if they had been gilded with gold. And from this tree came a delightful and pleasant fragrance, and underneath it was a great multitude of beautiful and very pleasant little trees, though not as beautiful as the big tree. As soon as she saw these beautiful trees, which were so pleasant and graceful, she feared that they were an illusion sent by the devil from hell in order to deceive her, for he caused her great trouble. And right away she tore out the big tree and all the others and threw them out of her anchorhold. Shortly thereafter another big tree just like the first one and all the little trees returned and manifested themselves in the same way that the others ones had before, and they moved around several times from place to place and thus, by these three signs,39 knowledge and assurance were given her that this was God’s doing. And it was revealed to her that the big tree signified her own person and that the other little trees signified those men and women who would, through her, arrive at the aforementioned reform and correction. The moving around of the trees several times from one place to another40 signified that she would have to go and build and do good in several different regions. 33. Then she began to gather her thoughts and to reflect on the marvelous and frightening vision that had been shown to her and how she had been presented to Our Lord by monsieur Saint Francis; she also thought about the advice that good and wise people had given her and how she had been mute and blind, and how she had recovered her speech and sight, and also about the sign of the tree that she had torn out and that had come back. She began to fear that she would offend Our Lord if she did not consent to doing His holy will, and humbly commended herself to Our Lord. In her prayers she consented and decided that she would wait for God’s grace, all the while keeping in her heart the knowledge that she would not gladly become the principal [reformer]. And as soon as she had agreed to 38. See Luke 1:18–23. 39. That is, her earlier muteness, her blindness, and now the appearance of the trees. 40. The Middle French term is “transportacion.”

60 PIERRE DE VAUX do God’s holy will He gave her clear knowledge of everything that was necessary for her work. She wrote everything down onto a little scroll, and she kept it so short that for this entire matter there was just a brief memorandum. Then, within a very short span of time, Our Lord gave her several people who were suitable to help, support, and advise her. Among these He gave her a venerable religious father from the Order of Saint Francis, named Henry de Baume, as the director of her conscience. He was a man of great perfection, loving and fearing God from childhood on, disdaining and not caring for transitory and corporal things, but wise and prudent in spiritual things, and filled with pity and charitable toward poor sinners. The glorious handmaid of Our Lord often said that there was no sinner who left his presence and was not completely consoled. How many sinners he converted and brought back to God by his holy sermons and beautiful exhortations; how many people he made renounce the world and enter into the religious life—truly, so many that one cannot count them! He continuously had God’s words in his mouth. He cured and saved many sick people by making the sign of the cross. And he threw the devil out of many demoniacs. Chapter 6: How she went to our Holy Father the Pope and how he made her a nun and abbess 34. After God had provided her with this venerable father so that she could execute this reform, she proposed to go together with this good father to see our Holy Father the pope. And in order to accomplish this more honorably and securely, Our Lord made her and her saintly life and wishes known to a noble and powerful aristocratic lady, a baroness who was the widow of the lord of Brisay and the daughter of Seigneur de Rochechouart. This lady, out of pure love for God and because of her great kindness and goodness, came to see her at her anchorhold in Corbie and had many holy conversations with her about God’s love and the salvation of her soul. This lady was greatly edified and consoled by these conversations and thus motivated to help her with all her power so that the good plan and holy wish that God had given her [Colette] could be executed. To this end this lady began to work so efficiently with the other people God had given her to assist her that in a very short time, through papal dispensation and other fitting means—and despite some obstacles that the devil put in their path—she arranged for her to leave her anchorhold.41 And this lady realized how much God had helped them to get her out, because there had been much resistance and opposition which could not have been overcome by human means alone in such a short time. And so, in a very brief span of time, through God’s will, all hindrance was done away with and left behind. Then she offered herself as well as her people 41. See the Introduction, 14.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 61 and possessions to lead her into the presence of the Holy Father. The handmaid of Our Lord humbly accepted and agreed to this charitable offer, knowing that it came about through God’s will. The noble lady was so overjoyed in her heart and it seemed to her, indeed it was the truth, that God had given her a special grace. And with the help of God’s sovereign goodness she led her comfortably and securely to our Holy Father and also assured the return of all of them with great charity and humanity. And God protected them on this journey, and they were all greatly comforted by being in the company of the glorious handmaid of Our Lord, for she was an example of all holiness to them, and she conveyed to them good and beautiful teachings to inflame them to love God perfectly, to serve Him and fear Him, to flee from sin, and to keep His holy commandments. And she had such a beautiful way of life and such honest conduct that it seemed to them that she was an angel who had descended from heaven. 35. Sometimes out of pity and compassion, because she was young and vulnerable, they put her on an animal to ride, and she, never being idle, was always occupied with thinking of or speaking to Our Lord. Even though she was riding an animal she moved her heart so strongly to think of God that she seemed enraptured and transfigured, and she did not know what people around her said or did. And nonetheless, she kept herself so steady, without bouncing from one side to the other, that it seemed that the angels held her in place. Sometimes when she was on foot and was on a difficult path full of rocks, it often seemed that she did not touch the ground but that she was flying or elevated in the air, and thus in a short time she covered such a distance that no one, however strong or a good walker he might be, could follow her. 36. Several days before she planned to present herself to our Holy Father the Pope she sent ahead of her a notable and discreet woman to explain to the Holy Father her intention and the reason why she wished to meet with him. This notable woman was horribly persecuted by demons from hell who were terribly displeased and tormented by the holy enterprise undertaken by the glorious handmaid of Our Lord by God’s will. She went mad and lost her reason and became disorderly and immodest, and all this was done to her so that she would not be able to succeed in being admitted to an audience with the pope and so that the pope would not believe anything she said. Thus the entire holy enterprise would be prevented and repudiated in great confusion. Her conduct was such that good and honorable people did not dare approach her, for she stripped herself completely naked, and thus afflicted and persecuted by the demons from hell, she arrived with great difficulty and in great pain and bitterness of heart in Nice, where the pope resided. News was immediately brought to the pope that a woman had arrived in the city who had lost her mind, and that she fervently asked to see our Holy Father in order to reveal to him certain things which she had been commissioned to convey to him.

62 PIERRE DE VAUX

Figure 2. Folio 23 recto. On the left, demons cause the lady to rip open her dress. On the right, Colette appears before Pope Benedict XIII and several cardinals; her coach can be seen in the background.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 63 It pleased our Holy Father to make her come to him and to give her an audience. In order to accomplish this, he had her dressed again and prepared honorably and properly and ordered that she be brought into his presence. And as soon as she was in his presence, she regained her reason and it no longer appeared that she had ever lost it. She began to explain prudently and discreetly why she had come and why the handmaid of Our Lord wanted to come and see him later, and everything she said about this matter he graciously listened to and understood fully. He examined this matter with care and was greatly consoled by it, for he realized that it was God’s work by the sudden change that he saw in this woman who had lost her mind, but who, as soon as she began to tell him about the handmaid of Our Lord, regained her good health. And thus the devil was cheated out of his perverse intention, for all he had done in order to bring about repudiation and confusion was changed into approval, exaltation, and commendation. 37. After the Holy Father had been sufficiently informed, through reports and also through evident signs,42 of the reason why the handmaid of Our Lord was coming to see him, there was no more delay, and she with all her companions arrived in the city. And when he learned of their arrival, he indicated a place and time suitable for her coming to him and agreed to give her an audience. The glorious handmaid of Our Lord returned to her holy prayers, as was her habit for everything she undertook, and commended herself and her actions to God. And then she left with simple confidence and great humility, with her eyes downcast and her heart elevated toward God, and the good father and noble lady and other notable people left with her. When she had arrived in the presence of the Holy Father and lifted her eyes to look at him sweetly and greet him graciously, something very strange happened: in front of the handmaid of Our Lord he fell on the floor from the throne on which he had been sitting, and she was greatly frightened by this.43 And as he fell, God gave him clear knowledge of who she was and what she was asking for, and he was greatly consoled by this. And as soon as he got up on his own, she advanced toward him and took a little purse that was hanging from her belt and into which she had put the little scroll onto which she had written in the anchorhold all the things that God had revealed to her as necessary. And as we explained above, in it was written a single memorandum for each subject, and the pope himself unrolled this scroll and, reading each item, by God’s grace understood clearly the whole matter and everything that she needed for her Order. Afterward, by the grace and permission of the Holy Father she began to speak very graciously and opened her heart to him and explained to him why she had come, a reason that had already been explained to him. 42. I.e., that the woman regained her reason. 43. Lopez (Learning and Holiness, 49–50) suggests that this papal stumble—which Perrine omits from her biography—is related to Pierre de Vaux’s doubts about the legitimacy of Pope Benedict XIII in 1406. See also the Introduction, 14, and Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Poets, Saints, and Visionaries of the Great Schism, 1378–1417 (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006), 94.

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Figure 3. Folio 23 verso. In the background, Colette presents her request to Pope Benedict XIII. In the foreground, he puts the veil of the Poor Clares on her head. Countess Blanche of Geneva, the baroness of Brisay, Henry de Baume, and others witness the scene.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 65 38. Among other things she asked two things of him with profound humility: the first was that it should please his Holiness that she should be able to enter into the evangelical life, meaning that she would be able to join the Second Order that monsieur Saint Francis instituted, which is called the Order of the Poor Ladies and of which lady Saint Clare was the first member,44 keeping the Rule that the glorious father Saint Francis gave to this glorious saint, lady Saint Clare. This Rule is called evangelical and apostolic, as is the Rule of the Friars Minor, for, as our ancient fathers say, our glorious father Saint Francis made two Rules: the first for the First Order of the Friars Minor, the second for the Second Order of the Poor Ladies to which, as we said, our lady Saint Clare belonged. And he made both Rules in the same spirit, that is, he made the First Rule through the Holy Spirit, and consequently he made the Second Rule also through the Holy Spirit, and he brought the Second Rule to the same level of perfection as the First Rule. Here we find the estate and the manner of the angelic and apostolic life. These Rules begin as follows: “The Rule of the Friars Minor and the form of life of the Sisters consist in observing the Holy Gospel of Our Lord.”45 The second thing she asked was the repair and reform of the Orders that monsieur Saint Francis had instituted. And although these requests were just and reasonable, as far as our Holy Father could see, he nonetheless did not yet want to consent because there were many different judgments and opinions. For one faction of great men46 regarded her as a young and tender girl, and the manner of life she requested struck them as austere, difficult, and requiring strength and great perfection. For that reason, they advised our Holy Father that he should not lightly grant this request, and so he did not consent overtly but pondered in his heart that this matter pleased him and seemed feasible and he truly believed that it was God’s work. For thus it was demonstrated to him in the secret of his heart, and he publicly resolved to grant the request. And he delayed a bit so that he could learn more about her holy desire and asked her several questions. She responded very humbly and prudently to these questions and he was satisfied and edified. 39. And during the time that she was waiting for our Holy Father’s decision, a great and horrible pestilence broke out in the city, and some of her principal opponents were so gravely infected that they died quickly. Some people of good conscience thought that this was God’s doing because of the opposition they had shown to His handmaid. A very short time afterward the Holy Father, thinking about God’s marvelous deeds that were visible every day, decided that he would let her wait no longer and very generously and freely granted her the two requests she had made; and he knew with certainty that this was the work of God, his 44. For Saint Clare and her order, see the Introduction, 5–6. 45. This sentence is almost identical with the opening of Saint Clare’s 1253 Form of Life for San Damiano. See La Règle de Sainte Claire, 12. 46. The cardinals.

66 PIERRE DE VAUX sovereign lord, whose vicar he was on earth. He himself wanted to receive her into the evangelical life, and he called her into his presence together with her companions and several notable people, ecclesiastics as well as secular people. And before them he preached a very beautiful and solemn sermon, praising the evangelical and apostolic life that she had chosen and into which he would receive her. Once the sermon was finished, with great reverence and humility he received her as a sister of the Order of Saint Clare, which is the Second Order and an evangelical and apostolic way of life, as explained above. And without further ado he made her professed to this Order and put the veil on her head, tied the cord around her, and gave her the Rule of the abovementioned holy lady Saint Clare. Then he blessed her and made her mother and abbess of all the nuns who were to come to the reformation of this Order. All these things he did with so much devotion, reverence, and fervor that he seemed to be an angel from paradise. So much so that the lord cardinals, other secular lords, and the father General of the Order of Saint Francis who were present testified that they had never seen the Holy Father do anything in such a solemn manner.47 40. And when the office was finished and everything had been decided, he spoke to her most affectionately, urging her to be wise and get good counsel, to be a true and good nun, keeping loyally the promises and vows she had made and to persevere and improve always. And very charitably he offered to help and support her and to give her everything suitable and necessary that she needed for her work. He requested firmly that she should return to her homeland, and promised that he would make sure she would be kindly and comfortably received, and then he commended her warmly to her father confessor who had come with her and told her that he would never abandon her. And he asked the noble lady who had brought her that she should take her home kindly and securely. Then he turned toward everyone and said loudly: “May it please God that I should be worthy to search for and bring bread to sustain this young woman.” And once they had received the holy blessing they returned home humbly and peacefully. 41. It did not take long for her to realize that people honored her more than they had been accustomed to, and called her mother. She wanted to know what this meant and where it came from. And finally people explained to her that our Holy Father had blessed her and had made her mother and abbess. This upset and pained her terribly, for she could not bring her heart to accept this, whatever people told her. She believed that she was only a simple nun without having the office of abbess and that it had pleased God that she should not know about it until after she was an abbess.48 When people informed her of the truth, namely that our Holy 47. The Minister General in the Franciscan Order’s Avignon obedience from 1403 to 1417 was Giovanni Bardolini. 48. Presumably Colette’s humility would have made her refuse being made abbess. From a grammatical and syntactic point of view, this passage is very confusing because Pierre uses che (this) and il (it or

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 67 Father had blessed her and made her an abbess, she did her utmost to turn around and go back to him to ask him humbly and beg of him that he should not consent to her becoming an abbess. He answered that that which he had said should be done and would remain so. Chapter 7: How she began the reform of the Order of our lady Saint Clare and of the persecutions that people inflicted on her 42. When she had returned from her meeting with our Holy Father the pope and after, by God’s will, he had instituted her—she who was ignorant—as mother and abbess of the aforementioned reform, she was very eager and fervently wished to begin to execute this reform. But when the devil from hell, the enemy of all that is good, realized the great good she was planning to do for the salvation of souls, he and his minions sent her terrible persecutions, just as he had done previously. All sorts of people from different parts of society, even those who had previously known and loved her, were turned against her. Some of them said that she was a witch and a magician calling forth demons from hell, and others said even more blameworthy and horrible things about her, so much so that no one dared to lodge her or receive her in their homes, and so much so that she had to leave and abandon her home country and go to foreign regions.49 There, a very noble and compassionate lady named Blanche, who was the countess of Geneva, graciously and charitably welcomed her, and she was very much comforted by her arrival. Through her merits the countess had great knowledge of God and her conscience was relieved, and she did such good works that neither she [Colette] nor her followers ever wanted to leave her. The countess granted her and her followers half of the castle of La Baume, and it was there that she first began to execute her functions and made everyone observe the Rule of Saint Clare.50 43. And she remained there until our Holy Father the pope, by a bull, granted her the convent of Saint Clare in Besançon.51 To this convent she was honorably accompanied by the countess herself together with her niece, who has since become duchess of Bavaria and countess of the Palatinate on the Rhine;52 they devoutly he) without really identifying what he is speaking of. 49. Besançon was under Burgundian influence. On Blanche of Geneva, see the Introduction, 13. 50. This castle was in Burgundy, just south of Besançon and east of Poligny. 51. As Ubald d’Alençon states in his note (b) to para. 43 (V 43), the bull Dum attenta dates from January 27, 1408, but Colette did not come to Besançon until March 1410. See the Introduction, 15, on this wait-and-see period. 52. Matilda, or Mechtilde, of Savoy (ca. 1390–1438) was the niece of Blanche of Geneva and the wife of Louis III of Bavaria, Elector Palatine. A 1438 letter from her to Colette about her daughter Elisabeth is in the Besançon archives, and reproduced in Jacques-Théodore Bizouard, Histoire de Sainte Colette et des Clarisses en Franche-Comté (Besançon: Paul Jacquin, 1888), 186–87.

68 PIERRE DE VAUX took her to Besançon as was fitting. Among this group that accompanied her to the abovementioned convent in Besançon was a noble and well-born squire of the noble countess of Geneva. He loved and feared God and affirmed with great certainty that he had truly seen a wondrous bright light around her every time she turned toward him. And they all were with her for a certain time. And even though the abovementioned noble lady left physically with good reason and returned to her noble home after she [Colette] had taken possession of the convent and become established there, she was never separated from her [Colette] in her heart or affection, for she continued all her life to love her. Because of this love she decreed that wherever she might be when she had to leave this world, she should be transported into one of her convents. And just as she had decreed it, it was loyally done. For her body after her death was buried at the convent of Saint Clare in Poligny,53 in a beautiful solemn chapel whose construction her niece, the duchess of Bavaria we mentioned above, had ordered. 44. After the noble lady and the entire group had returned home, the little handmaid of Our Lord virtuously began again to observe the Rule of Saint Clare, which she had begun at the castle of the abovementioned lady. She had only a few sisters there, so, by divine inspiration, soon several noble and devout women came to her, humbly asking to be admitted to the Order. She examined them and those that were found suitable were received into the Order. And, by God’s will, in a short time so many women arrived who wanted to become sisters that although she had been made an abbess without a convent and without any sisters, now there was such a multitude and abundance of people who wanted to enter the convent, it soon became necessary to multiply the convents, both for friars and for sisters.54 For just as in the wondrous and frightening vision that she had seen in which God was offended by all the estates of society,55 so now men and women from all these estates, both ecclesiastical and secular, came to this reform and correction that came to pass through her; and not only in one Order but in all three that monsieur Saint Francis had instituted, as it is apparent by the convents that were founded or reformed by her, convents for both men and women, for both friars and sisters, which are situated in various regions, such as France, Germany, Burgundy and Languedoc.56 And despite the fact that the number of men and 53. Poligny is a small town in the Jura mountains, in today’s region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The convent of the Poor Clares founded there by Colette in 1415 exists to this day (at 13, rue SainteColette). Damaged repeatedly in the seventeenth century and during the French Revolution, the chapel was rebuilt in 1838. For its five hundredth anniversary, the convent hosted a colloquium, “Colette de Corbie, la résurgence d’un charisme,” published as Sainte Colette et sa postérité, with a preface by André Vauchez (Paris: Les Editions Franciscaines, 2016). 54. That is, houses of both the First Order and Second Order of Saint Francis. 55. See above, V 29–30. 56. This is a crucial passage, since Pierre here insists that Colette reformed both the male and female branches of the Franciscans. He does not say much about the Third Order, however. A list of all of

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 69 women residing in these convents, that is, the number of friars and sisters, is quite small by comparison with all the worldly and religious estates, nonetheless in this small congregation all of these estates are represented bodily by actual people, for they have adopted the religious habit. Those who for some good reason could not physically come have nonetheless wholeheartedly participated in the reform and have favored and supported it. Several kings and queens, dukes and duchesses, counts and countesses, all noble and powerful, as well as barons and knights, ladies young and old, bourgeois and merchants, and other noble people have come to her and her reform. Moved by a singular affection and devotion, they have founded and built several beautiful and notable convents according to their vocation, some completely and some in part, and all have done so for the love of God and so that He would show them pity and mercy. Many other lords and noble ladies came in person, abandoning their nobility, honors, and other pleasures and riches, and presented themselves physically in order to correct their defects and lead a religious life. And in addition, others left their Orders such as the Benedictines, the Augustinians, the Carthusians, Bernardines, Celestines, and canonesses,57 and they changed their estate, left their religious houses, and by permission changed over to the abovementioned reform. 45. Because this reform was agreeable to God and profitable for those who came and entered the convents by grace, it pleased Him to demonstrate this to His little handmaid by a visible sign in the following manner: once when she was conferring with her fathers confessor about certain issues appertaining to the reform, He sent her a pleasing and very beautiful cord that was made very artfully and was as white as snow; in the presence of the confessor it descended suddenly and visibly from the heavens into her arms and she received it with great humility and reverence.58 And she unfolded it without saying anything or giving any sign. This descent from the heavens could very well signify the pleasure God took in this reform that He had earlier decreed and commissioned the handmaid to execute. The cord could stand for the current state of the reform and its whiteness for the purity and cleanness of the bodies and minds of those men and women who by grace have been called to the reform.59 Colette’s foundations, with the names of the founders and of the first abbess of each, is in Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 554. On page 555, a list shows all monasteries founded or reformed before 1520, including those that were destroyed (almost all of them during the French Revolution), and the dates of those that were refounded in the nineteenth century. See also note 54 of the Introduction. 57. Celestines: A branch of the Benedictine Order. Canonesses, or canonesses regular: Women in a community that follows the Augustinian rule; their male equivalents are canons regular, whose communities date back to the eleventh century. 58. See fig. 4, MS 8, fol. 30r. 59. Sister Perrine mentions the cord only briefly, without interpreting it (P 23). Franciscans wear a white cord around their brown habit, with three knots signifying the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

70 PIERRE DE VAUX

Figure 4. Folio 30 recto. On the left, Colette receives the miraculous white cord, while in the center an angel gives her gold coins to help her build her convents. One is under construction on the right.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 71 46. And it should be remembered that all those, men and women, who entered this reformed congregation personally, from whichever estate they belonged to when God called them away from this present world and whatever region they were in when they died, far away or nearby, she knew with certainty of their deaths and they appeared to her. And she was able to be of great assistance to the souls of several of them. And, as mentioned above, for the multitudes of the women who came to join the Order she had to construct many convents, and sometimes she did not have enough money to pay the workers, and she could not get it through any human effort. Our Lord did not fail her, but He sent her all the money she needed in fine gold. And often the sum was five écus, and these écus were wondrously good and beautiful and in one piece;60 and one hundred of these écus were more helpful to her than would have been two hundred other écus. And because these écus were not mixed up with any others they conserved their beauty and goodness. But if they were inadvertently mixed up with others, they became just like the regular écus. Chapter 8: How she loved holy poverty 47. Among all the other virtues that the blessed son of God, our savior Jesus Christ, brought down from the great secret of the blessed divinity into the valley of this present world is the love of perfect and great poverty. He and His glorious mother demonstrated the observance of this poverty by works, and also by the words He preached to His blessed apostles to whom He enjoined and recommended it. On this holy poverty our glorious father Saint Francis wanted to build his first and second Order and he instituted them; they are called evangelical and apostolic because of this great and holy poverty through which they conform to the life of Jesus Christ and of the apostles and through which they have become preeminent and different from all the other Orders, for none of them vows and promises such strict poverty as the one that is called evangelical.61 The handmaid of Our Lord wondrously loved this great and holy poverty and observed it strictly at all times, beginning with the moment when God had given her knowledge of it. For love of poverty she left her father and mother and gave everything she owned to the poor. From the moment she was called to the evangelical life until her death—however cold it might get—she had nothing to cover her poor body with but exactly one mended habit and a simple little cloak without any fur or lining, and a single coat. She never wore a new habit. If the body of the habit was new then the sleeves were old, and if the sleeves were new then the body was made from old cloths. And most often the habit she wore had been worn by others for a 60. Ecus were gold coins first minted in 1266 during the reign of King Louis IX. Their value varied over time. 61. On the importance of poverty for the Franciscans in general and Colette in particular, see the Introduction, 4–7.

72 PIERRE DE VAUX long time before she wore it. Once, when it was extremely cold, the sisters, moved by pity and compassion, secretly and without telling her anything took her cloak (for she often just wore her habit) and lined the sleeves. And as soon as she put it on she noticed this, and she could not stand it and would not wear it until they had taken the lining out. 48. However cold it got she would never wear stockings or shoes; she was always barefoot even when she was ill in the convent or when she went out to visit the sisters. And it was a wondrous thing that she never warmed herself by the fire and she could not even see or feel it, except by candlelight.62 Her head scarves were humble and simple and of the poorest kind, and she liked those best that were made from the largest numbers of different pieces. A little bit of straw covered with a single poor cover and a little sack filled with the same straw was her bed, but even there she hardly ever rested. Even when God sent her some illness, she never used a feather bed or a pillow. Even in her last illness, when she gave up her soul to God, someone wanted to put a little feather pillow under her head, but even though her eyes were closed she felt it in her spirit and signaled to people to take it away.63 49. As for the oratories where she usually spent her days and where she heard mass and received the holy sacrament, she wanted them to be low-ceilinged, poor, and small. And if they were constructed differently, she was never comfortable in them. In some of her convents they were made so narrow and so low that she could not stand up straight in them; they were rather like bins and or little stands where one could lay out fish to sell. Only then was she accommodated according to her conscience. Big edifices and large numbers of buildings displeased her greatly. It was impossible to build a convent however small and poor that was not, in her judgment, too beautiful and too solemn. And she said that for the love of the great poverty that Our Lord practiced, who had no house on earth, they should be content to have buildings according to their needs, poor and simple without anything superfluous or any ornaments. And she gladly stayed in poor and small convents rather than large and wealthy ones; she was happier there. And similarly, she preferred to stay in small and poor towns rather than in large and wealthy ones. When she traveled to visit one of her convents and was put up in a large and high-ceilinged room, she was so terrified that she did not dare raise 62. The meaning of this sentence is unclear. 63. The feather pillow denotes luxury, not compatible with Colette’s adherence to the strictest Franciscan poverty, even though chapter 11 in both Clare and Colette’s rules stated that a feather pillow was permitted in case of illness. See La Règle de l’ordre de Sainte Claire avec les statuts de la Réforme de Sainte Colette, 51 and 165 respectively. Saint Francis also threw away a feather pillow that his companions had slipped under his head during an illness. He believed it was inhabited by the devil to keep him from praying. See Bonaventure, The Life of Saint Francis, trans. and introd. Ewert Cousins (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1978), 5.2.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 73 her eyes. When she visited a newly built convent and she found that there was something constructed that was contrary to holy poverty, she could not tolerate it. 50. From childhood on God had given her the noble virtue of being compassionate and generous, a virtue she conserved throughout and until the end of her life. She was especially compassionate and generous toward the poor and those in need. When in her youth she walked to school and she was given what one gives to small children for lunch, she distributed it to the small children who were poor. And whenever she could find at home something edible, such as bread, eggs, cheese, butter, or something better, she took it secretly and gave it to those that she knew were in need. Once she had distributed her belongings as well as anything she had gotten from her father and mother—which was quite a lot—to the poor, she wanted absolutely nothing for her personal use, except what was necessary to cover her body sparingly and what she needed for the Divine Office. When she found that the friars or sisters needed anything, she gave them from the few things she had a habit, a cloak, a coat, or a breviary. Often she detached the sleeves from her own garment and gave them to those who she believed needed them more than she did, and thus she often remained without sleeves. And sometimes sleeves were sewn onto her habit or coat that were of a different fabric than the garment itself. She was very intent on being present when cloaks, habits, and coats were tailored for the friars or the sisters, and she did this on the one hand out of charity, for she wished that they should have what they needed; on the other, she did it for holy poverty so that it should not be compromised through too much length or width. And she gathered and asked others to gather all the little scraps that fell down during the sewing so that they could be used later when they were needed. When she died there were about a hundred such scraps in her habit. 51. Among all things in the world those that pleased her best were the books meant for the service of God. Sometimes she sent out for books in different regions, such as Germany and elsewhere, so that God should be well served and so that there should not be any deficiency in the holy service for lack of a book. But regardless of whether they were brought to her personally or whether they were sent to her, as some lords and other notable people did, she gave them away very generously. And often she had done this to such a degree that she found herself without a breviary and she had to borrow a book in order to say the Office. And when she died, she did not have any [books], for she had long ago given them away. Several notable people from different social classes were aware that she did great work for God’s honor and for the salvation of souls by building her convents. Some gave her gold or silver, although not often and in small quantities; others sometimes gave her jewelry or fabric or headscarves; and others gave her other things, according to their limited means and ability. But of all the things, great or small, that she was given she kept nothing that was worth more than a pin. She would have rather died than use anything that was given to her except in

74 PIERRE DE VAUX God’s service. And when things were given to her for that purpose as well as when things were given to her for her own use and needs, she put everything up for sale, so that there would be funds for the advancement of the Church of Our Lord. She had nothing and wanted nothing; there was never anyone who coveted riches as much as she desired to be poor. 52. And sometimes when she had given everything away and nothing was left, then the Lord took pity on her and sent her the sum of money that she needed in the form of pure gold. Normally this was a sum of five hundred gold écus, and she found this sum next to her when she was finished with her prayers. And she guarded this sum very diligently and was very intent that it should be used faithfully and justly. And when any of the other sums mentioned above exceeded the value of a pin she did the same with them. For she wanted absolutely nothing, not rulership, not power, not dominance, but only wanted to do what she was ordered to do by Our Lord, and she took great care to keep [the money] safe and distribute and administer it where it was needed. She never doubted the goodness of God, who would supply them with what they needed if they faithfully kept all the vows and promises they had made to Him. 53. And one has witnessed many times, in among other places in the region of Languedoc, that there was such a large number of soldiers who did so much harm that no one dared to leave the good towns because they were so afraid of them; for this reason the friars who were in charge of the poor sisters in a certain convent of the Order of Saint Clare could not go out and ask for alms for the love of God and for the upkeep of their lives of poverty. And although they had almost nothing that they needed, they kept up their hopes, following the teachings of the little handmaid of Our Lord, that they would lack nothing, if only they kept the faith loyally, as mentioned above. And God in His pity confirmed this teaching, for a man dressed in white appeared—one did not know where he came from or who he was—who brought a big sack filled with white bread that was very good and flavorful and that lasted a long time, until Our Lord took care of them in another way. And this man left and no one knew what became of him. 54. Another time the handmaid was in one of her convents in the Nivernois,64 where at that moment there was a scarcity of wheat. She had with her the sisters for two convents, and because there were so many people both inside and outside they needed many things to sustain their poor lives so that, once they had finished their flour, they had to make bread out of hulled grain and bran in order to nourish themselves; and all were greatly strengthened by these breads and found them so sweet and flavorful as if they had been eating bread made from the finest wheat. And then some of the sisters of this convent recovered the grains of wheat that had long ago been thrown away under the peelings of what they used for soup and 64. The area around Nevers in central France, today the Département de la Nièvre.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 75 mixed them with a little water and salt to boil them, and that was enough for them for soup and their modest meals. And they found this so delicious that it seemed to them that they had never had any food, however rich and substantial, that was as delicious. And several sisters of this convent who had been raised in the world very elegantly confirmed that never in their lives had they tasted any food that was as savory and delicious as the abovementioned soup. 55. Once a dispenser65 in a convent named Jehanne Ravandelle went to get some wine for some sisters who needed it. And while she was getting it the little handmaid of Our Lord urgently called her by ringing her little bell. The dispenser, believing that she needed something, came running so promptly that she forgot to put back the stopper of the wine barrel and carried it with her; consequently, all the wine ran out on the floor. Shortly after she had spoken with the little handmaid, she noticed the stopper in her hand and quickly ran down to the cellar where she found all the wine spilled onto the floor, and there was no more wine left in the entire convent. She was very sad and upset about this, and with great bitterness she returned to the handmaid of Our Lord and humbly confessed her guilt. When she [Colette] realized how unhappy she [the dispenser] was, she comforted her as a compassionate mother would and told her she would certainly be able to draw some wine. But the dispenser answered her that there was nothing left. Once more she replied and told her: “Go confidently in the name of God.” And when she arrived at the barrel, she found it so full that it was overflowing, and the wine was so good that all those who tasted it said that they had never drunk a better one.66 56. Likewise, we can demonstrate how God does not fail those who faithfully keep the vows and promises they have made to Him. Once she decided to have a habit tailored for a poor monk who needed it.67 In order to do this she called a lay brother named André who was a tailor and gave him the cloth that she thought would be sufficient for this habit. And when he had deliberated and measured this cloth he found that there not enough by about one ell.68 And he turned to the little handmaid of Our Lord and showed her that he could not make a habit out of such a small piece of cloth. Then she joyously said to him, “Go and pray to Our Lord and then come back, and you will pull the cloth from one side and I from the other and we will see if we can’t lengthen it.” When he returned, as she had told him, she had it cut in front of him and by the grace of God and through her merits he found so much cloth that he had some good pieces left over as remnants. And 65. The sister in charge of the pantry and wine cellar. 66. This incident calls to mind the first miracle performed by Jesus at the wedding feast in Cana (John 2:1–11), in which he turns water into wine of such a high quality that the bridegroom is accused of having held it back until late in the evening, contrary to the conventional practice. 67. This poor friar was Pierre de Vaux himself, as we learn from Sister Perrine (P 25). 68. A Parisian ell (Middle French aulne) was about 46 inches, while the Flemish ell was only 27 inches.

76 PIERRE DE VAUX the habit was so long and wide that it was necessary to take some of it away, for with this kind of length and width it was against the laws of poverty. Chapter 9: On chastity and virginity 57. Chastity is a lovely and joyful virtue that moves the soul closer to God and makes the soul similar to the angels; it is the friend of holiness and a subsidiary of charity. Whatever grace one has, be it wisdom, learning, or eloquence, prophecy, miracles, the grace of giving health—without this virtue everything counts for little before God. The heart and body of the little handmaid of Our Lord were amply adorned with this beautiful and pleasing virtue. Throughout her life she wanted to hate and flee from all vices and all sins; in particular she showed great horror of and despised carnal sins against which she protected her bodily senses in a very clean and holy manner. These senses are the portals of the heart, and she closed them so securely that from the moment she had acquired knowledge of God no vain delight or carnal pleasure reached her. But from childhood on her whole heart was given over so completely to the true love of chastity and to keeping faithfully the precious treasure of her virginity that it was never visible outwardly that inwardly she had a dirty or villainous thought, and no frivolous or dishonest word was ever heard to issue from her mouth. And this is not surprising, for her heart was overflowing with only purity and cleanness, and thus everything that issued from her mouth were honest and holy words, heavenly conversation, and salvific edification. Because of this purity and cleanness that she always loved ardently mentally and kept and protected physically, she consecrated herself as a saintly and worthy temple of Our Lord and made herself into a pleasant and delectable home for the Holy Spirit;69 and the cleanness and purity that she had inside herself were clearly manifested in her outward cleanness and purity. For if it were licit to say this, after the glorious Virgin Mary she was physically one of the most pure and clean beings of the feminine sex that ever existed on earth. Her precious body was composed of a material so clean and pure that there was no stain or deformity. And throughout her entire life she was so radiant and beautiful that she looked truly as virginal as she really was. And she seemed to have the flesh of an innocent child. And although she showed great circumspection with regard to things that touched upon the honor of God and the salvation of souls, nonetheless with regard to certain other things she acted like a small innocent child. 58. Small innocent children have the grace of having a pure and clean conscience and they are without sin.70 They like to see each other and spend time together, 69. Cf. 1 Corinthians 6:18–20, in which Paul says: “Flee fornication. . . . know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” 70. Cf. Matthew 19:13–15: “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 77 but they are fearful and afraid not only in face of larger reasonable and unreasonable creatures, but also in face of small animals. In a similar manner the little handmaid of Our Lord, because of the similarity she had with small children when it comes to the cleanness and purity of their bodies and conscience, liked very much to see them and became close to them by speaking to them joyously and sweetly, and just like the small children she was extremely fearful and afraid. In everything she was doing she always had in front of her eyes the holy fear of God, and to such an extent that sometimes she did not want to undertake to begin some work, whether spiritual or temporal, before first examining it closely within herself and before God, and then to ask advice from others, sometimes even from people simpler than herself and below her, in order to ascertain whether the work was feasible according to a faithful conscience before God. And often, even if the task she was to accomplish had been shown and revealed to her by God’s grace with all certainty so that there was no deception possible, she still sought the advice and counsel of others. 59. And she was fearful as small children are, not only in the face of large and tall creatures, but also in the face of small beasts that are unclean, like snails, flies and ants; she feared them because of the great purity that was within her and held them in abomination. But those animals that are chaste and clean like little lambs and turtledoves and others similarly chaste and clean she loved and liked to see them. And because of her resemblance to these clean animals Our Lord sometimes wanted to give her pleasure and comfort. Once a beautiful little lark was brought to her because of its cleanness and purity and because of its name, because some people believe that it is called lark because of the praise it gives to God by singing,71 and also because it does not store provisions according to evangelical poverty. She took great pleasure in it and when she had her modest meal this lark came to eat with her, and it ate and drank with her as safely as it would have done with other birds of its species. Several times beautiful, pleasant, and clean birds came so close to her oratory that she could hear them sing very pleasantly and melodiously while taking their little meals safely and more at ease than if they had done so in the fields or woods with others of their species. 60. Once a beautiful little lamb was brought to her out of devotion which she accepted because of its cleanness and also because of its significance as the sweet lamb without the stain of sin. She was very much comforted in her spirit by this lamb since every time this lamb was present at the elevation of the precious body of Our Lord, it lowered its front legs down all by itself without any urging and humbly adored its blessed creator.72 71. The French word “alouette” (lark) contains the word “louer” = to praise. This whole passage describing animals also echoes Saint Francis’s special relationship to animals, especially birds. See Vauchez, Francis of Assisi, chap. 9. 72. A genuflecting lamb also appears in Bonaventure’s Life of Saint Francis (8.7).

78 PIERRE DE VAUX 61. Likewise our creator wanted to comfort her with another little animal that He sent her, snow white and beautiful, and she had never seen another one like it, and it did not live with her as did the little lamb but only showed itself to her in the morning; it was very pleasant and several sisters were very comforted by it and tried hard to touch it and to capture it, but they never succeeded and even ran after it in order to touch it but before they could reach it, it vanished and dissolved. One time the little handmaid of Our Lord began to run with the other sisters after this animal. But while running she and the animal dissolved, and the sisters did not know what became of them because they lost sight of both. One should not doubt that this animal was a divine thing sent by God and that its whiteness and beauty signified the spiritual purity and cleanness that resided within her which God by His grace wanted to manifest outwardly, not only through the cleanness of these white animals but also through her bodily cleanness which was so marvelously great that often the food she had consumed for the sustenance of her poor body exited her body as beautiful, clean, and without any bad odor as when she had eaten it. And however upsetting and detestable she found stinking things and lice, she endured them for the love of Him who felt no horror as He was carrying the lice of our sins sweetly and gently. 62. There were two special graces among all the others that signified her cleanness and purity: the first one was that no bad odor ever issued from her or was smelled by her, no matter what state she was in, in illness or in good health. In addition, from her person or from the place where she was issued a great sweetness, very fragrant and with a delightful smell, comforting all those that encountered it. Once she was washing her hands and one of her sisters named Margarite de Baillon humbly handed her the water, and the little handmaid of Our Lord believed that she was throwing away the washing water, but she kept it secretly and poured it into a little bottle in which, by God’s grace, she conserved it in order to demonstrate her purity and cleanness, and for seven years it remained as clear and clean as well water, without any bad smell or taste. This sister sometimes drank of this water and it worked like a medicine, curing any spiritual or physical illness that she had. There was also a novice sister who had such serious stomach trouble that she thought she might not be able to take her holy religious vows. Once she handed water for washing her hands to the little handmaid of Our Lord and she secretly kept some of it and drank it, and she was so perfectly cured as if she had never been ill. 63. The second grace manifested itself when she was visited by many different kinds of people, high born and low born, good and bad. And her face was beautiful and venerable, and her eyes were pleasant and delectable to behold, but with all this she never coveted anything indecently from these people, nor was she viciously desired. And not only that, several people who had been inflamed with the fire of carnal concupiscence before they visited her, were afterward cooled down

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 79 by the vision of her clean and blessed presence. She demonstrated clearly her great purity and cleanness and the special love she had for the virtues of chastity and virginity; and throughout all times and in all the different situations she was in she kept these virtues in special honor and reverence. 64. And she wanted to love and honor the people who vow to maintain and observe these virtues, and for this reason she did not want to hear about the times and events from the Old Testament and the old fathers spoken of therein because in those times these virtues were not observed by these old fathers, and she never wanted anyone to speak of them. But she loved the New Testament, where these virtues were valued and praised by the prince of virginity and by His glorious virgin mother; and they were also perfectly upheld by some of His friends in this Testament, and for them she felt affection and a special love and devotion. And because the glorious friends of God and of monsieur Saint John the Evangelist were especially endowed and adorned with this angelic virtue of virginity, she chose him above all the other glorious saints in paradise to be her advocate and special intercessor before God and to be the guardian of the noble treasure present and hidden in the fragile and weak vessel of her body. 65. In order to safeguard this treasure even more loyally she decided in her youth and at the very beginning that she would always reside with virgins, so that she could avoid any talk of the estate or business of marriage in which one often finds great impurities, and it displeased her greatly to hear people speak of it. And in order to accomplish this task she so urged our Holy Father the pope, who well knew her desire, that she obtained a bull from him that stated that no women, from whatever social class they might come, would be received into the Order of Saint Clare that she was repairing and reforming unless they were young girls or virgins. And this bull was put into practice,73 so that after a while no women were received who had been married or had comported themselves badly. And although God, who clearly knows the present and the future, commanded differently and for the better [of the Order], and several notable women who had been married were later received into this Order, she never was as close or as familiar with them as she was with others who had entered the Order as young girls or virgins. 66. And because of this marvelous purity and cleanness with which her soul and body were so nobly adorned and because of the great diligence with which she faithfully preserved the precious treasure of virginity, as we said above, Our Lord, who takes great delight and pleasure in these virtues, wanted to send her a sign of His special love and bestow an unheard-of grace on her. She was His loyal 73. According to Lopez, there was no such bull. She asks: “So was this an invention by Pierre de Vaux? Or was it the remains of a preference that had to go when [Colette was] faced with requests from noble ladies to join as the fame of the reform increased?” See Learning and Holiness, 122.

80 PIERRE DE VAUX spouse and true friend, joined to Him and inseparably united with Him by the bond of perfect love and by the vow and promise of holy chastity that she had made to Him several times and voluntarily; she had also made it very specially and solemnly to his lieutenant and vicar on earth.74 For these reasons it pleased Him in His infinite grace and goodness to transmit to her a gift through the glorious apostle and evangelist Saint John, whom she honored, loved, and cherished especially because of his special prerogative of virginity. Our Lord sent her a very precious and beautiful ring made of fine gold that was not made by human hands; Saint John presented it to her and sweetly and graciously placed it on her finger as a gift from the sovereign king and prince of virginity and of all cleanness.75 And she received it with profound humility and much trembling, and she kept it as a treasure and always held it in great reverence and honor. And in order to keep it in the most honest and dignified manner she wanted to have it enclosed in a gold or silver reliquary, but any kind of metalwork that anyone could devise could not be fastened around this ring because of its great dignity. Several of the friars and fathers confessor saw and touched this ring and it gave them great joy and comfort. And whenever she sent the friars into far-away regions to honor God or conduct business for her, they were protected from harm on their dangerous travels when one of them secretly carried this ring. And afterward they confirmed that they never encountered any obstacles as long as they carried the ring, and that they traveled safely in both directions, leaving and returning. 67. And because she had surpassing love for purity and cleanness of heart and body, she had more affection for the New Testament than the Old, because the New Testament had greater appreciation for the virtues of chastity and virginity.76 And therefore she felt greater reverence for and accorded greater honor to those men and women who were friends of God in the New Testament and who wanted to maintain and conserve this virtue than to those who did not adhere to this virtue. And in addition, she had greater affection for those men and women who had been married only once rather than for those who had been married twice. In great simplicity she said to her own mother, “I would have preferred that you had married only once.” Her mother replied kindly, “Daughter, you would not exist if I had not remarried.” In answer to this response she said, “God in His omnipotence would have made me the daughter of one of your neighbors who was married only once.” 68. At the beginning of the reform she undertook in this great and difficult business, she often took refuge in her prayers to male and female saints who had kept

74. I.e., the pope. 75. On the theme of mystical marriage see the Introduction, 31–32. 76. The opening of this paragraph repeats almost exactly parts of V 64.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 81 their virginity. And for this reason she did not ask for help from lady Saint Anne.77 Once when she was fervently praying to Our Lord the glorious lady Saint Anne appeared to her, gloriously bringing with her the most honorable of all her noble progeny, that is, her three daughters and their glorious children.78 The first of these daughters was the excellent and holy virgin Mary, queen of the heavens and of earth, lady of the angels and of all creatures, holding by the hand her dear son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the precious redeemer and glorious savior. The second was Mary James, holding by the hand her four glorious children, that is, Saint James Minor, Saint Simon, Saint Jude, and Saint Joseph the Just.79 The third daughter was Mary Salome, holding by the hand her glorious two children, that is, Saint James Major and Saint John the Evangelist. And through this apparition the glorious lady Saint Anne demonstrated to her that, although she had been married several times, nonetheless the entire Church militant and triumphant was greatly honored and adorned by her very noble progeny.80 The little handmaid of Our Lord was much consoled in her spirit by this apparition, and she began to have a very special devotion to her and asked her sweetly and humbly that it might please her to be her intercessor with her noble lineage and all the saints in heaven, that they should have pity and compassion toward her and her entire small and poor family,81 and that they should help her to execute well the task of reform that Our Lord had entrusted to her. And in order to show her humble appreciation of the grace that the glorious lady had accorded to her through herself and her whole lineage, she founded and had consecrated a church in Saint Anne’s honor, and out of reverence for her in the first convent, located in Besançon, that was given to her by the holy father the pope, she had a beautiful and solemn chapel constructed in the name and honor of this glorious lady, in which are buried and entombed some of the special friends of Our Lord. 77. Saint Anne’s multiple marriages were seen as problematic not only by Colette. The French humanist and biblical scholar Jacques Lefèvre d’Etaples (1455–1536), citing misreadings of the Scriptures, reduced Anne’s three marriages to one and her children to one daughter, the Virgin Mary. He was accused of heresy but protected by Louise of Savoy, the mother of the French king Francis I. See Myra D. Orth, “ ‘Madame Saint Anne’: The Holy Kinship, the Royal Trinity, and Louise of Savoy,” in Kathleen M. Ashley and Pamela Sheingorn, eds., Interpreting Cultural Symbols: Saint Anne in Late Medieval Society (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1990), 199–227. 78. On the cult of Saint Anne, see also the Introduction, note 98. 79. The many members of Saint Anne’s family are called the Holy Kinship. This very large family was a popular subject in late medieval art. See Pamela Sheingorn, “Appropriating the Holy Kinship: Gender and Family History,” in Ashley and Sheingorn, eds., Interpreting Cultural Symbols, 169–98. 80. The “Church Militant” and “Church Triumphant” are two of the three traditional divisions or states of the Christian Church; the Church Militant is made up of Christians on earth who fight the daily battle against sin and evil, while the Church Triumphant comprises the saints in heaven. The third division is the Church Penitent, made up of the souls in purgatory. 81. Meaning her religious community.

82 PIERRE DE VAUX

Figure 5. At left, Colette and Saint Francis have a vision of Saint Anne and her family, the Holy Kinship. At right are pictured Margaret of York with her husband Charles the Bold,82 duke of Burgundy. In the right background, Saint John the Evangelist hands Colette a golden ring. 82. Like Saint Anne, Charles the Bold was married three times. His third marriage was to Margaret of York, who commissioned this manuscript of Pierre de Vaux’s Life of Colette and donated it to the convent in Ghent, where it is still kept.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 83 Chapter 10: Of the sacrifice of holy prayer and how these prayers were acceptable to Our Lord and profitable for several people 69. Of the sacrifice of holy prayer, lord Saint Augustine says that prayer is the refuge of the holy soul, consolation for the good angel, torment for the devil, a service agreeable to God, of perfect religion, glory, and complete praise, firm hope, and holiness without corruption.83 The main occupation of the little handmaid of Our Lord, throughout her entire life, was to praise, honor, and pray to God. Wherever she was, indoors or outdoors, coming or going, her heart and thoughts were always elevated toward God, praying to Him incessantly both mentally and vocally, or by doing works in His honor. One of the graces that she had deeply imprinted in her heart was a fervent desire to serve God diligently and devoutly, and that this service should be accomplished with humility and a clean heart, and with great reverence and respect. She wanted none of the sisters to be exempted from this service, unless it was for a very convincing or necessary reason, or they would be punished. And so that the sisters could do the service more devoutly and reverently she wanted them to arrive in church before the service in order to relieve their conscience, and thus they could render a more pleasant and agreeable service to God. And if there were any of them who had in her heart something against another sister, she should humbly ask forgiveness before offering her prayer to God. 70. And although she herself was weak and infirm and gravely tormented by serious pain, from which it pleased God to make her suffer, and because of which she could have licitly been absent from the service, nonetheless her whole desire and pleasure lay in being always, day and night, to be the first to arrive and the last to leave. And this is what she would have done, had Our Lord not forced her to act differently. And when it pleased Our Lord to take away for a while the pains she suffered, she went so quickly and joyously to the service as if she had never felt any illness or pain. Several times when she was sitting in her chair and getting ready to go to the service before matins, several sisters saw a very beautiful and pleasant lamb that was waiting for her. And once she was there, she was present with her entire heart and body, not sparing anything, she opened herself up and abandoned herself in order to offer Him a pleasing and acceptable service, and she did so with such a full heart that her beautiful voice was heard above all others. Several times, at the beginning of her reforms, a number of people said that when she participated in the Divine Office her voice, by God’s grace, was heard as far away as three miles.84 83. This phrase is actually from Saint Bernard’s fifth sermon for Quadragesima, the first Sunday of Lent, the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter. See Sancti Bernardi opera, vol. 4 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1966), 353–80, at p. 374. 84. Vaux says “une grosse lieuwe.” A “lieu” is about 4.5 km or about 3 miles.

84 PIERRE DE VAUX 71. And at the beginning of her reforms she was perplexed about the manner in which the sisters should say the Holy Office because the Form of Life85 states that the sisters should read the office without singing. She called her confessor, friar Henry de Baume, in order to consult him on this matter; and after exchanging several holy words they returned to the holy sacrifice of prayer and begged God that He might let them know by His saintly grace how they should say the Holy Office in His honor and for the edification of the people. And while they were praying, suddenly they heard a very pleasant and melodious voice right near them that seemed to be more angelic than anything else. This voice told them the simple and devout form and manner that they should adopt in performing the abovementioned Office; they listened to this voice joyously and they reflected diligently on the manner proposed by the voice, and they decided on the statutes and ordained that from now on the Office should be performed in this manner.86 72. Once, in one of the convents where she was present, a great pestilence occurred of which several sisters died and others fell ill. Among the ill sisters was one who was especially ill, but in spite of her illness she did not want to miss Our Lord’s service because there was such a small number of sisters who remained unaffected by this pestilence that she did not want to abandon or diminish this service, and so, with two or three others who were very much impaired, she said the entire canonical Office more devoutly and solemnly than it had been said in any other convent; and it truly seemed that the blessed angels had descended from paradise in order give them aid and comfort, so melodiously did they perform this service.87 And several people who heard them were greatly comforted by it and felt great devotion. One thing that was especially admirable was that she never was bored or annoyed at the Divine Office; and the longer and more prolix the service was the more it pleased her. And sometimes, if she was bothered by something before the service, as soon as she entered the service, she was all consoled and at peace. And often she said the psalms and celebrated the Office with such strong determination and devotion and with such great spiritual fervor that it truly seemed to her that she saw clearly and perfectly our sovereign king. And at that moment her precious face was so illuminated and resplendent that 85. See the Introduction, 29. 86. That is, the Office should be sung. The Rule of Saint Clare had specified that the Office should be recited, not sung (La Règle de l’ordre de Sainte Claire, 69). Colette thus revises, and even contravenes, Clare’s Rule by angelic command. This calls to mind Saint Birgitta of Sweden’s “dictating angel” and the question of the sung and spoken liturgy. See Katherine Zieman, “Playing Doctor: St. Birgitta, Ritual Reading, and Ecclesiastical Authority,” in Voices in Dialogue: Reading Women in the Middle Ages, ed. Linda Olson and Kathryn Kerby-Fulton (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2005), 307–34, at p. 315. 87. Although Pierre uses the term dire (to say), the context suggests that the office was sung, according to Colette’s new orders.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 85 the sisters could not see anything because of the great light that emanated from her face.88 And when she could not attend the service because of her excessive pain, she would say, sighing pitifully, “Alas, those who can go to the divine service are lucky”; and she regretted more her absence from the Lord’s Office than she complained about her own pain and suffering. 73. Once, when she visited one of her convents, she found there one of her sisters who for eight years had been absent from the Divine Office because of an illness, for because of this illness she could not say anything at the Divine Office together with the other sisters, and she was most afflicted and aggrieved by this. The handmaid of Our Lord called her sweetly and asked her why she was absent from the Divine Office, and the sister explained to her the obstacle that kept her from going. Then she [Colette] told her, “In the name of Our Lord go this night to matins and do with diligence whatever God’s grace will grant you.” When she attended the abovementioned matins she found her voice restored and even better than before, and from then on she recited more impressively than any of the other sisters the obligatory canonical Hours, and always without fail she said the Office of the Pater Noster that the lay sisters must recite, and the Hours of the Cross and at the very least the double vigils, some recited nine lessons, the others three. She [Colette] loved the rosary of the Pater Noster,89 and she carried it around with her day and night and from it she recited countless Pater Nosters. Sometimes, when she was so tormented by the grievous pains from which she suffered and did not know where she was, she touched the rosary of the Pater Noster and came back to herself and recognized where she was. In all her prayers, spoken aloud and with great deliberation, she was especially devoted to the Psalter and the Seven Psalms with the litanies.90 And from her youth into old age, whatever she was doing, she never failed to recite them. And when she came to the end of the Psalter she knelt down before Our Lord and offered it to Him with great humility and reverence, begging Him to be pleased with it and to accept it.

88. On the symbolism of light in this context see Arnold Angenendt, “ ‘Der Leib ist klar, klar wie Kristall,’ ” in Frömmigkeit im Mittelalter: Politisch-soziale Kontexte, visuelle Praxis, körperliche Ausdrucksformen, ed. Klaus Schreiner (Munich: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 2002), 387–98. 89. The Hours of the Cross are the part of a Book of Hours focused on the Passion of Christ. The Pater Noster (“Our Father”) was commonly recited by medieval Christians using prayer beads (the rosary), and it is still the first prayer recited when one begins an individual decade of the rosary (i.e., with ten beads); today it is followed by reciting the Ave Maria (Hail Mary) ten times and concluding with the Gloria Patri (“Glory be to the Father”). 90. The Seven Penitential Psalms are Psalms 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142 (in the Hebrew numbering 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143). The Roman scholar Cassiodorus named these psalms “penitential” in his sixth-century commentary Expositio Psalmorum (Exposition of the Psalms). Like the Hours of the Cross, the Penitential Psalms would have been included in a Book of Hours.

86 PIERRE DE VAUX 74. Of all her prayers during which the devil vexed and bothered her, it was most commonly the one when she was reciting the Psalter. Sometimes when she recited it at night the devil came and blew out her candle or oil lamp. Once, in one of many such incidents in which he had blown it out and she had relit it to recite the Psalter, the perverse devil, who was just waiting to bother her, did so in such a way that she could not finish the prayer she had begun. He took the lamp full of oil and threw it so that it spilled on her book, and she was extremely sad, on the one hand because of the prayer that remained unfinished, and on the other because of the loss of the book that she loved dearly. The next day, she complained pitifully to her father confessor and described the desolation she felt over the book she thought was all spoiled and destroyed. She held it out to him and found it restored and as clean as it had ever been, and she was all consoled. 75. Another time, when she was occupied with saying the Psalter, two cruel and terrible devils appeared to her in order to frighten her and to prevent her from offering her prayer to God, as was her habit. They appeared in a horrible and awful shape, one next to the other. But she made the sign of the cross and with great assurance and certainty she humbly and reverently offered her prayer to God, and immediately the two demons were confounded and vanished. 76. In all dangers and important business her refuge was the sacrifice of holy prayer. In particular, when she felt that some tribulation or affliction was in the offing, she recited or had her sisters recite the litanies, for she had great faith in them and was devoted to them. At a time when all over the kingdom of France there were such violent and deadly wars that few people dared to leave their fortresses and cities, for God’s love and the salvation of souls she made several journeys to different faraway regions, even though she was very fearful as is usual in a religious woman. And in order to travel safely and securely her strategy was that, every time before she left the convent, she had the mass of the Three Kings celebrated.91 And as soon as she had left, she began to devoutly recite the litanies, and by God’s grace and the merit of all the saints named in this litany she managed to safely avoid all the perils that were often so great that she could have lost her life. Some of these perils will be briefly described below. 77. Once, when she was traveling with several of her sisters in a foreign region whose language they did not know, they passed a dangerous crossing situated in a forest. There they were confronted by some well-armed warriors on horseback;

91. Epiphany, celebrated on January 6, commemorates the arrival of the Three Kings, or Three Magi, bearing gifts for the infant Jesus. The story is told in Matthew 2–12. Presumably, because these kings came from far away, they were qualified to serve as travel insurance. A litany is a series of prayers; it can involve a dialogue between a member of the clergy (or an abbess) and the congregation. The most well known is the Litany of the Saints, recited or sung at the Easter Vigil Mass and on All Saints’ Day.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 87 with their arquebuses at the ready they ambushed them in order to rob them.92 Although the sisters were poor and lived from begging, nonetheless, because it was a long journey and the roads were difficult and also because of their feminine frailty, they had to travel in coaches which were very showy. Suddenly and violently the men advanced toward them and like people with bad intentions and ready to do them harm they began to speak to them in a rude and frightening manner. The little handmaid of Our Lord, who had devoutly recited the holy litany and who, by the grace of the Holy Spirit like the glorious apostles understood all languages, answered them kindly and benignly.93 And suddenly, when they heard the sound of her sweet voice, their cruel intentions were transformed into love and charity, for not only did they assure her that they would not harm them but they charitably offered to accompany them safely to wherever they wanted to go. She thanked them charitably and humbly for that offer and thus they left without any mishap. 78. Another time, as she was leading her sisters to a newly built convent by passing through a wild and foreign land, she had them recite the holy litany, for she foresaw some trouble that would befall them shortly. Someone from this land, who had a noble lineage but not a noble heart, took the suggestion of one of the enemies who was strongly opposed to her holy work and sent some of his henchmen to pursue and rob her. And they finally stopped her until the moment when the abovementioned nobleman, accompanied by men of the same desires, arrived at the place where the little handmaid of Our Lord and her entire group were being held. This man, quickly showing outwardly what was in his inner heart, assaulted them with carnal and indecent words. When she humbly and honestly responded to these words, it was as if their horses’ hoofs were attached to the ground and they could not move to approach their coach, but once they turned around, their horses were light-footed and swift. 79. Another time when she returned from speaking with some of the sisters in a newly built convent, thinking she was on a safe road that would allow her to avoid the danger of meeting armed men, she fell into the hands of men even worse than all the others. There was a large number of them, and they were so close that they could see her coach, and they were determined to rob and pillage her. And indeed, some of the worst broke off from the group in order to do just that and were slowly approaching her. As soon as she felt in her spirit their evil intentions, 92. Arquebuses were long guns invented around the mid-fifteenth century in Spain. In P 32 we get an eyewitness account of this frightening episode. 93. On miraculous xenoglossia, see Christine F. Cooper-Rompato, The Gift of Tongues: Women’s Xenoglossia in the Later Middle Ages (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010). The biblical reference is to the “gift of tongues” (Acts of the Apostles 2:1–13), in which the Holy Spirit descends on the apostles, enabling them to speak in other languages and enabling people of different ethnicities to understand them. Christians commemorate this miracle on Pentecost Sunday.

88 PIERRE DE VAUX she commended herself to God and began reciting the holy litanies, and, greatly frightened, the men returned to the others so hastily as if they were being chased by enemies; and they did not come back. 80. Yet another time when for some necessary business she went to visit some of her convents, she had to pass through the far edges of lands that were divided and where a great number of armed men were stationed.94 She had a presentiment in her spirit that shortly she and her people would encounter great trouble, and she commended herself to God and had the litany recited, and soon thereafter they were confronted by some terrible and perverse people, who spoke to her, the friars, and her companions in a horrifying and frightening manner. Some wanted to kill them, others wanted to cut off their ears and steal their horses. The little handmaid of Our Lord, having confidence in God’s pity and in the merits of the blessed saints, was so compassionate and charitable that she would have preferred to die rather than have her friars and companions suffer. And just as Our Lord said to the Jews, “If you seek me, let these go their way,”95 so she made her companions and friars leave and stayed with her sisters, ready and prepared to die alone for all of them. And then Our Lord protected her and put such vigor and daring into her heart that she feared nothing, and He put such fervent eloquence into her mouth that they did her no harm whatsoever, neither to her nor to her sisters, and finally they asked for mercy and returned the horses and everything else they had taken. But Our Lord, who does not let those go unpunished who persecute his friends, took such vengeance on them that within not even eight days they were apprehended by the officers of justice for some other crime and hanged on the gallows; and in front of all those who were present they admitted that of all the misdeeds they had ever committed they regretted most the great trouble and desolation that they had caused the little handmaid of Our Lord. In fact, they said that this was the reason that God wanted them to be punished by death. 81. In the time of the abovementioned war in France she was in some town in which there was one of her convents. This town was greatly troubled by armed men, and would probably have been taken and destroyed if God had not protected it because of the merits of His handmaid. Several times these armed men secretly approached this town with great force in order to take it surreptitiously. But right away, whether by day or night, when she felt them approach in her spirit, she began to recite or asked others to recite the litanies, and as soon as she started, the men seemed to see a much greater crowd of people who had come to resist 94. See the Introduction, 2–4 and 20–23, for the many conflicts of this period. 95. John 18:8. Jesus says this to the armed men who arrive with the chief priests to arrest him. In an incident recorded in all gospels, one of the disciples (identified as Peter only in the gospel of John) cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant—the same injury that the armed men threaten to inflict on Colette and her companions.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 89 them than had actually appeared, and they quickly turned around; thus, this town and some others were saved from destruction through her merits. And to this day it is common knowledge in this town that its safety and prosperity came from her merits, as we have just heard. When she stopped praying to God with her voice she began to pray mentally; thus she spent much of her time in holy prayer. All her comfort and pleasure resided in prayer, and she said that without prayer no one could gain anything in holy religion. And for this reason, she frequently exhorted her sisters to spend time with the sacrifice of holy prayer. 82. And when she was occupied with her holy mental prayer, all the cares and worthless preoccupations were banished from her spirit, and she collected all her mental, physical, and natural virtues as well as her spiritual forces and laid them bare in order to reflect on God more perfectly and to pray to Him more fervently and affectionately. And then her spirit was so ardently and closely joined to Him that it was as if she was enraptured and elevated in Him, and she could not see or perceive anything outside Him. And sometimes she remained in this state for six hours, and sometimes for ten or twelve hours, and she did not know what others were saying or doing around her. And when she returned to herself, she thought that she had been in this state for only a little while. And sometimes she had been in this state for an entire day. Often she spent a good part of the night in mental prayer. She needed so little sleep that sometimes she slept hardly one hour in eight days. And when she had recited her psalter aloud, she then devoted herself to praying to God mentally. Similarly, when she was outside for part of the time, she used her mental prayer, and when she was walking through the fields while traveling from convent to convent, she ceaselessly prayed to God, both aloud and mentally. And when she arrived at the lodging where all the others rested tired and exhausted, she fervently prayed all night without rest, all the while crying and sighing. 83. These prayers were so ardent and fervent that they penetrated the heavens, and sometimes it pleased God by His grace to demonstrate this to some of her sisters through visible signs. For it seemed to them that they truly saw issue from her mouth a burning firebrand that was very beautiful and brightly shining. This firebrand rose up so high that it managed to penetrate the heavens, thus signifying that her prayers reached the presence of the divine majesty and were accepted.96 Sometimes when she was engaged in her fervent prayers, it seemed that her oratory was burning and being consumed by fire, and when people came running to extinguish it nothing was visible anymore. Once her veil looked burnt and yet there had been no fire. One of her sisters once entered her oratory inadvertently while she was praying devoutly before Our Lord, and suddenly she saw her so beautiful and resplendent that she fell to the floor and because of this the little 96. See P 33 for another account of this event, but told without any interpretation.

90 PIERRE DE VAUX handmaid had to go and help her; she scolded and reproached her for her intrusion, but finally she comforted her with her words. Once, one of her sisters named Colette d’Alpencourt saw how during her fervent prayers a bright sun issued forth from her worthy mouth which was so big and resplendent that it illuminated the entire oratory. And sometimes when her heart and spirit were spiritually elevated toward God in her holy prayers, she was seen several times by several sisters rising so high up in the air that they completely lost sight of her.97 For certain reasons God did not permit her to reveal that several times during her devout prayers she was raised up so high that it seemed to her that she could have touched the heavens with her holy hands, if she had stretched out her arms. 84. One of the principal requests she made to God in her devout prayers was for the poor sinners and the weak. Among several revelations that God by His holy grace wished to make manifest to the venerable doctor who did excellent work for the Order of the Preachers, master Vincent,98 was that he should make the acquaintance of His little handmaid whom he saw in his spirit kneeling humbly before the divine majesty, praying devoutly and fervently for the sins and faults of her poor people. The Lord replied to her, “Daughter, what do you want me to do? Every day I am hurt and offended by them, they despise me continuously, they cut me into smaller pieces than a butcher cuts his meat, all the while blaming and denying me, and breaking all my commandments.”99 And because of this acquaintance with His little handmaid that God by His grace wanted to reveal to this learned man in a vision, he traveled from the kingdom of Aragon to Gaul, that is, France, especially to visit her in person. And they exchanged many holy words and had profitable conversations, and, through God’s goodness, they received several spiritual consolations. Another time she prayed most devoutly and fervently to the glorious Virgin Mary to act as intercessor through her beloved child and ask Him to have pity on His poor people; during this prayer a platter filled with little pieces of flesh—like those of an innocent child—was presented to her and it was said to her,100 “How could I intercede with my child, for those who 97. Levitation, which could range from hovering off the ground a few inches to actual flying (as Colette is doing here), occurs in many saints’ Lives, including in an account of Saint Francis’s life by his companion Leo (the Fioretti or The Little Flowers). See Vauchez, Francis of Assisi, esp. 205–8. 98. This is the Dominican Saint Vincent Ferrer (1350–1419). Perrine (P 34) adds a reference to his canonization in 1455, which occurred after Pierre de Vaux prepared his biography. See also the Introduction, 39–40. 99. Interestingly, this vision of a platter of chopped-up human flesh recalls one of Saint Vincent Ferrer’s most famous miracles: reassembling and reviving a baby that was accidentally chopped up for a meal. See Laura Ackerman Smoller, The Saint and the Chopped-Up Baby: The Cult of Vincent Ferrer in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2014). 100. The passive construction here (il luy fust presenté . . . luy fust respondu) obscures the origin of this event, although the voice is clearly Mary’s.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 91 every day through their horrible sins and offenses that they commit against Him cut Him to pieces that are even smaller than those that are cut up and displayed on this platter?” Because of these offenses for a long time she carried in her heart great sadness and excessive pain. 85. Among all the suffrages101 and commemorations she recited in her devotions she singled out especially those of the Passion of Our Lord, the Annunciation of the blessed son of God in the precious womb of the glorious Virgin Mary, and All Saints in paradise. Without fail, every day after the Divine Office she recited or had recited in all her convents the commemoration of the Passion of Our Lord (Christus factus est pro nobis obediens etc.) and the prayer Respice quesumus domine, for the commemoration of the Annunciation Gabriel Angelus and the prayer Gratiam tuam quesumus domine, and for the All Saints Angeli archangeli and the prayer Omnipotens sempiterne deus, and with this commemoration of All Saints she always recited every day with the obligatory Divine Office the canonical hours of the solemnity of all the saints.102 And while she was at the convent in Besançon, often, after compline in the chapel of Saint Anne, she made the friars sing the commemoration Angeli archangeli. And the reason why she recited the solemnity of All Saints, that is, Angeli archangeli, more often than any other canonical Office, and why she had this commemoration chanted in the chapel of Saint Anne, is because after she had commended herself very humbly to this holy lady, she appeared to her in person together with her noble and holy progeny. During one of her raptures, the solicitude and diligence that this lady showed for her projects was manifested to her by grace. She saw this lady joyously and gloriously, dressed in a shining resplendent habit and carrying a golden vessel that was valuable and precious, but it was in the shape of a basket with which she went begging, asking the glorious male and female saints of paradise for their suffrages

101. Suffrages are prayers with requests addressed to specific saints. See Adelaide Bennett, “Commemoration of Saints in Suffrages: From Public Liturgy to Private Devotion,” in Objects, Images, and the Word: Art in the Service of the Liturgy, ed. Colum Hourihane (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003), 54–78. 102. All of these quotations are from prayers and liturgical hymns. “Christus factus est” = from Philippians 2:8–9, “Christ became obedient for us unto death.” “Respice . . .” = “Look with favor, we beseech Thee, O Lord.” Angelus: The prayer commemorating the Angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary and the Incarnation of Christ, recited three times a day; the words “Gratiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, mentibus nostris infunde” (“Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts”) are spoken at the end of this prayer. “Angeli archangeli” = “Angels and archangels”; this is the beginning of a prayer recited on All Saints’ Day (“Angels and archangels, Thrones and Dominions, . . . and all Saints, intercede for us”). “Omnipotens . . .” = “Almighty, everlasting God” is a short prayer sometimes added to the Marian hymn Salve Regina (“Hail, Holy Queen”).

92 PIERRE DE VAUX and prayers before God,103 so that He might be helpful to His little handmaid and so that the holy task He had given her might bear fruit. 86. How her holy prayers were helpful to various people. In one of her convents lived a well brought up woman, a lay servant close to this convent who contracted such a serious and grievous illness that all the women who took care of her believed her to be dead. And what is more—and even worse—is that she recognized that she was more spiritually than physically ill, for in her conscience there were some cruel and secret wounds of enormous sins that were never cured or healed by the sacrament of penance. Of these wounds the little handmaid of Our Lord had clear knowledge, causing her very great sadness and grief. For this reason, she returned to the sacrifice of holy prayer, and she did not cease to pray affectionately and fervently to Our Lord until the life of the soul and of the body of the miserable and unhappy sick woman was granted her. After the handmaid’s prayers and through her merits the sick woman regained rather quickly her good physical health, and right away she began working diligently and efficaciously on regaining her spiritual health through contrition, the sacrament of confession, and other suitable remedies. Because of this work and the diligence she applied to it Our Lord looked at her compassionately and mercifully and accorded her such grace that henceforth she led a very good and holy life, with a pure and clean conscience, loving and fearing God, hating sin and fleeing the occasions of sinning, and thus ending her last days with glory. 86.2. In the town of Aigueperse104 a man and woman who were leading an abominable and execrable life were arrested by the hand of justice and were sentenced to death, and were being led to the gallows. But even though everyone said that they deserved to die, nonetheless people felt great pity, for with the loss of their corporal life came the possibility that they would lose the eternal life, for they wanted to hear nothing about God or about their own guilt, no matter how much they were exhorted and admonished. They did not want to listen to anything, but uttered detestable and diabolic words of despair, worthy of eternal damnation. Among those who had come to see the execution was a devout hermit who had come to visit the little handmaid. When he recognized the corporal and spiritual perdition of these poor creatures, he fell to his knees before the officials of justice and humbly begged them that they should listen to him and postpone the execution until he could go and commend them to the little handmaid of Our Lord. His request 103. This vision is depicted on one of the panels of the Saint Anne Altarpiece in the Historisches Museum in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. See Ashley and Sheingorn, ed., Interpreting Cultural Symbols, “Introduction,” 35, and fig. 20. Interestingly, in Perrine’s text Saint Anne begs for “alms for the Order,” not prayers (P 43). 104. Esgueperse, in the Middle French text, refers to the small town of Aigueperse in Auvergne, in today’s Département du Puy-de-Dôme. The convent of Aigueperse was founded in 1423–25 with the support of Marie de Berry, duchess of Bourbon.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 93 was granted, and as soon as they were commended to her, she lifted her heart and hands toward God and in tears began to devoutly recite this psalm, Miserere mei Deus.105 Before the psalm was recited completely, they gained knowledge from God of their enormous sins. They began to feel great pain and grief and received their death with great patience, knowing full well that they deserved it. Because of this, all the bystanders were edified and had great hopes for their own salvation. 87. There was a lady religious leading a good and honest life, well brought up, who had a great desire to confess some serious and enormous sins that she had committed while still living in the world, but she simply could not do so. For every time that she came into the presence of the priest in order to confess her sins, the devil appeared to her and made her feel such great shame that she left the way she had come,106 that is, without confessing herself. This went on for six years, and she remained in a state of great desolation and affliction. In the end, she commended herself very humbly to the prayers of the little handmaid of Our Lord and, once the commendation had been made, she immediately proceeded to the sacrament of penance, without any danger or difficulty, and fully recognized and confessed her sins, after which she found that her conscience was much relieved and her spirit consoled and comforted. 88. At the beginning of her reform, when the little handmaid of Our Lord was still in the area of Baume in the Génévois, there was a hostel in town where people were very kindhearted, merciful and charitable; for this reason, the abovementioned handmaid commended them especially in her holy prayers. For they devoted themselves and their belongings very generously to her and all her sisters, causing their enemies to be invidiously furious toward this hostel and its inhabitants, and they did everything they could in a sneaky way to do them great harm and to persecute them, but through the fervent prayers of the little handmaid they and their hostel were always protected against all harm. And in order to protect them against the perverse and envious enemies who constantly sought to destroy them, because of her merits sometimes the angels of paradise descended visibly to shield them and to give them comfort and support, as it was demonstrated to the handmaid of Our Lord and some of her sisters. First, around midnight, the handmaid saw a great brightness and light around the hostel, and in this brightness she saw a multitude of angels that surrounded it and protected it against all attacks of these enemies. Then she saw a golden ladder standing on top of the hostel and touching the heavens, and the angels ascended and descended, presenting the little handmaid’s prayers to God, and also the beautiful alms and benefits that the hostel’s

105. Psalm 50 (51): “Have mercy on me, oh God.” This is one of the Penitential Psalms, as discussed in note 90. 106. In P 35 a “big and indecent knight,” not the devil, prevents the woman’s confession.

94 PIERRE DE VAUX inhabitants had offered her and her sisters.107 Then she called some of her sisters and pointed out this brightness and the vision, but they could not see it, and it was not until the handmaid of Our Lord had said her prayer before God that they could see it. After that prayer they saw it clearly, and it was such a marvelous and indescribable thing, demonstrating that the holy prayers of the little handmaid of Our Lord and the charitable acts that people did for her pleased God. 89. In one of her convents situated in the town of Poligny the sisters had at the beginning great need for water. They had to go outside to find water because there was none inside, and they could not find a place to dig a well within the convent, despite the fact that there were several skilled masters who could have done it. Finally, on the Friday before the middle of Lent, on which the Roman Church reads the gospel that mentions the fountain where Our Lord Jesus Christ asked the Samaritan woman to give him to drink,108 the little handmaid of Our Lord said her devout and holy prayers before Our Lord and told him piteously about these problems. Afterward, she had people dig and strike in a certain place and right away water spilled out abundantly, and it flowed so beautifully and was so delicious that there was no other like it in the town or the whole region. 90. In a town situated in the Albigeois109 there was a young married woman of good upbringing leading an honest life. From this loyal marriage she had a little child. By divine permission this woman fell so gravely ill that she lost her mind so that she no longer recognized God, or any human being, or her own child. And with this illness she was so confused that she, without shame, took off all her clothes in public. She was completely naked and her language was so detestable that whatever people said to her, she answered in words of the devil, never anything else. A seigneur of the Church, a good and honorable priest who knew much about the holy life and glorious merits of the little handmaid of Our Lord, visited the poor sick woman out of compassion. Quite a long time later he commended her very humbly to the holy and devout prayers of the handmaid, for she lived in a region far away. After this commendation, when he returned for a second time to the aforementioned patient, she was just as ill as she had been before. He charitably visited her and touched her head with one of the scarves of this sister,110 107. This vision evokes the dream of Jacob recounted in Genesis 28:10–17. On the celestial ladder see Christian Heck, L’Echelle céleste dans l’art du moyen âge: Une image de la quête du ciel (Paris: Flammarion, 1997) and “Du songe de Jacob aux visions de saints dans l’art médiéval,” Micrologus 6 (1998): 43–57. 108. John 4:1–26. Perrine tells the same story in P 36. 109. A region in southern France, around the city of Albi, the capital of today’s Département du Tarn. 110. As usual, Pierre uses only personal pronouns and vague references, without necessarily identifying of which woman he speaks. The context suggests that he speaks of a scarf given to the priest by Colette.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 95 and very soon she spoke reasonably and asked for the sacrament of penance and confession, putting behind her all the other things. And shortly thereafter she was completely cured and was so well that it seemed she had never been ill. 91. A notable merchant, who is mentioned several times in the present text, planned to go abroad for some important business related to his merchandise. The weather was dangerous and very bad, with water and snow everywhere. And in order for his trip to be profitable and to avoid any spiritual and temporal risks, he commended himself very humbly to the holy and devout prayers of the little handmaid of Our Lord. Soon after this commendation he left and set out across the fields which, as mentioned earlier, were so filled with water and snow that one could not see the ground. He rode along for a long time, not knowing where he was. He arrived at a certain passageway which was so dangerous that he had to risk death in order to pass it: he could have fallen into a deep hole filled with water and snow. In this mortal danger he remembered the little handmaid of Our Lord, and in his heart commended himself to her holy prayers. As soon as he had made this commendation, he saw the handmaid guarding the perilous passage and she made a sign with her hand, indicating that there was no way he could cross and that he should turn around, which he did immediately, realizing clearly that he had avoided a deadly peril because of her merits. 92. Another man who had heard of and was familiar with the great reputation of the little handmaid of Our Lord had a legitimate daughter whom he loved very much. He proposed to have her enter the holy service of Our Lord, and for this purpose he presented and gave her to the handmaid who received her joyfully, for she seemed to have the perfect disposition for becoming a good nun. Not long after the father had lost sight of his daughter whom he loved so much he felt unhappy and troubled by what he had done and imperiously demanded her back, which caused the little handmaid of Our Lord great pain, but she sadly gave the daughter back to the father and returned to the sacrifice of holy prayer to Our Lord, sighing about the loss of this girl. Very strangely, the father grew so hardhearted that he did not want his daughter to remember that she had ever been in the convent. He made her mount a horse to get her out of the country. But before he was even halfway to where he intended to go the horse fell three times, and the last time the horse became as stiff as a plank of wood, and nothing could be done. When the father realized that this was God’s work because of the prayers of the little handmaid of Our Lord, he hastily returned to her and humbly cried for her mercy, asking her, with great humility, to receive his daughter into her holy Order, which request she benignly and generously granted.111

111. Perrine adds a fascinating account of the father’s vision and posthumous appearance, making frightening “clicking sounds” (P 55).

96 PIERRE DE VAUX 93. A very noble and powerful lady, a countess of the Valentinois,112 had great desire and devotion to enter the religious life, and before doing so, she tested herself for a long time by adopting a very hard and harsh life to find out whether she would be able to faithfully keep these religious vows. Afterward she several times addressed a very humble personal request and prayer to the little handmaid of Our Lord, asking her to accede to her true desire and let her enter this Order. Seeing the fervor of her desire and her great devotion and perseverance, the handmaid granted her petition, told her that she would be received, and indicated on which day this should happen. When the enemy of all good things noticed that the day was approaching on which she was to carry out her good intentions, he put a great obstacle in her way by making all her horses so sick that they could not lift their feet from the ground. When the noble countess was notified of this problem, she was desperate and did not know how to find a solution except, with great devotion, to mentally commend this whole matter to the prayers of the handmaid of Our Lord. And immediately, as soon as she wanted to depart, all the horses were in as good a shape as they had ever been. For this reason, she left joyously and comfortably for her holy journey, and she arrived in the presence of the handmaid of Our Lord who received her into the Order with great humility and devotion. 93.2. In the town of Besançon there was a noble married woman named Marguerite who, for three years, had suffered from several and various maladies. Her parents and friends, knowing of the fame and good reputation of the little handmaid of Our Lord, with the help of a solemn master of theology, a Friar Minor, brought this ill Marguerite to the handmaid on the fifth day of her arrival in town in order to commend her devoutly to her holy prayers. The first one of her illnesses was that as soon as she ate something—no matter what it was—she immediately threw it up and nothing remained within her. The second illness was that four or five times during the day or night she fell over backward and lay on her back, all the while carrying on in the most horrible way. The third illness was that every four days or so, two hours before noon, she was seized, for about three or four hours, by a kind of cramp or gout that affected her whole body but especially the nerves of her arms. When this illness struck, a strong woman lay down with her and embraced her, and around the middle of her body was tied a strong strap that two women held on to strongly, each one held one end of that strap, and in front of this sick woman stood four women of whom two held on to one of her naked arms, and the other two to the other. And several times these women pulled this Marguerite with all their strength, some in front, the others

112. This region is in the southeast of France and until the sixteenth century was a fief of the Holy Roman Empire. Guillemette de Gruyère (d. after 1439), one of Colette’s supporters and friends, was the countess at the time. Cf. Perrine’s version in P 54.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 97 behind, just as they had been instructed to do.113 And many times these women were so fatigued and exhausted by the hard work of pulling that one often had to call in some men to help the women pull. And when this Marguerite came before the abovementioned handmaid of Our Lord, the master of theology began to explain and describe Marguerite’s illnesses. And when she heard about them, she was most astonished. And she was afraid that one of these illnesses might grip Marguerite in her presence and therefore she asked that Marguerite’s mother, two sisters, and a brother who were there as well should come with her. And as soon as she had entered, the illness that made her fall on her back gripped her, which aroused great pity in the handmaid and the others who were present. She began to recite many beautiful and edifying words of Our Lord, and told Marguerite to have faith in Our Lord and that she was very hopeful that she would be cured by His grace. Then she left the room and entered her oratory and, once she had finished her prayers, returned to the room with a sad and tearful countenance and asked the ill woman how she was feeling. She responded that she felt the illness come on again. And she [Colette] told her that she [Marguerite] did not have sufficient faith in God, and that once she had this faith, she had high hopes that she would be cured. And with these words she left the room again and went to her oratory, and then came back a second time to the ill woman, with an even sadder and more tearful countenance than before. She found the ill woman twisting and tormenting herself near a window, in the way that was usual for her illness. At that moment the handmaid of Our Lord told her with great force, “My dear, because of your lack of faith the illness continues, I beg you to have faith in Our Lord and I have the firm hope that you will be cured.” The woman answered that she did have faith and humbly begged Our Lord that through the handmaid’s faith He might help and support her. Then the handmaid entered her oratory for the third time, this time for not quite as long as before, and returned quickly to the ill woman, with a joyful, light, and shining countenance. And she told her, “My dear, by means of your faith it has pleased Our Lord to give you back your health and cure you.” She answered, “Madame, I am cured and Our Lord has given me back my health by His grace, and not because of any goodness or faith that is within me but because of the merits of the holy prayers that you have recited for me.” Then the handmaid of Our Lord responded, “Be careful not to say that you were cured by me, but rather say that you were cured by the good faith you had in Our Lord.”114 And when the handmaid realized that the ill woman wanted to claim that she had been cured through her [Colette’s] prayers, she asked whether there was

113. This phrase suggests that the women had received some medical advice. On epilepsy and other related ailments and its treatment see Muriel Laharie, La Folie au Moyen Age: XIe–XIIIe siècles, with a preface by Jacques Le Goff (Paris: Le Leópard d’Or, 1991), esp. chap. 4. 114. Pierre here insists that Saint Colette is an intercessor, not a miracle worker.

98 PIERRE DE VAUX not in the region a church in which Saint Loup115 was venerated, and she was told that yes, that there was one at about six lieus from town.116 Then the handmaid instructed the ill woman that within fifteen days she should travel there and undertake a devout pilgrimage to which she agreed, and she made arrangements to accomplish the pilgrimage within eight days, and she commended herself to the handmaid so that she could make the pilgrimage more devoutly. The handmaid asked her how and in which manner she planned to accomplish this journey and she responded that she would be well accompanied and attended to, and that she would ride a small and docile horse. Then the handmaid of Our Lord instructed her that she should take a carriage in case all her illnesses returned just as she was entering St. Loup. For this reason, she should also take several strong women with her in the carriage who could hold her safely should the illnesses seize her again. In addition, she told her that the carriage should enter, without stopping, the cemetery of St. Loup, for as soon as she would enter this cemetery all her illnesses would stop, never to return. And as she had instructed her it was done and accomplished, and Marguerite was perfectly healed and cured. And she was never ill again and lived another nine years. This miracle became known in the town and the surrounding countryside, and therefore several ill people with various diseases came from the town and the country. Among them there were several demoniacs and people who were out of their mind, who, through the prayers of the handmaid of Our Lord, were able to leave completely cured. Chapter 11: On the perfect love and great devotion that she had for the Passion of Our Lord and the miracles that were done through her merits by the sign of the cross 94. As says lord Saint Bernard, nothing is more suitable to heal the conscience of wounds of sin and to purify the heart of unclean thoughts than frequently to meditate on and think of the Passion of Our Lord and His painful wounds.117 The devotion and love that the little handmaid of Our Lord had for the Passion began in her youth, and it was her mother, who was, as was told before, a devout woman, loving and fearing God, who first gave her this feeling and impressed it on her. Her mother said a devout prayer every day for the Passion, weeping and sighing, and showing great pity for the injuries, beating, and torments that Our Lord had suffered for love of us. And she pronounced these prayers with such great pain 115. St. Leu or St. Loup was a fifth-century bishop from Troyes. In popular culture epilepsy was referred to as “le mal St. Leu,” or “the malady of St. Leu” (see Laharie, La Folie au Moyen Age, 34). It therefore made sense to seek out a church dedicated to this particular saint. 116. That is, about eighteen miles. 117. See Bernard of Clairvaux’s sermon on the Song of Songs (sermon 62, para. 7), in Sancti Bernardi opera, vol. 2 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1958), 159.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 99 in her heart that the little handmaid heard all the words she said and imprinted them so deeply in her heart that she remembered and recalled them her entire life. Every day at noon, the hour that our sweet savior Jesus Christ was crucified for the redemption of human creatures, she felt very anxious and pained by the bitter Passion of Our Lord, and in order to bear these feelings secretly and devoutly she separated herself from all other people. And then when she was alone, she devoted all her heart and thoughts to a meditation on the abuse, insults, beatings, and the very horrible and shameful death that He so sweetly and patiently wanted to accept and suffer for us. And often, after this devout meditation, she was alienated from her senses and could feel nothing of external things, and she seemed to be enraptured and transformed in God by a burning fire of love. On Fridays, from six in the morning when she had heard holy mass at matins until six in the afternoon, she ate and drank nothing and occupied herself with thinking about the mystery of the Passion, and she so vividly and strongly held in her thoughts the memory of the grievous suffering that her whole heart and body were painfully wounded, so much so that several times she felt in her hands, her feet, and her side such a strong pain and burning that it seemed that she had been pierced by nails and a lance.118 95. When she was young Our Lord wanted to grant her a grace of great excellence. Once, after she had profoundly thought about and fervently meditated about the dolorous Passion, He appeared to her and showed her the manner in which he had been crucified and manifested to her that there was not one of His members that had not innocently and unjustly suffered and taken upon itself a special pain for love of us. This caused great pain and excessive sadness in her heart, and she was inflamed with such burning love and devotion for the Passion that often, when she recalled this vision of the cruel and horrible pains that she had seen on the precious body of Our Lord, she remained as if in a trance and insensible. Who would be capable of accurately describing the abundance of tears, the pitiful crying, and the anguished sighs that she experienced during the entire Holy Week when she remembered the excessive suffering of the Passion of Our Lord; and who could describe the bitter and dolorous pains that she suffered for it? During this Holy Week a very special grace was given to her, for the pains, sufferings, and torments that Our Lord suffered and carried on His precious body were so vividly renewed and imprinted in her heart and body every time the Passion narrative was read during holy mass that she suffered more than any woman ever suffered during childbirth. No woman giving birth ever suffered more anguish than she did when at that hour she cried and lamented in such anguish that there was no heart, however hard, that was not moved to pity and compassion. For a long time she was so inflamed and burning because of the anguishing and painful death 118. This description evokes stigmatization without actually claiming that Colette received the stigmata as had Saint Francis.

100 PIERRE DE VAUX and Passion that no matter in which way the memory of the Passion was brought back to her—whether it was by reading or reciting it, or by some other means— all her thinking was emptied out of everything else, sometimes for six hours or more, and she could think and understand nothing else. Once when she was in the convent at Besançon during Holy Week, she devoted her heart so strongly to a meditation on the excessive pains and sufferings that for love of us He had suffered in the Passion that she was enraptured for three days and three nights, and during this entire time she did not speak, eat, or drink. 96. Another time on a Friday from matins till the time the sisters arrived in the chapter, she devoted herself to thinking of and meditating on the grievous pains and suffering that Our Lord suffered and had to bear in His dolorous Passion, and during this meditation she suffered such great torments that the sisters who encountered her while leaving the chapter looked at her in great wonderment. For it seemed that her precious face had been battered by sticks and that nothing was left but the skin and bones that seemed crunched up, and the nose was all askew and bent. And by speaking with them, she slowly came to herself and her nose regained its shape, little by little, just as dough rises slowly. And as soon as she had spoken with them and was standing up again and certain that there was no sign on her anymore, she quickly returned to her oratory and was again enraptured until evening. 97. Once on Palm Sunday, when she walking in great humility and devotion with the other sisters in the procession that represents the arrival of Our Lord in the city of Jerusalem in order to suffer death and Passion, she was carrying the holy branch with the other sisters as is customary in this procession. She devoted her heart to such vivid and profound thoughts and to such compassionate meditation on this arrival that it seemed to her that she was truly so close to Our Lord that she could touch Him and the donkey on which He was humbly riding. This donkey, when it perceived the green leaves of the branch that she carried, approached her and took with its mouth this branch from her hands, and indeed it vanished as if the donkey had eaten it, and it was never seen again. 98. She held in her heart with great devotion and reverence the holy places across the sea which had been made sacred and blessed by the presence of Our Lord, and especially the place and the city where He suffered death and the Passion. And although she was delicate and weak and the dangers of crossing the sea are very great and difficult, nonetheless she had a great desire to undertake this voyage and devoutly visit these places in order to offer and sacrifice her life to God, and to die there of love for Him. And indeed, she would have realized this desire if it had pleased God that she should find appropriate advice and receive permission to do so.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 101 Because of the fervent love she had for the bitter Passion she reserved special reverence and honor for the relics of the True Cross on which Our compassionate Lord was sacrificed.119 She desired very much to have a small piece of it, and she was not disappointed in this desire, for from heaven was sent to her a beautiful little cross in which a small piece of the True Cross was enclosed which she kept most devoutly and reverently. Several people have seen and held it, and they attested that this little cross was not made or forged by human hands.120 And thus she showed singular honor and devotion to this True Cross on which Our Lord was crucified, and she also had a most singular and special reverence for the sign of the cross, through which God for her merits wished to do and manifest several miracles. 99. Among these were several that happened at the beginning of her reforms of the Order of Saint Clare: several times little children were brought and presented to her that suffered from various illnesses and infections; and without her noticing it, people had her make the sign of the cross over them, and they were immediately entirely cured and healthy. Another miracle of the sign of the cross. 99.2. In one of her convents there was a sister who was very ill, and she had such headaches that she thought she would die of it and that she could no longer bear such great pain. She went to see the little handmaid of Our Lord and showed her her great suffering, begging her to make the sign of the cross over her and to put her hand on her head. She had great pity and compassion for the suffering of the poor patient and put her hand on her head and made the sign of the cross. And immediately the great pain she had in her head disappeared and she was cured and healthy. Another miracle of the sign of the cross. 99.3. One of her friars named Tiebaut had a great pain in his side, and for fifteen years had suffered from it with such great anguish and pain that he could not stand up or turn around. The little handmaid of Our Lord had great pity and compassion for him, and when sending him off to foreign lands with business for the Order she made the sign of the cross over him and said, “Go boldly, for you will be completely cured.” And he never again felt any illness or pain. Another miracle of the sign of the cross. 119. A fragment of the True Cross on which Christ was crucified was one of the most desirable relics in the Middle Ages. The True Cross was reputedly discovered by Helena, the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the early fourth century CE. In France, the most celebrated fragment was acquired by Louis IX (later Saint Louis; d. 1270) from the Byzantine emperor and housed in the especially constructed Sainte Chapelle in Paris. 120. Here Ubald d’Alençon adds a note: “I have seen and venerated this cross in Besançon. It is of a very pure design that points to a very talented artist. Bizouard and M. de Vregille published its image. On one side is Christ’s face, on the other pearls and precious stones.” See Perrine’s account in P 40.

102 PIERRE DE VAUX 100. Once, when returning from doing some necessary business for the Order, she and her companions came to a great and deep river and could find no boat or any person that could help them cross. The little handmaid of Our Lord trusted in Our Lord’s goodness and made the sign of the cross and also had her father confessor make the sign of the cross, and with great faith all of them safely crossed this deep and dangerous river. Not long after that, several people on horseback came to the crossing of this river; seeing that the others before them had safely crossed, they said mockingly, “If these bigots and hypocrites crossed safely, why shouldn’t we as well?” And so they presumptuously threw themselves into the river in which they remained and drowned. Another miracle of the sign of the cross. 101. Another time when the handmaid traveled from one convent to the other, the carriage in which she was riding collapsed and fell into a deep ditch full of water. One of the sisters who was with her carried a piece of the horn of a unicorn121 that the handmaid was very attached to. It fell into the water, which distressed the sister very much. She commended herself in her heart to the prayers of the little handmaid and made the sign of the cross and, trusting her, she went into the ditch full of water and without any human help—except that of a little branch that was not any thicker than a vine—she went to search for and bring back this piece of the unicorn that was floating in the middle of the water, and she managed to do so without submerging herself or plunging into the water, and she only got the bottom of one of her feet wet.122 Another miracle of the sign of the cross. 102. In a convent of religious ladies there was one sister who was well brought up and led an honest life. By divine permission she fell horribly ill, which lasted five years. Every fifteen days at least she fell seriously and painfully ill and exhaled abundantly and disgustingly through her mouth, just as a wild pig would do when it is all heated up. And after that she would remain enraged and out of her mind, like a demoniac. And although she was tightly bound and held by several strong people, she nonetheless got up and jumped on the floor, and out of her mouth issued heat like that of a burning furnace and such a great wind that it seemed like that of a lightning storm, and all this went on for a long time, which greatly troubled and afflicted the sisters in this convent, and they did not know what advice or remedy they could obtain until they had the idea to commend themselves to the prayers of the little handmaid of Our Lord. She, moved by pity and compassion, sent one of her fathers confessor who, confident of the merits of the handmaid of Our Lord, made the sign of the cross over her, and immediately she 121. Ivory, perhaps from the tusk of a narwhal, which in the Middle Ages was an exotic animal known to Europeans only through rare sightings; it was referred to as a “sea unicorn.” 122. Cf. P 41, in which Perrine is always present as an eyewitness.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 103 was so perfectly cured that no sign of the abovementioned illness was ever seen in her again. Another miracle of the sign of the cross. 103. One of the sisters named Jeanne de Serrée once had such great pain in her hand that she did not know what remedy she could find for it. She thought that she could come before the little handmaid of Our Lord and ask her humbly to make sign of the cross over her sick hand. And as she was holding out her hand to her [Colette] for the sign of the cross, she [Colette] realized that she [the sister] did so for the grace she [the sister] believed she [Colette] had more than anyone else.123 She [Colette] was sad and upset about this and pushed away the sister’s ill hand as if in a move of disdain. And something marvelous happened: through this movement of disdain she was completely cured. Another miracle of the sign of the cross. 104. Another one of her sisters was very seriously ill in the infirmary and had eaten nothing for three days. The little handmaid of Our Lord compassionately asked her how she was feeling, and she was told that the sister was very seriously ill and would probably die very soon. She took a little piece of brioche and made the sign of the cross over it and sent it to her, telling her to eat it, and as soon as she had eaten it she was all cured and the next day left the infirmary in good health. Another miracle of the sign of the cross. 105. Once she was in one of her convents located in an area that in that year was very lacking in wheat and wine, and in this convent there was only a little wine for the healthy and the sick, and that wine was so infected and stinking that those who smelled it became nauseated. She had a little vessel brought to her, the size of a little beaker, over which she devoutly and reverently made the sign of the cross. And immediately all the infection and stink disappeared from the wine, and not only from the little vessel that had been brought to her but also from the large barrel. Nonetheless, when some of this wine was brought for the meal in the refectory, before the benediction at table it was still stinking and smelling badly. But once the benediction had been made with the sign of the cross, the infection and stink disappeared and the wine was very tasty and delicious. Another miracle of the sign of the cross. 106. Once someone had given her out of devotion a beautiful ivory tablet that she loved dearly because of the beautiful images of the Passion of Our Lord that were on it. Through the work of the devil it was broken, which made her very sad, and she complained to her father confessor, who comforted her by saying that he would have it repaired. And indeed, he took it and went on his way, carrying it 123. That is, Colette realized that the sister did not look at Colette as an intercessor but as a miracle worker in her own right, which was wrong. All miracles were done by God through Colette’s merits.

104 PIERRE DE VAUX to the master for repair. As he was on the road, he wanted to look at the break in this tablet, and, trusting the little handmaid of Our Lord, he made the sign of the cross, and he found it without any break just as it had always been. Chapter 12: The great devotion and reverence she had for the holy sacrament of the altar and the receiving of the precious body of Our Lord 107. For the sacrament of the altar, just as for the Passion of Our Lord, she had great reverence and devotion, and not without reason. For, as says Saint Augustine, it is there that all celestial contemplation has its source, where all spiritual consolation is found, where all ardent meditation is sweetly felt and savored, and through which all happiness is given.124 Every day, no matter where she was, with great devotion and abundant tears she had holy mass celebrated for her, where the very worthy and precious body of Our Lord is consecrated. And in order to hear mass even more devoutly she often prepared her conscience by going to confession beforehand. And when she was out among other people for a justified cause she would hear mass in public with the others. But when she was in a convent, she heard mass privately and did not want anyone to be present except the person who celebrated mass, a priest or another close, familiar friar, so that any special graces that God by His sovereign goodness accorded her would not become public. And although she showed great devotion toward all the masses that were celebrated in her presence, she showed incomparably greater fervor and burning love and devotion during those masses that were celebrated for her in private and in secret. 108. In these masses when the moment of the elevation of the precious body of Our Lord arrived, she adored it with profound humility, and with great reverence and fear, all the while vilifying and demeaning herself, weeping so abundantly and piteously that it seemed as if she would melt in tears, and she was crying and moaning so loudly and in such anguish that those who heard her, both indoors and outdoors, felt great compassion and admiration for her. And of His powerful greatness, excellence, and worthy glorious presence she had such marvelous sentiments and knowledge that often those who were present truly thought that Our Lord manifested Himself to her—and visible only to her—with some special grace in a certain form and manner which was, depending on what pleased Him, glorious, pitiful, or in pain. After this adoration her heart often remained so burning 124. Nothing in Augustine’s works in the Brepols Library of Latin Texts Series A database matches this quotation. It is most likely Pierre’s vague recollection of Bonaventure’s Itinerarium mentis in Deo (The soul’s journey into God), in which he states that only meditation and prayer can lead to true wisdom. See Bonaventure, The Soul’s Journey into God, trans. and introd. Ewert Cousins (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1978), 1.8.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 105 and inflamed in perfect love of God, and her spirit so elevated and joined to Him, that it seemed that she was all transfigured in Him and enraptured beyond nature, and that all her natural senses ceased to function as they would normally. One marvelous thing was that at the elevation of the precious body of Our Lord she always had clear knowledge of the conscience of the person who celebrated mass, that is, she could tell whether his conscience was in a good or bad state.125 And so that no one could perceive a special grace in her because of her knowledge of the celebrant’s conscience, and also so that she could provide a beneficent remedy in case it was needed, she prudently and secretly made it known to him that he should correct and amend himself without letting him or anyone else know how she had acquired this knowledge. 109. She received a grace concerning the holy sacrament of the altar which was that she never doubted that this was the precious body of Our Lord and however briefly she saw it, she always had true knowledge of the greatness and magnificence of His presence. And in private it could not be shown to her as suddenly as it was when the friars and devout lay people received it in her presence—then she was immediately moved to tears and sighs when adoring it. When she was in one of her convents situated in an area where mass was celebrated with white wine rather than red, it happened once that the altar server helper who prepared mass mistook water for white wine and gave water instead of wine to the priest who was to celebrate holy mass in her presence. When the moment of the adoration of the very precious body of Our Lord arrived, she adored it with the kind of humility and reverence and with the tears and sighs described above. But as for the adoration of the blood of Our Lord, she knew within her spirit that this was not the blood of Our Lord and therefore did not adore it in the usual way. 110. Several religious and secular people often desired and made every effort to be in the oratory when mass was celebrated before her in order to see how she adored the very precious body of Our Lord, and to hear the cries of pain and piteous sighs she uttered in His glorious presence. But she would not agree to this unless they were very spiritual people or very close to her. And when some of them realized that they could not go there and enter, they hid in some secret place near the oratory, so that they could hear in secret the tearful and bitter complaints that she uttered before Our Lord. But nothing could be hidden from her: what human beings did not tell her the Creator revealed to her. She was aware of them just as 125. Throughout the Gospels Jesus is shown as being able to read people’s innermost thoughts. Medieval saints’ Lives often establish a connection between charity, rapture, elevation of the Host, and supernatural insight into other people’s consciences. See, for example, Goswin of Bossut’s Life of Ida of Nivelles (1199–1231) in Send Me God: The Lives of Ida the Compassionate of Nivelles, Nun of La Ramée, Arnulf, Lay Brother of Villers, and Abundus, Monk of Villers, trans. Martinus Cawley, preface by Barbara Newman (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006), 85. In Colette’s life there were many moments when she had miraculous insights into people’s minds and consciences.

106 PIERRE DE VAUX clearly in their absence, and when they were hidden it was as if they were in her presence. She was so upset about this that she complained to her friars that she could not adore Our Lord in the comfort of her spirit when she felt the presence of the hidden people who had come out of curiosity to listen to her. Once she was asked why she cried so abundantly and sighed so loudly during the adoration of the precious body of Our Lord. She answered sweetly that she could not do otherwise, even when a lot of people were present. When she felt the grandeur and power of the king in whose eye the entire world is nothing . . .126 When she heard mass in public, whether indoors or outdoors, despite the deep feelings and knowledge she had when she was alone, she would not display them as openly when she was in public as she did when she was alone; this was God’s will that He communicated to her. On the reception of the very precious body of Our Lord. 111. Those who were with her had great difficulty to speak adequately about an issue of great devotion and admiration. Although she was pure and clean and full of grace and virtues, nonetheless in the presence of Our Lord, when she wanted to receive Him,127 she cried out and devalued herself exceedingly, claiming to be all soiled and dirty and abominable, unworthy of living, and cohabiting with the evil sinners because of the offenses she said to have committed against the divine majesty and goodness. She was so distressed and pained about this that it seemed to her that her heart was breaking, and she cried inconsolably. It seemed that her two beautiful eyes were two live fountains, running with the tears she cried, not drop by drop, but running like little streams. From their abundance she was moistened, or rather bathed,128 and she sighed with the pain and anguish of a woman in labor who cannot give birth, or as a person would who has been sentenced to death. In the face of all this, those who were around her and heard her were stunned and frightened. And although she had received Him humbly and with reverence, she was all enraptured and transfigured in Him, and she remained in this state, not moving and as if transported, sometimes for twelve hours, sometimes for ten, and sometimes for six. And when she returned to herself her face was angelic, so beautiful and clear that it was a great pleasure and comfort to look at her; she had a celestial air, far away from earthly things. The words she spoke about the sovereign and infinite goodness of God were elevated and divine; she spoke of the perfect love that He wanted to grant us without us having any merit in order to induce us to know and desire the eternal spiritual goods and to despise the transitory life and its changing, impermanent, and variable qualities.

126. This sentence seems to be incomplete in the manuscript. 127. That is, the Eucharist. 128. Cf. P 62.2, in which Perrine uses a less elegant image.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 107 112. The sacrament of the altar was her recourse and refuge when she was working on important, and often obscure and difficult issues. Sometimes she received the sacrament every day for an entire year in the manner described above; but sometimes only every forty or thirty days, but every time she received it, it was in the manner described above. When Our Lord wanted her to do some important task or something solemn or something else commendable, and she did not want to do it, claiming that there was nothing good and no grace of God within her, she was forced to consent by the holy sacrament of the altar in the following manner: she could not swallow the species129 of the holy sacrament and they stayed in her mouth for entire days until she finally consented to do what He had asked her. Sometimes, after receiving the precious body of Our Lord and not being able to swallow it, she was forced to return to her father confessor to ask him what to do about this. On his advice she agreed to do God’s will, and as soon as she had agreed she could swallow the elements of the sacrament.130 113. Once she solemnly and with great devotion wanted to receive the precious body of Our Lord, and in order to accomplish this, she asked her father confessor to please consecrate a Host for her during mass, which request he did not quite hear. It was clear to him that someone had spoken to him about this, but he was not certain, and he did not dare to go to her and ask her about it because he did not want to disturb her prayers. And so he did not consecrate a Host for her. When mass was over and it was already past the time when she normally received the Host, he heard the cries and great sighing that she normally uttered when receiving the precious body of Our Lord. He was very astonished at this and thought that there was some mystery about all this. When she was done with her prayers, he asked her where the sounds came from that he had heard. And she responded humbly that it was Our Lord Himself who had given and administered to her His precious body.131 He was very comforted when he learned that the sovereign priest and bishop had granted her this excellent grace to give Himself to her as a sacrament.

129. In French, especes. The two species or kinds of the holy sacrament of the altar are the bread and wine, representing Christ’s body and blood; the former is the Communion host, given as a round wafer of unleavened bread. 130. Pierre de Vaux seems to speak generally here, but we learn from Perrine that Colette was pressured by Pierre and by Henry de Baume to intervene in a political conflict and could only swallow both species when she agreed, against her will, to do so (cf. P 53 and P 62.2 for another example). 131. This is a rather common Eucharistic miracle. See, for example, an episode in the Life of Lidwina of Schiedam, analyzed by Caroline Walker Bynum in Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1987), 128. In MS 8, fol. 75r, we see on the left the distracted altar server offering a chalice of water instead of wine to the priest, and on the right Christ offering the Host to Colette.

108 PIERRE DE VAUX Chapter 13: The austerity and harshness of her life and how humane she was toward others 114. Harshness of life and mortified flesh keeps the senses, the heart, and the body entirely pure and clean. From a young age and to the end she led a wondrously harsh and austere life, in which she subjected her body totally to the servitude of the soul. She fasted every day, she never ate meat even when ill or indisposed, she never broke her fast or wanted to add anything to her meager sustenance. When she was young and small, she went to school, and so her parents could not force her to eat anything for her mid-day meal, for she returned from this school only at the hour of vespers.132 When one looks at the plain and small portions she ate one would find that she lived more divinely than humanly. Who would be able to naturally fast for forty days and forty nights, without eating or drinking anything? And nonetheless, by God’s grace, she fasted like this. For several spans of forty days she fasted, despite her great weakness, on bread and water. And when she was advised that she needed to strengthen her poor body and tasted a little bit of wine, she would pour so much water into it that one could say that the wine was changed into water rather than that the water was changed into wine.133 Sometimes, when it pleased Our Lord to have her suffer great and grievous pains, as often happened, there was no bread or any other food, whatever substance it was, that would not taste to her like earth. And when she was forced to eat something to sustain her body, she took such a tiny portion that it seemed to be meant for a little bird. 115. And sometimes, without taking in any food, she was nourished and sustained by the food that someone else ate in her presence. And when it pleased God that she was without these pains, all the food that she wanted to eat was a little piece of bread that was between white and black. And when it was time to eat, she ate so graciously and comfortably that it was a pleasure to watch, and it truly seemed as if the children of Israel did not find their manna as tasty as she did her little piece of bread.134 And she graciously refused meat and large fish, saying that this was not as clean a food as the bread. As for meat, as was mentioned, she never tasted it, nor did she like large and fat fish but rather the little ones from the river, and because they represented simplicity and innocence to her she liked to see them and sometimes they were served to 132. Around 6 p.m. For the type of school Colette attended, see the Introduction, 10. 133. A rare joke by Pierre de Vaux, evoking the miraculous transformation of water into wine at Cana but also playing on the miracle of transubstantiation: in preparing for the Holy Eucharist, the priest first pours wine into the chalice, then adds a very small amount of water. The water represents the Christian people, who become one with Christ as the wine is consecrated and, through transubstantiation, becomes His blood. 134. See Exodus 16:1–21.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 109 her in order to comfort her, and if one entreated her she would eat them but only if the head and the tail were removed, and only little remained of the fish. Once, from Palm Sunday to Holy Thursday, she ate no food and tasted nothing between Thursday and the feast of Easter. On this feast day Our Lord, by His grace, sent her a little hen that near her laid a little egg with which she was nourished so fully on this glorious and joyous feast that for three days after this solemn feast day she ate nothing. 116. And although she treated herself so harshly and austerely, with regard to others she was very generous and humane, and it was her desire and wish that the sisters and the friars who were in charge of them should be provided for and nourished according to the rules of poverty, without superabundance or superfluity, and she never doubted God’s goodness in providing them with everything they needed if they loyally kept their promises and vows. In some towns where her convents were located, when she was present some good and charitable people, for the love of God and because they revered her, sent her some of their goods, such as bread, wine, and other foods, but she never wanted to touch or taste any of it, but rather had it distributed to the sick or other people in need, or to all the sisters in the community. And sometimes when because of her grievous illnesses and infirmities someone forced her to take a little food which was so little and so scarce that it was not enough for the other members of the community, she accepted it with misgivings and against her will, with sadness in her heart and crying. Sorrowfully she accepted the goods that were brought to her for the love of God by some devout person, whether it was wine or food, and she distributed everything so generously among the sisters that it seemed everything was increasing in her hands, and that each and every one of them had received everything plentifully and sufficiently. When some of the friars who were the administrators of the convents came to visit her out of devotion or when they returned from begging for alms for God’s love in order to ask for something, or when some other person came before her that seemed to be deprived or in need of anything, she kindly and charitably offered them something to drink by filling a vessel to the brim, and sometimes her beautiful and virginal fingers touched the liquid and because of this revered touch everyone was satisfied even more than if they had received wine. 117. Several times, when she saw indigent and needy people and she had nothing to give them, she was sad and distressed and desired so much that she could help them in their need that Our Lord looked upon her with pity and moved the heart of some other person to help her fulfill her pious wish, and that person brought her what was suitable. It happened that in one of her convents, located in a region stricken by a famine that caused great scarcity and a steep rise in prices of wheat and other foodstuffs, the poor inhabitants were much afflicted and in great need. Suddenly—no one knew where it came from, but it can only have come from

110 PIERRE DE VAUX God’s grace—she was provided with a very large sack of wheat, so full that it could hold no more, which was so beautiful that it was a pleasure to behold, and she had it distributed secretly to the needy poor, and it lasted a long time. As for the goods that Our Lord had sometimes transmitted to her and that she distributed to the needy, she never touched the remnants, but diligently kept them for other people in need. And it was often clearly observed that these remnants did not diminish. She often gave them away and always found more of them. Once, for the love of God, people brought her eggs in a region where few were to be found. She joyously received them and put them in a little hatch. She generously gave them to all who asked for them, whether healthy or sick, and their number never grew smaller. And she clearly noticed this but never said anything about it. Likewise, she kept the wine that people brought her for the love of God for a long time, and it did not decrease, nor did it lose any of its good taste and flavor. Once she gave a little bottle of wine to two friars whom she sent out in very bad weather to take care of some business for the convent. It was meant to give them strength for the desolate road they had to take, and when it was time for them to drink it they found it supremely good and comforting, and it was enough for their whole trip and it did not diminish. 118. And people said that in areas that had a lot of vineyards wine was given to her in abundance for God’s love, and in areas where there were not enough good vineyards and little or no wine she just took enough to wet her mouth, as mentioned above, and in regions where wine was expensive she only drank it when forced by illness. She refreshed herself only by drinking water. And just as wine drinkers recognize the best wines, she recognized the best waters of which often people did not dare drink as needed. And because in some regions these waters are rougher and coarser than in others, in order to make them healthier she had them boiled in glass vessels wherever these kinds of vessels existed in abundance; and this water did not make her unwell once it was boiled. The devil from hell, who was much bothered by her harsh and austere way of life and envious of the great merit that she gained from it, once noticed that she was in great need of something to drink and that she had a vessel with water boiling on the stove for this purpose. Imperceptibly he hit this vessel with a large stick and broke it into more than a hundred pieces. When she saw that the vessel was broken and the water spilled, she graciously picked up the pieces of the vessel. And as we read about Saint Donatus, he picked up the pieces of a broken chalice that was presented to him and the chalice was made whole again, in the shape it had been before.135 So when she lifted up her heart toward God and showed Him the pieces of the vessel that she had picked up, the vessel suddenly, by God’s grace, 135. Saint Donatus (d. ca. 362 CE) is the patron saint of Arezzo. Once, as he was celebrating mass, pagans stormed the church and broke a glass chalice. He managed to reassemble it, and although a piece of it was missing at the bottom, it did not leak. The pagan marauders converted to Christianity.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 111 was as beautiful and whole as it ever had been. And the devil twice broke it, and twice it was repaired to the state of beauty and goodness that it had been before. 119. Once, one of the sisters went to fetch water for her, carrying with her a book that was meant for the use of the handmaid. The sister inadvertently dropped the book into the water, and it was completely dirtied and hopelessly spoiled, and it would never again be worth anything. This sister was extremely sad and upset about this, and she was also afraid of the great distress that she imagined the handmaid would feel when she saw her book spoiled and destroyed. Finally, with great fear, she presented the spoiled book to the handmaid, and when she saw how fearful and afraid the sister was, she took pity on her and said, “My daughter, don’t be afraid, for the book is not destroyed.” And the sister put the spoiled book into her hands and as soon as she touched it, it was as beautiful and clean as it had ever been, except for a trace that remained on one side of the book as a special memento of this miracle. 120. Another time when she needed water, and one of the friars brought her a little earthenware pitcher which was taller than the window through which he handed it to her and he could not tilt it to the side because the window was so narrow, suddenly by God’s grace it shrank so that it could pass through the window, and it fit so tightly that one could not have put a piece of straw between the window frame and the vessel. Chapter 14: The grievous pains and torments she endured 121. There is nothing that is more agreeable to God and more salutary for a human being than to gladly suffer and endure pains and adversity out of love for Him. By doing this one resembles Him more and is more like His friends.136 Throughout His life Our Lord wanted to suffer for love of us, and the little handmaid resembled Him in this suffering according to her ability. For throughout her life she suffered continuous pains. When one ended another one began; and what is more, very often she had both together, not even speaking of other various pains that God sent her often. She continuously suffered from an illness that seemed to have been sent her not so much by human causes but rather as an exercise to make her virtues grow; it was a swelling that constantly grew and then diminished. And although this was extremely painful for her, she suffered and endured it graciously and patiently. This illness is not counted among the others, although she suffered from it without interruption. But with this illness she sometimes suffered great pains, sometimes just in her soul but sometimes in body and soul together, and she endured and suffered great pains. The pains that sometimes came from nature and were human she suffered graciously and patiently, but those that came 136. The “friends of God” are the saints.

112 PIERRE DE VAUX divinely, that is, those that God sent her in the manner that pleased Him, she had to bear and suffer them, for she had no power to do otherwise. In addition to this habitual pain and illness she had other particular ones that were so severe and long lasting that often she did not even have one hour of respite in a week. 122. What was especially pitiful is that she suffered great hardship and pains in the places and on the days that human beings find rest and comfort. As for places, the beds in which all sorts of people rest, whether they are healthy or sick, she never took a rest there; and although she sometimes desired to be in bed because of the pains that she often suffered, she could never find any rest there. For as soon as she lay down in bed, new pains gripped her that lasted all night till daybreak and sometimes till noon. And her pains did not last just two or three nights per week but every night for the entire week, without exception. Likewise, on especially solemn Sundays and feast days when all religious and devout as well as secular people rest—and even if they do not rest spiritually at least they rest physically—she experienced incomparably greater and more painful suffering than she did on other feast days. And the more solemn the feast day was, the more serious this pain became. For Sundays, these pains began at vespers on Saturday and lasted until compline on Sundays and sometimes until matins. And the pains on feast days likewise began around vespers on the evening before and ended at compline on the feast day. And on the most solemn feast days, such as the Nativity of Our Lord, Easter, and Pentecost, and on all the other solemn feast days, the pains began the day before at noon, and they were more severe and painful than the others and lasted until all the solemnities were over. And thus, the pains were great as long as the feast day lasted: one day if it was just one feast day, and three times as long if the celebrations lasted three days or even more, and these pains did not let up. 123. Sometimes when it pleased God she had to endure and suffer pains that were even more excessive and grievous than any others. When she was suffering from these pains and a person came to speak with her—someone who could not be easily denied her presence—and she decided to speak with these people, the pains suddenly stopped and as long as they spoke with each other she felt no discomfort or pain. But it was a piteous fact that as soon as these people were no longer in her presence, for the same amount of time that they had been there this pain grew twice as bad. The pain she suffered was so severe that blood came out of her mouth; and if the people to whom she spoke while her pain had ceased or was suspended had known about the grievous and unbearable pain that she would have to endure afterward, they would have felt great compassion. All the great pains she endured began and ceased suddenly. We can therefore perceive clearly that they did not come to her naturally or humanly but were of divine origin. And given the weakness of her person and the seriousness of the illness and the pain, if it had been natural, and even if she had been the strongest person one could ever

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 113 hope to find, she would have died of or languished for a long time after this pain. But Our Lord, by sending her this pain by grace, gave her the strength and power to endure it. And when the pain stopped, it stopped so completely that no sign or trace of it remained and it was as if she never felt this pain. And sometimes she said, “I don’t know if I had any ache or pain.” Nonetheless, sometimes while the pain lasted, she was all bent over and twisted by the force of it, and her tongue protruded from her head so that it seemed as if it was a pot boiling on the fire. But afterward she stood as straight as ever before and her tongue, her head, and all her other limbs were back to normal. One fact that was marvelous was that when she was hot, the heat was so great that all the water and all the cold things in the world that one could imagine could not have cooled her down. And when she was cold the cold was so extreme that all the heat in the world could not have warmed her up. 124. If anyone in this valley of misery could, through their suffering and endurance of horrible pains and grievous torments, be called a true imitator of Our Lord Jesus Christ or someone who especially and perfectly resembles and conforms to Him,137 it would be she. For all the cruel acts of martyrdom and the grievous torments that some of the most glorious saints of paradise endured in their precious bodies, she physically endured and suffered all of them, one after the other, by God’s will. And she suffered and endured them with even more pain and anguish than they did because of the long duration of the torments and martyrdom. For they endured their grievous martyrdom for only ten or twenty or thirty years, but she suffered and endured it for more than fifty years. And yet she privately told some of her fathers confessor who knew about the pains and torments she suffered, “God accorded a great grace and a good bargain to those martyrs who are in paradise, for they were right away boiled or roasted or had their heads cut off quickly.” It was terrible, for not a week went by when she did not suffer one or two martyrdoms, of which one was that she was roasted like Saint Laurent,138 and although the fire did not come from nature, it was real as far as its effect and operation were concerned, for God’s power makes it possible that there can be an effect of fire without actual fire, just as there can be a fire without actual effect. And this martyrdom lasted for an entire night. Sometimes she was tormented like Saint Vincent,139 sometimes she was crucified, sometimes she was skinned, at 137. Christoformity (meaning to “conform” to Christ, as for example in Romans 8:29), and christomimesis (meaning to “imitate” Christ), are the two concepts Pierre uses here to show Colette’s closeness to Christ. 138. Saint Laurent (Lawrence) was a third-century Spanish deacon in Rome. He was martyred by being roasted on a rack, and is hence the patron saint of cooks. 139. Saint Vincent of Saragossa (not to be confused with Saint Vincent Ferrer, referred to above in V 84) was a third-century Spanish saint martyred under the Roman emperor Diocletian. He was burned on a rack after his flesh was torn and salt was rubbed into his wounds.

114 PIERRE DE VAUX other times she was roasted or boiled. Sometimes it seemed to her that her heart was being cut in half and that someone filled it with salt, and then, once it was salted, it was closed up again. Sometimes it seemed to her that she had a burning torch in her stomach that burned her up completely, and sometimes it seemed to her that she had glowing coals in her eyes that burned up and consumed her eyes. Sometimes it seemed to her that her body and limbs were pierced through and through by sharp and burning pieces of iron. 125. And thus she was even more truly and profoundly tormented than the glorious martyred saints and suffered more anguish, for she was tormented without any of the relief or respite that was sometimes—by grace and as a consolation— granted to the glorious saints. Except that sometimes, when she had suffered and endured these grievous torments and was left alone for the night, and when those sisters who usually kept her company had retired, the blessed angels from paradise came to visit her and tended to her by putting her into bed and covering her, and rendered to the handmaid and spouse of Our Sovereign Lord all the other humble and charitable services that could humanly be done. 126. Throughout her life she suffered torments and martyrdom, and there was not one limb of her body that was not tormented by some pain every single day. When she had pains in various parts of her body, and especially in her beautiful and pleasant eyes, that she considered of natural origin, she applied such rough and strong natural remedies that a horse or a donkey would have lost its eyes if someone had put the things into their eyes that she put into hers. And the reason why she sought a suitable remedy was that she would rather have lost all the limbs of her body than the eyes with which she saw the precious body of Our Lord at the holy sacrament of the altar, and she also saw Him in the books of Holy Scripture so that she could serve God with her voice. And although she took care of her eyes with great diligence, it pleased God that they were just as tormented as the other limbs of her body, and she endured great pain that lasted until her glorious end. It was like this: whenever she prayed and looked to one side or the other it seemed to her that two little metal disks or little stars were hanging in front of her face that turned when she turned and caused her such great pain and torment that she sometimes stopped saying her prayers or reading in her book. 127. One of the worst pains that it pleased God to make her suffer and endure was that once when she went to visit one of her convents her pains were so great and excessive, both inward and outward, that her tongue retracted itself and descended into her throat, to such an extent that she could not speak or pray, and could breathe only with great difficulty. As she was in this great pain a young girl of great beauty came to meet her joyously; she showed great kindness and benignity and greeted the little handmaid very lovingly. Then she approached her so closely that

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 115 she could take her intimately into her arms and kissed her graciously on the lips. Through this kiss the sick tongue was immediately cured and healed and returned to the place from which it had descended. And right away this young woman of great beauty and sweetness vanished. Her confessor Henry de Baume, who knew her conscience well, certified that this beautiful young girl was the glorious Virgin Mary.140 Chapter 15: On the gift of prophecy and the great knowledge that God gave her 128. God hides the divine secrets and high mysteries from the worldly sages but reveals them to the little people, that is, to the simple and the humble. His little handmaid was humble and ignorant of worldly things, but she was wise and prudent with regard to the sovereign goods. She had little knowledge that could be acquired, but she was amply filled with the kind of knowledge that is infused, that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit, through which she clearly knew things that had happened but that she had not seen or known, and the secret things of the present and those that were still to come. There was a friar of the Order of Saint Francis, a doctor of theology and venerable learned man, master at the University of Paris,141 who was extremely devoted to her ever since she began to reform the Order of madame Saint Clare. It happened that he fell gravely ill and was close to death. As she was preparing to visit some of her convents, she learned in her spirit of his mortal illness and of the first and second death.142 And in order to help and assist him she entered the convent where he was and visited him with her venerable presence and found him in a state close to death and the life having already left his limbs, and, as he 140. Cf. P 63.3, in which Perrine specifies where this miracle occurred and that the Virgin used eggs to cure Colette. 141. This is the friar Pierre Salmon, not to be confused with the royal secretary to the French king Charles VI, also named Pierre Salmon, who may have been a relative. See Anne Dawson Hedeman, Of Counselors and Kings: The Three Versions of Pierre Salmon’s Dialogues (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2001), 3 (Perrine refers to this friar as “Psalmon” in P 37 and P 65). Pierre de Vaux describes how he and his horse were saved from drowning, through Colette’s intercession, in V 209. Ubald d’Alençon provides a biographical note on this friar in his Introduction to the two Lives (lii–liv). At the end of his long note the editor states that Pierre Salmon’s position at the Council of Constance on the administrative question of whether the Observants should be governed by a Vicar General, rather than by Provincials who reported to the Minister General, opposed that of Colette. On this conflict and Colette’s stance see the Introduction, 7 and 16, note 51. Still, as we can see from the two Lives, he played an important part in Colette’s life. 142. The death of the body and the death of the soul, as Perrine explains (P 65). She also identifies the convent as that of Orbe in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, halfway between Vevey and Poligny. It was founded in 1426–28 with the support of Jeanne of Montbéliard.

116 PIERRE DE VAUX learned later, he was on the path to perdition. She called him softly by his name and over him she made the sign of the cross, which she held in special reverence, and she said to him, “Take heart and have hope in the goodness of Our Lord,” and soon after she left. And the sick man recognized her and was so greatly comforted by God’s grace and by her merits that soon afterward he joyfully got up, cured from his first illness. And in order to be cured of the second, he sought her out and presented himself humbly to her in order to serve her for the rest of his life like a person who had received life through her. She consented to his staying with her, not with the intention of receiving any service from him but to help him heal his soul from the abovementioned illness. And in order to achieve this more lovingly, she urged him to make a full confession and to loyally purify his conscience without keeping anything back and hiding anything. And in order to do this, she assigned him a sympathetic confessor to whom he did not confess all his sins, whether out of shame or whether he forgot only God knows. He returned to her saying that he had done a good and complete confession. She answered that he had not, and recited to him several great sins that he had committed in the past. He wondered greatly at this and admitted that this was true, and he thought that no one but God knew about this. He returned in order to confess them, then came back to her saying that he had told and confessed everything. And again she said no, and recited several other great sins that he had committed. Three times she sent him back to the sacrament of penance and confession until he was salvifically purified. For this reason, he made it known publicly that he possessed the life of his body and that of his soul through her mediation. And where before he had felt great love and devotion for her, he now felt them even more, and he was so wondrously afraid and in awe of her that he did not dare to do anything without thinking that she always saw him or that he was in her presence. 129. Once two noble and powerful princes came to visit the little handmaid of Our Lord out of humble love and charity. After she had given them several good lessons through her father confessor, she had some good and notable writings read to them. One of these princes did not devote himself to listening and understanding the good and devout words that were being read, but let his mind wander and came to think dishonest, carnal thoughts—although outwardly he gave no sign of this at all—and began to plunge himself with all his imagination into the delectations of his dishonest thoughts. The handmaid of Our Lord realized what he was doing and turned her venerable face toward him and let out a loud scream with her wondrous voice, but without uttering a single word. This scream entered so deeply into this prince’s heart that it seemed to him, and still does, that the handmaid of Our Lord saw and knew everything that was in his heart, all his evil thoughts and imaginings, just as he knew them himself. Right away, through the merits of the glorious handmaid of Our Lord, he tore these

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 117 thoughts from his heart and concentrated on listening diligently to the holy words that were being read. 130. Another time a notable prelate of the Holy Church, the bishop of Castres in the Albigeois region,143 well known for his grace, prudence, and competence, came humbly to visit the little handmaid of Our Lord who was then in that city. As they were discussing several matters touching on God’s honor and the salvation of souls, she vividly mentioned two things that she knew and foresaw about him. One was that he was not content with his current office or benefice, and that he had ambitions for greater and more elevated things, and that he had to be careful that for transitory dignities he would not lose his eternal dignity. The other thing concerned the brevity of his days, and that his conscience always had to be ready for the moment that it would please God to call him. As for the first thing, he greatly admired her for having discerned it, for he was secretly working on becoming a cardinal; but no man could have told her that, and therefore the Holy Spirit must have revealed this to her. Soon thereafter he departed for Rome in order to achieve his ambition, and within a short time he passed away, just as she had foreseen. 131. Another time a very noble and powerful prince, the count de la Marche,144 sent his chaplain named sir Jehan Molines to visit the little handmaid of Our Lord, for whom this prince felt singular love and devotion. Before he departed, she told this chaplain that she had foreknowledge that some mortal danger awaited him on his return journey. And for this reason, she made him confess twice, telling him that even if his body was in peril of perdition his soul was going to be saved. Within two or three days of his departure from her glorious presence, about a league and a half from the city of Auxerre, he was ambushed by cruel and terrible armed men who pierced his left side with a spear and wounded his head so terribly with their swords that the barbers and surgeons of Auxerre,145 where he had been transported, did not dare touch him and believed that it was impossible that he would ever recover. In this mortal danger he turned toward the handmaid of Our Lord and commended himself to her prayers. He then firmly told the barbers and surgeons that they should go ahead with confidence and treat him. And 143. Although Ubald d’Alençon suggests that this bishop was perhaps Raymond d’Avillon, no bishop by that name served in Castres, according to the Catholic Hierarchy website (). 144. Bernard VIII d’Armagnac (1400–1462). He was count de la Marche through his 1429 marriage to Eleanor of Bourbon-La Marche. Bernard’s chaplain (referred to as “sir Jean Molinets”) is mentioned again in V 259 as being saved from drowning by the intercession of Colette after her death. 145. On the different areas of competency of barbers and surgeons see Nancy G. Siraisi, Medieval and Early Renaissance Medicine: An Introduction to Knowledge and Practice (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990), chap. 2, “Practitioners and Conditions of Practice.”

118 PIERRE DE VAUX within two weeks he was completely healed through the merits of the handmaid of Our Lord. 132. In the town of Besançon there was a noble man named Jehan de Couloinge; he was a citizen of this town and a good merchant, an honorable man of good reputation for his charity and authority. He believed himself to be in as great a shape as he had ever been in, but she had clear knowledge of the fact that his life would not be long and that the end of his days was near. She alerted him in a kind and loving manner. Among the salutary things she told him was that his conscience should be clear and that death was certain, although the hour of death was uncertain. Finally she urged him to prepare his conscience and to make a last will concerning his earthly goods, which he consented to do and promptly did. And as soon as he had executed the tasks he had consented to, he lay down sick in his bed, and with this illness he ended his days, just as she had clearly predicted. 133. Likewise in Burgundy there was a noble and powerful seigneur, a graduate in the sciences and well known for his fairness. He and several of his circle knew the handmaid of Our Lord very well and had a singular love for her and trusted her. And the people around him supported him in the things he did for the love of God and believed that he was in good health, but in only a short time he would end his days. And she knew that there were some problems with his conscience before God, and in order to remove these problems she sent him a religious so that he could confess secretly. He humbly gave credence to all she said and managed to remedy the aforementioned problem for his salvation, and thus he ended his days. 134. Another time a notable bourgeois lady from Chalons-sur-Saône who was acquainted with her and very close to her came to visit her in the convent at Poligny out of devotion. She knew that this lady’s death was near, and for the salvation of her conscience she made her say confession at Poligny. And as soon as she had returned home, she fell mortally ill and finished her days just as she had foreseen. 135. She knew as clearly about those things that happened in her absence as about those that happened in her presence when for a good reason they needed to be known. One of her friars146 once went to Rome on business and did something secret that he thought no one would know about except God, and he thought he was doing something good. But as soon as he had returned and he was in her presence she said to him, “Why did you do such and such a thing?”, telling him exactly what he had done. Then the friar was ashamed and realized very well that one could hide nothing from her.

146. Pierre himself, as Perrine states (P 67).

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 119 136. When she felt there was a good reason that she should know what was going on in her convents, she knew about the ones that were far away and from which she was absent just as much as about the ones where she was present. And the faults—if there were any—that she found she revealed them secretly or publicly to the Visitators147 in order to find a suitable remedy. One really wondrous thing was that nothing harmful in her Order ever happened that she did not know about before it happened. But she did not know what kind of harm it would be or in which convent it would happen. And as soon as she knew, her heart became sad and she suffered greatly. In this way, once the harmful thing happened, the pain it caused her was less great. Many people of high or low social standing came many times to her, some out of devotion, others to receive some spiritual consolation or some advice or some exhortation. But for most of the people who came to profit from her advice, she knew even before they entered her oratory who they were and what they wanted, and the response that she was to give or what she was supposed to do was given to her. Her fathers confessor and the friars knew about the great knowledge that God had given her and therefore, no matter where they were, even far away, always feared her as if they were in her presence, and if they did something reprehensible, as soon as they were in her presence again, she sweetly and benignly pointed it out to them. Many times, when her nuns had some secret distress in their hearts, she called them kindly into her presence and talked to them about the matter that troubled them and consoled them. Thus they knew for certain that she knew their hearts and thoughts clearly. Once, in the convent where she stayed, there was a poor novice who was sorely tempted to leave the Order and did not dare to declare this temptation to anyone. But the little handmaid of Our Lord knew about it immediately and asked her to come and see her and revealed this secret temptation to her, so much so that the novice recognized her fault before God and then professed great devotion and decided that she would take her vows. 137. Another time in the convent where she stayed was a nun who was distressed about something she had on her conscience, to such an extent that she fell into despair. The little handmaid of Our Lord knew about this in her spirit. She asked her to come see her and spoke so kindly and profitably with her, vividly demonstrating to her the danger of her temptation, and told her to be firm and constant against this temptation. Ever since, every time the nun recalled the great kindness and charity that she had shown her, she was consoled in her soul. Once the enemy from hell through his temptations had caused some fights and discord between two nuns, and each one kept her anger in her heart without showing it outwardly. She called them secretly to her and gave them such 147. On the function of the Visitator, see the Introduction, 24 and note 74.

120 PIERRE DE VAUX beautiful admonitions that she caused them to make peace, and they realized that she knew about their anger, causing them to feel great awe and fear of her. Once she was at the Divine Office with other sisters and at the other end of the bench stood another sister who, during the Office, was occupied with vague and strange thoughts. The little handmaid of Our Lord knew about these thoughts and asked another sister to tell her that she had to stop them until the end of the Office. The sister corrected herself and ever since made a diligent effort to put away these thoughts. Another time in one of her convents a sister stood next to her who was holding her book for her; this sister had some vain and indecent thoughts that the handmaid of Our Lord knew about clearly. Several times she gave her a sign to stop these thoughts, but the sister did not listen to her. So she pushed her backward quite violently and took the book away from her, whereupon the sister realized that she knew what she was thinking about. Then the sister in question devoted her heart to thinking about God and the handmaid turned sweetly toward her and mildly, with a smile, gave her back the book. 137.2. Another time during the Divine Office one of the sisters, who was remembering some things that she had seen out in the world, was seated rather close to her. She gave her a sign that she should stop such reminiscences, but the sister would not listen to her. Finally she realized that she knew the sister’s thoughts and prayed in her heart to the Lord for mercy and He removed these worldly reminiscences. And then she turned kindly toward the sister and showed her a friendly face, and after the Divine Office she reprimanded her sternly and said: “I have seen you clearly and will see you when I am outside the convent just as well as if I were inside.” 138. Once several learned clerics, masters in theology, and other secular scholars asked her several difficult questions on subtle matters, which annoyed her greatly because she was very humble. Nonetheless, when she felt in her spirit that they did not ask the questions out of curiosity, she answered them and explained things so clearly and profoundly that they were filled with admiration and were edified by her words, saying that the Holy Spirit had given and revealed to her the answers. 139. Once, when in France there were the great wars and divisions, the two parties assembled large numbers of armed men and were determined to start a battle, and they were already on the battlefield all set to go. The little handmaid of Our Lord knew with certainty that if they were to start the battle there would be terrible killing and shedding of blood on both sides, and even worse, she knew that many souls would be damned forever. She felt in her heart great sadness and pain and put the facts before God with a great abundance of tears. And she urgently sent exhortative letters to the leaders of each party, asking them not to begin a battle. A friar transmitted the letters that explained what a great disaster it would

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 121 be if they began the battle, which would cause a great loss of souls and bodies. This exhortation and explanation prevented the execution of the plans. And thus the souls and bodies were saved from perdition through her intervention.148 140. Another time she had foreknowledge of a great and dangerous fire that was about to break out in a town where one of her convents was located, and she alerted the sisters of this convent to be careful and watch out for the fire. A short while later the fire was so big and did such great damage that it was a terrible thing to watch. And it was so close to the convent that the sisters feared that they would all be burnt. But through the merits of the little handmaid of Our Lord they were all spared. 141. A great and powerful lord felt great love and devotion for the handmaid of Our Lord and desired very much to have a convent built for her on his lands. So he sent a churchman to her to make manifest his devotion and to get her approval for the construction of this convent. For God’s honor and out of respect for this lord she agreed. But before the end of the day she received foreknowledge in her prayers of a very great disaster that would happen in this lord’s domain and particularly in the town where the convent was going to be built. For this reason, she quickly sent a message to this great lord to desist from building said convent. And a short time later the region was filled with armed men, and among many terrible things they did to the town where the convent was supposed to be built was that they destroyed it completely. 142. When the convent in Poligny was first being built there was a novice who was mortally ill. For this reason, the little handmaid of Our Lord told one of the other sisters that she should watch out that the novice should not die without her being present, and that she should come and get her before her death, because she wanted to be present. It happened that the sister who watched over her fell asleep, because of fatigue from work or because of negligence. And while she was asleep the novice died. The little handmaid of Our Lord was desolate over this death because she had not been present as she had wished, and she blamed and reprimanded the sister who had been charged with alerting her when the novice was about to die. And she had foreknowledge of her death and predicted it by saying, “Because you did not pay enough attention to the words I said to you, I tell you for sure that you will die all alone and that there will be no one present at your death.” Shortly after that the sister in question fell gravely ill. Within six hours she could no longer speak and everyone thought she would never be able to speak again, and she had not yet received the holy sacraments. The little handmaid of Our Lord charitably visited her, as was her habit. And when she saw her in such a state, she felt great pity and compassion for her and returned to her holy oratory, praying to Our Lord that He would restore her speech in order for her to receive the holy 148. Cf. P 68, which offers a few more details.

122 PIERRE DE VAUX sacraments. As soon as the prayer was finished, she could suddenly speak again and made her confession and received the holy sacrament with great devotion. But nonetheless the prophecy that she had told her came to pass. When she died, she was all alone and there was no sister with her at her death, and everyone was aghast, for they saw that things had happened exactly the way she had predicted them. 143. Once when the handmaid was in the convent at Vevey she had certain foreknowledge of the death of a noble and devout young lady named Jehanne de Vannot who was staying in Poligny. This lady believed herself to be in good health, and the handmaid let her know that she would have liked to see her but that she would never see her in this world or speak to her. And this is what happened, for shortly afterward she fell mortally ill and died. 144. There was an honest priest, one of the friars that are deputized in the convents of the little handmaid of Our Lord for the collecting of alms in the spirit of holy poverty.149 He had traveled into faraway regions on business for the Order. And he had to travel through areas where the plague reigned. He was promptly so seriously infected with this plague that he was surprised by death before he could receive the holy sacrament of the altar. The little handmaid of Our Lord was very far from him, but had clear knowledge of his passing and that his death had prevented him from receiving the sacrament. She did not fail him in this moment of extreme need. For before he ended his days she called for her confessor and through the disposition of her conscience managed that the friar would be provided with the holy sacraments to protect him from the devil. She received for him the precious body of Our Lord, which action by God’s grace could be greatly salutary and helpful for the man who had died.150 145. Another friar who was a priest had served very charitably and efficiently in the convents of the little handmaid of Our Lord ever since his entry into the Order. He was tempted by the devil and left without permission, and moved to a faraway region in order to live with some other religious where he did not do very well. He fell gravely and mortally ill, a fact of which the little handmaid of Our Lord had clear knowledge, although she was very far from him. She immediately turned to the sacrifice of holy prayer and humbly prayed to Our Lord with all her might that it should please Him in His great mercy to have pity and compassion for his poor soul. And, as it was later revealed by those who were present, he immediately felt such great contrition, sadness, and revulsion for his sins, especially 149. The French term here is “subside de sainte povreté” (the helper or help of holy poverty). The sisters themselves were not permitted to go out and seek alms, and thus needed the friars as “helpers” to collect alms outside of the convent. 150. This is a long-distance substitution of herself for the friar receiving the last rites through the Eucharist.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 123 that of having left—through diabolic temptation—the service of the abovementioned convent, that after his death he appeared to the handmaid of Our Lord, just as the members of her family had done, as it was told in chapter 7.151 And because he thus appeared to her, people piously believed that he was on the path to salvation through her merits. 146. Through the gift of prophecy the little handmaid of Our Lord knew the thoughts and secrets of the hearts of people, and not only of those who were in her presence but also of those who were absent. And sometimes at the end of the day when some people, both secular and religious and living far from her, came to the end of their days she, according to the knowledge she had of their affairs, offered them consolation and help in their distress, adversity, and problems. She knew and predicted the end of several people, as was mentioned above. Among these people was a very noble and powerful lady who made a great effort to arrange a noble and rich marriage for her niece. With all this effort it seemed to her that she sometimes neglected taking good care of her soul. She herself told her, “Madame, you are very occupied with marrying your niece to a powerful man, but think about yourself, for you will never see her married during your lifetime.” And thus it happened, for she died before her niece was married. 147. She also knew several times which people would end their days in God’s grace or His indignation. She was present at the death of a religious person who died in great anguish and pain. She told her, “Go forth to Our Lord and have no fear.” Immediately the soul departed from the body and she said, “She will have to suffer much, but in the end she will not be deprived of eternal happiness.” 148. A young girl who seemed to those who saw her to have a good reputation and to have a sweet demeanor and a good disposition came to the little handmaid of Our Lord in order to be received into the religious life. And she made this request and supplication very humbly and devoutly. The handmaid did not grant her request because she knew of an unsuitable secret that this young girl kept. Her father confessor and several others who knew of her good reputation interceded for her and asked that she should be received. She answered them, “You want to force me through your intercession to receive her, but I tell you that she will never be a professed nun.” When the first year of her probationary period had come to an end, she still did not know the Divine Office and for that reason was not professed. At the end of the second year she began to shout that she could not follow the Rule. And so, just as the little handmaid of Our Lord had predicted, she never took her final vows and it was necessary to throw her out.

151. In chapter 7, para. 46, Pierre refers to the large variety of people who made up Colette’s religious family, whose deaths she knew about telepathically and who appeared to her.

124 PIERRE DE VAUX 149. Once a novice was next to the handmaid of Our Lord during holy mass and while she was praying the devil put it in her head that the little handmaid would say that she was a good and devout girl. Right after mass she [Colette] called the mistress of this novice and told her, “I thought that this novice was a good and devout girl but she has no devotion in her.” The novice was very ashamed when she realized that she [Colette] knew her foolish thoughts. A sister named Odette once had the great desire to ask for an image of the little handmaid of Our Lord and even went to her with this purpose. And when she was in front of her, she did not dare ask out of shame. But the little handmaid of Our Lord looked at her and right away knew what was in her heart and began to smile, saying to her, “Go away, go away.” And as soon as she was gone, she sent her a beautiful image of herself and told her to send it to her mother, as she had intended to do. Another time that same sister had great desolation in her heart that she had carried for a long time, for she believed that she was not in God’s grace and that she would be damned. 150. Once when she was very sad because of this belief, she thought that she should go and see the little handmaid, and that if she showed her a sign of her love that would mean that she had not lost God’s grace and that she could be saved. As she was thinking over this matter, the little handmaid called her and spoke to her kindly and amiably. She told her that she loved her as much as any of the sisters in the Order, and in her presence she recommended her to the abbess of the convent, saying that she was her much beloved daughter. For this reason, the girl was consoled and comforted, and she realized that she had clear knowledge of the heart’s secret as well as of exterior things. 151. A sister in one of her convents heard that she had knowledge of hearts and thoughts, but she could not believe it. Once it happened that she spoke to this sister and very soon afterward she showed her clearly that she knew her thoughts, for she touched her and spoke to her of a matter that she had kept closely hidden in her heart. Another time it happened that she was in another convent. She notified that same sister of some secrets she had in her conscience, which secret no one knew about except God and she herself. She greatly marveled at this and perceived clearly that one could hide nothing from her. 152. In a certain country news was brought to the church leaders and nobles of this region that their lord had encountered his enemies and that in addition he had been captured and taken prisoner. Great sadness and mourning spread throughout the land. It happened that one of the principal nobles passed through a town where the handmaid of Our Lord stayed in one of her convents, and they went to tell her the mournful news. And they asked her that she would commend them, their lord, and the whole land in her holy prayers. When she saw them so mournful, sad, and frightened, she spoke to them in order to console them, “My

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 125 lords, do not believe this news, for it did not happen at all the way you have been told.” They responded that they knew it as the truth, and that noblemen had informed them who had seen him taken prisoner with their own eyes. She reassured them and told them with great certainty, “I assure you that your lord is in a certain place on his lands where he is doing well, without any evil or danger, and before six days have passed you will have reliable news from him.” And it happened as she had said, because of which they and the entire land experienced great joy and consolation. Chapter 16: Demons persecute her 153. The devil knows which people are closer to God and show greater perfection, and so he employs himself with greater diligence to persecute them and give them greater pain and afflictions. Those he can possess without a struggle he does not care to bother too much. But because he perceived clearly that the handmaid of Our Lord was joined to God with true love and united with Him inseparably, and that the life she led was celestial and of high perfection, he used all means he knew to persecute her and to bring her desolation. The demons persecuted her in her youth, in her middle age, and until her death, while she was still in the world and then in the religious life, and no matter what places and regions she went to for God’s honor and the salvation of souls. In her youth she put all her heart and affection into loving, serving, and praising God, and when she began her prayers an evil spirit came every night for several years and, close to her, he began to wail in the most astonishing and pitiful manner in order to disturb her and keep her from praying. But even though she was young, she had the true Christian faith. For she had such great confidence in God that she did not fear him, nor did she say anything to him, she gave him no sign, and he was so displeased that he finally left. When she was in her middle age the demons assailed her many times by beating her with thick clubs, so cruelly and for such a long time that her poor and tender limbs were all hurt and broken, and the black marks of the beating they had given her were visible for a long time afterward. Once they beat her for so long and so cruelly that her legs were so swollen that they were thicker than her entire body. 154. Another time after she had gone at night to her oratory and wanted to say her prayers, a great multitude of demons attacked her and beat her violently, causing her great anguish; and afterward they threw her into a window opening that was so narrow that she could not move or speak or breathe, and she remained there till six o’clock in the morning when one of the sisters found her in that state and could not get her out of the window opening because she was stuck in there

126 PIERRE DE VAUX so tightly. She then called a lay brother named Pierre Regnault, who had been a carpenter when he still lived in the world, in order to pull her out of the window, and he could not pull her out either until he had cut one of the vertical parts of the window. Another time she was saying a certain prayer with great devotion before Our Lord, and for that reason several demons came to attack her in order to prevent her from saying this prayer. These demons were in the shape of foxes and they began to beat her, and Our Lord gave her the courage to take vengeance with powerful force against them, and these false foxes who were demons from hell left all confused, and the handmaid of Our Lord was victorious. The sisters found her tired and exhausted from the fight she had had with these demons, who knew well that her prayers were pleasing to God and helped a lot of people. It seemed that a great multitude of them had met in a council in order to devise various malicious things and subtle means as obstacles that they could use to prevent her holy actions, and they labored hard to make her fear them and have horror of them. But because of God’s grace they could not succeed. Once she spoke with one of her sisters who was very much afraid of them, and asked her whether she saw them and feared them much. The sister answered that she was dying of fright. So she [Colette] told her that if she herself were to see all demons from hell she would not be afraid, and she comforted her and told her that demons have no power over humans unless God gives it to them.152 Wherever she was, by day and by night, whether alone or in company, she showed courage toward them and did not fear them, even though they showed themselves to her in horrible and distressing shapes, sometimes as red men, sometimes in the shape of a hideous and terrifying statue, so tall that it seemed to touch the sky; its two legs seemed to stand above the convent.153 Another time he appeared to her in the shape of a terrible and frightening dragon. And once he had shown himself, he vanished over the walls of the convent. Among all the animals that she saw the ones that gave her the most trouble were poisonous beasts like toads, spiders, and such, and for this reason the devil from hell, who knew well how much she hated them, showed himself to her in that shape. At the beginning of her reform work when she was in the convent at Besançon, many times when she was about to pray to Our Lord or had just finished her prayer, it seemed that the entire area where the handmaid was at that moment was full of the most hideous toads.154 She recognized right away the

152. This is a crucial point in demonology. 153. This may be a reference to the gigantic statue that appeared to the Old Testament king Nebuchadnezzar in a dream (Daniel 2:31–45). 154. Toads were often associated with dangerous sexuality. See Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, The Strange Case of Ermine de Reims: A Medieval Woman between Demons and Saints (Philadelphia:

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 127 malice of the enemy of all that is good and returned to Our Lord—and suddenly everything had vanished. 155. Another very distressing and abominable thing occurred. Several times these demons carried into her oratory a dead body that had been hanging from the gallows.155 But she ordered them by God’s virtue to take it back, and right away they did so, but with great displeasure. 156. In that same convent at Besançon they persecuted her in various ways, even in her old age. One way was like the one about which we read in the legend of our glorious father Saint Francis. He did not like to see ants, although they live with foresight as far as angelic poverty is concerned.156 Likewise, the little handmaid of Our Lord, following the example of her glorious father, did not like to see them. The demons knew this well, and for that reason persecuted her in the shape of ants. Often it seemed that a hundred thousand of them were swarming over the things that she loved, such as books, and in the places where she liked to be, such as her oratory. And as soon as she saw them like this, as it pleased God, they created great sadness and unpleasantness in her heart; and suddenly, after they had shown themselves like this, not a single other one appeared. Sometimes when she did not want to reveal the virtuous exhortations that God sent her, she pretended that she came to the places where she lived in order to clean them and to remove anything that could cause these animals to arrive. But this was useless when not a single one of them arrived. But at other times there were a hundred thousand of them which then suddenly vanished. 157. In the region of Languedoc they persecuted her in the shape of flies, which came into her oratory in such great numbers in order to disturb her in her prayers; it was a distressing thing to see how they flew over and bit her hands, and they made much noise.157 Sometimes she was so angered and annoyed that she had University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015), 116–20, and also Goswin of Bossut’s Life of Ida of Nivelles (Send Me God, 48–49) for a curious episode involving toads and sex. 155. Francesca Romana (1384–1440), an almost exact contemporary of Colette, had a similar experience when a demon brought a decaying male corpse into her bedroom and pressed her down onto it (Blumenfeld-Kosinski, The Strange Case, 112). 156. According to Ubald d’Alençon’s introduction (xxx), the detail of the ants can be found only in Bartolomeo of Pisa’s De conformitate Vitae B. P. Francisco ad Vitam Domini Nostri Jesu Christi (On the conformity of the Life of our blessed father Francis with the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ). It was composed between 1385 and 1399, when it was approved by the Franciscan General Chapter and widely diffused throughout Europe (see Vauchez, Francis of Assisi, 208–9). This work established many parallels between the lives of Christ and Saint Francis. 157. On demonic flies see Tamar Herzig, “Flies, Heretics, and the Gendering of Witchcraft,” Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 5 (2010): 51–80. The name of “Beelzebub” (Ba’al Zǝbûb), an Old Testament god of the Philistines later conflated with Satan, is in one tradition translated as “lord of the flies.”

128 PIERRE DE VAUX them chased away, but they always came back just as before. Once there was an especially large one that was very cruel and caused her great anguish while she was praying. Finally, because of the great disturbance it caused, she did not dare to presume to order it to leave by virtue of her own saintly obedience, but she ordered it to leave by virtue of the salvific obedience of monsieur Saint Francis. She judged that in herself there was not enough grace or virtue, and therefore she could not order it to leave merely through her own obedience. And immediately the fly left and flew toward one of her fathers confessor in order to bother him, and he ran to take refuge near the handmaid of Our Lord, who was already aware of what was happening. 158. In Picardy they persecuted her in the shape of snails that came into her oratory and into her bed so often that they had to be removed, but the more one got rid of them the more they would come. As soon as she wanted to kneel down in order to pray to Our Lord, five or six, or sometimes even more, would appear before her to keep her from her prayers. And several times, because they knew that she hated them, they surrounded her cot where she often prayed; and they would have succeeded in keeping her from her prayers if Our Lord had not protected her. And many other figures in the shape of snakes and other foul and abominable beasts persecuted her horribly. No other people of such saintly and great perfection were ever persecuted in this way. Not by hearsay or in writings, not in the lives of saintly religious persons or of the glorious elect do we ever hear of the kind of persecution that they directed at the little handmaid of Our Lord. For this reason it is obvious that she excelled in the holiness of her life and the greatness of her perfection more than all the children of God and all the friends of God. We know that all the persecutions directed by the enemies toward God’s friends are done by divine permission and thus these friends are the most perfect. It often pleases Him that they should be tested and approved through greater and more violent persecutions. 159. The most horrible and distressing of these persecutions occurred seven years before her death. When she wanted to pray to Our Lord, either with words or mentally, immediately a huge multitude of demons appeared before her, as flies when the weather was good, and in many different shapes: there were cruel beasts, such as wolves, leopards, lions and such, and filthy, abominable animals such as toads, snakes, serpents, and other big and small animals. There were also shapes that looked like reasonable men and women who showed themselves from the shoulders up.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 129

Figure 6. Folio 104 recto. At left, demons visible “from the shoulders up,” with “well-combed hair.” At right, demons carry cadavers from the gallows to Colette’s cell.

130 PIERRE DE VAUX And some of these animals showed themselves to be more cruel and filthier than others, and there were some small ones that appeared beautiful and gentle; and there were also faces of men and women that appeared beautiful and they had lots of beautiful hair, well combed. And all these different figures showed themselves to her, and sometimes all of them together, in such a manner that she could not lift up her eyes even a little without seeing them. And as soon as she saw them, even if only for a moment, she felt such great sadness and such anguished pain in her heart that she could not have borne or tolerated any greater distress. And she was so deeply afflicted and distressed that she could not come back to herself and she could not find any peace until ten or twelve hours later. 160. And it was very strange that when it pleased God that these figures should be seen by other people, they did not cause any of them any pain, fear, or sadness; they only bothered her alone. And they were not seen by everyone who was present when she saw them, but, as just mentioned, only by those whom God chose to see them. And those people who saw them in her presence knew that if they had seen them in her absence, they would have felt such fear and horror that they all would have gone mad and lost their minds. 161. Several of the sisters saw them, and especially one of them who was closest to her and knew her best. Many times she had seen the excessive sadness and distress that she [Colette] experienced when she saw them, and because of the great pity and compassion she felt for the little handmaid of Our Lord she desired most ardently that she could carry and suffer all the pain and distress that the handmaid felt. And in order to do this she asked the handmaid to tell her when she detected the signs of the demons, and then she stepped between the handmaid of Our Lord and said figures so that she could not see them, and so that the pain and distress caused by her seeing them would be transferred to her. And she said, “Come toward me, come to me and leave my mother be.” And there was such a multitude and abundance of these figures that she took a stick with which she herded them behind the little handmaid of Our Lord. But if it hadn’t been for the safe and confident feeling the handmaid inspired in her, the sister would never have dared to do this. 162. Several times, in order to reinforce the knowledge of Himself and of her, it pleased God that some of her fathers confessor should see these horrible figures, and indeed He showed them to one of the fathers, but in seeing them he was not afraid or distressed because of the confidence and safety her felt in her presence. But after having seen them he reasoned that if he had seen them in her absence, he would have been in great danger of losing his mind. The first time she showed him the demon he came in the shape of a little black lion, and he first saw that it was quite tame and then he saw it leave. The second time he saw an ugly serpent, hideous and horrible, and it stood between the said confessor and her. Another time he saw him as a figure from which emanated a light like that of a sulfurous candle.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 131 163. And you must know that a multitude of demons that showed themselves in the terrible shapes just described first showed themselves to her on the walls of the oratory or her bedroom without coming down, and this they did for a long time. Then they began to descend from the walls and stayed near the oratory without approaching. And then the entire oratory from top to bottom as well as the walls were filled with them, and they approached her and sat on her habit and her book, on her hands, and all parts of her body, and they reached up all the way to her eyes, which is the part of her body she loved best because her sight consoled her when she did her vocal prayers with a vision of the precious body of Jesus. They injured her eyes so severely that she thought she would lose them and they hurt for a long time afterward. They persecuted her in other ways that would take a long time to tell. Once, at the beginning of her reform work, as she was praying devoutly to Our Lord, they came to disturb her and to prevent her from praying by making a lot of noise and hitting her oratory with heavy clubs, and they also hit her, and sometimes they lifted the oratory up in the air. But no matter what kind of tempests they caused or how much they beat her, she never stopped her prayers. And similarly, in her last days, many times a huge multitude of demons came into her oratory and made such a horrible noise and tumult that it seemed that they hit her with lightning and would destroy everything to cause her distress. And to keep her from praying they hit her with clubs, chasing her all around the oratory, so much so that few of the sisters dared to keep her company, except the abovementioned sister who was so close to her and who had such confidence in the handmaid of Our Lord that she sometimes came to see what was going on. At that point all the demons left and she found nothing but the clubs that they had left on the floor. 163.2. One sister was cruelly tormented at night, just before matins, for four years. For just when she was about to get some rest so that she could get up for matins, someone woke her up and it was impossible to know who it was, except that she thought it was the enemy from hell because sometimes she could grasp a hand that wanted to strangle her. This sister took refuge in holy prayer and implored Our Lord that, through the merits of His anguished Passion and the intercession of the little handmaid sister Colette, it might please Him by His grace to show her who it was that tormented her and whether it was the devil, and that He might show her in which shape he appeared so that she would not go mad. The following night the devil appeared to her in the shape of a dog, completely engulfed by flames, his mouth agape with fire shooting from it. The sister was very much afraid; she made the sign of the cross and told him courageously, “Go away, filthy beast, I order you by the merits of my glorious mother, sister Colette, not to come back and tempt me.” And right away he left and since then did not cause her any more distress or torment.

132 PIERRE DE VAUX Another sister, the sacristaine of a convent where she stayed,158 once went at night to the church in order to ring matins. She heard a huge multitude of demons who were screeching and screaming so hideously and horribly that she almost went mad. Right away she made the sign of the cross and invoked the name of Our Lord and implored Him that through the intercession of His little handmaid sister Colette He might help her, and immediately after she had made this invocation and request all the hideous voices stopped and the demons fled. Chapter 17: How the special graces of the friends of God were renewed in her 164. Our Lord, whose compassion is without limits, has, in His sovereign and infinite eternal goodness, sent into this valley of this present misery some of His elect of the masculine sex for the conversion and salvation of the poor sinners. But at present, at a time that can be said to be the end of the last age,159 it pleased Him to send one of His special daughters and friends of the feminine sex to whom He said that He would have her reputation spread throughout the world, namely His little handmaid sister Colette. She should be the light and the lodestar for those who live in the darkness of sin and bring them back to the path of God’s commandments, and she should be the mirror of sanctity and devotion and the exemplar of mortification and perfection for all estates and all kinds of people. And in order to accomplish this and to instrumentalize in her the dignity of the life and the graces and virtues of His elect and glorious friends, He wanted to renew in her not all these graces and virtues but a great part, such as the solitude, the abstinence and wakefulness of the old fathers, and other special graces that God granted them, such as the knowledge of the prophets, the perfection of the apostles, the torments and sufferings of the martyrs, the fervent charity of the confessors, and the purity and cleanness of the virgins. Of the solitude she experienced. 165. Few of the ancient fathers had the kind of solitude that she experienced for fifty years. She was enclosed and locked not only in an anchorhold, where there could sometimes be some space for spiritual comfort, and not only in her convents that are spacious and pleasant, but in a tiny little cell situated within the convent that could rather be called a prison or a tomb than anything else. For these cells were so small and low and narrow that she could not turn around or

158. Secretainne, in the French, refers to a woman sacristan who has the same duties as a male sacristan: preparing the church for mass and keeping it clean, ringing the bells for prayers, etc. 159. The coming of Christ was believed to have inaugurated the sixth and last age of the world. The six ages structured many medieval chronicles, such as the Nuremberg Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel (1493).

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 133 stand up straight, as you can see by the little cell in the convent of Vevey,160 which is not six feet long and not even four feet wide. Some of the ancient fathers had cells so spacious that they could walk around in them. And, in fact, some of them went for walks in the desert for recreation and consolation after their prayers and after their pains and labors. But the little handmaid of Our Lord never left her oratory for any recreation, although she suffered from horrible pains, as was described above. And what is more, even when the little cell was located near a garden, she would not set foot in the garden and refused to enter it. And when she had to leave her convents for visitations or other tasks, no matter which hostel she came to, she would always keep to solitude and seclusion. She would construct a tiny little space that she would close off with drapes or blankets, and there she would stay immobile and without leaving it, until the time of departure. 166. Several of the ancient fathers lived in rocks and caves and practiced great abstinence and wakefulness so that they could pray longer. The little handmaid of Our Lord practiced such marvelous abstinence that during forty days and forty nights she never ate, thus imitating the holy fast of Our Lord. We must believe piously that she fasted like this not through her natural powers but through divine and supernatural powers. Who has ever heard of a wakefulness like hers in which she stayed awake without sleeping for a year? This was not humanly possible, but she did it by divine and supernatural powers. 167. One of the greatest feats, to be greatly admired and worthy of commendation when it comes to exterior signs that God wanted to make manifest through his elect and friends in the Old Testament, was when it pleased Him to lengthen the days and to stop the course of the sun, as we hear in the Old Testament about Joshua, for whom the day was lengthened, and in the New Testament through the prayer of saint Pierre Coupers,161 who wanted to reach his sick brother before sundown and for whom, through his prayer, the sun lengthened its course. This is no small feat, to shorten the day and advance the course of the sun for the sake of some of His good women friends, and likewise to lengthen it and increase it. This shortening of the day He wanted to do for the sake of His little handmaid, who 160. Vevey is a town on the shores of Lake Geneva. The convent there was founded between 1424 and 1426 with the support of Amadeus VIII, duke of Savoy, and Guillemette de Gruyère, countess of Valentinois (d. before 1439). 161. God makes the sun stand still for Joshua and his army so that they can defeat their enemies (Joshua 10:12–15). For “Pierre Coupers” Ubald d’Alençon points out that Pierre de Vaux makes a mistake here. Pierre speaks of one saint with an unknown name, but there are actually two fourth-century Egyptian saints involved in this story: Saint Patermutius and Saint Copra. Patermutius, a known thief and looter, was converted to Christianity by the desert hermit Saint Copra. Although Pierre uses examples of lengthening the day here, his story actually involves the opposite: the sun moves faster, not more slowly, as he acknowledges in the next sentence.

134 PIERRE DE VAUX oftentimes and in various ways exposed her life to the dangers of the world for God’s honor and the salvation of souls, and she would have been lost had God not protected her. For, as was told earlier, when there were wars so cruel and deadly that few people dared to leave their walled cities, she made several perilous and dangerous trips for God’s honor, and she spoke with both warring parties. And when she was in a region that favored one party the devil made her be seen as favoring the other party; and then when she was in the region that favored that other party, people said that she was part of the other side, but God knows that she desired the good for both parties and how many prayers she said and had others say to that effect in all her convents. 168. Once by chance she was in one of her convents, located in a town that suffered grievously from this war and that tried diligently to keep itself safe. As soon as she arrived there, even though she came from the other side, people said that she favored their side. And right after her arrival the devil saw to it that there was great trouble, as you will now hear. Some people said that even though she [Colette] came from the other side she was favorably inclined toward the town162; others said that she came to this convent sent by the devil from hell, and things could have gone terribly wrong, as is seen by the following: the sacristaine of this convent, who was supposed to ring matins163 at midnight, woke up between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. and thought it was midnight, and this is why she went to ring matins as she usually did. The watchman who was guarding the town, a big and strong man in these perilous times, heard the nuns’ bell ring not at midnight as usual but already between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., and believed that some treason was under way and that someone had rung the bell to signal for some soldiers to come and take the town. For this reason, they164 were extremely troubled and furious. They assembled and went off to do great harm to this convent, that is, to kill the nuns and destroy the convent. And indeed, they came, and when they approached the gate of the convent, God, by His grace and thanks to the prayers of the little handmaid, found a fitting solution: he shortened the night and time and made the time and the clock conform to the intention of the nun who had thought she was ringing matins at midnight. And in order to demonstrate this shortening of the night publicly, the clock, which did not usually have a good sound, when it was supposed to sound 10 p.m. now loudly and clearly sounded 1 a.m., and everyone en route to the convent could hear it and count the hours. The wisest among them, 162. We learn from Perrine (P 75) that this town was Decize, whose location on the border between the areas under control of the French king Charles VII and those of the Burgundians may explain the term aultre partie used in the French original. But since neither Pierre nor Perrine indicates a date, it is difficult to say which precise period is referred to here. The Treaty of Arras in 1435 made peace between Charles VII and Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy. 163. On matins, see note 23. 164. The masculine ils indicates that Pierre is speaking about the watchman and his colleagues here.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 135 when they heard the clock strike 1 a.m., revised their judgment and graciously changed their mind and told the others, “We are evil people who are thinking bad things about these good and devout nuns who serve God so diligently and watch over us better with their holy prayers than we do with our guards and weapons.” And so they returned to town downcast and saddened by the evil deeds they had unjustly embarked on. And we must note that the shortening of the night and of time did not just affect the hours as they were rung by the clock but actual time, for daylight came soon, as if it had been midnight when the bell was rung, and the nuns marveled greatly when they realized this. About prophetic knowledge, as mentioned above. 169. She had knowledge of things past, present, and future. Oftentimes she was distressed by the great knowledge that God gave her, especially about the actions of other people. She knew about the death of our Holy Father pope Martin; while she was in the South, in Languedoc, she felt and knew and revealed the division of our mother Holy Church and the end of the Council of Basel; she had foreknowledge of and predicted the election of pope Felix three years ahead of time, an event that caused her great pain in her heart.165 169.2. Once when she was at table to take some corporal refreshment with some of her sisters she was so suddenly seized by a spiritual and celestial recollection that she was forced to get up and hasten to her oratory in order to collect herself and meditate on this recollection. She told one of the sisters who kept her company, “What would you say if you had seen nine abbesses at your table?” She had foreknowledge of the fact that nine of the sisters who were sitting at the table with her would in the future become abbesses in one of her convents. And this came true exactly as she had predicted.166 170. As mentioned earlier, she had a wonderful affinity for the state of purity, of cleanness of body and conscience, and of innocence, and therefore she loved seeing children who represented this state especially well. Once, a little child, very beautiful and pleasant and of notable and good parents, was presented to her and she met the child with great joy. But as she saw it she felt and knew about the child’s end and perdition and said the following words, “I humbly pray to God that if this little child will do something in the future by which it will be deprived of the vision of God, that it may die very soon.” The child left in the same good 165. Pope Martin V died on February 20, 1431. Amadeus VIII, duke of Savoy, was elected pope as Felix V on November 5, 1439. Considered the last of the antipopes, he abdicated ten years later. For Colette, the Council of Basel, and the resulting schism, see Anna Campbell, “Contextualising Reform: Colette of Corbie’s Relations with a Divided Church,” Franciscan Studies 74 (2016): 353–73, and the Introduction, 3–4. Cf. also P 76. 166. Paragraph 169.2 is an addition in the manuscript kept at Poligny, as Ubald d’Alençon states in a footnote (145n2). For a description of this manuscript, see the edition of the two Lives, xliii–xliv. Perrine names all the abbesses and convents (P 59).

136 PIERRE DE VAUX health in which it had been brought to her. But as soon as it returned to the hostel it fell mortally ill and died. The parents were very distressed and surprised that death had come so suddenly to their child. And for this reason, they went to the sisters’ convent to find out whether they knew anything. There, the words that the little handmaid of Our Lord had said about their child were revealed to them. Because of these words they were consoled, and subjected their will to her who could never fail them. 171. A very noble and powerful lady, foundress of one of her convents, was a widow with small children, and for that reason her region and all her lands were grievously attacked, destroyed, and laid waste by armed men who did not fear these children because of their young age. This lady was requested for a noble marriage and she consented, as much for ensuring the safety of her lands as for the hope that she would have some offspring. And in order to be certain of her decision she asked the advice of the little handmaid of Our Lord. She told her, “Madame, do what you wish, but you will never have any offspring from your husband.” And indeed, shortly afterward the lady died without any offspring, just as she had predicted. 172. Once one of her sisters who was close to her was in great distress while thinking about how she could make her confession. She asked her to come to her and told her kindly, “My daughter, you need to make your confession and do not be afraid, for Our Lord is all powerful, compassionate, and filled with pity. Be confident and say your confession like this.” And the poor girl was very ashamed when she saw clearly that she [Colette] knew her thoughts and her sin. How the perfection of the apostles was renewed in her. 173. As we know, those people are called apostles that were sent by God. And she was elected by God and sent into this miserable world in order to help poor sinners to move from darkness to light and from perdition to salvation. And as a sign that she was especially sent by God, she was conceived by and born to an old mother who had already passed the age of childbearing. The glorious apostles split up and traveled through foreign lands in order to exalt the holy name of God and to preach the Catholic faith. Likewise, she was steadfast in her faith for over forty years, traveling through various countries and regions in order to build convents for the honor and exaltation of the holy name of God and for the salvation of souls. In heat and cold, by land and waterways, through wars and conflicts, she exposed herself and her followers to persecutions and afflictions in order to wrest their poor souls from the hands and the servitude of the enemies from hell and to bring them to God, their glorious savior and compassionate redeemer. 174. The apostles led lives of greater perfection and of more abundant grace than any other people, and singularly imitated the life of Our Lord. She was truly and perfectly evangelical and apostolic, living according to the Holy Gospel, and as

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 137 a true apostolic she renounced everything in her life and did not want to own anything, neither personally nor in a community. And we have an example of this perfect apostolic and evangelical life and the singular imitation of Our Lord: once, with great spiritual fervor, she spoke to several of her sisters about the perfect life of Our Lord Jesus Christ and about the profound humility and great poverty that He and the glorious Virgin Mary and His apostles wanted to have here on earth, and how they exhorted and taught people that they should follow this humility and poverty. Suddenly, by God’s will, the twelve apostles appeared to her and in her presence sat down on the ground near her, and showed themselves to her and to several of her sisters in the shape of twelve people who were very honorable and revered, and these people glowed with simplicity, humility, and poverty, and they were all uniformly dressed in white, which whiteness could very well signify the holiness and perfection of the apostolic life. And in order to demonstrate how similar her life was to their holy lives, they remained in this shape till the end of the exhortations and teachings she was offering to these sisters. After this exhortation these apostles were seen rising to the heavens and she herself was seen lifted high up in the air, so high up and for such a long time that the sisters lost sight of the apostles and her.167 175. Several graces that had been granted the apostles were also granted her, such as curing all illnesses and reviving the dead. She did these things by God’s grace, as will be told below. In the name of God, the apostles threw demons out of human beings and chased them away. Similarly, in the holy name of God she cured and made healthy again several people who were enraged and had lost their minds, as well as several demoniacs. In a convent of religious women there was a sister who was enraged and out of her mind, and she was greatly bothered and tormented by demons from hell. And she suffered from the grand mal that makes you fall down,168 and this illness took hold of her in so many different ways that the sisters in this convent were greatly frightened and exhausted by it, for night and day six or seven of them had to take hold of her, and sometimes all of them had to do it together, otherwise she would have done great harm to herself and others. One thing that was strange was that in the one year that this madness had a hold on her, it was always during the Divine Office or mass. The sisters were very troubled by this, for while she had been quiet and peaceful from matins to compline, as soon as the first ring of matins was sounded, she became so agitated that several sisters had to stay away from the Divine Office in order to hold and guard her. Likewise, from the first ring of prime until mass was over, and at all canonical hours, she was tied up and one had to hold her down. Once she was 167. On levitation and miraculous flight see note 93 to V 83. These scenes are depicted in MS 8, fol. 112r. On the right a sister sees Colette floating in a golden cloud in the sky, surrounded by the apostles. 168. That is, epilepsy.

138 PIERRE DE VAUX lying for two or three days quietly on her cot, all her limbs as rigid as a dry stick, and one would have had to break her limbs in order to move them. Her mouth was so horribly open that one could have fit a whole round bread into it, her eyes were hideously large and open, and she remained thus, without speaking or understanding anything, without drinking or eating, and without giving any sign except for a pitiful plaint, and it seemed that she had two voices. Another time this madness took hold of her in such a way that one could barely hold her, and she ate and drank so much that she would grab entire eggs, big pieces of wood, stones, nuts, whole handfuls of cherries and prunes. She could bend iron as others would have bent a green twig, and she screamed so loudly that her voice did not seem to be human, and she would not be quiet, whether one used holy water or made the sign of the cross or said a prayer over her. Sometimes this madness took hold of her in other ways, that is, she was without consciousness like an animal, she bled so profusely through the eyes and cheeks, through the ears, and from the top of her head, and all parts of her body that it was a distressing and frightening sight. It pleased God that the sisters, who were so affected that they could no longer take it, remembered the little handmaid of Our Lord, who was in a faraway region. And they contacted her and wrote to her about the astonishing, terrible, and distressing illness that had taken hold of the poor sister and the great trouble she caused day and night for the whole convent, and they implored her that she might through her sweetness and kindness take pity on her, and that she might keep her in her prayers before God Our Lord, and commend her charitably and compassionately. And it was marvelous to see that as soon as the letters were sent, the terrible illness began greatly to recede. And after she had received the letters even more so, and she was getting better and better, so much so that she was entirely cured through her holy prayers. 175.2. When at one time she was in the convent of St. Clare in Vevey, located in the Savoy region, a young woman who was out of her mind and a demoniac was brought to her by her parents and friends. They commended the young woman to her with great pity. They secretly left her tied up in her oratory, without telling her [Colette], which distressed her very much. When she realized that they had not taken her with them, she was greatly distressed that they had abandoned her, but nonetheless she felt great pity and compassion for the poor sick woman, and she returned to the sacrifice of holy prayer and prayed to Our Lord for her most effectively and fervently. It was wondrous to see that the sick woman fell asleep sweetly and for such a long time that she did not wake up all night and that her parents and friends found her still asleep when they came to see her in the morning. The little handmaid of Our Lord told them with great compassion, “I ask you in God’s name that you take your daughter with you.” When they had woken her up in order to do so they found her healthy and cured, and she was speaking so wisely and graciously as if she had never been ill, and she conducted herself decently and her face was more beautiful than ever. They felt great joy and consolation and gave

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 139 thanks, humbly and lovingly, to the handmaid of Our Lord for the great good God had done their daughter through her prayers. She responded that this had not happened through her or her intervention. But the young woman who was cured gave witness and affirmed in front of everyone that she was cured and delivered through the prayers and merits of the handmaid of Our Lord, and that she had seen how in her prayers she fought against the demons from hell. She had cast out five demons from her body who had held her captive and had tormented her. 176. The apostles spoke and understood all languages. Similarly, by God’s grace she completely understood all the languages of the world, Latin, German, and other languages. To the glorious apostles was granted the grace that if they drank some poisonous or deadly beverage it could do them no harm. Indeed, the little handmaid of Our Lord was poisoned twice and by God’s grace she survived without any harm, and she knew who had poisoned her and she graciously forgave them.169 177. The suffering of the martyrs was revived in her. She did not receive martyrdom through bloodshed, but she endured the suffering and pain not just of one martyrdom but of several great and cruel ones. Even if someone had burnt her, or boiled, flayed, or beheaded her a hundred times, her martyrdom would not have been as painful as the martyrdom she suffered and endured not just for twenty or thirty years but for fifty years. And she suffered true martyrdom because of her desire to offer and sacrifice her body for the love of Our Lord and pitiful redeemer who offered and sacrificed His precious body to God, His father, on the tree of the cross for love of us. There are other facts and deeds that one could call martyrdom, for as she was traveling around different regions for God’s honor and to exalt His name, she suffered and endured so many physical pains that she shed blood abundantly, and she had a very painfully broken arm, and all throughout her life she had no strength in it. She also had a broken and bruised head and when she turned it, she heard the bones bang one against the other. About the fervent charity of the confessors who, for the great faith they had in God and for the great knowledge they had of Him left the world and shut themselves off from all worldly and transitory things in order to occupy themselves with perfect love for Him. 178. His little handmaid was so inflamed and set on fire by her excellent and perfect love that as soon as she heard or someone told her some beautiful words mentioning His glorious and mellifluous name, all her senses lost their functions and her entire understanding and all other powers were so perfectly joined with Him that she remained as if totally enraptured. And several times when someone needed to speak to her about something that needed to be done, one had to be 169. Cf. P 76.2, in which Perrine adds that “it was common knowledge among the sisters who had done it.”

140 PIERRE DE VAUX careful not to pronounce any words that touched upon the excellence and perfect love of God, for then she suddenly would be in another state and one would not be able to speak with her for a long time. Together with the perfect love she had for God, she had wonderful charity for her fellowmen. She was so ardently concerned with the spiritual and physical wellbeing of everyone that she could not rest or be tranquil in her spirit unless she helped to alleviate their indigence as much as she possibly could. She always gladly obliged to help anyone in need. A notable person was exposed to great danger and need by bad fortune and could not come to a suitable arrangement with his creditors and could not pay them. She did so much with her fervent charity and other means she had at her disposal that he was delivered from all peril and danger. 179. And if she was charitable toward those who were still alive, she was incomparably more charitable and compassionate toward those who had died. It was wondrous to see how she desired to help and alleviate their grievous pains. She felt so much compassion for them that she often said that she would gladly take on the pains the poor souls suffered in purgatory.170 And for this reason, every day she said special prayers for their liberation and deliverance from these pains, and it pleased her that every day of the year, with the exception of three days during Holy Week, the sisters in all her convents said the Office for the Dead in their communities.171 There was a religious of great dignity and of noble family but with a lax conscience and little devotion who trusted her and her holy prayers more than anyone else in the world, and he was not disappointed in the hopes for his salvation. For she, although far away in a different region, had certain knowledge of his death and of the horrible and pains and torments that he would have to suffer. And it was revealed to her that although he would be greatly and grievously punished, in the end he would not lose the joys of paradise. She fervently prayed for a long time for a shortening of these pains until she had clear knowledge that he was freed from all suffering and eternally glorified. 180. And when it happened that in one of her convents some of the sisters or friars approached their deaths, if it was a sister she would go to her in the infirmary, and if it was a friar she would have him brought before her to the grille in the church in order to be present at his death. And thus at this last hour, at the time of the greatest need, she devoted all the strength that God had given her to offer them aid and comfort. With her fiery prayer she called for the grace and pity of God and exhorted the dying person to be constant and firm in the Catholic faith, and she fortified them against any obstacles and evil actions that the devil could put in their path at that moment. And sometimes she did this by chasing away the 170. On medieval women’s purgatorial piety see Barbara Newman, “On the Threshold of the Dead: Purgatory, Hell, and Religious Women,” chapter 4 in From Virile Woman to WomanChrist: Studies in Medieval Religion and Literature (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995). 171. Usually, the Office of the Dead was not said at the end of Holy Week.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 141 demons or ordering them to depart. Through this support and charitable works the poor dying people in need could acquire grace before God and pacify Him and thus avoid the eternal torments. 181. The purity and cleanness of the virgins was also renewed in her. Virginity is the noble and perfect quality belonging to celestial beings and the angels of paradise. Through this virtue several holy people were greatly pleasing and agreeable to Our Lord. The first and principal among these was the excellent and most holy mother and Virgin. He wanted to elect her above all others to touch the virginal flank of His very precious body. This virtue was notably renewed in the little handmaid with the great purity and cleanness of heart and body that she always wanted to maintain cleanly and loyally, and with the true observance of the vow of chastity that she had solemnly made at the hand of His vicar.172 She wanted to promise and vow that it should please Him by His special grace to accept her as His friend and spouse, as was mentioned in the chapter on chastity. The most perfect love of this purity and mental and physical cleanness was so deeply rooted and imprinted in her heart that she could never say or listen to any words that were frivolous or dishonest without being afflicted and distressed. 182. Once there was a carnal and dissolute man who showed outwardly what he was inwardly. The pure and clean handmaid of Our Lord, who was then still living in the world, went to a monastery and prayed devoutly to God. Because he was subject to the devil from hell, he went to her and said to her villainous and dishonest words, to which she sweetly answered that God might give him knowledge. And it did not take long for God to show him that he had done wrong to offend the woman who was destined to become His spouse and friend. As he was trying to leave the monastery through the big gate, which was open, he could not pass through it; it was as if the gate had been walled shut. Suddenly he was greatly astonished and stunned, and several times he moved backward and then tried to pass through this gate, but he could not do it and did not know what he was supposed to do in order not to lose his mind because of the terror he felt in face of this unusual thing that was happening to him. Finally, he remembered that this was happening because of the dirty and dishonest words he had said to the pure and clean handmaid of Our Lord. And hastily he returned to her and humbly asked her forgiveness. She answered him humbly and devoutly that Our Lord wished to forgive him through His mercy. And right away he exited through the gate without any difficulty.

172. This is most likely a reference to the first private vow of virginity Colette made in 1400 on the advice of Father Jehan Bassand, the prior of the Celestin monastery St-Benoît in Amiens. He may be Christ’s “vicar” referred to here. See Elizabeth Lopez, Petite vie de Sainte Colette (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1998), 104.

142 PIERRE DE VAUX 183. The purity and cleanness were so marvelously great within her that several people sought her out who felt inclined to frivolity and impurity. But by her cleanness and holy presence they felt protected against these inclinations and were constant and firm in guarding their chastity. Among these people were some religious who trustingly revealed to her some dangerous temptations that they had and they humbly told her about their deeds. It was marvelous to see that as far as these temptations were concerned, they completely lost the power to act on them and even if they had wanted to, they could not have done it. And they lost both their will and their power to do it. In France there was a very noble and powerful prince, and before he came to see her, he was worldly, pompous, carnal, and pleasure-loving. Through the help of the little handmaid of Our Lord his worldliness was transformed into religiosity, his pomposity into profound humility, his carnality into spirituality, and his pleasures into harshness. After receiving the glorious body of Our Lord, he affirmed several times in the presence of several notable people that ever since he had seen the face of the little handmaid of Our Lord, he had never again experienced any carnal temptation. 184. Similarly there was in France a very noble and powerful lady who led a beautiful and good life. She had a great reputation for her great honesty and compassion and was known for being a good and helpful friend. She had several noble children, both sons and daughters. Once one of her sons was staying at a guest house. Through diabolic temptation he made the acquaintance of a young woman and directed toward her his disordered heart and affection. After having committed several sins through words, looks, and illicit and dishonest touching, they were in full agreement that they wanted to accomplish the sin, if they had been able to find the place, the time, and the opportunity to do it. And as they were thus persevering in these damnable plans, a religious arrived that the noble lady had sent to the little handmaid of Our Lord, whom she loved with singular affection and devotion. He brought from the handmaid a belt, that is, one of the cords that she usually wore on her habit, and presented it to the lady in the presence of her son, the one who was carnally tempted. And it was astonishing to see that as soon as he saw the cord, he was suddenly and entirely transformed and abandoned his evil intentions. He was so changed that he felt compelled to flee from any place where the young woman was present. And when he was forced to see her in the company of his mother, he felt such loathing for her that he could tolerate her only with great and grievous pain. But Our Lord, through the merits of His little handmaid, saw to it that very soon the young woman, still inviolate in her body, was very well married, and the two young people who had been carnally tempted were freed from damnable perdition, and the noble house was preserved from all reproach and confusion.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 143 Chapter 18: About the patience she showed while being persecuted 185. The virtue of wisdom and patience is the guard and root of all virtues, for as the root supports the plant and the branches, the leaves and the fruit, likewise all problems, adversities, tribulations, and afflictions are profitably and fruitfully endured through patience. The practice that we have in the virtue of patience comes from our creator, from humans, or from our enemy. For, as says Saint Gregory, the pains that we receive from God are different from the ones we receive from our fellowmen, which are again different from the ones we receive from our enemy. Flagellations come from God, our creator, persecutions come from humans, and temptations from the enemy from hell.173 As for the flagellations or afflictions that Our Lord has sent her from the very beginning of her devotion, she greatly loved and desired them. This is why she conformed to Him and was assimilated to Him: in this miserable valley she had nothing but pains and afflictions out of love for Him. It is to the honor and glory of the wife to be assimilated to her husband.174 It is impossible to describe how many and what kind of illnesses, pain and suffering, physical and spiritual anguish, and how many horrible martyrdoms and cruel torments she joyously and patiently suffered and endured for His love, without ever showing any sign of being perturbed or impatient. Sometimes other people complained piteously on her behalf about the great anguish and pain that they saw she suffered, both outwardly and inwardly. They told her, “Alas, you suffer great pain.” She replied sweetly, “These are small things to complain about.” And all those people, no matter from which estate, that persecuted her or harmed her or caused others to harm her, or that caused her tribulations because of her vocation, she wanted to do them good and in fact wanted to honor them, pardon them, and commend them. And sometimes she went to see them in order to charitably attend to all their needs for their entire lives. 186. About the persecutions of humans and of the devil from hell. When humans persecuted her, it was only by means of the devil who let her be persecuted by people she knew and by strangers, by clerics and by rich and noble people, and even by those who properly should be close to her and her good friends. They made her suffer greatly and grievously. In order to prevent them from doing these thoughtless things she called them and made them stay in one 173. From Saint Gregory’s homily 35 on Luke 21:9–19, preached in 591: “patience is the root and guardian of all virtues. [35.4] . . . It must be known that the virtue of patience can be practiced in three ways, according to whether it is ordeals imposed by God, by the ancient enemy, or by the neighbor. From the next, we support persecution, damages and insults; from the ancient enemy, temptations; and from God, the trials” [35.9]. In Forty Gospel Homilies, trans. David Hurst (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2009), 305. 174. Pierre de Vaux here depicts Colette not only as “conforming” and being “assimilated” to Christ, but also as the sponsa Christi, or Christ’s spouse.

144 PIERRE DE VAUX of her convents. In fact, she was so concerned about their salvation that, through her holy prayers, some of them were freed from great peril, such as going toward spiritual and corporal perdition through diabolic temptation, that is, to lose body and soul. And although she charitably did all the good for them that she could, both spiritually and corporally, nonetheless they were subject to the devil and for a certain time would have caused her great affliction and tribulation, if God had not protected her. She was more afflicted by the way they offended God and the harm they did to their conscience than she was by any of the persecutions they could direct toward her. And in the end, by her merits, they realized what they had done and were greatly distressed by the afflictions they had caused her. 187. Among others there was a man close to her who, by procuration of the devil, persecuted her so terribly that all the perfect and true love that he felt for her was transformed into such astonishing hatred that he could not hear her speak, nor could he approach any place where she was. Sometimes when he returned from outside the city and came close to the place or the convent where she was, the devil made him feel such great sadness that several times he left and went outside, without arriving in her worthy presence. And he was so blinded by temptation that he said that the grace of the Holy Spirit no longer resided in her, and that all the good that God had planned to have done through her was now done by another person who, he said, had great merit before God, but in reality this was an ignorant person, without any sense or understanding. And on top of all that, he had her inhumanely punished, sometimes even drawing blood. This persecution grieved her principally because she was worried about the people who inflicted it on her; nonetheless she suffered it sweetly and patiently and never uttered any impatient word. She was much more distressed and saddened by the wounds they inflicted on their souls than by the wounds and pain they inflicted on her body. And just as Our Lord prayed for his persecutors so that some of them would be pardoned, she humbly and affectionately prayed for them that they should be forgiven and clearly recognize their diabolic temptation and the deeds and blindness that had led them to eternal perdition, and for the rest of their lives they would feel great distress and unhappiness. 188. She was persecuted by several strangers. Among them was a very famous one whose works did not live up to his name, who both secretly and publicly persecuted her and put cruel obstacles in her way, and told her loudly and with great certainty that he would do everything to destroy her completely.175 To which she humbly replied that she had great hope in the goodness of Our Lord, who would remember what he had done. 175. This is most likely an allusion to Jehan Foucault, Colette’s opponent in the controversy at the convent of Dole. This convent had been “given” to Colette in 1412 by the antipope John XXIII (r. 1410–15) to become part of her reform. See Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 126 and 155, and Lopez, Petite vie, 55.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 145 She was also persecuted by some clerics. Among them were two university graduates living in a city where there many conflicts and enemies. These two were her principal persecutors, and they composed several false and evil articles of accusation against her and all she was doing, arguing that she was a heretic, saying bad things about the faith, and that she was favorable to the opinions of those from Prague,176 and some other detestable and horrible accusations that they published for everyone to see in order to create obstacles that would prevent her holy enterprise. And anything they could say and do she suffered sweetly and patiently, without uttering a single complaint. And even if God’s elect are quiet while being persecuted, one should not doubt an eventual judgment. One of the clerics, when he could not succeed with his presumptuous enterprise, left this town and took up residence elsewhere. And soon afterward he died. The other one who stayed fell painfully ill, and several times in his illness called pitifully upon the handmaid of Our Lord. According to the judgment of some people who visited him, he wanted to say that he had persecuted her unjustly but he was justly punished and ended his days in this painful illness. 189. Once, some rich secular people who did not know about her saintly life and evangelical poverty defamed and persecuted her through injurious remarks, saying that she was a rich and powerful woman with lots of gold and silver, lending money at usurious rates and running a money exchange business in three or four places, such as Paris, Bruges, or Ghent.177 They said this falsely and unjustly, for she loved holy poverty so much that she would have preferred to be flayed alive rather than even think about actions like these. Several noble lords, at the instigation and request of some people not as well placed, caused her great annoyance and tribulation when they wanted to use some building for something else than it was meant to be used for. And in order to achieve this, they called several big meetings against the little handmaid of Our Lord. And in the end Our Lord saw to it that to her honor the principal actors in this affair very soon died. And all these persecutions, as well as countless others, she suffered on many occasions sweetly and patiently like a little lamb for the love of that lamb that, truly innocent and without the stain of sin, suffered more in a single day for love of us than we could tolerate for His love in our entire lives.

176. Jan Hus (ca. 1370–1415) and Jerome of Prague (1379–1416), proponents of the Bohemian reform, were burnt as heretics during the Council of Constance. MS 8, fol. 126r, shows us Colette in disputation with learned clerics. 177. Usury was considered a sin; an injunction against it can be found in the Bible and in canon law. Following Aristotle, it was considered “unnatural” because it forced money, an inanimate substance, to “breed.” It also offended the notion of charity. See Anne Derbes and Mark Sandona, The Usurer’s Heart: Giotto, Enrico Scrovegni, and the Arena Chapel in Padua (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008), chap. 1. Compare P 77.

146 PIERRE DE VAUX Chapter 19: Of the end of her days and her passing 190. At the age of sixty-five the handmaid of Our Lord was very weak and feeble because of her age and physical ailments, and also because of the grievous pains and torments that she suffered by God’s pleasure. Nonetheless, she was prepared and ready to start her good work again, as if she still had all her strength and as if she had so far never done anything good. So she was not idle about doing good, nor so suffering from pains that she would not be ready to reemploy all her powers for all things related to God’s honor and the salvation of souls. And several times when she had to leave one of her convents to go somewhere else in order to augment and make God’s works grow, she was so weak and feeble that she could not stand up, and it seemed that one could not help her walk half a mile without her giving up the ghost. But she courageously undertook the pain and labor for God’s love, saying that she was ready to die when it pleased God, in the fields or in town, in town as in the fields. And when some in her company, both men and women, were so exhausted that they could not continue, she so was lively and fervent in her heart, staying awake and working and praying to Our Lord, that it seemed that she had never been tired or exhausted. And all her life she worked in the vineyard of Our Lord, that is the church militant, where the fruitful plant of holy religion is situated. 191. She virtuously and steadfastly labored until the end of her life, which she had announced and predicted several times ahead of time. First of all, she said that she would not live for more than another two years, and this is what happened. Then, more specifically, she said that her life would not be long. And three weeks before her death she definitively said that she was leaving to be with God and called her sisters together. She exhorted them with warm affection to be true and perfect religious, loving God above all, and to keep their Rule and its declarations loyally, and to give to it everything that they had vowed and promised; and she also gave them several other holy and salutary admonitions, and afterward she predicted the manner of her end, telling them, “Don’t expect me to tell you anything about my death, for I will tell you nothing nor speak to you.” 192. Among other things, she told her father confessor something that he already knew well, for she had revealed it to him before, namely about the reform of the Order of Saint Francis that Our Lord forced her to undertake, as is recounted in Chapter 5. Here is what she said: “My father, what I did through Our Lord, I did despite my being a great sinner and very defective, and if I had to do it again, I don’t know how I would do it any differently than I did it.”178

178. Cf. P 80, in which this reaffirmation of Colette’s work for the reform goes unmentioned.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 147 On February 26 [1447], which was a Sunday, she said confession in the morning and at mass received, with great devotion, the precious body of Our Lord. The following night she received a special visit by Our Lord. After this visit she was as in a state of childhood and innocence and did not care about any of the things in this world except to pray to God, both with her voice and in her mind. And doing this, she experienced an unusual weakness, which made her father confessor think that she would soon go to Our Lord. And because of this fear he gave her the holy chrism179 and extreme unction and afterward read the holy Passion of Our Lord in her presence. And when he had finished, he realized by some signs that it was not yet the hour of her death, and he therefore left. 193. The next morning, a Monday, at six o’clock her confessor went, as was his habit, to celebrate holy mass before her and found her ready to hear it, just as she had been the other times when she was in good health. He greatly wondered at the fact that she had thus recovered briefly and knew that this could not have happened without God’s grace. He celebrated mass and she devoutly heard it and adored the precious body of Our Lord with great reverence and an abundance of tears. She did so on every day of the week with the same reverence and devotion and she heard mass till Saturday, which was the last one she heard. On March 4 she heard mass four times, and the last one she heard with marvelous devotion and reverence and an even greater abundance of tears than when she had heard the others. After the special visit of Our Lord she received four things. The first one was that she suffered a greater pain than she usually did, and she said to her father confessor that Our Lord had given it to her and that it would last until her last breath. The second thing was that she wanted to devote all her time to the sacrifice of holy prayer and did not want to hear about anything else. Thirdly, without fail, she wanted with great reverence and devotion to hear holy mass every day. The fourth thing was that although she did not leave her oratory she knew as perfectly everything that was going on in the convent as if she had been present. Her father confessor and his companion did not want her to give up her soul without them being present, as they should, and therefore entered her oratory ahead of time, so that they were sure to be present when needed, but they did not yet come into her presence. But immediately she knew that they were in the oratory and told them so. Friday at vespers she spoke sweetly and consolingly to the friars, and Saturday after mass she humbly took leave of them, and soon after the eight o’clock prayer she walked toward her bed and made the sign of the cross that she had so dearly loved. She said, “Here is my last bed,” and she lay down on the bed dressed the way she always was, with the black veil that our holy father the 179. A consecrated mixture of oil and balsam used in different ceremonies such as baptism and extreme unction (the sacrament of the anointing of the sick).

148 PIERRE DE VAUX pope had placed on her head when he made her a professed nun and abbess. And she did what she had predicted. She immediately closed her eyes and mouth and never opened them again, and yet she knew everything that people were doing around her, believing they could give her comfort, as if she could see it clearly. The sisters brought her a feather pillow, but she realized what it was and threw it behind her.180 194. Without speaking or looking at anything she lay for forty-eight hours on this bed, suffering the pains that God had sent her specially. She made no movement or gave a sign by her face or any other limb; she showed only honesty and holiness without changing color. The following Monday, on the sixth of March in the year of Our Lord 1447 at eight o’clock in the morning, she very humbly ended her days in the presence of all the sisters of the convent in Ghent, of her father confessor and her companions. Her beautiful and glorious soul left her precious body and returned to God, her blessed creator, and was there received—as we believe without any doubt—into the eternal life. 195. For twelve hours she retained the color with which she had died, then suddenly her body was transformed into marvelous beauty. It was white as snow and the veins that showed on the white were like fine azure, and all her limbs were so beautiful and clean, flexible and movable, fragrant and sweet smelling that it well appeared that her limbs represented the state of innocence and complete purity and cleanness. More than thirty thousand people came to visit her, some because of devotion, others because of wonderment. On the third day after her death her beautiful and virginal body, such as it was, not changed in its beauty, was simply and devoutly buried, as she had ordered a long time before her death. Many times, she had said that Our Lord wanted to die for us in poverty and simplicity for love of us, in the open air, without any cover. Similarly, she wanted to be buried simply in the open air, near the cloister and without any shroud or coffin, to be returned to mother earth without anything else.

180. On the feather pillow, see note 63 to V 48.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 149

Figure 7. Folio 130 recto. On the right, Colette is dying, surrounded by her sisters, with Pierre de Vaux sitting beside her bed. Her soul is carried to heaven by angels. On the left, Colette appears to a sister after her death.

150 PIERRE DE VAUX 196. At the hour of her death, in some of her convents that she loved especially for the holy poverty that existed there, several sisters heard a multitude of angels who were sweetly singing a wonderful melody, one that had never been heard before. Among these voices there was one angelic one that said that the venerable religious sister Colette had gone to God. In another one of her convents there was, among the others, a very devout sister who, throughout her entire life, had felt a singular love and devotion for her. At the moment of her death, this sister, living far away, was saying the one hundred Our Fathers181 three times when she gloriously appeared to her and showed her entire person to her, visibly very beautiful and wondrously bright and shining. But she could not see the face because of the excessive brightness which was like a sun shining directly onto her head. This vision took place as the sister was in the dormitory near a window that she could open when she liked, and through this window she saw the handmaid of Our Lord who was in the place that had been her oratory and where she showed herself three times to the sister in the brightness and light described above, while she was saying the one hundred Our Fathers. 197. Similarly, in another convent far from the one where she died, there was a sister who desired very much to see her, for she had never seen her, and it seemed to her that if she could only see her for one hour she would feel better for the rest of her life. And in order to fulfill this desire she made a special request, in all her prayers to the glorious Virgin Mary, that she should give her the idea to visit the convent where she lived. Among the other prayers she said to that effect, she said six thousand Ave Marias in honor of the glorious Virgin Mary. And through God’s goodness and the intercession of His glorious Virgin mother, she was not disappointed in her holy desire. For in the night after her death she heard someone knock three times in the glorious mother’s oratory so that she was fully awake. Then, after she was completely awake, she heard someone open this oratory and reclose it, and right after that she saw a pleasing and venerable sister, of such beautiful stature and great beauty that she was unable to describe it, for she was so bright and luminous and her face so radiant that it seemed like crystal held toward the sun. This venerable sister walked through the oratory three times and then stopped near her. Then behind her was a beautiful small child, with a bright and shining face, who said and repeated: “This is sister Colette, this is sister Colette.” 198. When this sister, while awake, heard this voice and saw what she had so desired to see, she felt great joy and consolation in her heart and wanted to call out to the other sisters to tell them, “Look, look,” but she could not open her mouth. Then she began to think that this venerable sister was visiting their convent, as she had heard once when she was a novice, and that although she did not visit them 181. “Our Father” (Pater Noster) is the Lord’s Prayer, which this sister prays one hundred times with the beads of her rosary.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 151 corporally, she visited them spiritually. This sister who had received the vision entered the church to pray alone to Our Lord at the hour of terce, which was precisely the hour that the glorious handmaid of Our Lord had given her soul to God. And as soon as she was kneeling in order to pray, she heard a great multitude of voices, loud and clear, that seemed to be angelic rather than human voices. And they were so sweet and pleasant and utterly delectable to hear that it seemed to her that one could not hear more melodious voices in the entire world. And when she lifted up her face and her eyes toward heaven, she saw the beautiful, bright, and radiant face of the venerable sister she had seen after matins, whose face, it seemed to her, was gloriously in the midst of those who were singing so melodiously. Although she did not know her, nonetheless she piously believed afterward that it was the soul of the venerable religious sister Colette that the blessed angels joyously carried to the realm of paradise. 199. There was still another one of her convents in which there was a devout sister who was praying at the moment when the handmaid died. While praying she saw a venerable and pleasing well-ordered procession in which, together with the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His glorious Virgin mother, was a multitude of angels and patriarchs, apostles, confessors, virgins, and a great multitude of friars minor and the nuns of Saint Clare, who all were solemnly lined up and richly arrayed and adorned,182 and all of them together sang so joyously and melodiously that it seemed to her she had never heard such sweetness or such a melody. And precisely in the middle of the venerable procession was the soul of the little handmaid of Our Lord, shining brightly and beautiful, more radiant and resplendent than the sun, that they were leading to paradise with wondrous joy and great honor and reverence. After this venerable procession came another with great humility and devotion which consisted of a great multitude of people, men and women of all estates, who seemed to be detained as prisoners; all of them had their hands devoutly joined together and their heads humbly lowered. Among these the sister saw and recognized her own mother who was very glad and joyous, and she asked her how she was, and the mother answered her, “very well,” and explained to her that in the first procession was the glorious soul of the little handmaid of Our Lord that was thus being led joyously and honorably to paradise, and in the second procession were the souls from purgatory that had been delivered from their pains through the intercession of the little handmaid of Our Lord, and that she was one of them, and they were all following her to the realm of paradise.183 182. Interestingly, the male and female Franciscan members of this heavenly procession are outfitted in finery that radically contradicts their ideal of poverty. 183. On the medieval conceptions of purgatory, see Jacques Le Goff, The Birth of Purgatory, trans. Arthur Goldhammer (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984).

152 PIERRE DE VAUX 200. Another very devout person, penitent and of great austerity and perfection, saw in their184 rapture how her glorious soul was, by a great multitude of angels joyously and melodiously, carried to paradise to which the blessed son of God, who forms with the Father and the Holy Spirit a perfect Trinity, may lead us through the merits of His little handmaid Colette. He is an all-powerful God without beginning and end. Amen. Chapter 20: About the miracles she performed during her lifetime 201. To the honor of God and of the glorious Virgin Mary, mother of Our Savior Jesus Christ, are here recited some of the miracles that God wished to be done by His little handmaid during her lifetime. First, about the dead who were resuscitated. About those, who were saved from mortal peril. About those who were rescued from the peril of water. About those who were liberated from prison and others who were comforted there. About pregnant women who were saved during dangerous childbirth. About sick eyes that were cured and made healthy. About mad people and demoniacs delivered from the devil. About various illnesses that were cured. About those who were resuscitated: 202. As says monsieur Saint Augustine, it is a greater thing that Our Lord wanted to cure the vices and sins of our souls than to cure the wounds and illnesses in our bodies, and it is a greater thing to resuscitate back to life souls from the death of sin than to resuscitate bodies from natural death back into corporal life.185 All true spiritual and corporal resuscitations that were ever done, were done firstly and principally through the strength and power of God, without which nothing can be done. Of those, He wished to do some because of the supplication and humble requests of some of his blessed male friends and glorious female friends.186 Among these was His little handmaid, whose humble prayers He granted by His great goodness and compassion: He cured and resuscitated several people from the wounds and death of sin back to a life of grace, which is the principal resuscitation, and from natural death back to corporal life which is the less important one. And although the principal one, the one from the death of sin to the life of 184. No gender is indicated here, so possibly Pierre refers to himself. 185. This precise quotation cannot be found in the works of Saint Augustine. 186. In French, “amis” and “amyes.” These “friends” are the saints. The term “friends” also calls to mind the most famous corporal resuscitation performed by Jesus, that of Lazarus; he and his sisters, Martha and Mary, were actual friends of Jesus living in Bethany. See John 11:1–44.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 153 grace, had been given to a multitude of people, the less important one, the one from natural death to corporal life, was given to only four people, about to be described. The first one, a little girl born dead, was in Besançon. She was carried dead to the baptismal fonts in the church in the hope that God might grant her life, and she was carried back home without life and without baptism. Then she was piteously commended to the little handmaid of Our Lord, and someone managed to find one of her veils in which the dead child was wrapped and thus carried to the church a second time where, through the holy prayers of the handmaid of Our Lord, she became alive and was resuscitated, baptized, and regenerated at the holy fonts of baptism, and to honor and revere her [Colette’s] person, she was given her name and was called Colette.187 Then, later, when she had grown up with great humility and devotion, she was presented to her to be received into the religious life where, through the merits of her glorious godmother, she has persevered honorably and virtuously to the present time with the name sister Colette Prusette. 203. The second person who was resuscitated through her holy prayers was a boy named Jehan Boisot, who is still alive at present and a notable citizen of said town. He and his family know and testify that he was resuscitated through the merits and holy prayers of the little handmaid of Our Lord. This fact is well known in the town and among the friars and sisters of the convent in this town. But I have not written down how this was accomplished because I don’t know. The third person who was resuscitated through her prayers was a child who died before it could be baptized and was therefore buried without baptism. She felt great pity and compassion for this child, who was buried in unconsecrated ground, and had it dug out again and brought into her presence, and through her holy prayers it was resuscitated and baptized and lived for another six months, and a noble lady wanted to raise it because it had been resuscitated. 204. The fourth person was a friar minor named François Claret who had spent more than thirty years with the little handmaid of Our Lord.188 He had humanely and charitably given her many pleasures, comfort, and assistance and had served all her convents very well and kindly. When he was in Lyon-le-Saulnier it pleased God that he should fall into a long and serious illness; so serious was it that he 187. This type of miracle, known as “miracle de répit,” is one of the most common childbirth miracles. See Alessandra Foscati, “Retracing Childbirth through Hagiographical Texts and Canonization Processes in Italy and France between the Thirteenth and Sixteenth Centuries,” in Pregnancy and Childbirth in the Premodern World: European and Middle Eastern Cultures, from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance, ed. Costanza Gislon Dopfel, Alessandra Foscati, and Charles Burnett (Turnhout: Brepols, 2019), 195–224, at pp. 205–7 and 217. This scene is illustrated in MS 8 at fol. 137r. 188. Claret had been the guardian of the convent of Dole when Colette met him in 1412.

154 PIERRE DE VAUX was thought to be dead, and still people think that he had died. After this death it seemed to him that he was led before God’s judgment to receive grace and mercy. Then he was sent to the glorious Virgin Mary, and after that to the apostles, then before the martyrs, the confessors, and finally the virgins, who all uniformly judged that he should be given back to sister Colette, the little handmaid of Our Lord. And through her intercession and supplication his soul was put back into his body and he was resuscitated.189 And of these four resuscitated people three are still alive, and they testify truthfully that they were resuscitated through the handmaid of Our Lord. About those who were delivered from the peril of death: 205. Several people escaped from the perils of corporal death through her holy merits and prayers. Among them was the reverend father who was mentioned in the fifth chapter, named friar Henry de Baume. When he was in the convent at Castres in the region of Albi, he was grievously and mortally ill. She was in the South, at the convent of Lesignan,190 and she had clear knowledge of his illness and that the end of his days was near, which greatly pained and afflicted her. And after she had done as much as she could by diligently arranging everything that could be helpful and useful for his health—and although the weather was terrible and dangerous—she had herself quickly transported to him in order to help him in this extreme need. And she found him in danger of dying shortly and turned toward the sovereign physician with her devout prayers. She did this so efficiently that on the very first day he began to be better than before, and even better on the second day, and better and better the following days, so much so that she could take him back with her, and he was through her merits delivered from the peril of death.191 206. Similarly, another friar who was assigned to assist her fell grievously ill from a great plague to which several secular and religious people had succumbed. He was so seriously ill and gravely infected with this plague that there was no hope he could evade death. Two notable medical doctors, of whom one was the dean of the faculty at Montpellier,192 were en route to visit a great and powerful prince who was gravely ill in this region. Because of their devotion and charity they paid their respects to the little handmaid of Our Lord and at her request visited the abovementioned friar who was gravely ill and infected. After having seen and examined 189. Cf. P 84. 190. Lézignan is in Southern France, south of Castres and Béziers. The convent in Castres was founded between 1426 and 1433 and the one in Lézignan between 1430 and 1436, both with the support of Jacques II de Bourbon (count of La Marche and briefly king of Naples) and his son-in-law Bernard VIII of Armagnac, two of her long-time friends. 191. This scene is illustrated in MS 8 at fol. 139v. 192. Montpellier was renowned for its medical faculty, dating back at least to the early twelfth century.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 155 him in the manner appropriate for such an illness, they concluded in her presence that there was no remedy and that he would die shortly. They indicated a day past which he could not naturally survive. She responded sweetly to the doctors that God was above nature. “True,” they said,” but unless God makes a special effort it is not possible that he will naturally survive.” On the day in question, something wondrous happened, for the sick friar whom they had judged to be almost dead recovered through God’s grace and the prayers of the handmaid of Our Lord and quickly regained his health. And one of the two doctors very soon fell ill and so gravely that he died from it, and the other one, the dean of the faculty, was very seriously ill for a long time. Because of this experience he had great devotion for the little handmaid of Our Lord. 206.2. A notable bourgeoise had a very good and beautiful daughter whom she loved most dearly. She fell so gravely ill that everyone who visited her judged that it was impossible that she could evade death in this illness. The mother was extremely pained and distressed and, in her great sadness and bitterness, commended her to the handmaid of Our Lord, who comforted the mother greatly through her holy exhortations and then told her joyously, “Go home reassured, for you will find your daughter in better health than when you left her and on the way to being cured.” And exactly as she had told her, she found her cured, which gave the mother great comfort. 206.3. A nun from another order, who wanted to amend and correct her life, traveled with her superiors’ permission to the Order of Saint Clare and asked to stay in the convent where the little handmaid of Our Lord resided. Shortly after her arrival she fell so gravely ill that it could end only in death, and in fact a grave was being prepared in which to bury her. The handmaid, seeing the purpose for which the nun had traveled so far and the little time she had had to accomplish it, turned to the sacrifice of holy prayer and asked Our Lord that by His grace it might please Him to give the sick nun a respite and to give her more time to do penance for her sins. Our Lord graciously consented, and the nun was quickly cured and lived for another twenty years. About those who were saved from the perils of water: 207. The noble and powerful lady countess of Geneva,193 who so charitably received her when she was being persecuted, once crossed a waterway that she absolutely needed to cross, which was very difficult and dangerous because there was no good way to cross indicated. She crossed either farther upstream or farther downstream than she should have, and lost her way so badly that the horse that carried her fell into such a deep and dangerous current that people lost sight of her until nothing of her or her horse was visible. The little handmaid of Our Lord, filled with pity and charity, could not fail her in this difficulty or in any other. She 193. For Blanche of Geneva, see the Introduction, 13–15.

156 PIERRE DE VAUX raised her heart in ardent prayer and commended her to God and immediately, through His holy grace, she managed to get safely to the other bank, without any harm.194 208. Another time, when she was visiting some of her convents, the waters were terribly high, especially the Doubs river that passes through Besançon and Dole. Inadvertently, a guide who was leading one of the sisters on his horse entered a very dangerous ford where the water was so high and so deep that they seemed to be plunged completely into it, and the force of the water carried them downstream, and everyone thought they were lost and drowned. The little handmaid of Our Lord cried and screamed for God’s help so loudly and in such distress that He heard her and granted His help and led them from the water to the river bank, and thus through her merits and devout prayers they were saved from the peril of drowning. 209. Another time the doctor in theology who was mentioned earlier in the chapter on the gift of prophecy195 entered a broad and dangerous stream and moved so far into it that he and his horse fell into a deep ditch, a bottomless abyss, so far from the riverbank that he could find no means of avoiding mortal danger. Then he remembered the little handmaid of Our Lord, and he begged her with a humble heart that she might help him before God in these mortal straits in which he found himself, and immediately by God’s grace he and his horse safely made it to the riverbank. 210. A notable man from the region of Burgundy who was an acquaintance of the little handmaid of Our Lord, while crossing a river on his horse inadvertently plunged himself and his horse into such a deep hole that he thought he would drown. He commended himself to God and the handmaid of Our Lord and right away he emerged from the hole. Because of this he felt even greater love and devotion toward her than he had before. 210.2. When the little handmaid of Our Lord was at the convent of Saint Clare in Vevey, a well-known mason named Jacquemont, who was in charge of the workers of this convent, was once on Lake Geneva with several others who were bringing building materials for the convent. A sudden storm caused the water in the lake to become so agitated and turbulent that they were in great danger of drowning. The handmaid felt this danger immediately and quickly summoned her father confessor and asked him humbly to quickly go and find them and make the sign of the cross over them. And as soon as he had done so, they arrived calmly and safely at the port and on the shore, and he led them joyfully into the presence of the little handmaid of Our Lord. 194. See Fig. 8. 195. See V 128: this is Pierre Psalmon (Salmon).

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 157

Figure 8. Folio 142 recto. This image combines the miracles of Blanche of Geneva, of a gentleman from Burgundy, and of Colette and her nuns in their traveling wagon—all of them rescued from perilous waters, as told in V 207, V 210, and V 210.3.

158 PIERRE DE VAUX 210.3. Another time, the handmaid of Our Lord traveled with her sisters to one of her convents. Through the inattention of the coachman the coach in which they were riding fell into the water at a dangerous crossing. One of the sisters thought that they were lost and would drown, but through the merits of the handmaid she suddenly found herself safely on the other bank without knowing how. When people later asked her how she had arrived there and how she had been put there, she could not say. [211. The Bollandists, in the Acta Sanctorum, insert here the miracle concerning Jean Menoulinet [or Molinet] in Mennetou-sur-Cher. See below, V 259.196] About those who were liberated from prison and others who were comforted there: 212. Among others who were liberated from jails and prisons was a notable religious from the Order of the Friars Minor, a man of great perfection and desiring very much to exalt the true Catholic faith, for which he would gladly have offered his life and given his body in sacrifice to God if he had found the right opportunity. And in order to fulfill this desire he went among the Saracens, and he was taken by them and cruelly bound and thrown into a dark and horrible prison. There he was visited and comforted by the little handmaid of Our Lord—as he himself testified after his deliverance—and she revealed to him that he would be freed soon, and that God had reserved for him other deeds than the one he had intended.197 213. Rather close to one of the convents of the little handmaid of Our Lord was a cruel and horrible prison where demons resided who caused great distress to the poor prisoners, especially from the end of the day to the hour when the bell of the convent rang for matins, which caused the demons great affliction. But as soon as the sisters rang the bell to say the morning Office of Our Lord, they fled and no longer tormented the prisoners. For this reason prisoners from far way, as well as others, asked about this bell that gave them so much comfort and relief, and they were told that this was the bell of the convent of the little handmaid of Our Lord, upon which they praised God and said that this was a blessing. About pregnant women who were saved during dangerous childbirth:198 196. Ubald d’Alençon provides cross-references to the Latin edition of the two Lives in the Acta Sanctorum Martii, 1:531–626. I keep these cross-references in brackets for those readers who wish to consult the Middle French edition and/or the Acta Sanctorum. Other readers can disregard the references in brackets. 197. In P 87 Perrine identifies this man as Pierre d’Aisy. This scene is illustrated in MS 8, fol. 144r, showing on the left a Saracen in a turban locking the prison door, with Colette comforting the prisoner at a window with bars on the right. 198. See the Introduction, 35, note 106, for references to studies on childbirth and obstetrics, including Caesarean section.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 159 214. In the town of Besançon there was a notable woman who was in anguish and pain during labor, and people around her had no hope that she would live to give birth, and even if she were to give birth, in view of the excessive pain and suffering during the birth, both the mother and the child might lose their lives. The distressed and tormented mother in labor was commended to the little handmaid of Our Lord who so fervently prayed to God that the mother safely gave birth, and the child lived and was baptized and regenerated at the holy font of baptism. 215. In a good town in Burgundy lived a notable bourgeoise who conceived several children but because of some infirmity she could not carry them to term. With great distress and sadness, she gave birth to them dead. It pleased God that she should make the acquaintance of the little handmaid of Our Lord and she went to see her to tell her about her problem, and she commended herself to her holy prayers, through which she obtained Our Lord’s grace and henceforth gave birth to live children who were regenerated and baptized at the holy font of baptism. For this reason, she felt great love for the little handmaid and with great devotion visited her often. And she gave one of her children the name of monsieur Saint Francis. 216. In the region of Aigueperse a young woman was in painful labor and she could not give birth, and people around her feared that both the mother and child would die. This young woman in labor had a brother who was an honest and devout chaplain. With great confidence he commended his sister to Our Lord and His glorious virgin mother, begging them humbly that through the merits of His spouse, sister Colette, it might please them to deliver his sister, and immediately she was safely delivered. 216.2. When she was once in the convent at Poligny, the wife of Jehan Mailliardet went into labor with great pain and she could not give birth. And the people around her greatly feared that she and her fruit would lose their lives. For this reason, one of her daughters was sent to the little handmaid of Our Lord to commend the woman to her, which she did, and she told the girl, “You can leave joyously, for your mother has given birth to a beautiful son.” And thus she found the son and he lived for a long time, and because of this, the mother developed great love and devotion for the handmaid and the Order. 217. In the town of Poligny lived a notable citizen and merchant named Jean Couvraert who had a devoted and wise wife by the name of Estiene, who was very pregnant and about to give birth. For this reason, Jehan Couvraert went to the convent of Saint Clare, where the little handmaid of Our Lord resided, in order to humbly request and supplicate that she would pray to God for his wife’s deliverance. And as he was making this request and supplication, someone came running to announce that she was in labor and had a serious problem, for the child was so turned around in her body that it could not be delivered alive unless

160 PIERRE DE VAUX one cut open the mother. The abovementioned citizen was greatly distressed and pained by this news and quickly returned home, where he found his wife truly in the situation that had been described to him, and already the barbers had been called to cut her open.199 He told people to wait, returned to the handmaid of Our Lord and piteously told her about the mortal danger that his wife found herself in during labor. The handmaid kindly and benignly comforted him, made him return to his afflicted and distressed wife in labor, and told him that he should send her one of his relatives. And while he was returning home, the little handmaid of Our Lord turned to God again and began to pray for the woman in labor and very soon she called for the abovementioned relative and told her, “Go to the home of Jean Couvraert, for God has given His grace to his wife, and she has given birth to a beautiful boy.” He was then baptized and lived for more than five years. 218. Another miracle. A notable bourgeoise of Brioude,200 the wife of Jehan Saudon, usually gave birth to her children with excessive pain and suffering, which caused great sadness and fright in her heart. Recently, she was in labor and in great pain. She commended herself humbly to the glorious Virgin and the little handmaid of Our Lord and immediately she gave birth to two beautiful children, a boy and a girl. The boy was alive, but the girl was not. Both the wife and her husband were deeply afflicted and distressed. They commended the stillborn girl with great distress and devotion to the merits of the little handmaid, and as soon as they had done this, the girl showed some signs of life, and their sadness and pain was changed into great joy. The girl was baptized and regenerated at the holy font of baptism and the name of the handmaid, Colette, was given to her. And she is still alive at the time of this writing. A good and honorable woman living in the town of Causac in the Carladès region201 had been in labor for six or seven days with great pain and anguish, and she could not give birth. Finally, the midwives abandoned her and concluded that she could not live long enough to give birth. A noble prince who heard about this, moved by pity and compassion, charitably had her visited by a man of the church who brought with him some holy relics, among them some of the little handmaid of Our Lord to whom the woman was devoutly commended, and vows were made. And very soon after the woman in labor had touched the relics, she gave birth to two live children who were baptized and regenerated at the holy font of baptism. About sick eyes that were cured and made healthy.

199. This is dystocia, or obstructed labor. See the Introduction, note 106, for references to studies of Caesarean section. 200. A town in the Haute-Loire. 201. Cauzac is in the Département de Lot-et-Garonne in Southwestern France.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 161 219. As was told earlier, the part of her body that was most precious to her and that she loved best were her eyes, for it was with them that she saw the precious body of Our Lord and the Holy Scriptures. Once her eyes were seriously injured and wounded in such a way that one evening at vespers one of her eyes seemed completely gone and it looked impossible that she would ever see with it again, which greatly distressed several of the sisters and friars who observed this. But a wondrous thing happened: the next morning the eye that had been injured the previous evening at vespers was as beautiful, clean, and in one piece as it had ever been, and those people who had been distressed about it were now greatly consoled. 220. A noble child had stupidly pierced one of his eyes very deeply with an iron spike. His face was covered in blood and everyone who saw him concluded that he could never see with it again. The child was brought to her, she made the sign of the cross over him, and he was immediately healed and healthy again. 220.2. One of the sisters who was very close to the handmaid injured her eye three times so gravely and painfully that she thought she had lost it forever. And every one of these three times when the handmaid looked at her with pity she was immediately and completely cured and healthy again. 221. About mad people and demoniacs delivered from the devil:202 The noble woman whom she had sent ahead to the court in order to announce to the pope the arrival and the circumstances of the little handmaid of Our Lord, as told earlier,203 was so horribly persecuted by demons that she went mad and lost her mind. On the return trip she encountered the handmaid of Our Lord, who was very pained when she saw her in this state and commended her to God with great pity, and right away she was cured and healthy again. 222. Similarly, the wife of one of the notable citizens of Besançon was mad and lost her mind. The little handmaid of Our Lord felt great pity and compassion for her and commended her to God several times and very forcefully, and in the end, through her merits and prayers, the woman was fully cured and healthy again. 222.2. In the town of Poligny there was a bourgeoise who suffered from a grave illness in her head that tormented her so badly that she became raving mad. When her husband saw this, he brought her to the little handmaid of Our Lord who, 202. On the treatment of mad people and the relation between madness and demonic possession see Muriel Laharie, La Folie au Moyen Age. 203. See V 36 for the whole story. Two points are different here: according to V 36, the lady companion recovered from her bout of madness before the audience with the pope, not after, as stated here. Also, the pope was in Nice at the time, not in Rome, where the opposing Roman pope resided during the Great Schism. Pierre de Vaux was writing thirty years after this schism ended, so even though he recounts the trip to Nice earlier, he may now simply associate the papacy with Rome, as Lopez suggests (Learning and Holiness, 134).

162 PIERRE DE VAUX when the woman was in her presence, began to reproach and blame her, saying that because she had not been to confession, she contracted this illness. So she had her father confessor, friar Henry de Baume, called to her and made the woman humbly confess, and while the woman confessed, she prayed to God on her behalf. And as soon as she had confessed, she was completely cured and as healthy as if she had never been ill. 222.3 [227]. By divine permission a sister contracted a grave illness which made her lose her mind and become mad. She had to be guarded and tied up, which greatly distressed the nuns in the convent where she resided. They alerted the little handmaid of Our Lord and commended the sick sister humbly and devoutly to her holy prayers. The night after she had been commended to her, she appeared to the nun and offered her a beautiful little apple and made her eat it. She found it very good and tasty, and as soon as she had tasted it, she was completely cured. The next day, when her caretakers came to visit her, they found her reasonable and in good health. She asked them whether our mother sister Colette had come to the convent, but they said, no, she was in Besançon. Then she told them how Colette had visited her and offered her a beautiful apple, and how she, as soon as she had tasted it, found herself cured and healthy again. 223. Another young woman in the region of Savoy was mad and a demoniac, and it was very difficult keep her tied her up without her breaking everything. By the merits and holy prayers of the little handmaid of Our Lord she was cured and delivered. 224. In a convent of religious ladies there was a sister who was terribly attacked and tormented by demons from hell, both inwardly and outwardly. Inwardly, they offered her temptations, saying that she was worthy of all honors, of being revered, and of having all possible prestige, so much so that she considered herself to be the sovereign of the whole Order, and as the foremost sovereign she wanted to be honored and feared by all. Within herself she had this mad belief and fantasies, and sometimes demons came to her imperceptibly from the outside and talked to her, giving her to understand that everything was exactly as she imagined and that every sister owed her obedience and reverence. They were heard many times by several sisters who were terrified by them. Finally, when she realized that the sisters did not offer her the honor and reverence she demanded, she became so extremely distressed and displeased that within a short time she became mad and lost her mind. It was necessary to put her in iron chains that were unbreakable, but nonetheless it was almost impossible to constrain her. It seemed as if she could break and carry away everything. Then she called the demons from hell by their names. Sometimes she said very indecent and dishonorable things; sometimes she spoke profoundly of the Holy Trinity, so that she seemed to be a doctor of theology. Sometimes it seemed that she knew all languages. All the sisters were so distressed, exhausted, and disconsolate about this that they seemed

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 163 half-dead. Finally, they remembered the little handmaid of Our Lord and wrote to her, explaining the pitiful and lowly state in which this sister found herself, and commended her most charitably to her holy prayers, as this case required. And right away the poor patient204 was so completely liberated that she said the Divine Office with the others as if she had never been ill. [225 is the same as miracle 245205] About various illnesses that were cured: 226. There was a man in Burgundy, a notable person of good lineage, who was gravely ill and suffered terribly from this awful sickness that makes people fall down, and he had suffered from it for ten years and no efficient remedy could be found, which greatly pained and distressed those of his family and lineage. He was most affectionately commended to the little handmaid of Our Lord, who most fervently commended him in her holy prayers and devout orations before God, and, as those of his family say, he was never again ill and completely cured and healthy again. [227 = 222.3] 228. Once, when the little handmaid of Our Lord led her sisters to a newly built convent, several nuns from another order came to see her out of great devotion, and she received them kindly and greeted them benignly. And in addition she kissed them, sweetly and humbly. Among these nuns was a very noble one, but she had leprosy and because of this illness her face was all disfigured,206 and for this reason she did not dare approach her with the others for the handmaid’s kiss. The handmaid of Our Lord noticed this, and immediately pulled her close to her and very sweetly and humbly kissed her on the mouth, through which humble touch she was then healed from the abovementioned leprosy. 228.2. A friar named Eustache, when he was still a secular priest, went to Besançon to see the handmaid of Our Lord on business for the convent of Saint Clare of Moulins.207 On his way there one of his legs became so painful from an illness that he thought he would lose it, and indeed, the surgeon told him that the illness was incurable, which distressed him greatly. Then he arrived at the handmaid and piteously told her about the illness that had struck him. She felt great pity

204. Note here that Pierre calls the woman a “patient” (“paciente” in the Middle French), using a medical term for an ailment that others might call demonic possession. 205. Again, Ubald d’Alençon provides cross-references to the Acta Sanctorum here. 206. The Middle French word for leprosy is “méselle.” For the leper’s kiss, made famous by Saint Francis, and the illness itself, see the notes to V 17. 207. The convent in Moulins was founded in 1421–23 with the help of Marie de Berry, duchess of Bourbon.

164 PIERRE DE VAUX and compassion for him and commended him devoutly to Our Lord, and he was immediately cured and left joyously and with a light heart. 228.3. Another one of her sisters was gravely ill and suffered from the malady called gout migraine,208 which affected her head, and she could get no rest, could not participate in the Divine Office, and was in continuous pain, day and night. Once this sister, afflicted and anguished by the grievous illness she suffered, went to see the little handmaid of Our Lord, described her pain and suffering and complained to her, asking her why she did not give her any relief. When she realized through the sister’s words that she thought she could cure her,209 she was distressed and reprimanded her, saying, “Go away, go away, Our Lord will grant you His grace.” And although these words left her beautiful mouth not with the intention of curing her, she nonetheless felt no more pain. [229 = 244] 230. There was a friar named Pierre Goulier of the Order of Saint Francis who resided at the convent of Saint Clare in Besançon and was so gravely and mortally ill that he did not believe he could survive till the next morning, for he had a huge growth or abscess in his throat that strangled him. And as it pleased God, friar Pierre d’Aisy, who was the Visitator to the sisters of this convent, found this patient close to death, which made him feel great pity and distress and he did not know how to help and assist this patient. And by chance he remembered that he had some precious hairs of the handmaid of Our Lord with him. He took them, together with the Rule of monsieur saint Francis that he always carried with him, and made the sign of the cross over the sick friar, and immediately the huge growth and abscess that was strangling him burst, and he vomited it out and soon was cured. 231. One of her sisters, named sister Marie, was gravely and painfully ill and lay in the infirmary in great anguish and distress. The little handmaid of Our Lord learned about this and felt great pity and compassion. And after the sisters had retired for the night, she secretly went to visit and console her and told her that she had confidence in God, and that she did not wish her to die yet. And as secretly as she had come, she left, and the sister was entirely cured, left the infirmary, and rejoined the company of the others. 232. Two other sisters were gravely and mortally ill. One was called sister Andeline and the other sister Jaquette. No one could find an efficacious remedy to give them back their health. They could not take anything by mouth, and they were so weak that they could not stand up. The little handmaid of Our Lord arrived and, as nursemaids do with the little children they have to feed, she put some soft 208. Gout, a surplus of uric acid, can in fact cause migraines. 209. I.e., as healer, not as intercessor.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 165 bread in her holy mouth and chewed it, and then she took it and put it humbly into the mouths of the two sick sisters, and as soon as they had swallowed it, they recovered and were cured and healthy again. 233. A sister had a contagious illness in her cheek and could not eat or take in any substance to sustain her body, and no one could find a remedy. The little handmaid of Our Lord once went to visit the convent where the sick sister lived. The sister secretly took the little vessel from which she was drinking and held it against her cheek, and she was immediately cured and healthy again, and felt no more pain. 234. One of the sisters suffered terribly from headaches, especially gout migraines; her pain and suffering were so grave that she behaved like a mad woman and could find no help or comfort. She secretly took one of the cloths into which the little handmaid of Our Lord had wept and which was wet with tears and put it on her head,210 and suddenly she felt all cured and healthy again. 235. Another one of her sisters was so gravely ill that whatever she swallowed in order to sustain her body she vomited out through her mouth together with blood, and it seemed that all the other openings of her body were tightened up and closed. Once the little handmaid of Our Lord saw what was happening, she felt great pity and told her, “Alas! What are you doing? I don’t want you do it anymore!” And from this moment on she was completely cured and never did it again.211 236. A notable man, bailiff of the town of Aigueperse, had quartan fever for an entire year.212 As the handmaid of Our Lord was to come to the town in order to found a convent, the bailiff, out of a desire to honor her and show his devotion, went to meet her. And as soon as he had reverently greeted her, he was delivered from his illness. Once, after she had suffered an extremely long and painful illness, she was forced to wash parts of her body. The water was secretly kept and several people infected with various illnesses drank of this water and were cured and made healthy again. 210. On the spiritual value of tears see Piroska Nagy, Le Don des larmes au Moyen Age: Un instrument spirituel en quête d’institution (Ve–XIIIe siècle) (Paris: Albin Michel, 2000). Weeping excessively could be interpreted as a sign of holiness, as in the case of Mary of Oignies (b. ca. 1177). For one example among many see Mary of Oignies: Mother of Salvation, ed. Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker (Turnhout: Brepols, 2006), 57. Excessive tears could also be or considered a nuisance, as we can see from the story of Margery Kempe (b. ca. 1373), who in many ways modeled herself on Mary of Oignies. During a pilgrimage to Jerusalem she had up to fourteen weeping fits a day and constantly had to wring out her tear-soaked cloths, to the great annoyance of her fellow pilgrims. See The Book of Margery Kempe, trans. B. A. Windeatt (Harmondsworth, UK : Penguin, 1985), 105. 211. These are symptoms of a bowel obstruction that resolved itself on its own without surgery. 212. An intermittent fever associated with malaria.

166 PIERRE DE VAUX 237. A very noble and powerful lady who was mentioned earlier suffered from a very grave illness in her ribs and could not find an efficacious remedy until she remembered that she had one of the cords that the little handmaid of Our Lord used to wear on her habit.213 Every time the pain came, she tied this cord around her and the pain of her illness stopped. She became so used to wearing this cord that it became shredded, and she never again felt any pain in her ribs. 238 [250]. Once, when the handmaid of Our Lord was leading some of her sisters to a newly built convent, one of the sisters, named sister Françoise, dangerously fell under the coach and all the other sisters concluded that she was mortally injured. But the handmaid of Our Lord immediately raised her heart to God and commended this sister to Him, and she was found to be all right and in one piece, without any harm. 239 [251]. Another time, when the handmaid was in the convent at Vevey, one of her sisters had a very dangerous and painful illness that gripped her so often and in such a frightening manner that she thought she would die. Once the handmaid rang a little bell for something she needed, and the abovementioned sister diligently responded and in spite of her great pain and suffering managed to reach her. When the little handmaid saw her in such a pitiful state in such pain, she felt great compassion for her and consoled her by saying, “Take heart in Our Lord and have faith in Him, and you will no longer suffer from this illness.” As soon as these words were offered to her, she never felt this illness again. 240 [252]. One of her sisters, very close to her, once by accident fell into a stove full of burning coals by which one of her hands and one foot were seriously and gravely burnt. When she came to see the sister, she noticed that she was injured and suffering, she directed her eyes with great pity toward her and asked her what was wrong, and suddenly she was entirely cured of the burns on her foot and hand. 241 [253]. When the handmaid was still living in the world and very young, she inadvertently cut her little leg with the axe of her father, who was a carpenter and named Robert Boylet. And, as she has told several times, the cut was so deep that the leg was attached only by the skin. Without telling her father or mother, she praised and commended herself to God and the next day was completely healed and healthy again. 242 [254]. In a time when a great pestilence was going around and many people died from this epidemic, a sister was greatly frightened that she might die and made this fear known to the handmaid of Our Lord and commended herself to her. The handmaid was not present at the sister’s convent but told her that she would not die of it. Shortly thereafter, the sister was struck and infected in her entire body by this epidemic, and the judgement of the doctors was that she would 213. This may be the lady mentioned in V 184, who is presented with one of Colette’s cords.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 167 die of it. And in fact, as she received the last sacraments preparing for death, she remembered the words that the handmaid had told her and she commended herself to her through letters and was immediately cured and made healthy again, and she did not die of this epidemic. 243 [255]. When one of the sisters of the handmaid of Our Lord still lived in the world in her secular clothes, she contracted a terrible illness in her head that tormented her so badly that her parents and family did not dare to ask for her to be admitted to the holy Order. It happened that, as the handmaid was leading her sisters to one of her convents, she was passing through the town where this girl resided. As soon as the girl heard about her coming, she devoutly went to meet her and when she had reached her worthy presence the handmaid greeted her with great benevolence and sweetly and intimately kissed her hand.214 And immediately after this kiss she was so completely cured that she was humbly presented for entry into the holy Order. 244 [229]. A sister was in the convent where the little handmaid of Our Lord resided. She contracted a serious, stinking illness which caused swelling from head to toe and which caused her face and head to swell to the size of a cornerstone, so much so that she could not see anything, and from the swelling came such a horrible stink that the others could barely stand it and the doctors concluded that she had leprosy. The handmaid sweetly and charitably visited her several times, even though the sick sister could not see anything and the infirmary was filled with this unbearable stink. Nonetheless, as soon as the handmaid entered the infirmary the sister knew of her coming, for she smelled a perfume so sweet that she had never smelled a sweeter remedy. By smelling this sweetness, she told everyone, she was perfectly cured from this swelling and stinking and leprosy. 245 [225]. A notable woman of the town of Orbe, who was a great friend of the little handmaid of Our Lord and her convents, had a son who was very painfully ill with the horrible malady mentioned above.215 He often fell brutally on the ground and his body was painfully tormented, and he indecently foamed at the mouth, which greatly afflicted and distressed the poor mother, and she did not know how to find a remedy. Some friars who were en route to Besançon visited her, and through them she commended herself very devoutly and humbly to the little handmaid of Our Lord and her prayers for the health of her child. Once she had commended herself, she was greatly comforted in her spirit and had the firm hope that her child would be cured; within a short time this hope was fulfilled, for the child in question was perfectly cured and healthy again.

214. From the pronouns it is not clear here who kissed whose hand. 215. That is, epilepsy.

168 PIERRE DE VAUX 246. A sister in one of her convents suffered great anguish with a secret illness that she did not want to reveal. She was so tormented in her heart and body that she believed she could no longer tolerate it without telling someone, which caused her great pain, and she could not find any remedy for it. It happened that on the day of Pentecost, after taking communion, this sister was in the church, feeling great anguish in her heart, for she believed that she could never lead a fruitful life in the Order. She turned her heart to the little handmaid of Our Lord and begged her humbly to have pity and compassion for her. It was wondrous that she was immediately so perfectly cured at the proper place that she never again felt this illness or any pain, and she was also cured of the swelling in her side that she had suffered from for a long time, and since then she never felt it, and she was as healthy and joyful as she had ever been. 247 [246]. A notable from the vicomté of Carladés, from the town of Fraisse,216 was so gravely and incurably ill on his hand that the doctors concluded that he could not possibly be cured by natural means. And in fact, several times he held the candle in his hand because he believed he would die.217 His stomach was swollen with dropsy and his legs were frail and it seemed that there was no blood in them, and with all this he had a kind of wide band across the stomach.218 His wife, who was a wet nurse for several children of the noble and powerful Prince de la Marche,219 humbly and devoutly—and with the consent of her mortally ill husband—commended him to the little handmaid of Our Lord. She commended him with her holy prayers and very soon, because of her merits, he was perfectly cured and healthy again. 248 [256]. Once the little handmaid of Our Lord visited the convent of Auxonne220 where there were seven sick sisters who were all cured and returned to health because of her visit. 249 [257]. In the convent of Poligny there was a gravely ill sister. The little handmaid of Our Lord charitably went to visit her after matins and gave her a little absinthe221 to taste and told her joyously, “Take heart,” and the next day she was cured. 216. Fraisse is east of Bordeaux, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. 217. An allusion to the last rites. 218. In the French, “une grosse barre.” This could be shingles, which often occur as a band around a person’s waist. 219. Bernard VIII d’Armagnac. See notes 144 and 190. 220. The convent of Auxonne was one of Colette’s first foundations (1412) by direct authorization from Pope Benedict XIII. Auxonne is in Burgundy, in today’s Département de la Côte-d’Or. 221. Absinthe, a liqueur made from wormwood, was supposed to help against fevers, dysentery, and insects.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 169 250 [258]. In the convent of Poligny there was a sister named sister Clare who for twenty years had been the abbess of the convent of Saint Clare in Vevey. She had such a pain in her head that her eyes were turned by it. It was reported to the little handmaid that she was dying. She rushed to visit her and said such beautiful salutary and comforting words to her that she was right away comforted, cured, and healthy again. 251. In the convent of Besançon there was a sister named sister Margriete Cayeulx who had a fistula on her hand which was, as the surgeons stated, incurable. The little handmaid went to this convent and the sister met her and she surreptitiously took the hand of the handmaid and put it on top of the fistula with great faith and without saying anything, for she was afraid that the handmaid would reject her if she noticed it. And when the holy hand was removed, she found that the fistula was completely cured. 252. A sister in one of her convents suffered greatly from an illness that she did not dare to talk about, and she was so distressed by this that she thought she would die, and indeed she lost her voice for two hours. The little handmaid benevolently visited her, and as soon as she entered, the sister’s voice was restored and the handmaid asked her if she wanted to die, and she answered, not yet, and said that she was not ready to die. Then the handmaid told her, “You must go to confession.” “You should recite my sins to me,” said the sister,” for you know them better than I do.” And very soon afterward she was cured. 253. A sister named Henriette had a painful and distressing illness in her head and could not find a suitable remedy. She wrote a letter to the little handmaid of Our Lord, telling her about her illness. And as soon as the letter had been received, she was cured. 254. In the convent of Orbe was a sister named sister Mahault who was the abbess of this convent. She had a grave illness in her hands and one foot, and could not find a remedy that could cure her. The little handmaid of Our Lord learned about this and ordered her not to accept any duty that would cause her great trouble. And as soon as she agreed to this, she was completely healthy again and suffered no more pain. 255. In this convent of Orbe was a sister who, when doing any kind of work, was suffering greatly, so much so that she hoped for nothing but death because of a grave and intolerable illness from which she had suffered for a long time and which had gotten much worse. Because of this suffering the sister lay down on her bed and commended herself to the handmaid who was still alive at the time. And when it was ten o’clock at night, she was all awake and saw a marvelous and pleasant light, and it seemed to her that the handmaid of Our Lord was in the middle of this light, and right away she was cured.

170 PIERRE DE VAUX 256. A sister named Margriete de Beauvoir was so gravely ill that she thought she would die, and she wrote to that effect to the little handmaid of Our Lord, humbly commending herself to her holy prayers. And the handmaid wrote her a very comforting letter, saying that she should conform to God’s will, and that whether she lived or died, whatever she would do would be for her great good. And that if her prayers could do any good before God, she would not fail her. Very soon after this letter was sent to her and the commendation accomplished, she was perfectly cured and restored to health. And a sister took this letter, together with others that the handmaid had sent in the past, and had them sewn together into a little booklet in order to preserve them better. Inadvertently this sister, with the letters in her lap, dropped them into the water while getting water from the well, and they stayed there until rather late the next day. At that point the well was being drained and cleaned out, and the letters were found at the very bottom in the mud. They were washed as one would wash a little sheet and then dried. And they remained as beautiful and in one piece and as readable as if they had never been wet. And a little booklet was made from them, just as the sister had intended. Now follow some miracles from after her death: 257 [258]. Among the friars of the little handmaid of Our Lord’s family was a notable father named Pierre d’Aisy,222 who was the Visitator of the convents of the handmaid’s sisters. He was so greatly afflicted with the headache that is called migraine that for a year and a half he could not eat anything without horrible and unspeakable pain, and often he got up from the table and walked in the garden crying, weeping, and pitifully complaining, and when people tried to speak to him he was so preoccupied with the pain he suffered that he could not attend to anything people were saying. And when night fell his pain doubled and several times a night he got up and walked around his room, then around the garden, then elsewhere, all the time suffering excessive pain. There was no place or bed, however comfortable, that he could look at without fear.223 In all his anguish and pain he invoked the aid of Our Lord and His sweet virgin mother, asking that by the merits of His little handmaid they might help him, for otherwise he could not fulfill the duties of his office. One night, as he was resting at the convent in Besançon, he had a vision that he was in the chapel of his oratory in the convent of Ghent, where he had celebrated mass before her when she was still alive. It seemed to him that she called him sweetly, with the voice she used to have when talking to him, and in the habit and in the shape in which he had seen her in the past. She was very beautiful, luminous, and joyous and consoled friar Pierre benevolently and charitably, and as soon as he woke up, he was completely cured and restored to health. And from then on, he felt the pain of this migraine only rarely. 222. Pierre d’Aisy also appears in V 212 and V 230 and several times in Perrine’s biography, including as a migraine sufferer in P 94. See also Fig. 10 below. 223. Moving around seems to dull the friar’s pain.

The Life of Saint Colette of Corbie 171 258 [240]. A sister named Anne was gravely and painfully ill with gout which tormented her so cruelly from head to toe that she could not sit down, or stand up straight, or walk, or move. One day, on Holy Pentecost, after receiving the Holy Body of Our Lord, she was deeply afflicted and felt bitterness in her heart, for she believed that she could never have a fruitful life in the Order. She turned to the little handmaid of Our Lord and begged her humbly that she might take pity on her. And it was wondrous to see that immediately she was so perfectly cured that she never again felt any pain from this illness. 259 [211]. After the death of the handmaid of Our Lord, a very noble and powerful prince, the count de la Marche, sent his chaplain sir Jean Molinets to the town of Ghent in order to gather some true news about the circumstances and manner of her death.224 This chaplain had visited her several times during her lifetime on behalf of this prince. He made it to a town called Monnette-sur Cher,225 where the river was so swollen that it flowed well beyond the river bed, and no one could cross without putting himself in great danger. This chaplain, ignorant of this great peril, ventured to cross the river, thinking he could get straight to the opposite bank. But his horse fell into the raging river and he had to abandon it, as well as his cloak, his coat, his sword, and his spurs, and he found himself in very deep water. Immediately he began to invoke the little handmaid of Our Lord, saying, “My glorious mother, I visited you several times during your lifetime, and now that I want to visit you after your death, I will have to die here.” And wondrous to see, as soon as these words had been uttered, through the merits of the handmaid he found under his feet a little pile of earth that he not seen or known about before; it was sufficiently high to hold him up and to keep him from drowning, and he held on to this little hillock until a boatman came to get him. This man stated that he had never seen this little hillock of earth before nor has it been seen since. 260 [241]. A notable man in the town of Troyes in Champagne had once welcomed the little handmaid of Our Lord in his hostel as she was visiting some of her convents. He had a young child that was struck by this painful illness called the grand mal,226 and through this illness the child broke his arm, which greatly distressed his father and mother. In this distress they remembered how they had once welcomed the handmaid of Our Lord in their hostel. For this reason, they confidently turned to her, praying humbly to Our Lord and His glorious virgin mother that through the merits of the holy lady sister Colette, whom they had 224. See note 144 for the count of La Marche or Bernard VIII of Armagnac. His chaplain (referred to as “sir Jehan Molines”) is mentioned in V 131 as being seriously injured in an ambush, but restored to health through Colette’s intercession. 225. Today this town on the Cher River is called Mennetou-sur-Cher, in the Département du Loir-etCher in central France. 226. In Middle French, “le gros mal,” which refers to grand mal epileptic seizures.

172 PIERRE DE VAUX in the past welcomed to their hostel, it might please them to cure their child. As soon as they had finished their prayer the child was cured entirely from these two illnesses and restored to health.227 261 [241]. Another time the house of one of the neighbors of the abovementioned man was taken over and engulfed by a fire that was so close to his house that he feared that the fire might spread and that he might lose all his horses. Quickly he turned his heart to the handmaid of Our Lord and told her humbly, “Oh, glorious lady sister Colette, you who were the cause of my child’s cure, I implore you to help me in this emergency.” And as soon as he had said these words, the fire began to die down and soon it was extinguished, and there was no damage. 262 [242]. A sister was suddenly gripped by a fever with such excessive heat that it seemed to her she was burning up and that her whole body was on fire, and she hoped that soon her life would be over. She devoutly commended herself to the little handmaid of Our Lord, and told her devoutly and in great confidence some things that concerned her, and immediately she felt cooler and was completely cured and restored to health. Deo gratias. This book was begun by Jehan Brandin on the eighth day of March in the year of Our Lord 1494 and was finished on the twenty-ninth day of that same month, on the eve of the Annunciation of Our Lord of the abovementioned year.228

227. The “two illnesses” are presumably the epilepsy and the broken arm. 228. In his introduction to the Lives (xliv), Ubald d’Alençon states that this “authentic copy” of the original made by the scribe Jean Brandin still features the two seals appended to it by Guillaume, abbot of Tronchiennes (today’s Drongen in Belgium, just west of Ghent) and G. Voet, dean of the collegiate church Sainte-Pharahilde in Ghent (identified in the Latin preamble as Cornelius Voet). This manuscript, today with the Clarisses in Amiens, served as the basis for the edition of Pierre de Vaux’s biography translated here.

Sister Perrine de Baume The Life of Saint Colette The Notebook of Sister Perrine1 In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.2 Here follows the declaration of the things that I, sister Perrine de la Baume, sixty-five years old,3 presently a sister in the Order of Saint Clare, reformed by the venerable and very devout sister Colette, know by having seen, and also by having heard about them, and by experience, about the holy, honorable life and very religious conduct of the glorious virgin sister Colette. 1. First, I, sister Perrine, named above, at present residing in the convent of the abovementioned Order at Hesdin, testify4 to hearing that our glorious mother sister Colette was only four years old when she began to have great knowledge of Our Lord, and it was then that she began to flee from childish games and nonsense and the dissolutions of the world and its vanities. She loved voluntary solitude. In her carnal5 father’s house she lived apart, in a little chamber separated from the others and which was arranged like a little oratory; there, she occupied herself with thinking about God, loving Him, fearing and humbly serving Him, and devoutly praying to Him. She was upset when she had to leave this place; I myself have seen and realized that she was always very bashful and easily embarrassed, and she loved solitude. And when she came out of her enclosure in order to take care of things necessary for holy religion and had to leave her oratory in the presence of some people, if they were very familiar to her, she was very ashamed and abashed. 2. And I heard from her and also from my father friar Henry6 that sometimes when young girls came to see her and wanted to take her with them to games and worldly entertainments, she absolutely would not consent to come. And sometimes, when by their laughter she knew they were coming, she hid in some secret 1. The title given in the 1911 edition is “Le Cahier de Sœur Perrine.” 2. These words are in Latin in the text. 3. Perrine later gives her age as sixty-three (P 42). 4. The word “testify” indicates that Perrine’s text was conceived around the time that a canonization trial was envisioned. See the Introduction, 9–10. Perrine adduced three different levels of proof in the preamble. The convent in Hesdin, northwest of Corbie, was founded between 1437 and 1441 with the support of the duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good. 5. I.e., her earthly father, as opposed to her spiritual father, God or Jesus Christ. 6. Henry de Baume, Perrine’s uncle and Colette’s confessor and companion. See the Introduction, 12–13.

173

174 PERRINE DE BAUME place, often under beds, until they had left. She amiably told this to my father friar Henry and I heard it. Also, I heard from my father friar Henry and also from friar Pierre de Reims and friar Pierre de Lyon7 that at this young age the conduct of our glorious mother sister Colette was more celestial than terrestrial or human because she was so composed and well ordered, and that in her behavior one could not discern any flightiness or vanity, and that her thoughts, words, and actions showed a pure and clean conscience and were only directed toward pleasing God. It seemed to many God-fearing people that she was a new treasure of grace and virtues sent by God and transmitted to the world. 3. Also, I heard that our glorious mother told familiarly to my father friar Henry that there was an old woman who had given her many spiritual benefices and whom she called her mistress; and I heard that given her small stature, she did her best to mortify her small young body by eating soberly and sparsely. She often slept on wooden planks, covering herself with a mat, and girded herself with little rough ropes full of knots. And if one tried to make her sleep at this young age in a feather bed she got up and lay down on straw or a wooden board, and for a nightshirt she took only a light sheet in which she slept. Many times her mother took it away from her, fearing that she was too harsh on herself. But one of her neighbors and a friend in Our Lord, by the name of Adam Mangnier, whom she trusted, secretly gave her another one. Thus, he helped her to fulfill all her virtuous desires as much as he could; he was a notable citizen of Corbie who loved God, and he was a very devout person. Her father made her sleep in a room on an upper floor so that she would not descend to go to matins.8 But Adam made his way to her and helped her down from a window. And when her father saw how she persevered in her devotion, he had a prayer room built for her in his house where she could do her devotions and pray. 4. Also, I myself heard several times from her that she thought herself to be a poor and ugly creature, but she actually had a very beautiful and white complexion, the entire time I saw her alive, that is, as it seems to me, twenty-nine or thirty years. And in her youth she had a white and rose coloring. For a long time she was ignorant of this physical beauty, but once it was shown to her clearly, she was very sad and upset about it. She prayed to Our Lord that He should take away from her this rosiness, and her wish was fulfilled and she remained white in her face, her hands, and her body. And she remained thus for her entire life, as many people have seen throughout her life. This is what I heard from her about her youth, I, who served her and kept her company in the seven convents to which I went with her, when she traveled there for the good of the holy Order. 7. Pierre de Reims is Pierre de Vaux. Pierre de Lyon, another friar, is mentioned by editor Ubald d’Alençon on p. xxxv of his introduction, but not further identified; Perrine refers to him again in P 64. 8. Matins were usually recited in the overnight hours; see note 23 to V 17.

The Life of Saint Colette 175 5. Also, I heard her say that her carnal father was amazed that she continued with her holy and good works and that she had great joy of it together with her mother. They gave grace to God and let her do whatever God inspired her to do. They took great pleasure in her works and hoped that through her they could gain God’s love and obtain the remission of their sins. Through the beautiful teachings she gave them they became more and more able to keep God’s commandments, and their virtues grew. I also heard her say that her father was sweet and peaceful, and that Our Lord had given him the grace to pacify and reconcile those people who were divided and in discord, and that he did not cease to make an effort, when he learned of some discord, until he had established harmony and good relations. I also heard our glorious mother say that Our Lord had given her father pity and compassion for the poor members of God’s community and that he helped and comforted poor dissolute and abandoned women, and also those who had done some misdeeds. And when, through the admonitions of our glorious mother sister Colette, they had reformed themselves and converted, he ordered that a house that belonged to him should be made ready to receive and comfort them and that they would be provided for in all necessary things. And our glorious mother said that her mother practiced different penances and that she confessed herself at least once a week. 6. I heard from our glorious mother that when her father was on his death bed the abbot of Corbie,9 who was a great and noble man and a venerable prelate, came to visit the sick man, who said to him: “Monseigneur, by your grace you have always loved me well and I you. I beg for the love of God and the good love that has always existed between us that you will take care of my only child after my death, and I give her to you now for you to guard and protect her, may it please you to take her and make her your daughter.” The abbot responded to him pleasantly and promised that for God and his conscience he would do as asked because of the humble and devout life she was leading. After that, she often inquired where she could find a place for her religious devotion so that she could serve God according to her spirit. I heard from our glorious mother that this was the reason why she went to a monastery for ladies of the Order of Saint Benedict. These ladies, seeing her pleasant disposition, were very eager to receive her. But when she arrived in front of the big building of this monastery she saw an image of Saint Francis on this building, who seemed to make a gesture with his hands telling her to turn around.10 She said that the abbot of Corbie several times wanted to marry her off, if she so desired, well and honorably, but she would never agree to this, for she always wanted to serve Our Lord in some place of devotion. She could not find 9. This abbot was Raoul de Roye. 10. Nonetheless, Colette spent some time as a lay sister or conversa with the Benedictines of Corbie. See the Introduction, 11.

176 PERRINE DE BAUME such a place that fulfilled her desire, a desire that did not diminish but always grew, as she disdained the world and its vanities. 7. I heard our glorious mother say that her mother was about sixty when she was conceived and born, an age that was past the normal course of nature. I, sister Perrine de la Baume, testify that it would be difficult to believe the humility that resided in our glorious mother if one had not seen and experienced it the way I often have in the time that I lived with her and served her in seven different convents. In the places where she traveled in order to build these convents spiritually as well as materially, I have always seen how she showed contempt for herself and considered herself vile and abominable before God and worse than all the world’s evil sinners. And when people recited the sins of the world and the extreme offenses that were committed by them in this time, she always said that these sins and offenses were nothing compared to her own and that hell would not be sufficient as a punishment. For this reason, I never heard that she called herself a true religious, and in her conscience she did not think herself worthy of being a religious, but I heard her say with many tears and great humility that she had a strong desire to be the servant of some good and devout nuns. And when she was still in her secular clothes, in order to fulfill this good desire, she did in fact present herself humbly at the monastery of the ladies who belonged to the Order of Saint Clare at Pont-Saint-Maxence, which monastery she believed would fulfill her desire.11 But Our Lord told her by inspiration that she should not stay there, and thus she left without ever returning there, as she told us. 8. I myself always saw and understood her good desire to be the servant of the sisters and to be always charitable. Even when she was the abbess of a convent in Burgundy named Poligny, out of humility she refused the office of abbess and turned herself into a humble lowly person, working in the kitchen and washing the dishes while reciting the Seven Psalms12 and the litany. And she gladly did humble work and thus taught the novices and young sisters to fervently love and fear Our Lord, and to keep their hearts, bodies, and conscience pure and clean. And also, in all the letters she wrote, I never saw or learned, in all the time I spent with her, that she omitted to head her letters with the words “Unworthy servant and useless woman who prays.”13 And likewise, in the rules that she made so that 11. The Royal Abbey of Moncel, in Port-Saint-Maxence northeast of Paris, had been founded in 1309 by Philip IV (“le Bel,” or “the Fair”). It followed the Rule of Longchamp, founded by Isabelle of France, the sister of the French king Louis IX. See note 32 in the Introduction. The Sorores minores in Moncel were allowed to have servants; the abolition of such privileges became part of the Observant reform. See Bert Roest, Order and Disorder: The Poor Clares between Foundation and Reform (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2013), 243. 12. I.e., the Seven Penitential Psalms. See note 90 to V 73. 13. Perrine uses the French word “orateresse” here, which designates a woman who prays (from the Latin oratrix).

The Life of Saint Colette 177 we could better follow our holy way of life, she calls herself “Sister Colette, small and humble handmaid and unworthy servant of Our Lord, poor and useless sister of the Order of Saint Clare.” Nor did I ever see that she would tolerate that someone would say or write something in her honor or praise. At the beginning of the reform, the friars called her by the name of mother, and also in a prayer that they had begun to pray they called her mother. But she would not tolerate this, and always had herself called humbly and simply by the name of sister. 9. From the beginning of the reform she had a notable father confessor named friar Henry de Baume, who was my uncle. He, possessing much knowledge of the great graces that Our Lord had given and was still giving every day to our glorious mother, secretly began to compose a little book about these graces, wherein were contained a number of notable things. She learned of this and called the good father to reprimand him severely for having written something in her praise. She called herself a great sinner with great defects and more worthy of disgrace than anything else. She demanded that this book be brought to her and immediately threw it into the fire and burnt it so that no one would ever remember it.14 Also, the reverend father, the Minister General of the whole Order,15 at her request once wrote some good and beautiful ordinances for our whole Order, as we have seen, so that the rules would be better observed in the future, and he also wrote something just for her, but she took no pleasure in it and never wanted to hear about it. And when the rules had to be read to the other sisters in her presence and they came to the passage where she was called the mother of the other sisters, she made it clear that she was very distressed by this; I could see this clearly. 10. Many people often came to her to receive consolation for their souls, but when she was not abbess—and although she had special permission from our Holy Father the pope to speak—she did not want to speak to anyone without permission from her abbess, and once she had obtained that permission she, in a saintly manner, addressed the distressed people and greatly consoled them. And she made several obstinate and hardened people devoutly and reverently confess their misdeeds and sins and got them to repent by her holy words and admonitions. And there was a knight at Poligny who had not confessed himself in thirty years; but she succeeded by the grace of Our Lord to learn of his sins. She saw the great peril the knight was in and confessed his sins herself and did the penance that was demanded, and shortly afterward the knight humbly and devoutly confessed himself and did penance.16 This is what I heard from my good father, friar Henry, who told and remembered it. 14. On the possible survival of a second version of Henry’s book, see note 20 to V 14. 15. William of Casale. See the Introduction, 23. 16. As with many of her sisters and friars, Colette can read the knight’s mind; she thus knows about his sins and can confess them. But here she goes a step farther and takes on his penance as well.

178 PERRINE DE BAUME 11. She took great pleasure in always humbly exhorting people to love Our Lord and flee sin, and to observe God’s holy commandments. However much good she had done for our holy Order, she often said that she had never done anything good but rather had spoiled everything. I heard her say this many times myself. And also, when as abbess she presided in the chapter or the refectory, she displayed such great fear that it truly seemed that she was in the presence of God, her judge. And although she was abbess, she always acted like everyone else in the community, always trying to be at the lowest place. When she was eating alone, apart from the others, having her small meal, she was very rarely sitting at the table but most often sat on the ground, and she was very annoyed when she had to sit on a chair. Sometimes, when she was reciting the Divine Office with the other sisters, she needed help, and always more willingly from the novice sisters than from others: she always asked them to start and finish, she was the simplest sister in the entire convent because of her humility. Also, I heard her tell friar François Claret that when she saw that people avoided the works of charity and humility and rejected them, she, before she became a religious, gladly and generously gave all comforts she could to lepers, and she did all this charitably.17 12. I also heard our glorious mother say that when she still lived in the world she desired more than anything else to become a religious; but she could not within her spirit find the precise place where she wanted to go. But a notable and good friar minor from the convent of Saint Francis in Hesdin, to whom she confessed and who gave her much good advice in the name of Our Lord, suggested to her that she should enter an anchorhold in order to serve Our Lord.18 This idea pleased her and her spirit was much inclined to it. And several times she appealed to the abbot of Corbie, who did not want to agree to it and strongly resisted her. When she realized this, she made a plan that when this abbot would host a big dinner with people that she hoped would support her, she would come then and appeal to the abbot, and that is what she did. But however much she humbly appealed to the painful Passion of Our Lord, the honor of the glorious Virgin Mary, and the love she had for her father and the promise she had made to him on his deathbed, nonetheless the abbot refused to accede to her request, at which the dinner guests were most angered and said that it was very cruel of him to refuse her. But through the grace of Our Lord he finally agreed, although he was very annoyed and did it against his will.

17. On lepers and leprosy, see the notes to V 17. Friar François Claret, one of Colette’s confessors and close friends, is referred to throughout the Life. In P 84, Perrine describes how he is resuscitated from death through Colette’s intercession. 18. See the Introduction for a discussion of Colette’s multiple attempts to find the right vocation. The friar who suggests that she enter an anchorhold is Jean Pinet, guardian of the convent of Hesdin, referred to in P 13.

The Life of Saint Colette 179 13. Within a short time this abbot had a small anchorhold built for her, the most comfortable possible, where she could hear the Divine Office, see Our Lord during mass, and receive the most precious body of Our Lord. And when the anchorhold was finished this good father, friar Jean Pinet, offered a very beautiful sermon on the contempt for the world. Then she became part of the Third Order of Saint Francis by vowing poverty, obedience, chastity, and perpetual enclosure. Then the abbot of the venerable convent, the abovementioned good father, and several notable people solemnly enclosed her into the anchorhold. This is what I heard. Sister Katerine la Verdure, and sister Marguerite Bamme heard that she was about eighteen years old when she entered the anchorhold. I also heard from Agnes de Vaulx,19 who was the teacher of our glorious mother, that she had an iron chain in the shape of a cross on her chest that caused her great pain. I also heard from my father friar Henry and from the good mother sister Agnes and also from the abovementioned teacher that our glorious mother had clear knowledge of the exact hour that the good father friar Jean Pinet passed away in Hesdin, and all the while she was in her anchorhold in Corbie. And she told several devout women who gathered around her anchorhold, “Alas, my good father friar Jean Pinet passed away at that hour, for I have seen his soul as it gloriously left for paradise.” Thus our glorious mother said that the good father came to see her once a year, wherever she happened to be, and he consoled her very much, sometimes asking her, “Colette, Colette, where is now the fervor of your enclosure?” I heard this from our glorious mother herself. 14. When it came to observing the holy commandments of Our Lord, she was very thoughtful and zealous. She wished that those women who newly entered the Order should, before all other knowledge, be taught and indoctrinated with God’s commandments because they are obligatory and necessary for the souls’ salvation and should never be broken. I have always seen and learned when I conversed with her that, among the other commandments, she was very intent on observing solemn holidays with her sisters and with all Catholics. As far as her convents were concerned, she never in her life wanted to agree that for the sisters’ or friars’ sustenance meat should be bought for feast days. And although she agreed that alms for God’s love could be requested on feast days, she would never tolerate that any alms or other requested gifts would be brought by cart, by horse, or by donkey to her convents. This is what I always saw and knew when I was with her, and by the grace of God several convents are still like this, as I can attest. She never allowed any building work to be done in her convents on feast days, such as erecting scaffolding or repairs being done. Once, inadvertently or because of the ignorance of those who managed the convent of Poligny where 19. Perrine refers to Agnès de Vaux on several occasions, but spells her surname inconsistently (“de Vaulz,” “de Vaulx,” “de Waux,” and “de Waulx”). In P 72 Perrine names her as abbess of the convent in Auxonne.

180 PERRINE DE BAUME she was then and I was as well, some people had given alms for repairs of this convent, and it was Easter or Pentecost—I don’t really remember which—and she was so pained and saddened by this that some people feared that the convent might be destroyed because of her great desire to observe the solemn feast days and she insisted that they had to be well upheld. I also saw in the convent where she was and I was with her that the meals for the body’s sustenance were prepared on Saturdays or on the eve of feast days, so that the Sundays and feast days could be celebrated more devoutly and reverently. And she also often requested from those who had the grace of preaching and of offering the words of God that they should preach God’s commandments to the poor and tell them about the great perils and dangers of conscience that they exposed themselves to by breaking these commandments. 15. In several cities, good towns, and other places located in various regions she often had the governors of these towns called together. In these places customarily markets were held on feast days and Sundays, and with all her strength she made an effort to persuade them to move these markets to other free days of the week, demonstrating to them the great evils that happen there and the great sins and offenses that are committed there. She herself, whenever she led her sisters from one convent to another newly constructed one or some other convent, in whatever region it might be, in whatever season it might be, winter or summer, in peace or war, if a Sunday or some other holiday occurred while they were traveling, she and all her companions stopped in whatever town, big or small, they happened to be in. They stayed there in order to observe and celebrate this holiday. And several times she and the entire company, namely the sisters, received the body of Our Lord during these masses and I, sister Perrine, named above, received it together with her. When she was there, most often three or four masses were celebrated. Once, among other trips, as she returned from visiting one of her far-flung convents, she stopped in a small town with fewer than twelve houses on a Saturday. She had to stay in this little town for two days, the first because it was a Sunday, and the second because a holiday she had to observe fell on a Monday. The entire countryside was full of armed men, but none of them entered this little town in the two days she was there, although she saw them roam around the town the entire two days she was there. And I myself remember seeing them back then, for I was with her in that little town.20 16. Also, I heard from the mother abbess of Besançon, the convent where I was at the time, and from the daughter of a notable merchant in Besançon, that our glorious mother approached this merchant, who felt great spiritual love toward our mother, with such devout and humble exhortations that this merchant did 20. Pierre de Vaux groups these events together in a special chapter on keeping commandments and honoring feast days (V 24–28).

The Life of Saint Colette 181 not travel on feast days with his merchandise, and the merchant was named Hanequin. Once it happened that he went to a fair with fourteen other merchants. A feast day occurred as they were in the middle of their trip; it was a Sunday and they had heard mass very early that morning, and they wanted to get going, saying that if they did not leave soon everything would be sold and they would find nothing but the leftovers. But Hanequin strongly objected, saying that he had hope in God and that He would help him more if he observed the feast day than if he did not. Nonetheless eight of his companions left the same day, were captured and robbed by criminals and highway robbers, put in a tight prison and forcibly interrogated whether there were any other merchants coming that way, and they were forced to say that yes, there were others coming that way the next day. When the next day dawned, Monday morning after mass, this merchant, with the five companions that had stayed with him, got on the road. But very soon they encountered the robbers that were lying in wait for them and approached them, rudely yelling, “You’ll be dead, you’ll be dead.” The merchant stopped and began to walk in front of his companions and his cart, which was filled with valuable goods, and he then left, without being bothered by the robbers. For they could not move, nor could their horses even if spurred on, and they could do nothing while the merchants walked to safety. 17. I, sister Perrine named above, when I was at the convent of our sisters of Saint Clare in Poligny in Burgundy, heard that my father, friar Henry de Baume, told the sisters of this convent that our glorious mother had a horrible vision in which she recognized all the different estates of the Church and of secular society, from the highest to the lowest, and the system of government of each of these estates as well as the faults and offenses that each of these estates, from the highest to the lowest, had committed against God. She also saw the horrible pains and grievous torments with which every one of them was punished according to his just deserts. She was so terribly frightened that for eight days it seemed to her that she herself had to fall into these torments. And when this vision was finished she suddenly found an iron bar in the middle of her window that was strong enough to support her, and, as I heard from friar François Claret, she grabbed it and held on to it with her hand so that she would not fall into these pains and torments, and she later had great trouble letting go of it. And I also heard that then our glorious mother ordered that three Ave Marias should be recited at the end of the Divine Office against the three great sins that reign in the world above all, as she had seen in this vision, and also for our vows to our holy Order.21 Also I, named above, heard from our good father de Reims, from friar Henry, and from friar François Claret that our glorious mother was presented by our glorious father Saint Francis to God in order for her to begin the reform in the 21. Pierre connects this vision with Colette’s mission to reform the Franciscan Orders (V 29–30).

182 PERRINE DE BAUME world, the one that Our Lord had ordered our glorious father Saint Francis to do. I heard from our good father friar Jehan Toursiau that Our Lord appeared to her in His own person. I heard from our glorious mother that this was how she was forced to leave her anchorhold in order to do the good that she has done for our holy Order. She feared greatly that this was a deception from the devil in hell. For this reason, she commended herself to all devout people she knew, to knowledgeable people who loved and feared God. She wanted their counsel, advice, and judgment, and wanted to know whether they advised her to do it. 18. I, sister Perrine, named above, heard our glorious mother say that when she had decided and was determined to go to see our Holy Father the pope, a notable baroness, widow of the lord of Brisay, came to her by God’s grace. She was the daughter of Seigneur de Rochechouart and for the love of God offered to accompany her, with the help of Our Lord, until she had accomplished her good desire and intention. This lady made the offer and loyally accomplished it. She [Colette] had a number of problems to leave her anchorhold because the abbot of Corbie did not want to agree to it, but Our Lord reached out to her with His grace so that she could leave in all honesty, accompanied by the lady of Brisay, the good father, friar Henry de Baume, and others. It took several days before she managed to come into the presence of our Holy Father, the pope. She sent ahead a notable and discreet woman in order to explain to the pope her intention and reason for coming to see him. She [the woman] had very bad luck because she became insane, raving mad. This is what I heard our good father, friar Henry de Baume, tell in Poligny at the grille with the sisters, and also to sister Agnez de Vaulx. For this lady stripped herself naked without any shame.22 She came to the city of Nice where the Holy Father then resided and delivered the entire message, for when our glorious mother arrived in this city she was immediately admitted to our Holy Father through the good diligence of the woman who had been sent ahead of her, and although she faced great obstacles at her arrival she nonetheless, by God’s grace, discharged the duty with which she had been charged well and prudently. 19. And as soon as our glorious mother came before our Holy Father, as I heard our glorious mother tell it, he advanced toward her and saw a little purse hanging from the belt of our glorious mother which he took: in this purse was a little scroll, a kind of memorandum of everything that she wanted to request from the Holy Father: through this scroll he learned everything she wanted to request and obtain. And also, as I heard from our glorious mother and sister Agnes de Vaulz, by the grace and permission of our Holy Father she requested especially two things: the first was that it should please that by his grace she should be able to enter into the evangelical life, meaning that she would be able to join the Second Order that monseigneur Saint Francis instituted, which is called the Order of the Poor Ladies 22. See Fig. 2, and cf. V 36. Perrine omits any reference to demons in this episode.

The Life of Saint Colette 183 and of which lady Saint Clare was the first member,23 keeping the Rule that the glorious father Saint Francis gave to this glorious saint, lady Saint Clare, which Rule is known to be evangelical and apostolic. The second request, as I heard my good father friar Henry tell it, was that she asked for the reformation of the Orders that monseigneur Saint Francis had instituted. Although these requests were completely just and reasonable, our Holy Father did not want to grant them so soon, because some of the cardinals did not want to consent, in view of the austerity of the life she requested and because of her youth. Thus he did not agree at this early point. 20. But, as I heard my father friar Henry say when he was speaking with the sisters at the grille in Poligny, there was an aged cardinal who, after the request of our glorious mother, asked for an audience and permission to speak with the Holy Father, and in the form of a beautiful sermon he argued that he should not refuse what she was asking and praised the evangelical and apostolic life. Our Holy Father consented, and then, as I heard from our glorious mother, our Holy Father himself received her into the evangelical life of the holy Order, in the presence of several notable people from the church and from the world, and of the people who had accompanied her to this place. Then he delivered a very beautiful solemn sermon, commending the evangelical and apostolic life that she wanted to undertake and receive. Thus she was received into the holy Order of Saint Clare. And without any other measures she was professed into this Order, he put the veil on her head and the cord around her, and commanded her to follow the Rule of Saint Clare. I heard my father friar Henry say that all this he accomplished most devoutly and reverently, and that he seemed to be an angel from paradise. When this holy mystery was accomplished he, by the grace of Our Lord, exhorted her sweetly and benevolently to be wise and prudent and a good nun, to keep the promises and vows she had made to God, and to improve every single day. And he charitably offered himself to her as help and comfort in everything she might require to God’s honor, asking her if she wanted to return to her country and that he would make sure she would be welcomed kindly and comfortably, but, by the grace of Our Lord, he was content that she would return to her country.24 21. Also, I heard my father friar Henry say that our Holy Father warmly commended our glorious mother to him, telling him that he should never leave her, and that he blessed and kissed his shoulder, saying, “This shoulder that will carry the bread she will eat is truly blessed.” Then he said loudly, “May it please God that I should be worthy to search for and bring bread to sustain this young woman.” 23. That is, the Poor Clares. See the Introduction, 5–6. Pierre adds a detailed explanation of the different rule (V 38). 24. The pope seemed to have doubts that Colette would be warmly welcomed back in Corbie. His doubts were justified, as we learn in Pierre’s account (V 42), but not in that of Perrine!

184 PERRINE DE BAUME And to the lady of Brisay who had accompanied her he gave his blessing, requesting that she should peacefully take her home. It did not take long for her to realize that people honored her more than they had been accustomed to and called her mother. She wanted to know what this meant and where it came from. And finally, people explained to her that our Holy Father had blessed her and had made her mother and abbess. This upset and pained her terribly for she could not bring her heart to accept this, whatever people told her. She believed that she was only a simple nun without having the office of abbess. When she was certain that she had been blessed as an abbess, she did her utmost to turn around and go back to him to ask him humbly and beg of him that he should not consent to her becoming an abbess. He answered that that which he had said should be done and would remain so. Then he sent her a beautiful breviary to say her Hours.25 I held it in my hands, and so did several other sisters, and I heard my father friar Henry tell all this. 22. When our glorious mother had returned from the presence of our Holy Father the pope to Baume,26 a noble lady named Blanche, who was the countess of Geneva, was much comforted by her arrival, for through her she learned much about her conscience, and she became so attached to her that she and her family did not want her to leave. The countess granted her and her followers half of the castle of La Baume,27 and it was there that she first began to serve God perfectly by observing the Rule of Saint Clare, as she had promised and vowed to God. She remained there until our Holy Father the pope, by a bull, granted her the convent of Saint Clare in Besançon.28 The countess honorably, as is fitting, accompanied her in person to this convent together with her niece, who has since become duchess of Bavaria and countess of the Palatinate on the Rhine.29 Lady Blanche decreed that wherever she might die and leave this world, she wanted to be brought to one of her convents because of the great love she had conceived for her, seeing God’s grace in her and how notable young women came to her to live in her company according to the apostolic and evangelical life, and how her convents multiplied. And as she had decreed when still alive, so, after her death her wish was loyally fulfilled, for her body was buried in the sepulcher in Poligny, where madame her niece had a most notable chapel constructed. This is what I heard my father friar Henry tell. 25. See the Introduction, 29, on the different Hours. 26. Perrine here omits the accusations of Colette being “a witch and magician” upon her return to Corbie, as highlighted by Pierre (V 42). 27. Near Frontenay in the Jura mountains, south of Poligny. 28. As Ubald d’Alençon states in his note (b) to V 43, the bull Dum attenta dates from January 27, 1408, but Colette did not come to Besançon until March 1410. 29. On Matilda, or Mechtilde, of Savoy, see note 52 to V 43.

The Life of Saint Colette 185 23. Also, I heard my father friar Henry tell how once, when he was speaking with our glorious mother about things concerning her Order, a very beautiful, artfully made cord fell from heaven, pleasant and white as snow. After having received it, suddenly and visibly in the presence of her confessor friar Henry, she humbly unfolded it, without saying anything or giving any sign.30 I heard that our glorious mother said to friar François Claret, and also I heard it from friar Jehan Toursiau, that she often told the sisters, in order to incite them to devotion and to make sure of their fervent desire to keep that which they had promised and vowed to Our Lord, “My sisters, my sisters, I tell that this Order is not the Order of sister Colette, nor of friar Henry, but the order of Our Lord, for He came in His own person to reform it.” I also heard that friar François Claret said to our good mother sister Agnes de Vaulx that sometimes when all human aid needed for the construction of her convents failed, Our Lord helped her. For He sent her what she needed to pay the workers and satisfy other people to whom she might have been indebted. I, sister Perrine de la Baume named above, heard our glorious mother tell how after the deaths of her father and mother she kept nothing, but gave and distributed everything to the poor, and that when she left her anchorhold to go to Rome she possessed nothing at all.31 All the time that I saw her living in the holy Order, I always saw that she was a true lover of holy poverty in absolutely everything, even in the oratory where she usually spent the day, where she heard holy mass and received the body of Our Lord. She wanted the oratories to be small, simple, and with a low ceiling, and if they were constructed otherwise, they displeased her very much and she became distressed. In several convents they were so narrow and so low that she could barely stand up straight. They seemed like the tiny cells of a hermit or of a watchman rather than anything else. And so, according to her conscience, she was well lodged there. Large and numerous edifices displeased her. It was almost impossible to construct a convent, however poor, that in her judgment was not still too beautiful and too splendid. Thus I have seen many times when I was with her and have also heard her say that the sisters, for the love of the great poverty of Our Lord, who never had a house, should be content to have the buildings they needed without superfluities, poor and without ornamentations. I have seen that our mother preferred to stop and stay at the small and poor convents rather than at the big and rich ones, for she found more comfort there, and likewise she preferred to reside in small and poor towns rather than in rich and big ones. And likewise, when she traveled for business for the Order and on the way stayed in great houses or rooms, she did not dare raise her eyes, so dismayed was she. And when she came to some convent and found something there that went against poverty, she could not tolerate it. This is what I saw. 30. Pierre de Vaux (V 45) interprets the meaning of this cord. See Fig. 4. 31. As we learn above, Colette and her companions went to Nice, not to Rome. Pierre makes the same mistake. See note 203 to V 221 for a possible explanation.

186 PERRINE DE BAUME 24. And she was very generous and filled with pity. I heard her say that in her youth when she went to school, she would gladly give to the poor children the food that she was taking to school, and in her father’s house she gave all the food to the poor and needy, if she could get her hands on it. Later, she distributed everything that had been left to her after her parents’ deaths; she wanted to have nothing of this world for her own use, except what she needed to cover her poor body and for the Divine Office. As for these things, when she saw a friar or a sister who needed the little she had, she charitably gave them everything, be it her cot, cape, breviary, or habit. She took great care to be present when the fabric for capes, coats, or habits for the friars and sisters was cut. And she did this out of charity, seeing that their needs should be taken good care of and also for holy poverty, making sure that there was no waste in width or length. She had them gather up all the little pieces that would fall down during the cutting in order to use them when needed. In her own habit she had several of these pieces. Among the things that she took the greatest pleasure in was books in the service of Our Lord, and she sent people to get them in various regions, such as Germany and others, so that God would be well served and that there would be nothing lacking in His holy service for want of books. But if people brought or sent her books for her own personal use— as several lords and other notable people did—she gave them away so liberally that sometimes she had no breviary for herself and had to borrow one to say her Divine Office. I have seen this several times. 25. Several notable people from various estates, thinking about the great work she was doing in God’s honor and for the salvation of souls, gave her gold, silver, precious stones, jewels, cloths or scarves, in order for her to build convents, not too often but every now and then. But of all the goods, great or small, that were given to her personally, she would rather have died than use them for anything but the things the donors had intended. And everything that was given to her for the needs of her own person, she gave up for sale in order to contribute everything she could to the advancement of the building for Our Lord, and she could not and would not keep any of it. This is what I saw and heard from her. I have seen that she never defied Our Lord, but put all her hope in Him and His goodness, knowing He would provide for her and her sisters in everything they needed if they loyally kept the vows and promises they had made to God. Once in the convent of Hesdin, our glorious mother had a habit cut out for our good father friar Pierre de Reims, and in order to do this she had a lay brother, a worker named Andrieu, called. She gave him the cloth that she thought would be sufficient for making this habit. And when he planned the habit and spread out this well-measured cloth, he found that there was not enough by about one ell.32 So he went back to 32. An ell could vary by region from about 27 inches to 46 inches (see note 68 to V 56).

The Life of Saint Colette 187 our glorious mother and showed her that he could never cut out an entire habit from this small piece of cloth. She told him kindly, “Go and pray to Our Lord and then come back to me and you pull one end and I the other, and we’ll see if we can’t lengthen it.” When he returned as instructed, she had the habit cut out in his presence and by the grace of Our Lord he found that there was plenty for the habit, and there was even a big piece left over. I myself held this habit in my hands. 26. Several times I saw that our glorious mother was very doubtful and fearful before God concerning everything she did and undertook; whether it was great or small, she sought the counsel from her good fathers and friars, and also from her sisters and even from the novice sisters. This is what I have seen: she did this in order to do her work according to God and to her conscience. I heard from a sister named Mathieuette, the niece of     ,33 that a beautiful little lamb was brought to our glorious mother and presented to her out of devotion; she celebrated this and was very comforted. Especially when this lamb was present at the elevation of the precious body of Our Lord, it knelt down on the ground without anyone teaching it how to do this and adored Our Lord. 26.2. Likewise, I heard from our good mother sister Agnes de Waux that Our Lord sent a little animal to our glorious mother. It was white as snow and very beautiful; none like it had ever been seen before. It did not live with her but showed itself to her in the morning, and it was very pleasant to look at. Many sisters saw it and tried hard to touch it and to capture it, but they never succeeded because it hid and vanished. The abovementioned sister Agnes was there, and I also heard it from the sisters at the convent in Besançon. Of her holy prayers 27. The sacrifice of holy prayer, both mental and vocal, was her refuge and her principal occupation. One of the graces she received from Our Lord was that she demonstrated clearly her great and fervent desire to serve and honor God diligently, devoutly, and reverently, and that His holy service should be performed in all humility, cleanness of heart, and fear. No sister would be exempt from this except for a good and obvious reason, under threat of punishment. And for this purpose, she wanted every sister to come to the church before the beginning of the Divine Office in order to prepare her heart and conscience so that the service would please God and be agreeable to Him. And although she was very feeble, 33. Here there is a blank space in the manuscript Ubald d’Alençon used for his edition. He does not indicate whether the other manuscripts also omit the name. A footnote simply states: “Le nom n’est pas écrit.” Mathieuette, however, is named in his introduction (xxxv) as Colette’s niece (“nièce de la sainte”), and she is mentioned again in P 37, P 41, P 86, and P 89. Pierre de Vaux mentions and interprets the lamb in V 60. A genuflecting lamb also appears in Bonaventure’s Life of Saint Francis (8.7).

188 PERRINE DE BAUME weak, and greatly suffering many pains and other things, nonetheless all her pleasure consisted in attending the Divine Office as much as she could, and as long as it pleased Our Lord to give her strength to do so. She went there so quickly and joyously that it seemed that she had never suffered any illness or pain. And when she was there, she offered her heart, her body, and all her strength, without holding anything back, to honor Our Lord and to make her sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to Him, and she did this with such great devotion that people praised her above all others. 28. This is what I saw and heard, and I also heard my father friar Henry tell it: at the beginning of her reforms she felt great doubts and was perplexed about the manner in which she should say the Holy Office with the sisters because the Form of Life states, “the sisters should read the office without singing.” She called her good father confessor, friar Henry de Baume, in order to consult him on this matter. After exchanging several holy words, they returned to holy prayer and begged God that He might let them know how they should say the Holy Office in His honor and for the edification of the people. And while they were praying, suddenly they heard a very pleasant and melodious voice right near them that seemed to be more angelic than anything else, telling them the simple and devout form and manner that they should adopt in performing the Divine Office. They diligently listened and ordained that from now on the Office should be celebrated in this manner.34 29. I never saw or perceived that our glorious mother was bored or bothered at the Divine Office, for it seemed that the longer it lasted the more it pleased her. I saw that sometimes, when she was distressed for a good and justified reason before the Office, as soon as she came to the Divine Office, she was all consoled. And often she said the psalms and performed the Divine Office with such devotion and attention that she seemed to be in the visible presence of God. And during the Divine Office her face was bright and shining. I did not dare watch her, so this is what I heard several sisters say when they talked about it. But when she could not attend the Divine Office because of the pains she suffered or some other reason or necessity, she would sigh and pitifully say, “Alas, alas, these women are so fortunate that they can continuously attend the Divine Office,” regretting that she could no longer attend and had to bear her illnesses or other obstacles. 30. At the obligatory canonical hours she would always without fail say the Office of Our Father that the lay sisters have to say, and the Hours of the Cross, and of the two vigils at least one, one with nine lessons, the other with three.35 She loved 34. Pierre’s reference to changing the statutes is missing here. For the discussion of reading, versus singing, the Office, see note 86 to V 71. 35. See V 73 and note.

The Life of Saint Colette 189 the rosary of the prayer Our Father, and she carried it around with her day and night and from it she recited countless Our Fathers. She told us that sometimes, when she was so tormented by the grievous pains from which she suffered and did not know where she was, she touched the rosary and came back to herself and recognized where she was. I heard her say that of all the prayers that she could choose the one that gave her the greatest pleasure and that she was especially devoted to was the Psalter and the Seven Psalms with the litanies, which she gladly recited.36 I have seen that when she came to the end of the psalter she knelt down on both knees, prostrating herself before Our Lord with great humility and reverence, offering her prayers and supplicating Him that He might receive it agreeably. 31. I heard from both my good father friar Henry and also from my good father Jehan Claret that the devil vexed her especially frequently when she was reciting the psalter. He blew out her oil lamp and sometimes quietly relit it. Once, in one of many such incidents, as I heard from my good father Henry and friar F.37, when several times the devil had extinguished her oil lamp in order to vex her and to prevent her prayer, he took the lamp full of oil and threw it so that it spilled on her book, and she was extremely sad, on the one hand because of the prayer that remained unfinished, and on the other because of the loss of the book that she loved dearly. The next day, she complained pitifully to her father confessor and described the desolation she felt over the book she thought was all spoiled and destroyed, but when she held it out to him and found it restored and as clean as it had ever been, she was all consoled. Another time, as I heard from my good father friar Henry, when she was occupied with saying the psalter, two cruel and terrible devils appeared to her in order to frighten and terrorize her. She was so terrified that she could not offer her prayer to God as was her custom. They appeared in a horrible and awful shape, on each side of her. But she made the sign of the cross and with great assurance and certainty she humbly and reverently offered her prayer to God and immediately the two demons vanished.

36. The Seven Penitential Psalms. See note 90 to V 73. 37. Occasionally Perrine uses initials instead of full names, and I keep those in the translation. F. refers to friar François Claret, one of Colette’s close friends.

190 PERRINE DE BAUME

Figure 9. Folio 49 recto. A demon uses a bellows to blow out Colette’s lamp while another one spills oil on her book. At right Colette relights her candle.

The Life of Saint Colette 191 32. In all adversities and doubts her refuge was the sacrifice of holy prayer. In particular, when she felt that some tribulation or affliction was in the offing, she recited or had her sisters recite the litanies, for she had great faith in them and was devoted to them. At a time when all over the kingdom of France there were such violent and deadly wars that few people dared to leave their fortresses and cities, for God’s love and the salvation of souls she made several journeys to different faraway regions, even though she was very fearful. And in order to travel safely and securely, her strategy was that, every time before she left the convent, she had the mass of the Three Kings celebrated. And as soon as she had left, she began to devoutly recite the Seven Psalms and the litany, and by God’s grace and the merit of all the saints named in this litany she managed to safely avoid all the perils that were often so great that she could have lost her life. Once I was with her and several other sisters in a foreign region whose language none of the sisters knew. When we passed a dangerous crossing situated in a forest we were confronted by some well-armed warriors on horseback. With their arquebuses at the ready they ambushed us in order to get us off the road and rob us. Because we were traveling in carriages we were very visible. But we needed the carriages because of our weakness and the length of the journey. Suddenly and violently the men advanced toward us, and like people with bad intentions and ready to do us harm, they began to speak to us in a rude and frightening manner. Our glorious mother, who had devoutly recited the holy litany and who, by the grace of the Holy Spirit like the glorious apostles understood all languages, answered them sweetly and benignly.38 And as soon as they heard the sound of her sweet voice, their cruelty was transformed into love and charity, for not only did they assure her that they would not harm us, but they charitably offered to accompany us safely and said that if we encountered any of their companions they would help us. Our glorious mother thanked them humbly for this offer, and thus we finished our journey without any mishap with the help of Our Lord and the glorious saints of paradise. All her pleasure and comfort lay in mental and vocal prayer. She often told the sisters when she exhorted them to the sacrifice of fervent prayer that no one could flourish in the Order without prayer. I heard her say that when she prayed, she would think of nothing else but her mental and vocal prayers. Her prayers were so fervent that sometimes she was enraptured for six hours or nine or twelve, and even a day or more. And often she spent the night partly in mental prayer and partly in vocal prayer, and she hardly slept and got little rest, but when I saw her and talked with her, I would not have known. And she did the same when she was outside of the convent, as several sisters and friars saw and perceived, out in the fields as well as in towns or hostels. And even if she was tired and very exhausted, she nonetheless spent several nights without any or little rest, for she was occupied—with tears, sighs, and crying—with praying to Our Lord for mercy. 38. On miraculous xenoglossia, see note 93 to V 77.

192 PERRINE DE BAUME 33. I heard from the mother abbess of the convent of Seurre,39 who was there at the time, that when our glorious mother slept and rested a little, she saw a beautiful red rose on her mouth. And I heard from several people in the convent at Besançon that when our glorious mother was in that convent, they saw in the dormitory the holy angels holding a beautiful cloth over her bed, which she showed to her companion who was with her. I also heard from a sister named Colette de Happelaincourt,40 as she told also some other sisters, that this same sister once, when she could see our glorious mother during her fervent prayers, saw a kind of firebrand coming out of her mouth which was so big and splendid that it illuminated her oratory. Several times she rose up during her prayers,41 as seen by several sisters. I heard our good sister Agnes de Waulx tell this, for our glorious mother for some reason was forced to reveal this to her. 34. She said that among other requests that pleased Our Lord, prayers making requests for poor sinners were very agreeable and profitable, considering that their souls are in purgatory without offending God, certain of their salvation. When I was in the convent at Poligny I heard my good father friar Henry say that monseigneur Vincent, a notable doctor and preacher of great reputation, who was then in Aragon, learned of our glorious mother when, among other holy revelations, he saw her in his spirit kneeling humbly before the divine sovereign majesty, devoutly and fervently praying for the sins, offenses and faults of the poor people. The Lord replied to her, “Daughter, what do you want me to do about them? Every day I am hurt and offended by them, they despise me continuously, they cut me into smaller pieces than a butcher cuts his meat, all the while blaming and denying me, and breaking all my commandments.”42 And because of this acquaintance with His little handmaid that God by His grace wanted to reveal to this learned man in a vision—who is now a glorious saint in paradise43—he traveled from the kingdom of Aragon to Gaul, that is, France, especially to visit her in person. He found her at the convent in Poligny and they exchanged many holy words and had profitable conversations, and, by God’s grace, they received several spiritual consolations. 39. Seurre is a small town in today’s Département de la Côte d’Or, southwest of Poligny. The convent there was founded between 1421 and 1423 with the support of Margaret of Bavaria, wife of the duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless. 40. Identified as Colette d’Alpencourt in V 83; this sister sees a sun issuing from Colette’s mouth. Pierre de Vaux adds an interpretation of the firebrand. 41. On levitation, see note 97 to V 83. 42. On Vincent Ferrer, see V 84 and notes 98 and 99, as well as the Introduction, 39–40. 43. Vincent died in 1419, but this phrase is not in Pierre’s biography because Vincent was not canonized until 1455.

The Life of Saint Colette 193 34.2. Also, I heard our good father friar Henry tell that once our glorious mother prayed most devoutly and fervently to Our Lord and especially to the glorious Virgin Mary to act as intercessor through her beloved child and ask Him to have pity on His poor people; during this prayer a platter filled with little pieces of flesh—like those of an innocent child—was presented to her and it was said to her,44 “How could I intercede with my child for those who every day through their horrible sins and offenses that they commit against Him cut Him to pieces that are even smaller than those that are cut up and displayed on this platter?” Because of these offenses, for a long time she carried in her heart great sadness and excessive pain. Among all the suffrages and commemorations she recited in her devotions she singled out especially those of the Annunciation of Our Lord: the hymn was Gabriel angelus etc., the prayer Gratiam tuam in commemoration of the painful Passion of Our Lord, that is Christus factus est etc., Adoramus and the prayer Respice etc., and for the commemoration of All Saints the hymn Angeli archangeli etc., and Omnipotens sempiterne Deus etc., and with this for a long time she recited every day, together with the ordinary Divine Office according to the Roman rite, the Office of the day for all the saints.45 Likewise, in several of her convents she had the commemoration of All Saints chanted by the friars after compline in honor of madame Saint Anne in her chapel, especially in the convent in Besançon, and also of all the saints in paradise. 35. I heard that in the convent at Besançon there was a sister leading a good and honest life who had a great desire to confess some serious and enormous sins that she had committed while still living in the world, but she simply could not do so. For every time that she came into the presence of the priest in order to confess her sins, the devil put in front of her a big and indecent knight46 who blocked her path, so that she left the way she had come, that is, without confessing her sins. This went on for six years and she was greatly distressed about this. In the end, she commended herself very humbly to the prayers of our glorious mother and, once the commendation had been made, she immediately went to the holy sacrament of confession, without any danger or difficulty, and fully recognized and confessed all her sins, after which she found that her conscience was much relieved and her spirit consoled and comforted. 36. In the convent of Poligny in Burgundy47 where I then was, the sisters could get water only with great difficulty, since they could not get it within the convent and had to go outside the convent to get what they needed, which caused much work 44. The passive construction here (il luy fust presenté . . . luy fust respondu) obscures the origin of this event, although the voice is clearly Mary’s. 45. For detailed information on these prayers and hymns, see note 102 to V 85. 46. In Pierre de Vaux’s biography the knight is actually a demon. See V 87. 47. The convent in Poligny in the Jura mountains was founded between 1414 and 1417.

194 PERRINE DE BAUME and trouble. They could not find a place to dig a well within the convent, despite the fact that there were several skilled workers who could have done it. Finally, on the Friday before the middle of Lent, on which the Roman Church reads the gospel that mentions the fountain where Our Lord Jesus Christ asked the Samaritan woman to give him to drink,48 and after our glorious mother had said her devout and holy prayers before Our Lord, telling Him piteously about these problems, she had people strike the ground and dig in a certain place and right away water spilled out abundantly, and it flowed so beautifully and was so delicious that there was no other like it in the town or the whole region. To this day this water is a great comfort to this convent; it appeared and flowed and still does so. 37. I heard from sister Jheane Faucqueresse and from the niece of our glorious mother,49 and from several others at the convent in Besançon that our glorious mother was enraptured in this convent for fifteen days, which caused the friars and sisters great unease; they feared that she would not come back to herself. For this reason the venerable father friar Henry, her confessor, who had a companion named master Pierre Psalmon,50 ordered her by holy obedience that she should immediately return and leave her enraptured state. Wondrous to see, she, who seemed to be insensible, immediately returned to herself and left her rapture out of reverence for the virtue of holy obedience. I also heard from Nicolas de la Barre that several times when she visited her convents, traveling from one place to another, riding on some animal behind someone else, as religious should properly do, people said and affirmed that she weighed nothing. 38. I, sister Perrine named above, heard from our glorious mother that the love and devotion she felt for the dolorous Passion and death of Our Lord began in her youth, and her mother, who was very devout and honest and greatly fearing Our Lord, first gave her these feelings, as I often heard her state. Her mother remembered every day the holy Passion of Our Lord whether she was spinning, sewing, or taking care of small household tasks with great devotion, sometimes with tears and sighs, complaining over the injuries and grievous torments He had suffered for us, and thus our glorious mother, seeing and hearing all this, imprinted it into her heart to such an extent that throughout her life she kept it as a special memory and remembrance. I saw several times that she shut herself away in her oratory especially at the noon hour; then she was in private and thus separated from all 48. John 4:1–26. The same story is told in V 89. 49. No siblings of Colette are mentioned in the two Lives, but it is possible that her mother had children from her first marriage, which would explain that Colette could have a niece. As noted above, sister Mathieuette is identified as Colette’s niece on p. xxxv of Ubald’d’Alençon’s introduction (which also mentions “Jeanne Fauqueresse”). Mathieuette is mentioned again, either as Colette’s niece or by name, in P 41, P 86, and P 89. 50. See note 141 to V 128 for Pierre Psalmon, or Salmon. Perrine refers to him again in P 65 and P 86.

The Life of Saint Colette 195 other people and she gave herself over to remembering this hour of the Passion of Our Lord. Especially on Fridays, when she heard mass from six o’clock in the morning after matins until six hours after dinner, without drinking or eating anything, she occupied herself with thinking about the Passion and its mystery. This is what I saw. One could not adequately speak about the abundance of tears and her piteous crying and sighs during Holy Week, as I have seen in the convent at Besançon. When she remembered the excessive suffering of the Passion of Our Lord and the bitter and dolorous pains that were inflicted on Him for a long time she meditated, thinking about this painful death and Passion. Sometimes she was so absorbed in her devotion to the Passion that it seemed she became insensible, and I saw her enraptured to this extent for the duration of three days. I heard from a sister named Perrine de Montenay that our glorious mother, when she was at the convent at Besançon during Holy Week, devoted her heart so vividly to thinking about and meditating on the excessive pains and suffering that Our Lord wanted to suffer for love of us during that week that she was enraptured for three days and three nights, and during this time she did not return to herself and did not drink or eat anything. I was also in the convent at Besançon another time that our glorious mother was there. From Friday morning until the time that the sisters came to the chapter, she occupied herself with thinking about the grievous pains that Our Lord suffered in His dolorous Passion. During this meditation she suffered such great pains that the sisters who met her as they were leaving the chapter and looked at her face, thought that she had been beaten with clubs; her face was completely bruised. And by speaking to them she slowly came back to herself, and as soon as she had spoken to them, she feared that they had seen some signs on her, and she quickly returned to her oratory and immediately was enraptured till nightfall. I saw this at the time. 39. I also saw, by obvious signs and by the words of our glorious mother that above all other places on earth she loved the holy places overseas that were made sacred through the presence of Our Lord. She held them in her heart with great devotion and reverence, especially the city of Jerusalem where He suffered His painful death and Passion. And although she was very delicate and weak, and the dangers one has to overcome to get there are great and difficult, nonetheless she desired very much to undertake this voyage and to visit these places devoutly in order to offer and sacrifice her life to God, and to die for love of Him. And indeed, she would have fulfilled this desire if it had pleased God for her to find someone who could have advised her and agreed with her wish and could have given her permission. This is what I heard her say. 40. Among all the holy relics that our mother Holy Church honors, she professed a singular love, honor, and reverence for the cross on which Our Lord was crucified. With great affection she wished that she could possess a little part of it. She

196 PERRINE DE BAUME was not disappointed in this holy desire, for from heaven was sent to her a beautiful little golden cross in which was encased a small part of this holy cross, and she kept it most reverently. Many people saw it and held it in their hands and they all affirmed that this little cross was not made or forged by human hands. The good father friar Henry told us that Our Lord had sent it from heaven to our glorious mother. I saw it, and she made the sign of the cross with it when there was thunder as a remedy for our fear of thunder. Just as she had singular love, reverence, and devotion for this True Cross on which Our Lord was crucified,51 she had a similar most singular devotion and reverence for the sign of the cross, by which, through her merits, several miracles were done and manifested. Among these were some that she did at the beginning of the reform of the Order of madame Saint Clare. Several times some children were brought and presented to her that were infected with various illnesses. In a light and joyous manner, she made the sign of the cross over them, and suddenly they were all completely cured. I heard from people who were present, and also from our good mother sister Marie d’Ornan and others, that a good father named friar Pierre de Lendresse told the sisters in the convent at Poligny, where he was confessor, that our glorious mother had resuscitated more than a hundred stillborn children.52 41. A friar named friar Thiebault, a notable and good religious, had great pains in his side. For fifteen years he had suffered such great anguish and pain that he could not stand up straight or turn over. Our glorious mother felt great pity and compassion for him. When she was sending him to some faraway place on business for the Order, she made the sign of the over him and told him, “Go forth courageously, for you will be entirely cured.” And he never again felt the pain. I heard this from friar Thiebault. Once, when she returned from a journey necessary for the good of the Order, she and her companions came to a big and deep river, and they could find no bridge or ferry or anyone who could help them cross it. Our glorious mother, trusting in the goodness of Our Lord, made the sign of the cross and also had her confessor make it, and with great faith they safely crossed this river, some on foot, and some on horseback. Not long after that, several people on horseback came to this same part of the river in order to cross it as well. Seeing that the others before them had safely crossed, they said mockingly, “If these bigots and hypocrites crossed safely, there’s no reason that we couldn’t cross as well.” Thus, they presumptuously threw themselves into the river, where they all drowned. I heard this from her niece, who was there, and also from several other sisters. Another time, and I was there myself, when our glorious mother traveled from one convent to another, the carriage in which she 51. On the True Cross and Colette’s relic of it see notes 119 and 120 to V 98. The miracles done with the sign of the cross in P 41 are almost identical to V 99–100, athough Pierre de Vaux groups them differently. 52. See note 187 to V 202 on this type of miracle.

The Life of Saint Colette 197 was riding fell into a ditch full of water. One of the sisters kept with her a piece of a unicorn53 that our glorious mother loved dearly; it fell into the water and the sister was very distressed. She commended herself in her heart with prayers to our glorious mother, she made the sign of the cross, and she went into the ditch without any human help except a little stick that was not larger than the branch of a vine. She went searching and brought back the piece of unicorn that was floating in the middle of this ditch full of water, without getting wet except a little bit at the bottom of her foot. 42. I, sister Perrine de la Roche et de Baume named above, sixty-three years of age, bear witness about the glorious handmaid of Our Lord, sister Colette, how she devoutly and in great fear received the worthy and precious body of Our Lord. I heard many times the great cries and sighs that she uttered and how her bones creaked because of the great devotion she had for the precious body of Our Lord. After she had received it, she remained enraptured from lauds in the morning till the next day. Normally she received it after matins because she had so much business to attend to. As I heard from my good father friar Henry, many times she received it in the way I described and he said that, before this precious moment of receiving it, she very reverently prostrated herself three times, uttering each of these words, “My God, my creator, my judge.” 42.2. For an entire year she received it every day. I, sister Perrine named above, am ready to certify and testify that several times I have seen the glorious virgin sister Colette enraptured; I could not say precisely how many times. In particular, I held her enraptured in my lap, once in the fields and once in a carriage.54 43. In the convent at Seurre she was enraptured while saying confession. The confessor was about to ring the death knell, believing she was dead. A sister bit her in the toe so hard that traces remained, but she did not feel anything.55 Another time, the eve of Saint Peter in Chains,56 when the first vesper bell was being rung, she was enraptured until half past six, saying, “This is the hour when I left my anchorhold.” And in these raptures her color often changed, sometimes in one way, sometimes in another. When she came back from these raptures she would complain loudly, and she had to put her hands and feet into cold water. This had to 53. Ivory, perhaps from the tusk of a narwhal; see note 121 to V 101. 54. Note the official vocabulary here that seems to be meant for a canonization trial. 55. There are other cases where the ecstasies of holy women were “tested” for their authenticity. Douceline de Digne (ca. 1215–1274), for example, was stuck with needles and had molten lead poured over her feet, but nothing could interrupt her rapture. See The Life of Saint Douceline, a Beguine of Provence, trans. with introduction, notes, and interpretive essay by Kathleen Garay and Madeleine Jeay (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2001), chap. 9. 56. This feast day is August 1. On Peter’s imprisonment by Herod and liberation by an angel, see Acts of the Apostles 12:1–19.

198 PERRINE DE BAUME be done every time she came back from a rapture, and when she was enraptured the sisters thought she was dead. Because of this, one time among others, they called to the convent a notable physician named Hugues Picotel who realized that, when he came into her presence, that she was enraptured and said, “God is her doctor.” He knelt down twice, taking off his hat, and told the sisters several times, “You are lucky to have such a mother.” And when she came back, she was so afire with the love of Our Lord that she quite innocently told us what she had seen. Especially how she had seen Saint Anne with her noble offspring who walked through paradise with a golden basket, asking the blessed saints for alms for the Order,57 and I heard that with great fervor she told all the sisters of the convent that had come to her, “Sister such and such, work hard to acquire such virtue, you need it.” And to another she would say, “Sister such and such,”58 and so on, one after the other. 43.2. Also, when she went into the countryside to found or visit a convent of this order, or riding in a carriage or on an animal, she always seemed to be enraptured. I saw her several times like this, and also heard it from my uncle friar Henry de Baume. 44. I heard several times from our good mother sister Agnes de Waux that at the time when the convent at Auxonne was begun,59 our glorious mother sister Colette wanted to go there, and indeed she left with several of her sisters from Besançon, among whom was our good mother sister Agnes de Waulx. Our glorious mother sister Colette was put on an animal, and as soon as she was on it, she was enraptured. Her face was very luminous and turned toward heaven. Near her was her venerable father confessor, friar Henry de Baume, who was also riding with his face and his eyes turned toward heaven. Everyone who saw them was greatly consoled, and even the good people in the fields came toward her, prostrating themselves and kneeling on the ground with great reverence, admiration, and devotion, and touching her garments and worthy body, without her knowing anything about it. She remained in this state until she arrived in Dole, where she lodged in a little house in front of the convent of the friars of Saint Francis. When they learned that she had arrived, they were greatly consoled and made a procession to meet her with great reverence, giving thanks and praise to Our Lord, and thus they led her to the church. They desired greatly to hear her holy fervent words, but as soon as she arrived at the church she was enraptured, and the good fathers of this convent were much distressed that they could not talk with her. When she had come back to herself, she was all afire with the love of Our Lord. Then the good fathers asked her to come to their chapter. She went 57. For information on this vision see note 103 to V 85. There, Saint Anne begs for prayers, not alms. 58. The Middle French text reads “soeur N.” (for Nom = name) and “soeur une telle,” indicating that there are many instances of the scene Perrine describes, with Colette addressing many different sisters. 59. The convent in Auxonne in Burgundy was founded in 1412 by authorization of Pope Benedict XIII.

The Life of Saint Colette 199 there with great humility, together with her companions and the good father friar Henry de Baume; all of them, as soon as they were in the chapter, were ordered to be silent, and our glorious mother sat down on a little seat in the middle of the chapter. There, she began to speak fervently about the love of Our Lord and their holy estate, telling them what they must do, and commending them; in particular, her speaking about evangelical poverty and its perfection set the ears of her listeners on fire. There she was again enraptured, which greatly comforted the good fathers, and they praised Our Lord, who thus consoled them, saying that they had received a very noble treasure. When she came back from her rapture, she took her leave from the good fathers, commending to them herself and all her poor sisters. Then she went back to her simple lodging. Our good mother sister Agnes de Waulx greatly desired to hold her in her arms as she was enraptured. The next morning, she moved as near her as possible, and she remained enraptured in her lap until they came close to Auxonne, and the good mother sister Agnes was much consoled by this. They arrived in Auxonne at the place where the convent was being constructed that at present is there. Several notable people, so said the good mother sister Agnes, saw demons in terrible and frightening shapes depart from this place, screaming and howling horribly, and throwing themselves into the Somme river, like madmen, at the arrival of our glorious mother and her sisters. I, sister Guillemette Xristienne, at present humble abbess of the convent of Saint Clare at Hesdin,60 as has been declared, testify that I have heard from sister Agnes de Waulx how our glorious mother sister Colette was enraptured while traveling to the convent in Auxonne via Dole. Sisters Marie Estocquette, Agnes Tinguerie, and Marguerite also testify to this. 45. In this convent of Saint Clare at Hesdin she was also enraptured on Holy Thursday from vespers until matins.61 She could not come to matins, and so we had to wait an hour before ringing the bell for the last call to matins. When she came back to herself, she was led to matins. She was so fragrant that those who had not smelled it would not have believed it. Similarly, such a good and pervasive fragrance came from her oratory that one could smell it all the way to the chapter, and she was wondrously on fire with the great devotion and plaints about the holy death and Passion of Our Lord that she made throughout matins, and in piteous tears she said the Office of Our Lord. When matins was finished, she hastily returned to her oratory and shut herself in until vespers when people came to her on this blessed Friday, for she wanted to conceal and not tell anything about 60. The name Christine was sometimes written with the X standing for Christ’s cross. Christine de Pizan (ca. 1364–ca. 1430), the famous French writer, often signed her name like this. This sister is another witness whose testimony appears only once in this biography. She testifies to hearsay about this all-important grace that was accorded to Agnès de Vaux. 61. Holy Thursday is the day before Good Friday, when Christ was crucified.

200 PERRINE DE BAUME the great graces and consolations that Our Lord had granted her on that day. She was also enraptured in this convent at Hesdin on the day of Holy Trinity;62 in this rapture she knew clearly which kind of tribulations awaited her poor congregation, for which reason she felt great pain and was in tears for three days until the day of the sacrament, when she was enraptured again. At that point she received great consolation about the abovementioned revelation, as was visible from her comportment. 46. Our glorious mother received a young girl and made her profess against the will of the sisters who did not want to agree to this because to them, she did not seem suitable for the Order. But our glorious mother knew that if this girl returned to the world, her salvation would be in great danger. So she admitted her as a professed sister. Our glorious mother prayed to Our Lord that it should please Him to let her know for how long the girl would remain in His grace. She heard a voice that told her that she would remain in His grace as long as she did not offend Him through disobedience. A long time later this sister fell so gravely ill that she lost her speech. The good father confessor of the convent was called but it was all for nothing, because the good father could do nothing, in view of the fact that she had lost her power of speech, so he left very distressed, because she could not make her confession. Our glorious mother sister Colette, who was then at this convent, was informed of this, and she quickly went to the infirmary and the bed of this sister, and she called to her two or three times, “Marie, speak to me.” Then the sick woman turned toward her and spoke to her very clearly. She talked about this her entire life, how she then made her confession and our glorious mother returned to her oratory. She ordered that she should be called when this sick woman was about to go to Our Lord, and this was done, for when she was in the throes of death our glorious mother was called. She came immediately and lay down close to the face of the sick woman, crying, and she stayed like this until the sick woman had given up her spirit to Our Lord. Then our glorious mother stood up and, praising Our Lord, she said, “She has left behind great pains. She is on the way to salvation.” 47. Once in one of the convents where I was present one of our sisters was gravely ill, and her illness was contagious and dangerous, for which reason a little room was prepared for her away from the other sisters, and she stayed there for about a year. Then our glorious mother came to this convent. When she was there, she asked about the sick sister. She was told how this sister was kept apart from the other sisters, which filled her with great pity and compassion. She spoke several times with her, comforting her and telling her that she should take heart and that Our Lord would help her. Once this poor sick woman came to see our glorious mother in her oratory. I was there, and also several others from this convent. The 62. The first Sunday after Pentecost.

The Life of Saint Colette 201 poor sick woman knelt down before our glorious mother and bent toward the ground in front of our glorious mother’s feet. She began to cry very hard, and she comforted her by saying, “Take heart in Our Lord.” Then she asked for a vial filled with water. As soon as our glorious mother received it, she put into her mouth as much as a small ladleful and sprayed it on the sick woman, and she did this as long as the water lasted. With each mouthful that she sprayed over her, the sick woman felt more and more relieved and her illness diminished. When the water was gone, the sick woman found herself completely cured and healthy again. Our glorious mother said to her, “Go back to the community, carry your cot to the dormitory, and move out of your little room.” The poor sister answered, “Alas, mother, our mother the abbess will not believe me.” She told her, “Go boldly forth, I will tell her.” The sister went with the others joyful and cured, praising Our Lord. 48. The glorious virgin came to found the convent of Saint Clare at Hesdin. She fell from the carriage. Her arm was twisted out of its socket and for a long time she felt great anguish and pain. She could find no help anywhere. It then happened that the good father friar Jehan Pinet,63 who had died and was buried at the convent of Friars Minor at Hesdin and who had been the confessor of this virgin at her anchorhold in Corbie, appeared to her and reprimanded her by saying, “Colette, why have you been waiting to turn to me? I would have healed you instantly.” And so she was immediately entirely healed. When our good mother sister Agnes de Waux and sister Marie d’Orman and I, sister Perrine de Baume, saw that our glorious mother sister Colette could use her arm, we were very astonished that she was so quickly healed. We asked her who had cured her and she answered, “My good father friar Jehan Pinet came to see me and healed me. And he reprimanded me that I had waited so long to turn to him.” 49. Another time our glorious mother sister Colette went to the convent of Saint Clare at Vevey in Savoy,64 and I, sister Perrine de Basme, accompanied her, as did the good father friar Henry. We passed near a monastery of the nuns of Saint Dominic whose nuns came out to meet our glorious mother in the middle of the fields. Their good father confessor was with them and they approached our glorious mother. Both he and the nuns showed great reverence toward her. Our glorious mother kissed them all, except one who was ill with leprosy and stayed behind, for she did not dare come close like the others because of her illness. Her father confessor admonished her, saying that she should approach and boldly kiss her. So the sick woman gathered her courage and kissed our glorious mother’s 63. For Jean Pinet see the Introduction, 11. 64. The convent in Vevey, on Lake Geneva, was founded between 1424 and 1426 with the support of Amadeus VIII, duke of Savoy, and Guillemette de Gruyère, countess of Valentinois (on whom see P 54).

202 PERRINE DE BAUME face, and she immediately regained her health and was cured.65 I also testify that it is true that the abbot of Corbie appeared to her seven years after his death, making a lot of noise as if with chains. When he arrived, our glorious mother began to tremble terribly. She told us that she said to him, “Go away, demon, here comes this abbot.”66 49.2. I also testify that it is true that all the sisters who died came to show and present themselves to our glorious mother, for I have heard her say, “A sister has died. I have to say my Our Fathers for her.” My father friar Henry told me this several times. 50. I testify that no one would believe how great her humility was, for she was very much afraid that people would find out about the great graces that Our Lord granted her. And also no one would believe how great her charity was if they had not seen it with their own eyes. Her devotion and fervent prayers were angelic, and one would not have believed it if one had not seen and heard it, as I did several times. I could not even count the times that I heard her cry loudly to Our Lord and ask for mercy for sinners, souls in purgatory, and our Order. I slept many times near her in a little space near her oratory. Thus I heard how almost the entire night she cried piteously while praying to Our Lord. It is true that she hardly slept. I was with her many times when she traveled from one convent to another, and she made us rest, but did not rest herself. She prayed all night to Our Lord with the tears and plaints described above. Once in particular I heard her speak all night to Our Lord, crying hard, “Lord, who are you and who am I?” And that is all she said. She moved those who heard her to tears, and among them was a secular woman. — Also, once in the convent at Lézignan,67 our glorious mother sister Colette spoke with the good father Pierre d’Aisy at the window, telling him, “We have to go and get some alms.”68 The good father replied, “Mother, this is a good day. You will pray Our Lord on one side, and we on the other,69 asking that it may please Him to send us something.” She agreed graciously and gladly. They parted and prayed to Our Lord so fervently and devoutly that Our Lord sent a cart filled with things they needed and were helpful in this convent. And we never knew where this cart came from. For as soon as it was unloaded no one knew what happened to it. I, sister Perrine de Baume, heard our glorious mother tell about this. 65. See notes 24 and 25 to V 17 on leprosy and the significance of kissing lepers. 66. This abbot, Raoul de Roye, had wanted to marry off Colette against her will after her parents’ death and had also tried to prevent her becoming a recluse in Corbie. Now he has to drag around chains in the afterlife. As punishment? 67. The convent in Lézignan, in the south of France west of Béziers, was founded between 1430 and 1436 with the support of Jacques II de Bourbon and Bernard VIII of Armagnac, two of her long-time friends. See also notes 190 to V 205. 68. Pierre d’Aisy functioned as Visitator for the Colettine foundations. 69. I.e., on separate sides of the convent: male and female.

The Life of Saint Colette 203 51. I also testify that our glorious mother sister Colette showed such great penitence and austerity toward her body that no one would believe it who had not seen it, as I did many times, since I served her for a long time. She ate so little that often I did not even know that she ate. For as soon as I brought her something, she gave it away for the love of Our Lord. If she ate a little piece of coarse bread the size of an egg and a little soup that seemed a lot, but often she ate nothing. She was marvelously generous toward the poor sisters and wanted them to eat well once a day, observing fasts and other austerities and the Holy Office of Our Lord, for these have to be observed by human beings day and night, as the holy estate requires. And often she had no breviary, and she had to borrow one in order to say the Holy Office, because although she had one from time to time, as soon as she saw that someone needed it she gave it away.70 And she also often gave away the sleeves or other pieces of her habit in order to mend the habits of the poor sisters. I have seen her without sleeves in the convent at Hesdin. I never saw her near a fire to warm herself, but people did bring her a little fire in a pan or a shovel and placed it near her oratory, for she was greatly rheumatic. Her bed was only a bundle of straw at one end of her oratory, with two little pieces of wood around and a little cover on top, and for her head a pillow filled with straw. As I said, she rested there very little, and however cold it was she never had more than one blanket and only one cloak over her habit. And once, when she came to found the convent at Hesdin, people put a lining in her habit, but she would not wear it. And she rarely wore anything new; she would be very annoyed about it, and there was usually something old in the sleeves or the body of her habit. I also testify that our glorious mother sister Colette had an iron belt that she tied around her virginal flesh, and she wore it for such a long time that the flesh grew over this ring and one could only see its buckle. Once, when she was in the convent at Besançon, our good father friar Henry de Baume ordered her, by holy obedience, to remove it, for he saw that it hurt her too much, telling her that the Order still needed her very much.71 She did as ordered. She attached an iron hook to the belt and turned so that the hook pulled the belt until it came off, taking with it parts of her flesh. My good father friar Henry told us about this many times. I myself kept this belt under a piece of wood in the convent of Seurre, and the good mother sister Marie d’Orman and several other sisters saw it there.

70. Pierre de Vaux tells this anecdote in the wider context of her relation to books (V 51). 71. Exactly the same practice can be found in the story of Ermine de Reims. See Renate BlumenfeldKosinski, The Strange Case of Ermine de Reims: A Medieval Woman between Demons and Saints (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015), 82–83, as well as 79–85, for similarly excessive ascetic practices.

204 PERRINE DE BAUME 52. I saw several times the ring with which monseigneur Saint John married her.72 The good father friar Henry told me and several others that this was true, and our good father Pierre de Reims told me and several others that he secretly took it to Rome. I, sister Perrine de Baume, testify that I was once near our glorious mother when she was telling friar François Claret, who was one of her confessors, about the trees that had come into her anchorhold in Corbie, and about the big tree which had leaves like gold, and how they moved from one place to another.73 And also the good mother sister Marie d’Orman told me that she once heard Madame de Brisay say that she had seen the tree that grew on the stones near her [Colette’s] window. 53. Sister Agnes Visemelle told me that she was present in the convent at Vevey when our glorious mother sister Colette spoke with the antipope, the duke of Savoy and brother of Monseigneur de la Marche.74 There was only she herself and my good father friar Henry and the good father de Reims who went to get this lord. Our glorious mother was forced by Our Lord to tell him that he would not become pope, because if he did, great harm would befall Holy Church. The way that our glorious mother was forced by Our Lord was as follows: she could not take the Eucharist, for she absolutely did not want to speak with this lord, telling the good fathers friars Henry and Pierre de Reims that she was a poor and simple creature, and that she would not know how to speak to this lord, or tell him what Our Lord was forcing her to do. But the two good fathers exhorted her strongly that she should agree to do the holy will of Our Lord. She consented to speaking with his lord, after which she could easily take the Eucharist, and our glorious mother admonished this lord. Nonetheless, three years later, he consented and accepted the papacy, and our glorious mother knew the precise moment when he accepted this dignity and told the sisters who were with her, “At this hour the antipope consented and accepted, to the harm of our mother Holy Church.” I do not remember whether this was on the way to or in the convent that she learned about this, but this antipope had to resign.75 This is what I heard from the good father Pierre de Reims. 54. I testify that the countess of Valentinois76 was received into the Order by our glorious mother in Besançon with great fervor and devotion. I was present at her 72. In Pierre’s biography, Saint John transmits the ring to Colette from Christ (V 66). On the differences between the two versions and mystical marriage more generally see the Introduction, 31–32. 73. See V 32; Pierre adds an elaborate interpretation. 74. That is, Amadeus VIII, duke of Savoy, the antipope Felix V. This story is different in V 169; see also note 165 to that paragraph. For more on this episode see the Introduction, 21–22. 75. In 1449, that is, after Colette’s death. 76. Guillemette de Gruyère (d. after 1439) was one of Colette’s supporters and a Poor Clare in Besançon. V 93 tells her story as well, although without the revelation about the countess’s arrival in paradise.

The Life of Saint Colette 205 reception. She tested herself for a long time before entering the Order; but when our glorious mother had assented to her reception, suddenly, aided by the devil, her horses were so sick that they could not move their legs, and when the countess recognized this obstacle, she was very distressed. She informed our glorious mother of this fact and asked her to pray for her, and as soon as she wanted to leave her horses were in as good a shape as they had ever been, and she joyously undertook her journey to the convent in Besançon. There, our glorious mother received her into the Order in which the countess led a profitable life in all perfection, as far as both poverty and austerity were concerned, for she often ate moldy bread with great devotion and also dressed in clothes much poorer than those of others, and she did not live long. I was once in that convent when our good father Henry spoke to us after the death of the countess. He praised her very much and told us that no one prayed for her, but that Our Lord had revealed that she was welcomed into paradise. 55. I testify that I was at the convent in Besançon when our glorious mother received the daughter Hanequin, whom her father wanted back after a short time because he loved her so much.77 Our glorious mother was very sad about this but returned her to him. Immediately she turned to the holy sacrifice of prayer, sighing and complaining about the loss of this young woman. Wondrously, when the father, who was dead set against his daughter ever entering the Order, put her on a horse to take her abroad, so that she should forget everything, the horse fell three times before they were even halfway to their destination. And the last time the horse became all stiff78 and could not do anything at all. When the father saw this, he took her back to our glorious mother, asking her forgiveness and begging her humbly to take back his daughter immediately, and she received her with benevolence, and this young woman was named sister Estevenette. This man Hanequin had some deceptive illusions that he took to be revelations; he believed that the crucifix spoke to him. Once he came from Besançon to Vevey to talk to our glorious mother and said that his crucifix had revealed to him that the friars and sisters had many temptations. Upon hearing this, our glorious mother turned to Our Lord with fervent prayers. She had a revelation telling her that all her sisters were in the state of grace, except one who would arrive there soon. Her friars experienced many assaults, but Our Lord would always help them. The next day she sent for Hanequin and told him these words. When this Hanequin died he appeared to our glorious mother in Besançon as a strange figure, making a lot of noise, with clicking sounds that terrified her and also the sisters, who heard the noise and ran to our glorious mother. I testify that our good mother and everything around her had a lovely fragrance, for I smelled it many times. Often, 77. Cf. V 92. 78. Pierre de Vaux says the horse became “as stiff as a plank of wood.” He omits the part about the vision and Hannequin’s ghostly appearance (V 92).

206 PERRINE DE BAUME when she came back from her raptures the odor coming from her was wondrous, and sometimes one could smell it from far away, such as the time when she was enraptured in the convent at Hesdin on Good Friday, when one could smell it all the way into the chapter. 56. Many times I saw the worthy mouth, tongue, and teeth of our glorious mother and it seemed to me that her teeth were burning and on fire from the great pain she was carrying. I also held her feet, which were on fire, and it seemed to me that they were burning hot. Many times, she asked me for cold water. I myself put it under the soles of her feet. I heard from friar Jehan Croiquoison, who lived for a long time in the convent at Hesdin and certified this, that when he was sent to Burgundy to our glorious mother she told him that Katherine Annette, who was from Ghent and had died in Hesdin, had come to her and had dropped a piece of writing, saying, “Mother, pray for me, I have died.” I also testify that once on the day of the conversion of Saint Paul,79 in the convent at Hesdin, the devil took the little stool on which she was sitting and threw it on the ground, and then he threw the stool backward and broke her foot. And when I came to our glorious mother I found her on the ground and the stool behind her. She told me, “Look what the devil did to me, he often does things like this.” 57. I heard from our glorious mother that once when she was in the convent at Auxonne she rang her little bell and sister Jehanne Rabardelle came to her, holding the handle of the wine pitcher saying everything had been spilled. She came back to our mother very upset, and she said to her, “Go, go.” She left and then found her vessel full and our mother attributed this to this sister because of her great diligence and perfection. Also, at the time when the convent of saint Clare was being built at Pont-à-Mousson in Lorraine,80 there was a venerable friar named Jehan Deschaux who at this place was in mortal danger because two walls had fallen on him. Our glorious mother was then in the convent at Hesdin and I was with her. This accident happened the week of Saint Peter and she learned about it.81 She told friar François Claret that if this friar died in this accident, his soul would be in great peril. 58. Once in the convent at Poligny I was struck by a grave and painful illness in my arm that kept me from sleeping and eating. It lasted two weeks and caused me great unease. I happened to come across our glorious mother who was in that convent. I washed her feet in great pain and she asked me, “What is wrong?” I told 79. January 25. 80. A town in today’s Département de Meurthe-et-Moselle. The convent was constructed between 1444 and 1447 with the support of René of Anjou, king of Naples from 1435 to 1442 and duke of Lorraine from 1431 to 1453; the sisters took possession of the convent after Colette’s death. Destroyed during the French Revolution, it was revived in 1921. 81. June 29 is the feast day of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, venerated as martyrs.

The Life of Saint Colette 207 her, “My arm hurts.” It was very swollen and I had been told that it was gout. I could not find help and she told me, “Take everything off.” And as soon as I loosened my clothes, I was all cured. Once in the convent at Hesdin I had an abscess that quickly grew on Passion Sunday. I was very seriously ill. When our glorious mother learned about this, she told me to lie down in the same place where she had lain. I did what she told me, and after two or three days she told me, “Go and do your job as sacristaine and make your bed in the dormitory.”82 And with these words I was completely cured. I did my job and took my bed to the dormitory. 59. Once, when our glorious mother was abbess of the convent at Poligny, she got up from the table and while walking to her oratory with sister Clare Labeur she said, “What would you say if I had nine abbesses sitting at my table?” And this prediction was fulfilled because all nine women who were sitting at this table became abbesses, including several novices.83 The abovementioned sister Clare was abbess of the convent in Vevey in Savoy; the second, sister Jheane Leon Saugnier abbess in Auxonne; the third, sister Marie d’Orman, abbess of the convent in Hesdin; the fourth, sister Agnes Wisemette, abbess of the convent in Seurre; the fifth, sister Estienne du Tarte, abbess of the convent in Vevey; the sixth, sister Marie de Pois, abbess of three convents, one after the other; the seventh, sister Jehane de Corbeye, abbess of the convent in Aigueperse; the eighth, sister Marie Herenguiere, abbess of the convent in Moulins in Bourbon; and the ninth, sister Huguette du Tarte, abbess of the convent in Hesdin. 60. Our glorious mother sent a message to us at the convent at Auxonne to accompany five or six sisters from there to Besançon where she was at the time. But when we were about to leave, one of us, named sister Jehanne de Jou, died. Then we arrived at the convent in Besançon, as she had requested, and my good father friar Henry, with me present, told our glorious mother which one of these sisters had died and that he commended her soul to her. She responded, “Good father, she came to me earlier than you all did, for when she came toward me she called me three times and said, ‘Mother, I have come at your request,’ and I signaled to her that she should be quiet, thinking she was someone else. Then I turned toward her and I saw that she was as white as snow, and then I recognized her.” 60.2. Also, I have seen and read the letter that our glorious mother sent to my good father friar Henry when she was in her anchorhold in Corbie; she wrote to him as follows, “My father, as soon as you have read this letter come quickly to Corbie, for we have to go and see our holy pope.” Our father friar Henry was at that time in Bray, four lieus from Corbie,84 about to preach to a large crowd 82. On the functions of a sacristaine, see note 158 to V 163.2. 83. This passage is much abbreviated in V 169.2, in which Pierre de Vaux omits the names of the abbesses and does not name their convents. 84. About twelve miles.

208 PERRINE DE BAUME of people waiting for this father. But when he saw the message from our saintly mother, he received the letter with great reverence, kneeling down and kissing it. He read it and said to the people, “Have patience, I beg you, for the recluse in Corbie has asked me to come quickly to her.” Thus he satisfied the people waiting for him by the grace of Our Lord. He diligently came to her and led her to our holy father. I heard from sister Colette,85 who is at present at the convent in Mousson, that she heard our glorious mother say that friar Guillaume Tureal appeared to her at the end of the year when he had died, and he was all white, near her window. And our glorious mother said, “There is friar Guillaume.” 60.3. I heard from my good father friar Henry de Basme that once someone, out of devotion, gave our glorious mother a very beautiful ivory tablet that she loved dearly for the beautiful images of the Passion of Our Lord that were on it. It broke, and she was very distressed. She complained to her good father confessor, who comforted her, saying that he would have it repaired, and indeed he took it and left in order to take it to repair. And while he was on the way he wanted to see the fracture of this tablet and when he opened it,86 confident to find the fracture, he made the sign of the cross. And he found it in one piece, without any fracture or break, just as it had been before. Also, I heard from sister Jehane de la Serrée that she had a great pain in one of her hands, and she did not know how to find a remedy. She decided to go to our glorious mother and ask her to make the sign of the cross over her sick hand; and as she presented herself in order to do this, she [Colette] thought that she presented her hand to her for the sign of the cross for merits that she [Jehane] believed resided in her [Colette], which saddened her, and disdainfully she [Colette] pushed the hand back. And wondrously, through this movement she [Jehane] was entirely cured.87 61. I, sister Perrine named above, saw and always heard people maintain that our glorious mother had a special and singular love and devotion for the holy sacrament of the altar. She had holy mass, where this precious sacrament is consecrated, celebrated every day, no matter where she was, with great devotion and reverence and with an abundance of tears. And often, so that she could hear holy mass even more reverently, she prepared her conscience beforehand by confession. When she was outside the convent for necessary and reasonable business, she publicly heard mass together with other people. When she was inside the convent she heard mass secretly; she did not want anyone to be present except the person who celebrated holy mass or some other person close to her who administered it, for she did not want any special graces that Our Lord granted her 85. Another sister Colette. 86. This tablet was most likely a diptych that could be opened. Note that in V 106 the tablet breaks because of “the work of the devil.” 87. See notes 123 to V 103 on the reasons for Colette’s attitude.

The Life of Saint Colette 209 during these masses to be revealed. And although she had great reverence and devotion for all the masses that were celebrated before the sisters in her presence, she had incomparably more for the masses that were celebrated before her alone. When she was in her private and secret place, she felt greater fire and fervent love and devotion, and during these masses, when the moment of the elevation of the precious body of Our Lord arrived, she adored it with such profound humility and fear, and with such great pity that it seemed she would dissolve in tears, sighing with such anguish that those who saw her, both from the inside and from the outside, felt great compassion and admiration. I heard from our good father friar Henry and friar François Claret that our glorious mother, during the sacrament of the altar, had such a marvelous and great knowledge of the worthy excellence and most holy presence of Our Lord that many times those who were present clearly believed that He revealed and showed Himself to her with special grace. And after her adoration her spirit often remained enraptured. 62. I heard from our good father friar Pierre d’Aisy and friar Thiebault that often our glorious mother had, at the elevation of the precious body of Our Lord, clear knowledge about the person who was celebrating holy mass, that is, whether he was in a good state or not. And so that no one could ever discern a special grace given to her, and so that she could help the conscience of the celebrant and for him to find a salutary remedy for the defects he harbored secretly, she made known to him that she knew the cause of his defects and the manner in which he needed to correct himself, without him or anyone else learning how she could have knowledge of this. I have seen that many religious and also secular people desired and made an effort to be in the oratory of our glorious mother when mass was being celebrated before her, in order to see how she adored Our Lord and in order to hear the pitiful sighing and the tears she shed in His glorious presence. But she did not consent to this, unless they were exceptionally spiritual people or close to her. Therefore, some of the people that could not enter the oratory hid in a place near it in order to secretly hear the sighs, crying, and plaints that she uttered before Our Lord, but one could not hide anything from her. She told friar François Claret and friar Jehan Millon that she was most distressed that she could not adore Our Lord with her spirit in peace when she felt people near her, hidden in order to listen to her out of curiosity. I heard her say that she could not help but sigh greatly at the Elevation of Our Lord even if many people were present, because she felt the grandeur and power of the king of heaven over the world, which is nothing. 62.2. Nonetheless I have seen that when she heard holy mass, whether inside or outside of the convent, and although she had the same feelings and knowledge in public that she had in private, she did not show the pleasure that God gave her in these moments as openly in public as she did in secret. When she wanted to receive Our Lord, she shed abundant tears, crying and sighing so much that sometimes I

210 PERRINE DE BAUME found she had cried so much that it seemed she had been dragged from the river, she was so wet.88 And as soon as she had received Him she was enraptured from just after midnight, when she had received Him, until terce and sometimes till noon. And sometimes I saw that her face looked like that of an angel after her raptures, she was so luminous and beautiful to look at. Her words were strong, praising and commending the great and infinite goodness of Our Lord, urging us to love, know, and desire spiritual goods and to avoid and condemn transitory things that are changeable and unstable. And I heard my good father friar Henry and friar François Claret say that for an entire year she received the precious body of Our Lord every day; and I have seen evident signs of this from the feast day of Saint Francis to the day of the Purification of the Virgin.89 With the great and difficult tasks she had to accomplish, this devotion and fervor were her refuge. I also heard from friar Henri, from father de Reims and from friar François Claret that Our Lord wanted her to do some work that was worthy of great commendation, but that she did not want to consent to do it, fearing that someone might think that within her there was some favor or grace from God. But He made her consent through the holy sacrament of the altar: she could not swallow the species of this sacrament,90 and they stayed in her mouth until she had consented. Sometimes she was forced, after receiving the precious body of Our Lord and not being able to swallow them, to return to her good father confessor to find out what to do with it, and then, after his advice, she consented to doing the will of Our Lord, and immediately she was able to swallow it. I have seen in many of the towns where her convents were located that the good townspeople, out of reverence for her presence, sent her some of their goods, like bread, wine, or other things, but she never wanted to touch or taste them. Rather, she had them distributed to the sick or others who needed them, or to all the sisters together. And sometimes when she was gravely ill, people forced her to eat something, and then what was left over was so little that it was not enough for the other sisters in the community. She would still eat it, but was very sad and troubled. When some friars came to visit her, on administrative business or out of devotion, or when they came to ask for some alms for the love of Our Lord, or if someone indigent and needy came before her, it goes without saying that she charitably distributed and gave them what they needed. And when she had nothing to give, seeing the indigence and need of these people, she showed great sadness because she could not respond to these needs according to her saintly desire. In areas where wine was expensive, she did not want to drink, except if she was forced to do so by illness. And where it was abundant and cheap, she took a 88. On the spiritual value of excessive weeping see note 210 to V 234. 89. That is, from October 4 until February 2. 90. The two species of communion are the bread and the wine, representing the body and blood of Christ; the former is the Communion host, given as a round wafer of unleavened bread.

The Life of Saint Colette 211 little or only just enough to moisten her mouth. I have seen it. The only refreshment she accepted was water, and just as wine drinkers recognize the best wine by its taste, so she did with water, knowing which was the best. Sometimes in order to make it healthier she had it boiled and put in a glass vial, and then she drank a little when needed. Of grievous pains 63. As for her pains and illnesses, she suffered them sweetly for the love of Our Lord during the entire time I spent with our glorious mother. And although they seemed very grievous to me, she suffered them patiently, as if they seemed sweet to her. Among the illnesses she suffered and that tormented her there was a swelling of the body that increased and decreased, and although it was very painful and grievous for her, she suffered it with benign patience. 63.2. And also often other illnesses attacked her and she suffered pains throughout the day. Because of these pains she wanted to lie down in bed, although she found little or no rest in it, for as soon as she lay down new pains gripped her that lasted all night until morning or sometimes till noon. Nonetheless she bore it all patiently. This is what I heard her say. I also saw that on Sundays and feast days she suffered greater pains and more painful maladies than on other days. And I even heard from friar Pierre de Reims and friar François Claret that her suffering was more grievous and greater the more solemn the feast day was. For Sundays and other feast days these pains would begin at vespers the day before, continuing until after compline on Sunday or the feast day, and the pains on the greatest feast days, such as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and others, began the day before these feasts at noon, and they continued until these feast days were over, most vehemently and painfully. And if someone came to speak to her when she was in this state—someone who could not be easily denied her presence—and she decided to speak with these people, the pains suddenly stopped and as long as they spoke with each other she felt no discomfort or pain. But it was a piteous fact that as soon as these people were no longer in her presence, for the same amount of time that they had been there this pain grew twice as bad. The increase of this pain made her suffering so grievous that if the people to whom she spoke while her pain had ceased or was suspended had known about the grievous and unbearable pain that she would have to endure afterward, they would have felt great compassion. All this I saw and learned about as long as I lived with her. And because her good fathers confessor truly knew about these pains and suffering she told them in confidence, “God gave great grace and did a favor to the glorious holy martyrs who are in paradise; they were roasted, burnt, sawn into pieces, skinned, and cut into pieces, killed, etc.”91 I heard her say that sometimes it seemed that she had 91. “Etc.” is in the manuscript.

212 PERRINE DE BAUME fire in her mouth that burnt her up and made her suffer great pain. I have seen that there seemed to be burning coal that scorched her eyes, which nonetheless were beautiful to look at and pleasant to behold. I heard her say that sometimes it seemed to her that there two little stars hanging from her beautiful eyes that turned when she turned, causing her great pain and trouble since they kept her from praying and looking at her book.92 She diligently sought a suitable natural remedy. She would have gladly lost all the other limbs rather than her eyes, with which she saw the precious body of Our Lord at the holy sacrament of the altar and with which she could serve Our Lord vocally by reading her books. And although she sought diligently, it pleased Our Lord that they were afflicted and hurt like the other parts of her body. Thus, as far as I could see, she bore this pain that lasted until her glorious end. 63.3. I heard from our father Henry that when our glorious mother returned from seeing our Holy Father the pope, she was so grievously ill on the road that it seemed she would die and give up her spirit. Through the strength of this illness her tongue was so far back in her throat that she seemed to have none. She lost the power of speech and could barely breathe, which greatly distressed all her companions. Her good father confessor and the noble lady who had accompanied her stood close to the bed where was lying and conferred about her illness in great distress. Then appeared a very beautiful lady in the semblance of a beautiful and very gracious virgin who approached the bed of the sick woman, greeted her sweetly and asked for two fresh eggs; she put one of them in her hands and with the other opened her mouth, drew forth her tongue and put two egg yolks into her mouth. Then she closed her mouth. After that, she embraced and kissed her and suddenly vanished. Thus our glorious mother was cured. I heard it from our glorious mother, and her good father confessor assured me several times that it was the glorious Virgin Mary who had thus benignly visited and cured her. 64. Another time when she was at the convent of Besançon she fell gravely ill. People thought she would die. But during the illness she was enraptured spiritually. She saw our Lord sitting on a throne, and before him stood Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Clare,93 asking Him that she should die from this illness so that she could be in their company. But Saint Francis, kneeling before Our Lord, asked for the opposite, saying, “Alas, Lord, did you give her to me just to take her away from me so soon? I ask you, please let her still remain with me, for she is very necessary in this world for the reform of my Orders.” At this, Our Lord graciously granted his request and she was cured immediately. And when she came out of her rapture, she complained piteously to herself: “Alas, this good 92. This could possibly be a migraine aura. 93. Mary Magdalene, who is seen with Clare of Assisi in this vision, is one of the women who follow Jesus, witness his crucifixion, and discover his empty tomb after his resurrection. She is also the first person to whom the risen Jesus appears (Mark 16: 9–11; John 20:10–18).

The Life of Saint Colette 213 man Saint Francis did not want me to die, nor did he want me to go and be with my Lord. I am very unhappy about this.” I heard this from my good father Henry and from friar Pierre de Lyon and from friar François Claret.94 Often she revealed these kinds of things when she came out of her raptures, after which she was so filled with divine things that she did not perceive anything she said until she had come back to being herself, and then she perceived what she had said. Then she humbled and scorned herself so profoundly that it was a marvel to behold. Of the great knowledge Our Lord gave her 65. Our glorious mother sister Colette possessed little acquired knowledge, but she was plentifully filled with knowledge inspired by the grace of the blessed Holy Spirit. Thus she knew clearly many things, both present and future, without any human being revealing or teaching them to her. I heard from sister Marie de Pois that there was a friar of the Order of Saint Francis, a doctor of theology and venerable learned man, master at the University of Paris named master Pierre Psalmon, who was extremely devoted to her ever since she began to reform the Order of madame Saint Clare. It happened that he fell gravely and mortally ill just as she had decided to visit some of her convents and was to pass rather close to the convent where he was ill. She knew in her spirit the mortal illness of his body and soul,95 and, in order to help and assist him, she entered the convent where he was and visited him and found him in a state close to death, and the life had already left his legs, and, as he learned later, he was on the path to perdition. She called him softly by his name and over him she made the sign of the cross which she held in special reverence, and she said to him, “Take heart and have hope in the goodness of Our Lord,” and soon after she left. And the sick man heard and recognized her and was so greatly comforted by God’s grace and by her merits that soon afterward he joyfully got up, cured from his corporeal illness. And in order to be cured of the illness of the soul, he sought her out and presented himself humbly to her in order to serve her sisters for the rest of his life like a person who had received life through her. She consented to his staying, not with the intention of receiving any service from him but to help him find a cure for his soul for the illness of sin. And in order to achieve this, she lovingly urged him to make a full confession and to loyally purify his conscience without keeping anything back and hiding anything. And in order to do this she assigned him a sympathetic confessor to whom he did not confess all his sins, whether out of shame or whether he forgot only God knows. He returned to her saying that he had done a good and complete 94. Henry is Colette’s confessor Henry de Baume, and the author’s uncle. François Claret is a friar who appears many times in the Lives. Pierre de Lyon is another friar at Besançon. This vision is not in Pierre de Vaux’s biography. 95. Perrine interprets here what Pierre means by “the first and second death” (V 128).

214 PERRINE DE BAUME confession. She answered that he had not, and recited to him several great sins that he had committed in the past. He wondered greatly at this and knew that this was true. He thought that no one but God knew about this. He returned in order to confess them, then came back to her saying that he had said and confessed everything. She said no and recited several other great sins that he had committed. Three times she sent him back to the sacrament of penance and confession until he was salvifically purified. For this reason, he made it known publicly that he possessed the life of his body and that of his soul through her. And where before he had felt great love and devotion for her, he now felt them even more, and he was so wondrously afraid and in awe of her that he did not dare to do anything without thinking that she always saw him or that he was in her presence. He himself has many times remembered this and talked about it. The convent where he was, was the one in Orbe, which is one of the poorest of the Order.96 66. In the city of Besançon there was a notable man named Jehan de Cologne,97 a citizen of this city and a good merchant, an honorable man of good reputation, great charity and commendation. He believed himself to be as healthy and prosperous as he had ever been, but she had clear knowledge of the fact that his life would not be long and that the end of his days was near. She had him called to her and alerted him in a kind and loving manner. Among the salutary things she told him was that his conscience should be clear and that death was certain. Finally, she urged him to prepare his conscience and to make a last will, which he consented to do and promptly did. And as soon as he had executed the tasks that he had consented to do, he lay down sick in his bed, and with this illness he ended his days just as she had clearly predicted. I heard it at the convent at Besançon, where it was common knowledge. Another time, when I was in the convent at Poligny, a notable bourgeoise from the city of Châlons-sur-Saône, who knew our glorious mother very well, came to visit her out of devotion at the convent at Poligny. She learned from her that she would die soon. She [Colette] made her confess at the convent in order to protect her conscience, and as soon as she had returned home, she fell mortally ill and ended her days, just as she [Colette] had predicted. 67. I heard from the good father Pierre de Reims that he himself98 once went to Rome on business for our glorious mother. He did something secret that he thought no one would know about except God and he himself. But as soon as he 96. Pierre tells the same story without identifying the friar or the place (V 128). The convent at Orbe was founded between 1426 and 1428 by Jeanne of Montfaucon-Montbéliard, wife of Louis of Chalon, prince of Orange. Jeanne’s daughter-in-law, Louise of Savoy, entered that convent after the death of her husband, Hugues of Chalon. 97. “Couloinge” in V 132. 98. Pierre does not name himself in his own text (V 135). Perrine omits “and he thought he was doing something good,” which Pierre uses as a justification for this trip.

The Life of Saint Colette 215 had returned and he was in her presence she said to him, “Why did you do such a thing?”, telling him exactly what he had done. Then the friar was ashamed and realized very well that one could hide nothing from her. I heard from our glorious mother about the administration of her convents, that when everything was in good order, she had no special knowledge about it. She knew about those that were far away and from which she was absent just as much as about the one where she was present. And as to the mistakes that someone made and she knew about, she talked about them publicly or secretly with the Visitators so that they could take care of them. Many times she told the sisters she was close to, “I tell you, my sisters, that Our Lord granted me as great a knowledge of our Order of Saint Francis at the age of nine as he had at the age of thirty or forty.” I heard her say this many times. Many people of high or low social standing came oftentimes to her, some out of devotion, others to receive some spiritual consolation or some advice or some exhortation. But for most of the people who came to profit from her advice, she knew even before they entered her oratory that they were there, what they wanted, and if she was going to give them a response. I heard this from our good father friar Henry. Also, I heard from our good father Pierre de Reims and friar François Claret that her fathers confessor and the friars knew about the great knowledge that God had given her and that therefore, no matter where they were, even far away, they always feared her as if they were in her presence, and if they did something reprehensible, as soon as they were in her presence again she kindly and benignly pointed it out to them. I have seen many times that when her nuns had some secret desolation in their hearts, she called them sweetly into her presence and talked to them about the matter that distressed them and consoled them. Thus they knew for certain that she knew their hearts and thoughts clearly. 68. Once, in the convent at Besançon where our glorious mother stayed, I heard from several sisters and especially from a novice in that convent that she had been sorely tempted to leave the Order and did not dare to declare this temptation to anyone. But our glorious mother, knowing about it immediately, asked her to come and see her and revealed this secret temptation to her, so much so that the novice recognized her fault before God, and then showed great devotion before our glorious mother, who decided that she should take her vows. Also, there was a young girl, close to her, who had some secret sins on her conscience. She knew about them and tried to get her to confess, but knew in her spirit that the girl would not. In order to get this sister to confess to the confessor in the convent where she was, she sent me to her. I gave the message to her in such a loud voice that the confessor heard it and thus she went to confess. And for many other people as well she knew about the danger they were in for want of true confession. And she would not give up until these people were safe in their conscience through confession.

216 PERRINE DE BAUME Another time in the convent at Besançon our glorious mother was at the Divine Office with other sisters standing at the benches, and at the other end of the bench stood another sister, and another was standing in the choir who, during the Office, was occupied with vague and strange thoughts. Our glorious mother knew about these thoughts and asked another sister to tell her that she should stop them until the end of the Office. The sister corrected herself and made a diligent effort to put away these thoughts. She herself told me. Once when in France there were the great wars and divisions, the two parties had a large assembly, and each party thought they were right, and they were determined to start a battle; they were already on the battlefield all set to go. Our glorious mother knew with certainty that if they were to start the battle there would be terrible killing and bloodshed on both sides, and even worse, that many souls would be damned forever, which caused her great sadness and distress. She put the facts before God with a great abundance of tears, and she urgently sent exhortative letters to the leaders of each party through friar Jehan Millon. At that time our glorious mother was in the convent at Besançon. The friar and others did due diligence by explaining the risk of a great loss of souls and bodies, and also that the duke would lose if they began the battle.99 This exhortation and explanation prevented the execution of the plans. And thus perdition and tragedy were averted. 69. At the beginning of the construction of the convent in Poligny there was a novice who was mortally ill. For this reason, our glorious mother told one of the other sisters that she should watch out that the novice should not die without her being present, and that she should come and get her before her death because she wanted to be present. It happened that the sister who watched over her fell asleep, because of fatigue from work or because of negligence, and while she was asleep the novice died. Our glorious mother was desolate over this death because she had not been present as she had wished, and she blamed and reprimanded the sister for her great negligence. And she had foreknowledge of this sister’s death and predicted it by saying, “Because you did not pay enough attention to the words I said to you, I tell you for sure that you will die all alone and that there will be no one present at your death.” I was at the convent when this sister, the one who had been in charge of watching over the novice, died alone, as it had been predicted. I heard from the sisters in that convent how this sister died alone in her last illness. For six hours she lost the power of speech and thought she would never be able to speak again, and she had not yet received the holy sacraments. The little handmaid, our glorious mother, charitably visited her. When she saw her in such a state, she felt great pity and compassion for her and turned to holy prayer, asking Our Lord that He would restore her speech in order for her to receive the holy sacraments. As 99. Pierre does not mention a duke in V 139. Perrine adds this detail, but still does not tell us who was involved and when this happened.

The Life of Saint Colette 217 soon as the prayer was finished, she could speak again and made her confession and received the precious body of Our Lord and the other sacrament with great devotion, and after that she died, as had been predicted. 70. Once I was in the convent at Vevey where our glorious mother also was. There, she had certain foreknowledge of the death of a noble and devout young lady named Jehanne de Vannot, who was staying in Poligny and believed herself to be in good health. Our glorious mother let her know that she would have liked to see her, but that she would never see her in this world or speak to her. And she never did, for shortly afterward she fell mortally ill and died. I heard this from our glorious mother. Also, I heard from our good father Pierre de Reims that there was a young girl who seemed to those who saw her to have a good reputation, a sweet demeanor, and a good disposition; she seemed to be a good religious girl. This girl made a request to our glorious mother very humbly and devoutly,100 but she did not want to grant her request because she knew of an unsuitable secret that this young girl kept. Her good father confessor and several others, seeing her good reputation, interceded for her and asked that she should be received. She answered them, “You want to force me through your intercession to receive her, but I tell you that she will never be a professed nun.” And what our glorious mother had predicted, happened. When the first year after her reception had come to an end, she still did not know the Divine Office, and for that reason was not professed. In the second year she had so many temptations that she returned to the world. It seemed to her that she could not observe the Rule. 71. I heard that our glorious mother told a good father named friar Jehan Foucault that, at the beginning of the reform of the Order of Saint Clare, our Holy Father the pope gave her the convent of the Friars Minor in Dole in Burgundy, in order to reform it and to populate it with friars and sisters of her choice.101 But she realized that in the province of Burgundy, or in others near there, there were no reformed friars, and that several notable fathers of the community came humbly to her, requesting that she should help and save them. And realizing that she needed good friars to assist her poor sisters, both in worldly and spiritual matters, she put these notable fathers in charge at this beginning of the reform, and they were so zealous and so truly observant of the estate of poverty that in a short time they proved so useful that [in the convent] there now was a group of great reputation and perfection, who were of great help to her and her sisters. 72. A short time after that came others from the Order of Saint Francis, but not to assist the sisters. In order to take away the convent from them, they interceded 100. Perrine omits here the nature of the request: to be received into the Order (V 148). 101. On the Dole affair, see the Introduction. Pierre de Vaux alludes to this episode only when he speaks of hostilities Colette had to face (V 188).

218 PERRINE DE BAUME so much with the lords of the city and the Parlement102 that the good fathers at the convent no longer knew what to do or to say. I heard this from our glorious mother. They turned humbly to God, commending themselves to the holy prayers and orations of our glorious mother, who did not fail them; for she and several of the sisters continuously recited psalms and other things for their cause, and I myself did my part. During this time one of the lords, named Monseigneur le pardessus,103 seeing that they could not come to an agreement with these friars, swore that the next day he would demand a vote from the lords, and that the [other] friars would get the majority of the votes and thus acquire the convent. This decision much distressed a notable man, named Estienne de Grand Val, from the city of Besançon, seeing that these recently arrived friars spoke like this in order to acquire the convent. He feared that it would be taken away from our glorious mother and her friars, and that it would be given to the others. But as soon as he was outside the city, he saw our glorious mother miraculously floating in the air to meet him, and she signaled to him with her hands, shouting loudly, “Master Estienne, go home, go home quickly, and you will win the case.” When he heard this he hastily returned home, as he testified several times, and I also heard from my good father friar Henry that the good master told this to several people in public. When the time came to vote, the votes were equally divided until master Estienne cast his vote, which was in favor of our glorious mother and her friars. And through this vote the convent was returned to them. 72.2. When this law was passed many nobles and people from the community gave them no more alms, because they favored the other side, and thus the friars who had remained were in great need. Among others, the mother abbess from Auxonne, named sister Agnes de Waux, and all her sisters, felt great compassion for these friars, seeing all the good the friars did for them and now were in such great need. And they did not know how to help them because they were more than fifty friars, as I heard say. I heard the following from sister Agnes: in the convent at Auxonne they had only a little wheat in a barrel that held about six or seven septiers for the needs of the sisters, and also the alms that were given to them and that they needed.104 Nonetheless, confident in God’s goodness and the merits of our glorious mother, they had bread made from this wheat and sent them a donkey load of it, continuing to do this for a year. Thus the two convents were supplied with wheat thanks to the grace of Our Lord, and for an entire year the barrel did not need to be refilled. 73. Also, I heard that our glorious mother told the good mother sister Agnes de Waux and her mistress—and our good father friar Henry said it as well—that 102. That is, the law courts. 103. A juge rapporteur, or reporting judge. 104. The Burgundian town of Auxonne is about ten miles from Dole. Six or seven septiers correspond to about 150 liters.

The Life of Saint Colette 219 when she was in the anchorhold in Corbie the devil descended through the chimney and broke the wall of her anchorhold, making a hole large enough for a person to pass through. But she put a painting of Our Lady, painted on canvas,105 against this break in the wall. When she wanted to take it away, she found the wall miraculously repaired as if it had never been broken. Several times the demons from hell molested and attacked her, trying to prevent her devotions, good purpose, and holy intentions, and they were very violent, appearing in various shapes and manners, as I heard from her good fathers confessor, such as good father de Reims and father Henry. Likewise, I heard from sister Agnes Wisemele that she saw the face and body of our glorious mother all black and injured from the blows and beatings inflicted by the demons. Sister Agnes told me several times, and also sister Jacquette the elder. 74. And also I heard our glorious mother tell that once when she was in her oratory at night and wanted to pray, demons came to attack her; they beat her, causing her great misery and anguish. Afterward they threw her into a window opening that was so narrow that she could not move or speak or breathe, and she remained there till six o’clock in the morning when one of the sisters found her in that state. The sister could not get her out of the window opening because she was stuck in there so tightly. She then called a lay brother named friar Regnault106 in order to pull her out of the window, and he could not pull her out either until he had cut one of the vertical parts of the window. 74.2. Our glorious mother loved solitude, and was often alone during the time I lived with her. I saw that often she would not leave her oratory even for a little while in order to refresh herself physically, nor would she go out into the garden; she was always in her cell. And when she had to leave the convent for necessary business to visit her convents, no matter which hostel she came to, she always did everything in her power to keep enclosure. She had a tiny little space constructed with drapes or blankets, and there she would stay immobile and without leaving it, until she had to come out. When she was visiting her convents during wars and divisions and was in a region that favored one party, she was seen as favoring the other party; and then when she was in the region that favored that other party, people said that she was part of the other side, but God knows that she desired the good for both parties, both physically and spiritually, and how many prayers she said and had her sisters and nuns say to that effect. 74.3. Once I was at the convent of Poligny and I heard several friars there tell about it, and also this very year we went to the place where the following events happened. Our glorious mother went to one of her convents in a town called 105. Paintings on canvas, rather than on wood, were still relatively rare in the early fifteenth century. 106. V 154 adds that friar Regnault had been a carpenter before entering religious life. The scene is depicted on folio 103r of MS 8. Friar Regnault is also mentioned in P 77.

220 PERRINE DE BAUME Decize,107 which was in great trouble and tormented by the soldiers in the abovementioned war. This town was diligently guarded. 75. Some people said that even though she [Colette] came from the other side she was favorably inclined toward the town;108 others said that she came to this convent sent by the devil from hell, and things could have gone terribly wrong, as is seen by the following: the sacristaine of this convent, who was supposed to ring matins at midnight, woke up between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. She thought it was midnight, and this is why she went to ring matins as she usually did. The watchman who was guarding the town, a big and strong man in these perilous times, heard the nuns’ bell ring at a different time than usual, that is, between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., and thought that armed soldiers were mounting the walls, and he believed that some treason was under way and that someone had rung the bell to signal for some soldiers to come and take the town. For this reason, they109 were extremely troubled, furious, and worried. They assembled in order to kill and destroy the nuns and were resolved to do great harm to the convent. And indeed, they came, and when they approached the gate of the convent, God, by His grace and thanks to the prayers and merits of our holy mother, found a fitting solution: he shortened the night and time and made the time and the clock conform to the intention of the nun who had thought she was ringing matins at midnight.110 The clock, which did not usually have a good sound, now loudly sounded 1 a.m. even though it was only 11 p.m., and everyone en route to the convent could hear it and counted the hours. The wisest among them, when they heard the clock strike 1 a.m., blamed and accused each other, saying, “We are evil people who are thinking bad things about these good people and devout nuns who serve God so diligently and watch over us better with their holy prayers than we do.” And so they returned to town downcast and saddened by the evil deeds they had unjustly embarked on. And the night and time were shortened, for daylight came soon, as if it had been midnight when the bell was rung, and the sisters marveled greatly when they realized this. This is what I have heard the sisters in this convent tell. 107. Decize is a small town in Burgundy, in the Département de la Nièvre, between Bourges and Macon. Colette founded the convent there between 1419 and 1423 with the support of Bonne of Artois, wife of Philip II, count of Nevers, and later of Philip III, duke of Burgundy (Philip the Good). The town’s medieval ramparts still exist. 108. Decize’s location on the border between the areas under control of the French king Charles VII and those of the Burgundians may explain the term aultre partie used in the French original. Since Perrine does not indicate a date, however, it is difficult to say which precise period she refers to. The Treaty of Arras in 1435 made peace between Charles VII and the duke of Burgundy. 109. The masculine ils in the French indicates that Perrine speaks about the watchman and his colleagues here. 110. See note 161 to V 167 for the biblical story of Joshua and God’s manipulating the course of the sun.

The Life of Saint Colette 221 76. I heard from our good father friar Henri and from sister Agnes Visemelle that when our glorious mother was in the south, in Languedoc, she felt and knew and revealed the death of our Holy Father Pope Martin and the division of our mother Holy Church; and she had foreknowledge of and predicted the end of the Council of Basel and the election of pope Felix three years ahead of time, an event that caused her great pain in her heart.111 Also, I have seen and known that our glorious mother much loved the state of innocence. She loved seeing children who represented this state especially well. Once, when I was in the convent at Poligny, a little child, very beautiful and pleasant, the son of Jeham Courrart, a notable and noble person, was presented to her, and she saw the child with great joy. But as she saw it, she knew about the child’s end and perdition and said the following words: “I humbly pray to God that if this little child will do something in the future by which it will be deprived of the vision of God, it may die very soon.” The child left in the same good health in which it had been brought to her. But as soon as it returned to the hostel, it fell mortally ill and died. The parents were very distressed and surprised that death had come so suddenly to their child. And for this reason, they went to the sisters’ convent to find out whether they knew anything. There, the words that our glorious mother had said about their child were revealed to them. Because of these words they were consoled and subjected their will to her who could never fail them. 76.2. Our glorious mother was poisoned twice and by God’s grace she survived without any harm, and it was common knowledge among the sisters who had done it, and she knew as well but graciously forgave them. She made me feel the swelling in her back, but through Our Lord’s grace she was saved from the danger of death. As for the love she felt for Our Lord, it manifested itself so greatly and with such goodness that I can hardly describe it. For often, when she heard someone pronounce some beautiful and sweet words using the precious and sweet name of Our Lord, she lost the use of all her senses, and her understanding and all other powers of her soul were so perfectly conjoined with God that she remained enraptured of Our Lord. And many times when someone wanted to speak to her about something that needed to be done, one had to watch out not to say anything that caused her emotion, for suddenly she would be in a kind of trance and it would be quite some time before one could speak to her, and she felt great charity for other people. She was fervent when it came to aiding people both spiritually and physically; her spirit never knew any rest unless she was fulfilling the needs of others as much as possible. 111. See also P 53. Martin V died on February 20, 1431. Amadeus VIII, duke of Savoy, was elected pope as Felix V on November 5, 1439. Considered the last of the antipopes, he abdicated ten years later. For the Council of Basel and this schism, see the Introduction, 3–4. See also V 169 and note 165 to that paragraph.

222 PERRINE DE BAUME 77. Also I heard her say that she had a such great desire to help the poor souls in purgatory and alleviate their grievous pains that she would gladly take on these pains herself if this had been possible.112 And for this reason, every day she said special prayers for their liberation and deliverance from these pains, and it pleased her that every day of the year, with the exception of three days during Holy Week, the sisters in all her convents said the vigils to three psalms and three lessons in their communities. When it happened that in one of her convents where she was present one of her sisters or friars passed from this life to death, if it was a sister she would go to her in the infirmary, and if it was a friar she had him carried to her at her little grilled opening to be present at his death.113 And then she would invoke God’s grace and mercy for the souls of those who had died with all the power and all the grace Our Lord had given her; she prayed that they should always be firm in the Catholic faith, and fortified against the arrival and attacks of demons who could appear at this moment. I have seen this many times. Also, as for her own illnesses, maladies, adversities, pains, anguish, problems, and events that caused her great pain and spiritual and physical anguish, all the time I lived with her she bore and suffered them joyfully and patiently without being perturbed. And sometimes, when because of the great anguish and pains she suffered—which was very visible—people would feel sorry for her, she responded, “I do not easily complain over such little pain and things.” I heard and saw this many times. And for those who persecuted her and caused her harm and tribulation, she wanted to do good to them as was her vocation, and in fact she ordered people to honor them and grant their requests. And sometimes she went to see them to provide for all their needs as long as they lived, as one can see by the two good fathers friar Jehan Foucault and friar Regnault.114 Several people made an effort to persecute her, both those close to her and strangers. They were nobles, and rich people, and clerics, as I have heard her say. And I myself have seen that she asked people close to her and her good friends to stay in one of her convents in order to dispel the ignorance they displayed. And in fact, she showed such great concern for their salvation that through her prayers and orations some were freed from great dangers, such as risking the perdition of body and soul. Although she did as much corporeal and spiritual good to them 112. Cf. V 179 and note 170 to that paragraph. 113. Cf. V 180, in which Pierre refers to “the grille in the church.” Some of these openings or windows—which allowed very limited communication between the sisters and the male friars—had grilles, while others had a rotating shutter device. The convent parlor also had a grille to allow the nuns to speak not only with the friars, but with other visitors (such as family or friends). 114. Jean Foucault, the friar who opposed Colette’s reforms at Dole, is obviously one of her persecutors (see the Introduction, 17–18). It is interesting, however, to see friar Regnault’s name here; he is the lay brother who helped free Colette from the window where she had been stuck tight by demons in P 74.

The Life of Saint Colette 223 as she could and showed them affection, sometimes they caused her tribulations. She suffered more for the offense to God and the harm they did to their souls and conscience than for the persecutions they inflicted on her. Some rich people slandered her, not knowing about the evangelical poverty she kept, saying that she was a powerful woman, lending money at usurious rates and running a money changing business in three or four places.115 They said this unjustly and in an evil manner, for she would have preferred to be flayed alive rather than even think about actions like these. Her life and works have shown this. 78. Some time before the death of our glorious mother, which occurred in her sixty-sixth year, when she was still in the convent at Hesdin, I heard her say that although she was old and had suffered many travails and pains that had caused her to be very weak, she was nonetheless ready to begin her good works again as if she had all her strength, and as if she had never accomplished anything good before. I have never seen, as far as I remember, that she was ever found to be remiss in doing good, or so troubled by bearing her pains that she would not be ready to work with all her power for all things concerning God’s honor and the salvation of souls. And many times, when she had to leave for other convents in order to increase God’s honor, she was so weak and feeble that she could not stand upright. It seemed that she could not even travel a quarter lieu,116 but she courageously undertook the journey and bore the pains and effort for God’s love and honor, saying that she was ready to die when it pleased Our Lord, in the fields or in the town, whatever Our Lord decided. And when those in her company, both men and women, were so weak and worn out that they could not continue, she was lively and fervent, staying up and working hard in her prayers to Our Lord, so much so that it seemed as if she had never suffered. In particular, as long as I lived with her in our holy Order, I have seen that she virtuously persevered in exhausting her body and working till the end in this holy Order for God’s honor and the salvation of souls. 79. Several times she predicted her death. The first time she said that she would not live for more than two years, and this happened. This was in the convent at Hesdin, the evening before the Purification of Our Lady. Then later she said that her life would be short, and that she would die soon.117 I heard from the good father de Reims and sister Marie, and from several sisters from Ghent who were in Arras when she died, that for three weeks before her death she said firmly that she was going to Our Lord. She called together the sisters and exhorted and admonished them sweetly and affectionately to be true 115. Pierre de Vaux names Paris, Bruges, and Ghent. On moneylending and usury, see notes 177 to V 189. 116. A lieu is about 4.5 km, or 3 miles. 117. That is, February 1, the evening before this feast day, which is also known as Candlemas.

224 PERRINE DE BAUME and good nuns, loving God above all, and keeping their rule, and its statutes and declarations, loyally, and to give to it everything they had vowed and promised. And she also gave them several other holy and salutary admonitions, and afterward she predicted the manner of her end, telling them, “Don’t expect me to tell you anything about my death, for I will tell you nothing nor speak to you.” Among other things, she told her father confessor Pierre de Reims something that he already knew well for she had revealed it to him before, namely about the reform of the order of Saint Francis that Our Lord forced her to undertake. Here is what she said: “My father, what I did through Our Lord, I did despite my being a great sinner and very defective, and if I had to do it again, I don’t know how I would do it any differently than I did it.” This is what I heard from her good father confessor. On February 26 [1447], the day of Holy Sunday, she said confession in the morning and at mass received the precious body of Our Lord. The following night she received a special visit from Our Lord. After this visit she was as in a state of innocence. She did not care about any of the things in this world except to pray to God, both with her voice and in her mind. And doing this, she experienced an unusual weakness, which made her father confessor think that she would soon go to Our Lord. And because of this fear he gave her the sacrament of extreme unction. Afterward he read the holy Passion of Our Lord in her presence and when he had finished, he realized by some signs that it was not yet the hour of her death, and he therefore left her presence and the next morning, a Monday, at six o’clock her confessor went, as was his habit, to celebrate holy mass before her. He found her ready to hear it, just as she had been the other times when she was in good health, and he greatly wondered at the fact that she had thus recovered briefly and knew that this could not have happened without God’s grace. He celebrated the mass, and she sweetly and devoutly heard it and adored the precious body of Our Lord with great reverence and an abundance of tears. She did so on every day of the week with the same reverence and devotion and she heard mass till Saturday, which was the last one she heard. On March 4 she heard mass four times, and the last one she heard with marvelous devotion and reverence and an even greater abundance of tears than when she had heard the others. After the special visit of Our Lord she received four things. The first one was that she suffered a greater pain than she usually did, and she said to her father confessor that Our Lord had given it to her and that it would last until her last breath. The second thing was that she wanted to devote all her time to holy prayer and did not want to hear about anything else. Thirdly, without fail, she heard mass. The fourth thing was that although she did not leave her oratory she knew as perfectly everything that was going in the convent as if she had been present. 80. Her father confessor and companion did not want her to give up her soul to God without them being present, as they should, and they entered her oratory ahead of time, so that they were sure to be present when needed. They were not

The Life of Saint Colette 225 yet in her presence, but immediately she knew that they were in the oratory and told them so. Friday at vespers she spoke sweetly and consolingly to the friars, and Saturday after mass she humbly took leave of them, and soon after the eight o’clock prayer she walked toward her bed and made the sign of the cross that she had so dearly loved. She said, “Here is my last bed,” and she lay down on the bed dressed the way she always was, with the black veil that our Holy Father the pope had given her on her head when her made her a professed nun and abbess. And what she had predicted happened. She immediately closed her eyes and mouth and never opened them again, and yet, she knew everything that people were doing around her, as if she could see it clearly. Believing they could give her comfort, the sisters brought her a feather pillow, but she realized what it was and threw it behind her.118 Without speaking or looking at anything she lay for forty-eight hours on this bed, suffering the pains that God had sent her specially, making no movement or giving a sign by her face or any other limb; she showed only honesty and holiness without changing color. The following Monday, on the sixth of March in the year of Our Lord 1447 at eight o’clock in the morning, she very humbly ended her days in the presence of all the sisters of the convent in Ghent, and of her father confessor and his father companion. Her beautiful and glorious soul left her precious body and returned to her blessed creator. For twelve hours she retained the color with which she had died, then suddenly her body was transformed into marvelous beauty. It was white as snow and the veins that showed on the white were like fine azure, and all her limbs were so beautiful and clean, flexible and movable, fragrant and sweet-smelling that it well appeared that her limbs represented the state of innocence and complete purity. Thus I heard it from her father confessor Pierre de Reims and several people from the convent at Arras who were present while she was dying and at her death. More than thirty thousand people came to visit her, some because of devotion, others because of wonderment. On the third day after her death her beautiful and virginal body, such as it had been, not changed in its beauty, was simply and devoutly buried, as she had ordered a long time before her death. Many times she had said that Our Lord wanted to die for us in poverty and simplicity for love of us, in the open air, without any cover. Similarly, she wanted to be buried simply in the open air, near the cloister and without any shroud or coffin, to be returned to mother earth without anything else. I heard her say this a long time ago when she was still alive. 81. In Savoy, in the convent at Orbe, that she loved so much in her lifetime because of holy poverty that shone forth from there, several sisters heard at the hour of terce a multitude of angels who were sweetly singing a wonderful melody, one that had never been heard before. I heard this from the good father friar Pierre de Reims and from friar Lucas de Argentine. Among these voices there was one 118. On the feather pillow, see note 63 to V 48.

226 PERRINE DE BAUME angelic one that said that the venerable religious sister Colette had gone to God. On the day of her death there was in the convent at Castres,119 among the others, a very devout sister named Cecille, a lay sister who had served our glorious mother in her lifetime. I was with her in the convents at Besançon, Auxonne, Vevey, and Poligny. Throughout her life this sister had a singular love and devotion for her. At the moment of her death, this sister, living far away, at the hour before midnight mentioned above, was saying the one hundred Our Fathers three times when she gloriously and visibly appeared to her and showed her entire person to her, very beautiful and wondrously bright and shining.120 But she could not see the face because of the excessive brightness, which was like a sun shining directly onto her head. This vision took place as the sister was in the dormitory near a window that she could open when she liked, and through this window she saw our glorious mother, who was in the place where she used to be in her oratory and where she showed herself three times to the sister in the brightness and light described above, as long as she was saying the one hundred Our Fathers. 82. Similarly, the good father Pierre de Reims told us that in another convent far from the one in Ghent where she died, there was a sister who desired very much to see her, for she had never seen her, and it seemed to her that if she could only see her, she would feel better for the rest of her life. And in order to fulfill this desire she made a special request, in all her prayers to the glorious Virgin Mary, that she should give her [Colette] the idea to visit the convent where she lived. Among the other prayers she said in honor of the glorious Virgin Mary, she said six thousand Ave Marias, and through God’s goodness and the intercession of this glorious Lady, her desire was fulfilled. For in the night after her death, after matins, she heard someone knock three times in the glorious mother’s oratory so loud that she woke up. Then, after she was fully awake, she heard someone open the door of this oratory and reclose it, and right after that she saw a pleasing and venerable sister, of such beautiful stature and great beauty that she was unable to describe it, for she was so wondrously bright and shining and her face so radiant that it seemed like crystal held toward the sun. This venerable sister walked through the oratory three times and then stopped near her. Then, behind her, was a beautiful small child, bright and shining, who said and repeated: “This is sister Colette, this is sister Colette.” When this sister, while awake, heard this voice and saw what she had so desired to see, she felt great joy and consolation in her heart and wanted to call out to the others sisters to tell them, “Look, look,” but she could not open her mouth. Then she began to think that this venerable sister was visiting

119. The convent in Castres in southern France was founded between 1426 and 1433 with the support of Jacques II de Bourbon and Bernard VIII of Armagnac. See note 190 to V 205. 120. See Fig. 7 above, left compartment.

The Life of Saint Colette 227 their convent, as she had heard once when she was a novice, and that although she did not visit them corporally, she visited them spiritually. She thought that she was visiting them for that reason, and when she reached the door of the dormitory, she vanished. The next day, this sister who had received the vision entered the church all alone to pray to Our Lord at the hour of terce, which was the precisely the hour that the glorious handmaid of Our Lord gave her soul to God. As soon as she was kneeling in order to pray, she heard a great multitude of voices, loud and clear, that seemed to be angelic rather than human voices. They were so sweet and pleasant to hear that it seemed to her that one could not hear more melodious voices in the entire world. And when she lifted up her face and turned her eyes toward heaven, she saw the face of the venerable sister she had seen after matins, whose face, it seemed to her, was in the midst of those who were singing so melodiously. Although she did not know her, nonetheless she piously believed afterward that it was the soul of the venerable religious sister Colette that the blessed angels joyously carried to the realm of paradise. 83. In another convent, as the good father Pierre de Reims told us, there was a devout sister who was praying at the moment when our glorious mother died. While praying she saw a venerable, pleasing, and auspicious procession in which, well-ordered and with great devotion, together with the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the glorious Virgin Mary, there was a beautiful multitude of angels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, confessors, virgins, and a great multitude of Friars Minor and the nuns of Saint Clare, who all were solemnly lined up and richly arrayed and adorned, and all of them together sang so joyously and melodiously that one had never heard such sweetness or such a melody. And in the middle of the venerable procession was the soul of our glorious mother, shining brightly and beautiful, more radiant and resplendent than the sun, that they were leading to paradise with wondrous joy and unspeakable honor and reverence. After this venerable procession came another with great humility and devotion which consisted of a great multitude of people, men and women of all estates, who seemed to be detained as prisoners; all of them had their hands devoutly joined together and their heads humbly lowered. Among these the sister saw and recognized her own mother, who was very glad and joyous, and she asked her how she was, and the mother answered her, “Very well,” and explained to her that in the first procession was the glorious soul of the little handmaid of Our Lord that was thus being led joyously and honorably to paradise. And in the second procession were the souls from purgatory that had been delivered from their pains through the intercession of the glorious sister, and that she was one of them, and they were all following her to the glorious realm of paradise.

228 PERRINE DE BAUME 83.2. Another very devout person, penitent and of great austerity and perfection, saw in their121 rapture how her glorious soul was, by a great multitude of angels, joyously and melodiously, carried to paradise. 84. In the town of Besançon a little girl was born dead. She was carried dead to the baptismal fonts in the church in the hope that God might grant her life, and but the same way she was carried there, she was carried back, that is, without life and without baptism. Then she was piteously commended to our glorious mother and someone managed to find one of her kerchiefs or veils in which the dead child was wrapped and thus carried to the church a second time where, through the holy merits she [Colette] had in this life, she became alive and was resuscitated, baptized and regenerated at the holy fonts of baptism; and to honor and revere her person, and to commemorate the great benefice and grace she had received, she was given the name Colette.122 Then, later, when she had grown up with great humility and devotion, she was presented to her to be received in the Order where, through God’s grace and the merits of the woman whose name she bore, she has lived most honorably to the present time when she is abbess of the convent in Pont-à-Mousson in Lorraine. I heard this from her herself, and it was common knowledge in the convent at Besançon. The second person who was resuscitated through the merits of our glorious mother was a boy named Jeham Boisoit who, I believe, is still alive at present and a notable citizen of said town, a great benefactor to this convent, where it is known that he was resuscitated through the merits of our glorious mother. And his family likewise believe and know and testify to this. This fact is well known in the town and among the friars and sisters of the convent in this town. The third person was a friar minor named François Claret, who had spent more than thirty years with her. He had humanely and charitably given her many pleasures, comfort, and assistance, and had served all her convents very well and kindly. When he was in Lyon-le-Saugnier it pleased God that he should fall into a long and serious illness; so serious was it that he was thought to be dead, and to this day he is believed to have died. After this death it seemed to him that he was led before God’s judgment to receive grace and mercy. Then he was sent to the glorious Virgin Mary, and after that to the apostles, then before the martyrs, the confessors, and finally the virgins, who all uniformly judged that he should be given back to our glorious mother through whose intercession and supplication his soul was put back into his body. Soon after, he was resuscitated and was completely cured. I heard this from friar François several times.

121. No gender is indicated, so possibly this is Pierre de Vaux (cf. V 200). 122. Cf. V 202 and note 187 on this type of miracle. This scene is illustrated in MS 8, fol. 137r.

The Life of Saint Colette 229 85. I testify that I heard from our good father friar Henry de Baume that when he was in the convent at Castres in the Albigeois, he was grievously and mortally ill, close to death. She was in the south, at the convent of Lézignan, and she had clear knowledge of his illness and the state he was in, which greatly pained and afflicted her. And after she had as much as she could diligently arranged everything that could be helpful and useful for his health—and although the weather was terrible and dangerous—she had herself quickly transported to him in order to help him in this extreme need. And she found him in danger of dying shortly and turned toward the sovereign physician with her devout prayers. She did this so efficiently that on the very first day he began to be better than before, and even better on the second day, and better and better the following days, so much so that she could take him back with her, and he was through her merits and her prayers pleasing to God delivered from the peril of death. I also testify that a nun from another order, who wanted to amend and correct her life, traveled with her sisters’ permission to the Order of Saint Clare and asked to stay in the convent where our glorious mother resided, and she fulfilled her desire. Shortly after her arrival she fell so gravely ill that it could only end in death, and in fact a grave was being prepared in which to bury her. I was at the convent and saw the grave. Our glorious mother, seeing the purpose for which the nun had changed her life and the little time she had had to accomplish it, turned to holy prayer and asked Our Lord that by His grace it might please Him to give the sick nun a respite and more time to do penance for her sins. Our Lord graciously granted her request and the nun was quickly cured, even though she had been near the end and had received the last sacrament, and I saw when it was given to her. She lived for another twenty years. This happened in the convent at Poligny. 86. I testify that I heard from sister Mahieuette, the niece of our glorious mother, and from a guide named Jehan de Bées—and it was also common knowledge in the convent of our sisters at Besançon—that once when our glorious mother was visiting some of her convents, the waters were terribly high, especially the Doubs river that passes through Besançon and Dole. Jehan de Bées, who was leading one of the sisters on his horse, inadvertently entered a very dangerous ford, where the water was so high and so deep that they seemed to be plunged completely into it, and the force of the water carried them downstream. Everyone thought they were lost and drowned. Our glorious mother cried and screamed to God in great distress, and with so much ardor and great hope that He heard her and granted His help. Thus, through her merits and devout prayers, they were saved from the peril of drowning and being lost. I also testify that I heard from several people—and it was common knowledge especially among the sisters—that a venerable doctor named Pierre Psalmon

230 PERRINE DE BAUME entered a big and perilous waterway. He went so far into it that he and his horse fell into a deep hole and a bottomless abyss so far from the riverbank that he could find no way to escape from death and the danger he was in. Then he remembered our glorious mother. He humbly asked her that she might help him before God because he was in such great need and danger of death. And by God’s grace he and his horse safely arrived at the riverbank. 87. I also testify that when our glorious mother was in the convent of Saint Clare at Vevey in Savoy, a well-known mason named Jacquemond, who was in charge of the workers of this convent, was once on Lake Geneva with several others who were bringing building materials for the convent. Suddenly the lake became stormy, and the water was so agitated and turbulent that they were in great danger of drowning. Our glorious mother felt this danger immediately and quickly summoned her father confessor and asked him humbly to quickly go and find them and make the sign of the cross over them. And as soon as he had done so they arrived slowly and safely at the port and on the shore, and he led them joyfully into the presence of the little handmaid of Our Lord. I was in that convent. This is what happened, and our glorious mother knew about it without being alerted by any human. I also testify that there was a notable religious from the order of the Friars Minor, the uncle of Pierre d’Aisy, a man of great perfection and desiring very much to exalt the true Catholic faith, for which he would gladly have offered and sacrificed his life as a martyr to God if he had found the right opportunity. And in order to fulfill this desire he traveled to Jerusalem, among the Saracens and unbelievers.123 He was taken by them and cruelly bound and thrown into a dark and horrible prison. There he was visited and comforted by our glorious mother, as he himself testified after his deliverance. I heard this from himself in the convent of our sisters at Poligny. And he said that because of the grace of Our Lord and the beautiful teachings he discerned in our glorious mother and in her holy, God-pleasing life, several young women kept their virginity. 88. I also testify that rather close to one of her convents there was a cruel and horrible prison where demons often resided, as people said. They caused great distress to the poor prisoners, especially from the end of the day to the hour when the bell of the convent of Poligny rang for matins, which caused the demons great affliction. But as soon as the sisters rang the bell to say the morning Office of Our Lord, they fled and no longer tormented the prisoners. For this reason, prisoners 123. In V 212 Pierre d’Aisy is not named. The term “Saracens” was used to refer to Arab Muslims, and eventually all Muslims. Its etymology is unclear, but classical authors such as Ptolemy and Eusebius used variants of this term to describe people of the Arabian peninsula. The term eventually acquired a negative, anti-Christian connotation, and, like “Moors” (see note 130 to P 95, below), described dark-skinned peoples.

The Life of Saint Colette 231 from far way, as well as others, asked about this bell that gave them so much comfort and relief, and they were told that this was the bell of the convent of our glorious mother, upon which they praised Our Lord and said that this was a bell of blessing. This is what I heard at the convent of Poligny from the prison guards, and it was common knowledge especially in the convent and in the town. Also I testify that when she was once in the convent at Poligny, the wife of Jehan Mallardet went into labor with great pain and she could not give birth. And the people around her greatly feared that she and her fruit124 would lose their lives. For this reason, one of her daughters was sent to our glorious mother to commend the woman to her. After she had commended the woman, she told the girl, “You can leave joyously, for your mother has given birth to a beautiful son.” And this is what she found. For this reason, the mother developed great love and devotion for her and the whole Order, for the child in question lived for a long time. I heard this from the woman herself who told about it before the sisters in this convent, when I was present. 89. I testify that I heard from sister Mahieuette, the niece of our glorious mother, who was with her, that in the town of Poligny lived a notable citizen and merchant named Jehan Courrard, who had a devoted and wise wife by the name of Estiene, who was very pregnant and about to give birth. For this reason, Jehan Courrard went to the convent of Saint Clare in that town, where our glorious mother resided, in order to humbly request and supplicate that she would pray to God for his wife’s deliverance. And as he was making this request and supplication, someone came running to announce that she was in labor and had a serious problem, for the child was so turned around in her body that it could not be delivered alive unless one cut open the mother. The abovementioned citizen was greatly distressed and pained by this news and quickly returned home, where he found his wife truly in the situation that had been described to him, and already the barbers had been called to cut her open, but he put off this action.125 He returned to our glorious mother and piteously told her about the mortal danger that his wife found herself in during labor; she kindly and benignly comforted him, made him return to his afflicted and distressed wife in labor, and told him that he should send her one of his relatives. And while he was returning home, our glorious mother turned to God again and began to pray for the woman in labor, and very soon she called for the abovementioned relative and told her, “Go home, for God has given His grace to the wife of Jeham Courrard, and she has given birth to a beautiful boy.” He was then baptized and lived for more than five years.

124. That is, her baby. 125. See the Introduction, 35, note 106 for references to studies on medieval childbirth, including Caesarean section.

232 PERRINE DE BAUME I also testify that I heard from our glorious mother at the convent in Besançon, and I also heard it from sister Mahieuette and other sisters from the convent in Poligny, that our glorious mother was grievously injured in her eyes; the part of her body that was most precious to her and that she loved best were her eyes, for it was with them that she saw the precious body of Our Lord, and she also used her eyes to receive the consolation of the Holy Scriptures. She was injured in such a way that one evening at vespers one of her eyes seemed completely gone and it looked impossible that she would ever see with it again, which greatly distressed several of the sisters and friars who observed this. But the next morning the eye that had looked injured and lost was as beautiful, clean, and in one piece as it had ever been, and those people who had been distressed about it were now greatly consoled and they thanked Our Lord. I also testify that when I was in the convent at Besançon a sister named Katherine d’Amansée injured her eye three times most grievously and painfully, so much so that she thought she had irremediably lost this eye. But for each of these three times our glorious mother looked at her, and she was immediately healed. I saw clearly that this happened. 90. I testify that in the town of Poligny the wife of the judge of this town who helped build the convent of Saint Clare in this town—where I then was—suffered from a grave illness in her head that tormented her so badly that she became mad and lost her reason. When her husband saw this, he was distressed and desperate and brought her to our glorious mother in the abovementioned convent. When the woman was in her presence, she [Colette] began to reproach and blame her, saying that because she had not been to confession, she contracted this illness. So she [Colette] had her father confessor friar Henry de Baume called to her and made the woman humbly confess, and while the woman confessed, she [Colette] prayed to God on her behalf. And as soon as she had confessed, she was completely cured and as healthy as if she had never been ill. Also I testify that I heard from the sisters of the convent of Saint Clare in Besançon and from many sisters in other convents that a friar named Eustache, when he was still a secular priest,126 went to Besançon to see our glorious mother on business for the convent of Saint Clare of Moulins. On his way there one of his legs became so painful from an illness that he thought he would lose it, and indeed, the doctor told him that the illness was incurable, which troubled and distressed him greatly. He managed to get to our glorious mother and piteously told her about the illness that had struck him; she felt great pity and compassion for him and commended him with great fervor and devotion to Our Lord, and he was immediately cured and left joyously and with a light heart.

126. That is, a priest in a parish rather than in a monastery.

The Life of Saint Colette 233 I also testify that I heard from friar Pierre d’Aisy in this very place and in the presence of other sisters that there was a friar named Pierre Goullier of the Order of Saint Francis who resided at the convent of Saint Clare in Besançon and was so gravely and mortally ill that he did not believe he could survive till the next morning, for he had a huge growth or abscess in his throat that strangled him. And as it pleased God, friar Pierre d’Aisy, who was the Visitator to the sisters of this convent, found this patient in a state close to death, which distressed him greatly. He did not know how to help and assist this patient. Then he remembered that he had some hairs of our glorious mother with him. He took them, together with the Rule of Saint Francis that he always carried with him. He made the sign of the cross over the sick friar and put the abovementioned things on him, and immediately the huge abscess that was strangling him burst and drained, and very soon the patient was entirely cured. 91. I also testify that two sisters of the Order of Saint Clare were grievously and mortally ill. One was called Endeline and the other sister Jacquette. No one could find an efficacious remedy to give them back their health. They could not take anything by mouth to sustain them. Our glorious mother arrived and, as nursemaids do with the little children to keep them quiet, she put some soft bread in her holy mouth and chewed it, and then she took it and put it humbly into the mouths of the two sick sisters, and as soon as they had swallowed it, they returned to good health. I testify that I heard from sister Jehanne de Corbie, when she was the gatekeeper in the convent of Seurre in Burgundy, that she heard about the carriage that was carrying our glorious mother and some of her sisters to a newly built convent. One of the sisters, named sister Françoise, badly fell under the carriage, and all the other sisters concluded that she was in danger of dying and terribly injured. But as soon as our glorious mother raised her heart to God with fervor and devotion and commended this sister to Him, she was found to be all right and in one piece, without any harm. I also testify that in the convent at Besançon in Burgundy where I was then, a sister named Katherine de Mansée, one of her sisters, who was very close to our glorious mother, once by accident fell into a stove full of burning coals by which one of her hands and one foot were seriously and gravely burnt. When she came into the presence of our glorious mother, she noticed that she was injured; she directed her eyes with great pity toward her and asked her what was wrong, and suddenly she was entirely cured of the burns on her foot and hand, and she had no more scars. 92. I also testify that I heard from our glorious mother in the presence of several sisters that when she was still living in the world and very young, she inadvertently cut her little leg with the ax of her father, who was a carpenter and named

234 PERRINE DE BAUME Robert Boilet. And, as she has told several times, the cut was so deep that the leg was attached only by the skin. Without telling her father or mother, she praised and commended herself to God and the next day was completely healed and healthy again. Also I testify that I heard from our good mother sister Agnes de Waux, when she was abbess of the convent in Auxonne in Burgundy, that once when our glorious mother traveled to Auxonne to visit the convent, there were seven sick sisters who were all cured and returned to health when she arrived. I also testify that in the convent of Poligny there was a sister named sister Clare, who for twenty years had been the abbess of the convent of Saint Clare in Vevey in Savoy. She had such a pain in her head that her eyes were turned by it. It was reported to our glorious mother that this sister was dying. She rushed to visit her and spoke beautiful words to her, and gave her such salutary advice, that she was right away consoled and cured. I testify that I heard from a nun named sister Margarite Cayeux in the convent of Saint Clare in Besançon that she had a fistula on her hand which was, as judged by the surgeons, incurable. The sister surreptitiously took the hand of our glorious mother and put it on top of the fistula with great faith and she did this without saying anything, for she was afraid that she would reject her. And when the holy hand was removed, she found herself completely cured from this illness. 92.2. I also testify that I heard from our good father friar Pierre de Reims, from friar Lucas, and from friar Daniel from Ghent that at the convent at Orbe in Savoy there was a nun named sister Mehault, who was my carnal sister and mother abbess of this convent.127 She had in her hands and feet a very bad illness and could find no medicine that would cure her. Our glorious mother learned about this and ordered her not to accept any duty that would cause her great trouble. And as soon as she agreed to this, she was completely healthy again and suffered no more pain. This is what I heard, as I said above. But that she was ill, she herself wrote to me, telling me how she was struck by this illness and cured. The people mentioned above and others as well told me this. 93. I also testify that I heard from our good father Pierre de Reims that there was a nun named sister Marguerite de Blanvais who was so gravely ill that she thought she would die, and she wrote to that effect to our glorious mother, humbly commending herself to her holy prayers before Our Lord. She answered her with a very comforting and consoling letter, saying that she should conform to God’s will, and that whether she lived or died, whatever she would do would be for her great good. And that if her prayers could do any good before God, she would not fail her. Very soon after this letter was sent to her and the commendation accomplished, she was perfectly cured and restored to health. And another sister 127. That is, Mehault was also Perrine’s sister by blood, as opposed to all her other spiritual sisters.

The Life of Saint Colette 235 took this letter, together with others that the handmaid had sent in the past, and had them sewn together into a little booklet in order to preserve them better. Inadvertently this sister, with the letters in her lap, dropped them into the water while getting water from the well, and they stayed there until rather late the next day. At that point the well was being drained and cleaned out, and the letters were found at the very bottom in the mud. They were washed as one would wash a little sheet and then dried. And they remained as beautiful and in one piece and as readable as if they had never been wet. And a [little booklet] was made from them, just as the sister had intended. 94. I also testify that I heard from our good father friar Pierre d’Aisy and from our good father friar Pierre de Reims, while sitting at the grille, that this friar Pierre d’Aisy, who was the Visitator of the convents of our glorious mother’s sisters, was so greatly afflicted with the headache that is called migraine that for a year and a half he could not eat anything without horrible and unspeakable pain, and often he got up from the table and walked in the garden crying, weeping, and pitifully complaining, and when people tried to speak to him he was so preoccupied with the pain he suffered that he could not attend to anything people were saying. And when night fell his pain doubled, and several times a night he got up and walked around his room, then around the garden, then elsewhere, all the time suffering excessive pain. There was no place or bed, however comfortable, that he could look at without fear.128 In all his anguish and pain he invoked the aid of Our Lord, of the glorious Virgin Mary, and of our glorious mother, for whom he exercised this office [of Visitator], asking that through their merits they might help him, for otherwise he could not fulfill the duties of his office. One night, as he was resting at the convent in Besançon, he had a vision that he was in the chapel of his oratory in the convent of Ghent, where he had celebrated mass before her when she was still alive. It seemed to him that she called him sweetly, with the voice she used to have when talking to him, and in the habit and in the shape in which he had seen her in the past. She was very beautiful, luminous, and joyous and consoled friar Pierre benevolently, sweetly and charitably, and as soon as he woke up, he was completely cured and restored to health. And from then on, he felt only a little pain from this migraine. Deo gratias.129

128. Moving around seems to dull his pain. 129. In V 257 this miracle is recounted as one of a number performed “after her death.” Perrine does not have such an explicit heading, although from the phrase “when she was still alive” it is clear that this is a posthumous miracle. Deo gratias (“Thanks be to God”) is in Latin in the text.

236 PERRINE DE BAUME

Figure 10. Folio 160 recto: On the right, friar Pierre d’Aisy, suffering terribly from migraine, in his bedroom and walking in the garden. On the left, his vision of Saint Colette, who will cure him.

The Life of Saint Colette 237 95. I also testify that I heard from our good father Pierre de Reims, while sitting at the grille, that once there was a notable man in the town of Troyes in Champagne who had once welcomed our glorious mother in his hostel, with the sign of “The Moors,”130 as she was visiting some of her convents. He had a young child who was struck by this painful illness called the grand mal,131 and because of this illness the child broke his arm, which greatly distressed his father and mother. In this distress they remembered how they had once welcomed the handmaid of Our Lord to their hostel. For this reason, they confidently turned to her, praying humbly to Our Lord and His glorious virgin mother that through the merits of the holy sister lady Colette, whom they had in the past welcomed to their hostel, it might please them to cure their child. As soon as they had finished their prayer the child was cured entirely from these two illnesses and restored to health.132 Also I testify that I heard from our good father Pierre de Reims, while sitting at the grille, that another time the house of one of the neighbors of the abovementioned man was taken over and engulfed by a fire that was very close to his house. He feared that the fire might spread and that he might lose everything that was worth anything. Quickly he turned his heart to the handmaid of Our Lord and told her humbly, “Oh, glorious lady sister Colette, you who were the cause of my child’s cure, I beg you to help me in this emergency.” And as soon as he had said these words, the fire began to die down and soon it was extinguished, and there was no damage. 96. I, sister Perrine de la Baume, named above, as a nun keeping her estate and vows with all purity of conscience and in humility before everyone, testify many times that the things said above are true and written down correctly, although my feeble and diminished memory may recall some reality differently, for I fear in my conscience that I said rather too little than too much. Among other things, the luminosity and beauty that shone forth from her venerable face were so great that often I did not dare to look at her. Deo gratias.

130. “The Moors” was a popular name for taverns and hostels; images of various types of dark-skinned people were often painted on the signs for these establishments. The term “Moors” was used in Europe to designate Muslim inhabitants of North Africa after the Islamic conquest of Spain and other nearby areas. This name derived from the Latin Mauri, the people of Mauretania, a region comprising parts of modern-day Morocco and Algeria. Shakespeare’s tragic hero Othello, “the Moor of Venice,” would be introduced in 1604. 131. Epilepsy. 132. The “two illnesses” are presumably the epilepsy and the broken arm.

Letters by, to, and about Colette In this section I translate a small sample of letters by Colette, to Colette, and about Colette. The goal is to show some of the sides of Colette that are not always highlighted in the two Lives: the extraordinary reputation she enjoyed, the clout that she obviously had and that powerful men appealed to,1 and the ways in which she communicated not only with her sisters but also with urban communities where she hoped to establish convents. The variety of voices in this section gives us a fuller and more nuanced picture of the saint. The translations of most of the letters are based on the modern French translations of 1981, by the Clarisses of Paray-le-Monial, of original manuscripts in both Latin and Middle French.2 The sisters translated the letters they could locate at the time in various municipal and monastic archives. I also consulted the website of the Poor Clare community at the Marian House of the Holy Spirit in Nottingham, England (), formerly at the monastery of Ty Mam Duw in Hawarden, Wales. There is at present no critical edition of Colette’s letters, but some of the other letters have been edited or translated as indicated in the notes.3 The letters are arranged by correspondent in chronological order. •

Letter of William of Casale to Colette, from Basel, Switzerland, November 28, 1434 [William of Casale (ca. 1390–1442), the Minister General of the Franciscan Order, was a strong supporter and good friend of Colette’s. In 1434 he approved Colette’s Constitutions, the rule for her Order. Here he mentions that the Constitutions had 1. As Bert Roest observes, Colette played the role of an honored “mother” to powerful men: “The surviving letters between Colette and these male authority figures indicate that Colette knew how to use this role for her own objectives.” See “A Textual Community in the Making: Colettine Authorship in the Fifteenth Century,” in Seeing and Knowing: Women and Learning in Medieval Europe, 1200–1550, ed. Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker (Turnhout: Brepols, 2004), 163–80, at p. 168. 2. Lettres de Sainte Colette, ed. and trans. by the Clarisses of Paray-le-Monial (Paray-le-Monial, 1981). I thank Ludovic Viallet for sending me a scan of this typescript. 3. Unless otherwise indicated, all the translations are by Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski. For an analysis of most of the letters by and to Colette see Elisabeth Lopez, Colette of Corbie (1381–1447): Learning and Holiness, trans. Joanna Waller (St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2011), part 2, chaps. 1–2.

239

240 Letters by, to, and about Colette been distributed to Colette’s communities. This letter was written in Latin from Basel, where the Council of Basel had been convened in 1431 by Pope Martin V.4] I give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, most beloved daughter in Christ, that the holy declarations, instructions, and constitutions were received with welcome and delight by the most devout communities of your daughters. I sent these to you and to them via your venerable confessor Brother Pierre de Vaux. And just as you have begun to cultivate abundant fruits of chastity and holiness in the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts,5 drawn forth in the Holy Spirit by the teaching of our most blessed Father Francis and the deeds of the virgin Clare, so you should not cease to persevere in maintaining and increasing your flock, which you do not cease to increase and maintain in service to Jesus Christ. In these holy works, although you cannot be in a more blessed state than Jesus Christ,6 for whose love you have consecrated yourself and your flock to Regular Observance, nonetheless it is necessary that you are steadfast amidst slander and persecution and in no way doubt that He who began through you will Himself perfect and preserve your work.7 In this matter I will devote myself with all my strength, and if at times they [the slander and persecution] happen to be attempted, I will set myself as a wall against any who want to slander you or your flock. Indeed I will not cease to defend and honor you and preserve and defend my own flock, of both our teacher Father Francis and the virgin Clare, with their further protection, since through your letter and that of the most serene lord King Jacques—now made your son through the grace of God8—it became clear to me that this protection must be granted to you through my efforts. I send many greetings in Jesus Christ to your devoted father, friar Pierre,9 desiring with unique affection that you commend me to the aforementioned most serene lord King Jacques, your son, and that you return to him the greatest thanks possible for his most kind letters and for the other good deeds by which he continues to display his love toward me. Farewell, my daughter in Jesus Christ, and pray to God for me. You yourself in the first place should be determined to take on this utterly necessary care for me, because I am certain that 4. Translated by Bruce Venarde from Ubald d’Alençon’s edition in “Lettres inédites de Guillaume de Casal à Sainte Colette de Corbie et notes pour la biographie de cette sainte,” Etudes franciscaines 19 (1908): 469–70. 5. The term used in the letter is “Sabaoth,” from the Hebrew word for “army.” “Lord of Hosts” is the usual English translation, meaning “God.” 6. This is probably a reference to the slander and persecution Jesus had to endure, a fate now shared by Colette. 7. A reference to Christ’s furthering of Colette’s reforms. 8. A reference to Jacques II of Bourbon (ca. 1380–1438) becoming a Tertiary Franciscan. Jacques, count of La Marche and briefly king of Naples, was one of Colette’s strongest supporters. Her convents in Castres (1426–33) and Lézignan (1430–36) were constructed on his lands. See Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 304–5. 9. Pierre de Vaux, her confessor and future biographer.

Letters by, to, and about Colette 241 my burdens will be lightened by the special protection of your prayers. I await your writing me something in return in your own hand10 when it pleases your charity. From Basel, November 28th. Brother William of Casale, Minister General of the Order of Friars, in his own hand. [On the reverse side of the letter:] To his most devout daughter in Christ Sister Colette, most piously the founder of so many monasteries of Saint Clare.

Letter of William of Casale to Colette, sent from the General Chapter meeting in Toulouse, 143711 Jesus Christ Most beloved and cherished daughter in Christ, I received your loving letters that I always desire so much because I want to inform myself about your every success in increasing the devotion and piety that God in His holy mercy brings about through you. And if God grants me a favor I would be able to see you and speak with you, if only you could come to Savoy, where I will be for the entire next month to visit duke Jacques.12 I would like to discuss with you everything you wrote to me, so that I can be sure everything is coming to a good conclusion. I commend myself to his most serene highness King Jacques. I have commended your family to the Order in France,13 and especially to those parts of the Order among whom your family is placed, to the brothers in Burgundy, Aquitaine, and Provence.14 Indeed, this favor and the love that will be created for you and your brothers and sisters will also be created for me, and all of us should protect it. Farewell in Jesus Christ, and pray for me, because I know how very powerful your prayers for me are with God. I greet most lovingly your confessor friar Pierre, and with God’s favor I will soon see friar Henry along my journey.15 From Toulouse, 10. The emphasis in this letter on a hoped-for reply in Colette’s “own hand” is interesting. As was customary in the Middle Ages, Colette dictated her letters, but here William suggests that she would sometimes write them herself. The 1439 letter about the death of Henry de Baume, translated below, is usually considered an autograph letter by Colette. See Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 171. 11. Translated by Bruce Venarde and Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski from Ubald d’Alençon’s “Lettres inédites de Guillaume de Casal à Sainte Colette de Corbie,” 475. 12. Jacques II of Bourbon, who was then in Savoy. He had several titles, including duke and king, which are both used here. See also note 17 below. 13. That is, he commended the sisters of her Order and the friars associated with them to the whole Franciscan Order in France. 14. The main regions where Colette’s foundations were constructed. 15. Henry de Baume, Colette’s confessor. See Introduction, 7, 12–13.

242 Letters by, to, and about Colette the 28th of March. Brother William of Casale, worthless Minister General of the Order of the Friars Minor. [On the reverse of the letter:] To the venerable and most devout, most pious sister Colette, mother and founder of the holy Order of Saint Clare in the Gallic regions.16

Letter of the Minister General of the Friars, William of Casale, to King Jacques II de Bourbon, November 23, 143417 [This letter shows how the members of Colette’s network communicated with each other in supporting her cause.] To the most gracious and most honored Lord, King Jacques, the most illustrious King of Hungary, Sicily, and Jerusalem. Most gracious King, and, as I know through your reputation and your deeds, a most devoted son of our Father Saint Francis. I can barely express in words the joy of my soul when I see with the eyes of my spirit that your Majesty is pursuing with such fervor the scent of the fragrance of my most devout daughter Sister Colette, already the salutary mother of such a great flock of the Lord, more glorious than royal scepters and kingly crowns with all sorts of riches and grandeur. Everywhere your Highness is praised. For this holy and divine gift I give thanks to the most High, who has wished to give to the world in my time this bee full of marvels,18 who in admirable imitation of the seraphic Saint Francis and the 16. That is, France. 17. The original of this letter is lost, but a fifteenth-century French translation was edited by Ubald d’Alençon in “Lettres inédites de Guillaume de Casal à Sainte Colette de Corbie,” 470–71. Jacques II of Bourbon, mentioned in the two previous letters, was also count of La Marche and briefly, through his marriage to Joanna II of Naples in 1415, king of Naples. Joanna also claimed the title queen of Jerusalem, although Jerusalem was then in Muslim hands. Two of his daughters, Isabelle and Marie, became Colettine sisters in Besançon and Amiens, respectively. His daughter Eléonore—from his first marriage to Beatrice of Navarre—married Bernard VIII of Armagnac, who, together with his fatherin-law, became a benefactor of Colette’s foundations. 18. The comparison of Colette to a bee is significant because the bee has multiple religious connotations. As a chaste animal it became a symbol for the Virgin Mary. It was also revered in Christianity for its industry. As Fiona J. Griffiths notes, “within the monastic community, the qualities associated with bees were deemed desirable and necessary; the hive, a medieval commonplace for the model state, was adopted as a symbol of monastic perfection. The communal living of the bee lent itself to an interpretation of the bee as a symbol of service to others. This image of the bee as a selfless worker was enforced in medieval bestiaries where bee society was depicted as one in which a natural hierarchy

Letters by, to, and about Colette 243 glorious Saint Clare has begun to illuminate the world with her sanctity and most praiseworthy increase of the religious life. I have satisfied myself of her devotion and merits through my letters and other means; may the Author of all good be praised for all this. If anything should perhaps happen to be lacking for herself or all her family, as much for the brothers as for the sisters serving Jesus Christ, and which I could provide through my means and care, I would do it most promptly with all my heart, if it should be brought to my notice by her letters or those of your Majesty. For there is no other part of my Order that I would wish to aid more and do more favors for in time of need than that of this most religious Mother and her devout family, which she seems to have renewed in Jesus Christ through the merits of Saint Francis and Saint Clare. Your Majesty has no need at all to thank me for my support and affection for this holy work; quite the contrary, if I neglect them you should consider me deserving of grave accusations and reproof. So if I can comply in anything with your Majesty’s wishes, you will have no doubt that I am his most obedient servant in everything which is possible for me. As for yourself, I never cease to pray most devoutly that you will never cease to continue with firm steps on the way of salvation. I have no doubt at all that it will be so if your Majesty takes into account the holy and persuasive advice of this most religious mother Sister Colette. And may it please God that the day and the time will come when I will be able to see and to speak to your Majesty and to this most devout daughter. And in order to do so, if the great worries I have here and the dangerous roads permit it, I will not lack in determination. From Basel, 23rd of November 1434

First Letter of Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini to Sister Colette Boylet, February 25, 143619 [Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini (1398–1444) presided as the Legate of Pope Eugene IV at the Council of Basel. Earlier he had been appointed legate to England, and in 1419 in Germany and Bohemia he tried to lead a crusade against the Hussite

existed alongside division of labor and cooperation.” Learned religious women were also associated with bees. Griffiths quotes from the seventh-century English bishop and abbot Aldhelm, author of a treatise on virginity addressed to the nuns of the monastery in Barking, England, who describes those sisters as bees “roaming widely through the flowering fields of scripture.” See The Garden of Delights: Reform and Renaissance for Women in the Twelfth Century (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007), 101 and 103. 19. The original of this letter, written in Latin, is in the archives of Besançon. The modern French translation is in Lettres de Sainte Colette, 10–12.

244 Letters by, to, and about Colette heresy.20 On February 25, 1436, the cardinal wrote to Colette to ask her to intervene with Jacques II of Bourbon on his behalf and have him reinstate Bernard de Cazilhac as bishop of Albi. Elected in 1435, Bernard was sidelined by Robert Dauphin, bishop of Chartres, who with the help of Charles VII (r. 1422–61) and Jacques of Bourbon had claimed this bishopric. But now the Council had recognized Bernard’s rights to the episcopal see of Albi, and in this letter Cesarini asks Colette to intervene with King Jacques II, who, Cesarini knows, is devoted to her. The often violent conflict between the two bishops dragged on until 1462, when Bernard died.21 This letter shows that Cesarini assumed Colette’s power to intervene in this complicated affair through her influence on her friend King Jacques, and that she was privy to the business conducted at this long-lasting Council.] To the venerable and religious lady, Sister Colette, as to an Honored Mother. Venerable and religious lady. Since I have learned that you as a Catholic lady have much concern for the sacred Council of Basel, I am writing to you most willingly about what concerns the honor of this sacred Council. The day before yesterday it was declared and judged by the sentence of the sacred Council, with all the mature consideration necessary, that the government of the church at Albi, which with all due rights belongs to the reverend Father, His Lordship Bernard, Bishop of Albi, should be returned and entrusted to him. And because certain people, in defiance of the universal Church, have the intention of stirring up lively opposition to this declaration so solemnly rendered, we beg you to give favorable assistance to the said bishop—as much as you are able—in a matter so highly to be recommended, so that the ordinances and decrees of the sacred Council may be adhered to and carried out; and so that they may be observed, and in order to give aid and support to the said Bishop, that you would, by your advice and exhortations, gain the support of his most serene Highness King Jacques, with whom we know you have much influence, and in whose realm lies a great part of the said diocese. And in so doing, the King himself will attain more easily that perfection that he is striving for with your support, because he will obey the commandments and the ordinances of the Universal Church, his mother which the sacred Council represents, and moreover he will ensure that his son follows in the steps of his father regarding this great work. This is why we beg you most urgently to exhort them to obey the Church. In this way both you and they will by this action acquire very great merit in the sight of Almighty God and do something very agreeable to 20. In the two Lives we learn that Colette was accused by her slanderers of being a follower of controversial theologians from Prague, a reference to Jan Hus and the Hussite heresy as well as to Jerome of Prague. Both were burnt as heretics at the Council of Constance in 1415 and 1416, respectively. 21. See Anna Campbell, “Contextualising Reform: Colette of Corbie’s Relations with a Divided Church,” Franciscan Studies 74 (2016): 353–73, esp. 364–73, on Colette and the Council of Basel. On Cesarini’s letters to Colette see also Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 319–20.

Letters by, to, and about Colette 245 the sacred Council; and we too, who bear much affection toward this same bishop, will feel great pleasure if we know that by your action the said bishop whom we have recommended is received favorably by his royal Highness and by his son in this matter, and so we recommend it to you most urgently. May you be well. Given at Basel, 25th of February 1436 Giuliano, Cardinal of Santa Sabina Legate of the Apostolic See.

Second Letter of Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini to Sister Colette Boylet, September 7, 143822 [Four years after the first letter Cesarini now adopts a more affectionate, filial, tone with Colette, asking her for guidance in an unspecified spiritual crisis. A short time later he left the Council of Basel, disillusioned with its purpose since the Council was preparing to depose Pope Eugene IV (r. 1431–47). He traveled to Ferrara to join Pope Eugene IV for a separate Council. Meanwhile, in Basel, Amadeus VIII of Savoy was elected as the antipope Felix V.23] To the venerable Sister Colette of the order of Saint Clare as to a most beloved mother. Jesus My most beloved mother, I send you my deepest thanks for the fact that you have deigned to visit me several times by means of your very kind letters, but I offer you incomparably greater thanks for your remembrance of me in your holy prayers. I beg you by the love and by the holy wounds of Jesus Christ that you will deign to commend me every day to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, as I have already asked you, and as you have promised to do. If every son who loves his mother dearly merits to receive something from her, then certainly I, who love you more than if you had given birth to me yourself, ought to obtain this grace from you. I have already implored 22. The original of this Latin letter is in the municipal archives at Besançon. The French translation is in Lettres de Sainte Colette, 13–16. On this letter see Campbell, “Contextualising Reform,” 369–70. 23. See the Introduction, 21–22, to understand how Colette was dragged into this conflict by her two confessors. See also P 53 and V 169 for Colette’s premonitions of Pope Martin V’s death and the nefarious election of Felix V.

246 Letters by, to, and about Colette you to let me know that once a day you will say these few words in the presence our Lord Jesus Christ: “Lord Jesus Christ, I beg you to deign to grant to your servant Giuliano this grace, that he may never offend your Majesty but may be always pleasing to you, and that he may die contrite, after having made a good confession and having received devoutly the sacraments of the Church, in the grace of your Majesty.” I ask you this service, my sweet Mother; they are very few words which can be said without great effort. And so that you may do it all the more willingly, you can make this request for the one as well as for the other, that is to say, for yourself as well as me: “I beg you, Lord Jesus Christ, that you will deign to grant to me, your handmaid, and to Giuliano your servant, this grace, that we may never offend your Majesty but always be pleasing to you, and that we may die well confessed and contrite, having received with devotion the sacraments of the Church, and the grace of your Majesty.” I beg you most urgently, my beloved Mother, to let me have an answer telling me for my consolation that you have the intention of carrying out my request. My hope is that you have already been granting it for a long time, moved by your love, and that you will grant this salvific and necessary supplication to me until death. And because, moreover, it is just that a son should provide for the wants of his mother, as I know you own nothing but have abandoned yourself to the love of God, I am sending you with this letter twelve Rhenish florins for your garments so that when you wear them you will remember me. If you are in need of anything else, I beg you to let me know, because, as I said earlier, I will take care of you just as if it were you who brought me into the world. I have seen your Statutes and Declarations: they truly give me immense pleasure because they seem to have been made with a great fervor for the regular observance.24 I implore you to charge your sisters to pray for me. They are your daughters and I too am your son. I consider them therefore as my sisters. And a sister is obligated to pray for her brother. With all my heart I implore you to pray for the happy outcome of this sacred Council to the honor of God, and the useful service of the Church and all Christian people. Be well in the Lord, and also your holy Sisters. At Basel, the vigil of the Nativity of the glorious Virgin Mary, 1438.25 Your son, Giuliano, Cardinal of San Angelo

24. As Lopez points out, this sentence seems to be Cesarini’s personal observation and does not imply, as often stated, that the Council approved Colette’s Constitutions: “In fact, the proceedings of the Council do not mention Colette and her work” (Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 320). 25. That is, September 7.

Letters by, to, and about Colette 247 Letter of Colette to all her communities on the death of Father Henry de Baume, February 26, 143926 Our dearest and well-loved Sisters in God, I recommend my poor soul before the Lord to your good prayers and petitions as humbly as I know how to, wishing you from my heart an increase in all the virtues necessary for salvation, and beseeching you most affectionately to live virtuously and grow continuously in the perfect love of God and in the true observance of your Rule and beneficent Ordinances. May it please you to know that recently a great sorrow and anguish and bitterness of soul and body has come upon me, and not without just cause, for last Ash Wednesday after matins the sickness of our Reverend Father Henry worsened so much that on the Thursday, a little before midnight, he was taken to our chapel and there in the presence of our said brothers and fathers and myself received the most precious body of our Lord Jesus Christ with great devotion; and immediately afterward the sacrament of holy unction, and after he had received it he returned to his room, looking better than he had before, or so it seemed to us. On Saturday and Sunday, he was very weak, and also all day on Monday. He was in our chapel and oratory in our presence, in great devotion and knowledge of God, as was apparent to us. He listened to the Passion and all the commendations for the soul, and at half past six in the evening, while praying and speaking with our Lord, gave up his fine and glorious soul, gently and devotedly, to God, our blessed Creator. Which soul I commend to you as earnestly as I can, as lovingly and affectionately as possible, begging you with all my heart, and entirely, that if you have loved him loyally while he was alive, your love will not be diminished after his passing, but rather increased, so that you will do your duty and pray most diligently to God for him, as you know he well deserves. Although I believe that it is a better thing that he is praying for us than we for him: and also I recommend his noble soul to your devout father confessor and to all my fathers and brothers; and with all my insufficient intention I pray that the blessed Holy Spirit may watch over you and keep you in his grace and finally lead you into the glory of paradise. Amen. Written at Besançon, 26th of February 1439. Sister Colette

26. In Lettres de Sainte Colette, 17–19. Most likely this is a letter in Colette’s own hand (see Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 171), preserved at the convent in Le Puy. For details of Henry de Baume’s life and his importance to Colette’s life and her reforms, see the Introduction, 12–13.

248 Letters by, to, and about Colette Letter of Colette to Pierre de Reims (or de Vaux), between 1439 and 1442 [Colette called upon Father Pierre de Vaux to replace Father Henry as her chaplain. After Henry’s death, she saw Pierre as “the heir to her work and thought.”27 He would become Colette’s first biographer after her death with the biography translated in this volume.] Jesus + Maria My very dear and well-loved Father in our Lord, I commend to you my poor soul, the poorest in all the world. Alas! What shall I be, what will become of me in the presence of the Sovereign Judge? Indeed, I do not dare to think about my terrible offenses that I believe are the cause of utter despair; I know nothing about spiritual good. My dear Father, with all the power of my poor soul, I beg you to make every effort that you can to love our Lord. Make your heart burn with the blessed Passion of our Blessed Savior. Bear His pains and feel them like a true child of His. Follow after Him wherever he goes, with ardent desire, and distrust all other love but His. May your hope be entirely in Him, and then I trust He will do much good for you. Praise and thank Him often, and may His holy fear be always in your heart, my Father. Do not have any anxiety about me, and never fail doing good. Our Savior has greater pity on me than I am worthy of. May He watch over your soul. Amen. Sister Colette

First Letter of Colette to the benefactors at Ghent, May 18, 1438 or 143928 [As early as 1426 the citizens of Ghent asked Colette to establish a foundation in their city, then part of the possessions of the dukes of Burgundy. In 1427, a bull by Pope Martin V authorized the foundation; in 1428 permission was obtained from the magistrate of the city, and in 1435 the collection of donations for the foundation began. By 1440 the convent was complete, according to plans 27. See Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 194–97 (the quotation appears on p. 196). The original of the letter is with the Clarisses in Ghent. The French translation is in Lettres de Sainte Colette, 22–23. 28. The modern French translations of the two letters to the benefactors in Ghent are in Lettres de Sainte Colette, 24–31.

Letters by, to, and about Colette 249 designed by Colette herself, who arrived in 1442, accompanied by sister Odette, the illegitimate daughter of Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, who became the first abbess.29 After the 1415 battle of Agincourt, France had been invaded by the English and traveling became ever more dangerous.] To my most Christian and most honored Sirs, Jean de Hot Kerbech, Daniel de Varrenewiic, Jean Willaert, Jacques de Bassevelde, Jean de Oeure, Jean de Wevere and to several others. Jesus Venerable and most honored and very dear Sirs, With the greatest humility of which I am capable, in the most perfect charity of our most merciful Redeemer, I commend myself to you and to your holy prayers, your merit, and your supplications worthy of being granted. With all my heart I desire your good health as well as spiritual and corporeal prosperity, giving thanks most lovingly to God and to you for the very great love and charity you have for us and for our religious family,30 and especially for the great affection and diligence you have shown with regard to the convent, newly begun at Ghent, and for all the assistance and support and all the good that have come to us through you, and for the great care and good will that you have shown toward us several times, informing us by a special messenger of the state and progress of the said convent. I humbly pray the most sweet, merciful, and loving Jesus Christ to reward you a hundredfold in life everlasting for the goods you have given us here below, according to His praiseworthy evangelical promise. May it please you to know that, with a view to arriving at this said convent (of Ghent), I have several times made the effort to reach the convent recently built in the town of Hesdin by my most venerable Lady of Burgundy,31 gathering together and preparing the Sisters to be brought there. But the advice of the nobles and merchants who are used to traveling in these regions was that I would be exposing them to great danger and even risking their very lives because the roads are extremely dangerous and fraught with peril, even more for women and for religious than for others.32 29. See Monique Sommé, “The Dukes and Duchesses of Burgundy as Benefactors of Colette de Corbie and the Colettine Poor Clares,” in A Companion to Colette of Corbie, ed. Joan Mueller and Nancy Bradley Warren (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2016), 32–55, at p. 44. On the two letters to the citizens of Ghent see also Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 181–85. 30. That is, her Order. 31. Hesdin was founded in 1437 to 1441 with the support of the duke and duchess of Burgundy. It lies a little more than a hundred miles southwest of Ghent. 32. This note of caution contrasts sharply with the image of Colette as the intrepid traveler created in the two Lives.

250 Letters by, to, and about Colette That is why I have had to make my excuse to the most venerable duchess and lady I have mentioned because it was not possible to go there at the present time. However, my intention is to go there as soon as the roads are safe, and indeed several of our brothers have already gone there to take possession of the convent. If only I, still at Hesdin, could have accomplished the said journey, I could have given you counsel and shown you the way to bring to completion the said convent at Ghent. But we have to accept as certain the dangers and perils of the present and reflect on the even greater and more difficult obstacles to come. Even if the convent were quite ready and assigned to them, I could not bring the sisters there because of the perils I have already mentioned, a situation which causes me great grief as much on account of the devotion and holy affection you have shown in constructing the said convent as over the failure to accomplish the good designs and holy intentions of the founders and benefactors of that same convent; which devotion and intention, both yours and theirs, will be rewarded by God, and for having a part in the prayers and suffrages of the Order, you neither will nor can be deprived of this offering. And it seems to me that in view of the problems already mentioned, present and future, I have no one able or suitable to be sent there at present. Also, in view of the fact that the site of the said convent has been given as an act of devotion to God and the benefactions have been made for love and reverence of God and His glorious Mother, and also so that the said convent given to God should not fall with the passage of time into profane use, I ask you to make sure that all religious brothers and sisters are ordered or appointed for the holy service of God, in order to preserve better the said honor of God and to carry on the good devotion and intention of the donors. So if it pleases you and the lords of the town to come to an agreement to place in this convent good and devout religious men or women with the due permission of those who have the right to decide such matters, so that they can live there in regular observance and serving God exactly and devoutly, then this would be greatly pleasing to me and I give my consent for it. For I have heard that already several wish this and are planning to bring it about, with whom I would not wish you to have any argument or dissension on account of the said convent. Given the difficulties already cited, I see no way in which your good intention and devotion could be speedily fulfilled,33 and no one knows what awaits us, whether death or life, one or the other. So why should the said convent not be made over to those men or women who can the most surely keep it for God? Very Christian and most honored Sirs, I humbly beg the Holy Spirit to keep you in his grace and at the end to lead you to eternal life. Written at Besançon, 18th of May. The most worthless servant of Jesus Christ and His useless petitioner, Sister Colette 33. That is, their desire for Colette to inaugurate the convent in person.

Letters by, to, and about Colette 251 Second Letter of Colette to the benefactors in Ghent, October 13, 1442 [The convent is now complete and filled with sisters. Colette visited it and then had to rush to Besançon to meet with John of Capistrano.34 Unlike the first letter to the benefactors, this one addresses few practical issues, but rather offers a “program for the authentic religious life for lay people.”35 To my dear and honored Sirs, Daniel de Varrenewiic, Jean de Oeure, Jacques de Bassevelde and Jean de Hot. Jesus Very dear and honored Sirs, as humbly as I am able to and know how, in the charity of our most merciful Redeemer, I commend my poor soul to your good grace and to your devout prayers and holy supplications, desiring with all my heart your good health and spiritual and corporeal prosperity. I beseech you most affectionately that before all other worldly and transitory things your desire may be to love God perfectly and to serve Him humbly and devoutly, loyally keeping his worthy and salutary commandments, which is necessary for the health of the soul, and to preserve your souls and conscience pure and spotless without mortal sin. Do nothing in the sight of His sovereign Majesty and glorious presence which you would not do before anyone lesser or greater than you. Wherever we are, we are always present to Him, and He sees us clearly within and without and knows us better than we know ourselves, which is why in all places and at all times we should keep watch over our thoughts and our words, doing nothing which would be displeasing or detestable to Him. May it please you to know that through the sovereign goodness of God, myself and all our company have arrived safe and sound at the town of Besançon on the 11th of October without any further obstacles, for which we must certainly give all praise and glory to God. I humbly beg you to keep a friendly eye on the convent and not to allow anything to be done which would be against God and contrary to the regular observance. Very dear and honored Sirs, I humbly beseech the Holy Spirit to watch over you without fail and to keep you in his grace, and at the end to bring you to eternal glory. 34. For details of this meeting and the reasons for John of Capistrano’s trip to Besançon, see the Introduction, 23–24. 35. Lettres de Sainte Colette, 29. The original of this letter is still with the Clarisses in Ghent.

252 Letters by, to, and about Colette Written at Besançon, 13th of October. The most unworthy servant of Jesus Christ and His useless supplicant, Sister Colette

Letter of Colette to the Lady Marie Boen, end of 1442? [This letter, now in the archives of the Clarisses of Ghent, was probably written from Besançon. Lady Marie most likely joined the community in Ghent, although, as the form of address suggests, she had been married and widowed. Colette eventually overcame her reluctance to admit married women to the Order. The letter lays out a devotional and spiritual program for Marie.36] To my dear Lady, especially beloved in Jesus Christ, Marie Boen (of Ghent) Dear Lady and especially beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, as much and as humbly as I can and know how to, I commend myself always to your good grace and to your devout prayers and supplications before our Lord Jesus Christ; begging you to take incessant care to go from strength to strength in His most perfect love, remaining continually strong and virtuous in His most holy and worthy service, for to those who are beginners is promised the kingdom, but it is to those who persevere loyally that the crown will be given. And as long as we are in the present life there are innumerable perils that must commonly be feared, especially our enemies, the world and the flesh, which day and night wage war against us in diverse ways. Against these we must arm and defend ourselves, for we must conquer them if we do not want to be overcome ourselves, and, as Saint Paul says, we cannot have the victory without the battle nor the crown without the victory.37 And 36. See Lettres de Sainte Colette, 32–34. For an analysis of this letter see Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 186–88. On the issue of admitting married women to the Order and its links to Colette’s vision of Saint Anne, see Pierre de Vaux’s biography (V 65 and note 73), Lopez, Learning and Holiness, 122. 37. In the letters of Saint Paul, there are many examples of this martial imagery—most famously in Ephesians 6:10–17, in which he exhorts Christians to put on “the armor of God” and to use “the shield of faith,” “the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.” Paul evokes the notions of battle, crown, and victory in 2 Timothy 4:7–8: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.” The military imagery of this section also recalls the metaphors and images used by such moralistic and allegorical writers as the thirteenth-century Dominican William Peraldus. Such texts were often illustrated with knights in armor fighting sins and vices. See Aden Kumler, Translating Truth: Ambitious Images and Religious Knowledge in Late Medieval France and England (New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press, 2011), 76–81. One image, Fig. 15, shows the “spiritual knight” in action (from Peraldus’ Summa de virtutibus et vitiis [Treatise on the virtues and vices], British Library Harley MS 3244, fols. 27v–28r).

Letters by, to, and about Colette 253 because we alone, without the help and grace of the Lord, can neither do good nor resist our adversaries, we must turn to our good and true Master, our Lord Jesus Christ, and beg Him to equip us with His weapons so that we can the more surely overcome. These weapons, among others with which He was armed in this poor world, while bringing about and fulfilling the mystery of our redemption in the face of these three adversaries, were: against the world, true and holy poverty from His birth until his death stripped naked on the cross: against the flesh, pure, holy, and perfect chastity of heart and body, born and conceived of a pure Virgin Mother: against the enemy, perfect humility and true obedience up to his death, and all these in perfect charity.38 And whoever is thus armed can go forward into battle with a sure heart. In short, these are the weapons with which He has wished to equip those men and women whom by means of His grace He has wished to call into His service, and who have wanted to follow Him in the worthy evangelical state and the holy apostolic life. And I beseech Him in His infinite goodness always to watch over and guard you completely, and so to enlighten you with His grace, that you may serve Him without end and love Him in that state which is most pleasing to Him, and fight for him loyally in the name of His Church. Thus, you will be able to love Him everlastingly and reign in His glorious heavenly palace, in saecula saeculorum.39 Amen. Though unworthy, I am yours and pray for you, Sister Colette   Letter of John Capistrano to Colette, Besançon, November 144240 [John of Capistrano strove to unify the reform of the Franciscan Order, and wished to fold Colette’s reforms into his plans.41 This would mean that Colette and her sisters would have to accept John’s constitutions and let John appoint the Visitators. They resisted his proposal because, despite his good intentions, “he 38. Paul refers to two of these (the devil and the flesh) in Ephesians 2:1–3, and his famous exhortation in Ephesians 6:10–17 to “put on the armor of God” is a call to battle against these traditional enemies. Colette lists here poverty, chastity, and obedience as the three vows of religious life, seeing them as the three weapons against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The three virtues represented in these vows are part of the twelve “voluntary counsels” that supplement the Ten Commandments. For details, see note 30 to V 19. 39. “Unto the ages of ages”—that is, forever and ever. 40. On this letter see Joan Marie Richards, “Franciscan Women: The Colettine Reform of the Order of St. Clare in the Fifteenth Century” (PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1989), 49. This letter was edited in the Acta Sanctorum Martii, 1:536. 41. For details see the Introduction, 7 and 23.

254 Letters by, to, and about Colette was not a Poor Clare and he had never lived the life Colette professed.” Eventually, “John completely reversed his position. Not only did he not interfere with the life of the Sisters, he placed the Friars who had joined Colette’s reform under her jurisdiction and empowered her to appoint her own visitators. This is unique in Church legislation!”42 This important letter spells out his concessions.] To Sister Colette of the Order of Saint Clare, entirely devoted to Christ our Lord, our very dear daughter in the heart of the Spouse of virgins, John Capistrano of the Order of Minors, on the part of the Apostolic See and the Most Reverend Father General wishes health and everlasting peace in the Lord. Desiring, with a father’s affection, to console you in the Lord, I ratify and confirm by these letters present, and declare ratified and confirmed all the favors which the Most Reverend Minister General has accorded you and your chaplain, Pierre de Vaux, and the chaplains of the convents of nuns which you have built and will build. I declare that you have the power to appoint one or more friars of our Order to fill the office of Visitator of the nuns in the said convents, or of friars who live in monasteries of your form of life. To these friars so chosen, in virtue of these letters present, I grant and declare granted the same faculties and the same power that preceding Ministers General have heretofore given these Visitators. I ordain, by virtue of holy obedience, that the friars so named accept the office of Visitator with respect, and that they fulfill it with diligence and devotion. Given by me, at Besançon, on the 8th day of the month of November, in the year of our Lord, 1442. Brother John Capistrano, Commissary General

Pierre de Vaux’s Letter to the Citizens of Amiens, 144343 [This letter is the only other text known by Pierre de Vaux, and offers a different image of Colette than that described in the Life. An exhortation to the citizens of Amiens to accept a Colettine foundation, it presents Colette as a successful yet humble reformer at the center of an important network, whose influence is wideranging. She has attracted an impressive group of followers, many of them of the 42. Preface to the translation of this letter by the nuns of the Marian House of the Holy Spirit, Ty Mam Duw, . 43. This translation is based on the excerpts edited by Ubald d’Alençon in “Lettres inédites de Guillaume de Casal à Sainte Colette,” 651–59. For details on the troubled situation in Amiens see Richards, “Franciscan Women,” 100–4.

Letters by, to, and about Colette 255 nobility. Pierre stresses that both King Charles VII of France and Pope Eugene IV are in favor of this foundation. He weaves together many different arguments in his quest to convince the citizens of Amiens that the establishment of a Colettine convent would bring them many advantages.] [The beginning of the letter is missing because the paper is torn] It is already thirty-five or thirty-six years since Our Lord called her [Colette] to the religious life, although even before that date she served Him devoutly and had begun to serve Him while still in her innocent youth, and has continued to do so since her calling, and she labored and loyally persevered for the aforementioned good and others too numerous to mention for God’s honor and the increase of the divine service, for the good of religion and the salvation of created souls, redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, as a good nun, a true and loyal Catholic. Having considered all the things mentioned above and also inquired sufficiently about others, we are determined to build a convent and monastery of the Order of Saint Clare in which there will be nuns to serve Our Lord, keeping and observing the apostolic state according to the Holy Scriptures of Jesus Christ as contained in their holy Rule, and on which is based the manner of life of the above-named sister Colette and of these sisters and nuns. And in order to accomplish our desire of devotion and to execute and finish this enterprise so pleasing to God, we have selected the noble town of Amiens, hoping that she will also profit from this good. In order to found this convent, we have obtained bulls from our Holy Father Pope Eugene [IV] and letters of amortization from our lord the King [Charles VII] for the place on which at this moment stands this monastery in the city of Amiens. As it has been determined, each convent of these poor nuns has and must have four friars from the Order of Saint Francis, observing the holy Rule as best they can, namely a confessor and his companion priest, and two lay brothers to support holy poverty and to help them administer their physical and worldly necessities. For this was the intention of monseigneur Saint Francis from the beginning, that through these friars, in the present and in the future, they [the nuns] would be provided for in charity as long as they will keep their condition, as it is more fully explained in the Rule of said sisters.44 And until now Our Lord has largely provided for them and always under the obedience of the prelates of [the] Order, Generals as well as Provincials.45 And from the beginning of this small 44. See the Introduction, 25–26, for the tasks of the friars and Colette’s Rule. 45. The Minister General is the friar elected by the Provincial Ministers to be responsible for the administration of the whole Order of the Franciscans. The Provincial Ministers are elected by the friars, and each is in charge of one province of the Order.

256 Letters by, to, and about Colette reform until now, Our Lord has called to it great multitudes of valiant men from different estates, noblemen, great clerics of this Order and others, and even from the community of the Order of Saint Francis, excellent doctors in theology, and other solemn clerics of this religion who were qualified to be graduates, had they wished to be so; they came to retreat from the world, and stay in order to keep and observe their estate, and remain there for a long time, some even until the end of their lives, for Our Lord. Our Lord wished to call them and others who are still alive and fervently and loyally observe the holy evangelical way of life, and from whom lady holy poverty shines forth. Several other orders also came, and with them many notable secular priests, clerics, masters of art, parish priests of a good and saintly way of life who, when they were still in the world, showed great penitence and devotion. And not only young people aged twenty or so, but also those of perfect age and mature discretion.46 Also people of noble descent from several countries, some of whom had served in the house of the King of France and had traveled to diverse regions on the sea and even beyond, such as Jerusalem and several other places, and who had or could have seen several Orders, and devout people, even those who observed the Rule of Saint Francis, nonetheless came to retreat from the world and do penance in this small area and this way of life. And they have persevered—and still persevere—by fleeing the world and the concupiscence of honors, riches, and delights, following the advice from monseigneur Saint John the Evangelist.47 It could be said that it is a great folly and blindness for such notable people to leave behind their possessions and pleasures that they could reasonably have kept by simply obeying God’s law. If they think that they could have been saved without coming to this state of perfection and strict poverty they would be deceivers, pretenders, and hypocrites, trying to deceive God’s people. They would have been born in an unlucky hour, and could well be called martyrs of the devil if they thus kill and martyr their bodies and damn their souls. God would never allow it. And we should not believe that such unseemliness and error would be found among such people, or that one finds in such company anything that would be repugnant to the Catholic faith, for we would not want to come close to them if this were the case. But we are informed with certainty 46. The perfect age is usually assumed to be thirty. Saint Augustine affirmed that at the Resurrection people would all be around thirty years old—neither older nor younger than Christ was at his death— even if people had died at an advanced age. He stated that “the most learned authorities of the world define the age of human maturity as being about thirty years; they say that after that period of life a man begins to go downhill towards middle age and senility.” See Augustine, Concerning the City of God against the Pagans, trans. Henry Bettenson, introd. John O’Meara (Harmondsworth,  UK: Penguin, 1972), book 22, chap. 15, 1056. 47. See 1 John 2:16, which identifies the three traditional enemies of all Christians, the world, the flesh, and the devil: “For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

Letters by, to, and about Colette 257 of all this and we cannot doubt it, because experience shows us the contrary. De fructibus etc. by the fruit [you will know them].48 For the person who would know in which and in how many places Our Lord has multiplied this poor congregation by means of this poor Sister by establishing and reforming convents of sisters as well as those of the friars would praise her with good cause.49 And whoever was informed of their way of life and conduct as are those who experience them every day, and especially people of good conscience who know their way of life, would take great pleasure in the good that God has done and is still doing every day through them, and not as seducers but as true evangelical men. They preach and proclaim and perform every day God’s holy law and the life of Jesus Christ by their deeds, examples, and words, according to the grace given to them by God. And we do not believe that anyone could find that since the beginning of this small reform there was any sedition, debate, or division in any town or city where there are convents of the poor sisters of this order, not by them nor by their friars or any people acting on their behalf. The mercy of the true prince of peace Jesus has protected them from this so far and will continue to do so from now on into the future, for it pleases His goodness. On the contrary, Our Lord, through them and especially through this good lady calmed many quarrels and pacified many divisions in a number of towns and cities.50 They were much distressed and were consoled and comforted by the sisters. And through their gracious words, kind admonitions, and devout prayers many poor sinners, both men and women, repented and returned to the path of salvation and have since then led good and holy lives, as those know who have experienced it. Her principal goal is to procure the salvation of souls created and redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. And no one can say that she or her sisters have been preaching or are still doing so, nor have they ever offered a sermon or any kind of preaching in private or in public. For she would be very troubled by this, and has not allowed it in any manner whatsoever in any of her convents. Or that they have forbidden books in French that say anything or are suspected of saying anything against our holy faith or trying to diminish it, or could be an occasion for scandal or error for her or anyone else. She would rather die than consent to anything like this, whatever some might say to the contrary. Nor would the prelates of the Order who are in 48. The partial quotation is in Latin in the text. See Matthew 7:20: “By their fruits you will know them.” This whole convoluted section is difficult to understand: it seems that Pierre wants to say that those who doubt the necessity of giving up riches are “martyrs of the devil.” He may allude to those people who want to have it both ways: that is, to join a religious order but still hold on to their wealth. Not all orders prescribed the strict poverty of the Franciscans. 49. By 1443 Colette had already founded or reformed fifteen convents. 50. As we have seen in the Introduction, strife and division were certainly not unknown to Colette and her supporters! Here, Pierre wants to dispel any notion that conflicts could arise in Amiens.

258 Letters by, to, and about Colette charge of its governance and administration ever tolerate it. And it is neither licit nor appropriate to say that this holy Order, instituted, given, ordered by God, and approved by Holy Church should be rejected or that it has something to hide. For those who see clearly, filled with the Holy Spirit and having true knowledge of their way of life through experience, will know the truth. And those who would like to be better informed about these points, and others relating to their way of life and vocation, could clearly learn it from their holy Rule and their lives, as experienced in the towns and cities where their convents are located. There one would find clear approval by many notable prelates of Holy Church and other clerics, doctors, and secular as well as religious people. Among others monseigneur the bishop of Castres,51 who at present is in charge of the direction of the King’s conscience and is his confessor, and who has in his city three convents of the Observance, one of the Preaching Friars,52 one of the Friars Minor, and another one of the poor sisters of saint Clare who also follow this way of life. And all of them were reformed by the above-mentioned sister Colette.53 This venerable prelate feels great love and reverence for her and for her entire poor Order, and he knows well their way of life and conduct and he has been always good to them, paternally administering to them the works of mercy. Likewise, monseigneur the bishop of Béziers,54 a great lord and solemn cleric, a man of virtue and an honest way of life, was involved with reforming the convent of Saint Clare in Béziers, and like a good father, cordially and charitably, provided for their needs and showed the sisters great devotion. Likewise, in the city of Puy in Auvergne, although there were great difficulties with building the newly-founded convent of Saint Clare and the process involving its founders and monseigneur the bishop, and the college and chapter of Notre Dame and the priest of the parish where said convent was located took a long time; and although during this long process the first founders died, our lord, the King, out of pure love for God and moved by pity and his reverence and devotion for the poor Order, wanted his only and very noble son, Monseigneur the dauphin,55 to be made founder of this convent. May God through His divine goodness preserve and protect him. And now that this convent is finished everyone is served by Our Lord there. And my lord the bishop, ever since he has learned about their conduct and way of life, has done many good things for them, and so has the noble college. 51. Gérard Machet (1380–1448). 52. That is, the Dominicans, founded as the Order of Preachers, or Ordo Praedicatorum in 1216. 53. Colette also contributed to the reform of the Dominicans in Castres. 54. Guillaume de Montjoie (d. 1451), former dean of the University of Angers, and an advocate for the reunification of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. He is depicted kneeling in prayer in Enguerrand Quarton’s painting Le Couronnement de la Vierge (The Coronation of the Virgin Mary, 1453–54), a work commissioned for the Carthusian monastery in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, southeastern France, and now in that city’s Musée Pierre-de-Luxembourg. 55. The future Louis XI. Born in 1423, he reigned from 1461 to 1483.

Letters by, to, and about Colette 259 And whoever would now want to throw them out, they and the other citizens and inhabitants of the town would get into great trouble. And in so many other towns and cities the Order has multiplied so much that it would take too long to recount. There are now fifteen convents of sisters who follow this reformed way of life, without counting the convents of friars that were constructed and reformed in various provinces by means of sister Colette, at least ten or twelve, among which is the convent of Dole, where the university and the Parlement are, and the one in Heidelberg which belongs to the Duke Louis of Bavaria, Count Palatine of the Rhine in the province of Strasbourg,56 where there also is a university. And in these places one can well see that there are deceivers and pretenders who appear to show great irreverence toward God and His Church by daring and presuming to call a congregation that follows religion to perfection a sect, which it certainly is not. And all these things and others described above that were achieved by means of this creature cannot be hidden away, except those that God has concealed from humans and reserved for Himself. So many princes, lords and ladies, and so many people from the noble House of France, as well as others who have always been reputed to be true Catholics and surrounded by great clerics and notable wise men, have had and still have such great devotion and reverence for her and her deeds—and not without reason—that they founded convents in their towns and cities, as we can see in this kingdom and elsewhere. God has given us through His goodness the grace and willingness to begin such a good work in the hope that He will give us the strength to finish it. But let us now come to the present time. In the end, there is no town or city that does not desire or love her presence and that is not consoled and edified by the way of life of these poor sisters and nuns, especially good people who desire to do God’s holy pleasure. And this is not surprising, for they put great effort and diligence into keeping to the holy way of life to which they are called, as is clear from several notable people who know the truth and from whom one can gather information: first of all, the notable and illustrious prelates, archbishops, and bishops who love and fear God who know all about them and who for the love of God feel love and reverence for them, and like fathers support and nourish them both physically and spiritually in the service of Our Lord, as I described above. Also, the reverend abbots. The notable leaders of colleges and parish priests of the towns and cities where they reside, members of Orders, such as the Order of Saint Francis, and not only this Order which naturally would be favorable toward them, but also others, such as the Preaching Friars which has so many valiant

56. Louis III of Bavaria (1378–1436), Elector Palatine of the Rhine, married to Matilda, or Mechtilde, of Savoy (ca. 1390–1438), daughter of Amadeus of Savoy.

260 Letters by, to, and about Colette men and among others the General of this Order57 know about them. Likewise the Augustinian friars, the Carmelites, the Carthusians, and the Celestines, and among others the man who was most often the Provincial from the beginning of the reform of this order and who is from Besançon, where there is the first reformed convent of this order—he can and must know much about all this. I beseech you, noble citizens of Amiens, not to refuse or prevent this work that is so pleasing to God, but for love of Him to welcome it piously, for I am confident that nothing bad will come of it, but if it pleases God, you will all be joyful and consoled. Do not doubt that Jesus Christ is capable of feeding twelve or fifteen poor Sisters. May God give His grace to all so that you will do His pleasure and we can finally succeed.

Letter of Colette to King Charles VII regarding the proposed foundation at Corbie, ca. 144558 [Colette had long desired to establish a foundation in her hometown of Corbie. The governor of Amiens, Philippe de Saveuse, working for the dukes of Burgundy, had already established a Clarissan convent in Corbie and had obtained a bull of Pope Eugene IV that authorized Colette to establish her own foundation in Corbie. The citizens of Corbie welcomed Colette’s plans, but the local Benedictines appealed to the Parlement of France to circumvent the pope’s bull.59 The Parlement sided with the abbey, and this is why Colette now appealed directly to Charles VII in 1445. This letter shows Colette’s astute evaluation of the situation in Corbie and her strategic approach to seeking support for this particular foundation. A year later, however, Colette admits defeat in the two letters to the monks of Corbie translated below.60]

57. The Minister General of the Dominicans at that time was Barthélemy Texier, who held the position from 1426 to 1449. Like a previous Minister General, Raymond of Capua, who had initiated reform within the order, Texier was a key figure in the Dominican Observant movement. 58. The French translation is in Lettres de Sainte Colette, 37–40. 59. See Lettres de Sainte Colette, 37. The Parlement is the court of law. 60. This defeat is truly remarkable since it came about in spite of the support of many powerful people. Charles VII’s son, the Dauphin (later Louis XI), had written to the prior and convent of Saint-Pierre on August 26, 1446, in support of Colette’s foundation. See Lettres de Louis XI, Roi de France, vol. 1: Lettres de Louis Dauphin, 1438–1461, ed. Etienne Charavay (Paris: Librairie Renouard, 1883), 28–31. A footnote near the end of the letter (31n1) indicates that the queen of France, Marie d’Anjou, had also written in support of Colette’s foundation on August 12, 1446. On the protracted efforts to establish a Colettine foundation in Corbie see Sommé, “The Dukes and Duchesses of Burgundy,” 47–50, who mentions the Dauphin’s letter (49).

Letters by, to, and about Colette 261 To the King, our Lord Jesus Christ The most useless servant of Jesus Christ and your unworthy supplicant who prays for you, Sister Colette, a poor religious of the Order of Saint Clare, humbly begs your assistance. For about a year, the Lord and Lady of Saveuse, moved by devotion and by the singular affection they have for our poor Order, have had the wish to found and construct a convent and monastery of the said Order of Saint Clare and of our form of life,61 within the town of Corbie, and for this reason have obtained a bull and mandate from our Holy Father the Pope, and in order to carry out the commands in the manner described in it, presented it to my lords, the abbot and prior of the convent of Saint Peter in the aforesaid Corbie as was correct, asking and requesting that they humbly agree to obey and give their consent. My lord the abbot replied, saying that it was not his intention to contradict the bulls of our Holy Father, and that he had always shown himself content with them, and that the citizens, peasants, and inhabitants of this town were also satisfied, and very much wished and desired it. But the abovementioned Prior and convent would in no way give their consent, although the said Lord and Lady of Saveuse offered and proposed to return to them and make restitution of all financial interests which might be affected by this venture in whatever manner necessary. After this action and their offer on their part, and with the consent of the said abbot, the said Lord and Lady, by the authority of the Holy Father, started building the said convent of Saint Clare. They have already labored greatly and at great expense over it, as much in accomplishing the work as in provision of materials. To hinder the work already begun on the wall, the said religious have obtained an order questioning their possession of the property from your Parlement, by reason of which they have forced the work to come to a stop. This has done great harm, and delayed the work of God and the good already begun. Since then they have obtained yet another order by which my Lord de Saveuse and his followers are forbidden as far as this cause or matter are concerned—by the authority of bulls or any other way—to negotiate with the said religious except in your own Parlement court. When the Duchess of Burgundy was informed of the difficulties and opposition, moved by pity and compassion for our poor Order, as she has written to you, she wrote several times to them and remonstrated with them, and even begged and requested them to be willing at last to give their consent; but in the end they would in no way agree to do this under any circumstances. As the request is a devout one, and concerns chiefly the honor of God, the increase of His divine service, and the salvation of the souls He has created and redeemed, we come back to you as our last and sovereign refuge in this poor world. We beg in this matter your kind, devout, and merciful assistance, as that following the most noble and Christian Kings who have preceded you, as you have 61. For this expression (in Latin, forma vitae), see the Introduction, 6. The Lord and Lady of Saveuse: Philippe de Saveuse (1391–1468), as referred to above, and his wife, Marie de Lully (d. 1477).

262 Letters by, to, and about Colette always been accustomed to do, without looking to creatures but purely and chiefly to the Creator, it will please your most kind grace to show us humble and cordial charity, granting this boon and so providing for the good work begun that it may be enabled to come to a speedy fulfilment. In this way God can be served with all readiness for the pure love of Jesus Christ, in reverence for His woeful death and sacred Passion. May it please you to amortize [text missing] . . . the place and the site where the said convent is to be. This place was given to us a long time ago as a donation62 for the love of God. Moreover, by the authority of your royal majesty and your absolute power, may it please you by a special favor to give leave and authorization for the perfecting and finishing of the said convent, notwithstanding the said complaint of dispossession, by offering us to assign as a suitable and fitting judge your bailiff of Amiens, or some other person to represent the interests of [the monks of the abbey]. In no way do we wish to refuse them their rights, and we want to render and restore to them all that is duly claimed and judged right, and even more. What disadvantage do they actually expect of this in view of the fact that these poor religious will have no claim at any time to have lordship or jurisdiction, neither rent, nor taxes, nor revenue, but will live simply on alms in accordance with the evangelical counsel of Jesus Christ our Lord. May it please you to agree to this through your grace and generous mercy, in all pity and compassion. Thus you would impart something good to us and give us alms, which will oblige the poor Order to pray ever more and more for your high and holy intention, a thing we would wish always to do with all our hearts, as God well knows. Already with your good and noble assistance the convents of the city of Puy in Auvergne and of Amiens in Picardy have been founded. Without it we could have done nothing so far, as I believe is also the case with many other good works in your noble realm which God may protect. Amen.

First Letter of Colette to the Benedictine Monks of Corbie, March 2, 1446?63 [The monks of Corbie persisted in their refusal to allow a reformed convent of the Poor Clares in their town. When Colette, supported by the duke and duchess of Burgundy, appealed to the king, the monks feared that they would lose the support of the Parlement, “or that it would be powerless to defend them. So they addressed themselves directly to Colette,” hoping that she would desist. In this letter, she

62. The 1981 French translation reads “aumône,” suggesting that this donation is a form of alms that the sisters are allowed to accept under the regime of poverty. 63. This letter was written in Hesdin and is preserved in the archives of the convent of Amiens deposited at Poligny. Lettres de Sainte Colette, 41–44.

Letters by, to, and about Colette 263 offers persuasive arguments for her foundation, but finally, in her second letter, has to renounce the projected foundation on behalf of Philippe de Saveuse.64] Jesus + Maria To my most honored and reverend Sirs, my Lords the Prior and the religious of Corbie. Most honored and reverend Sirs, my Lords, I commend my poor soul as humbly as I can and know how to your holy prayers and devout supplication. May it please you to know that I have received the letters which it has pleased you to write and send to me, telling how my Lord Saveuse wishes to build a monastery of our Order in your town of Corbie, and several other things touching on this matter which would be too long to list here. With regard to these letters and their contents, I assure you that it was not at my request but at the urgent entreaty and request of the said Lord of Saveuse, with the approval and authority of our holy Father Pope Eugene IV, with the consent and approbation of the reverend Father in God, Monsieur the Abbot and Count of Corbie, given and granted to the said Lord of Saveuse, for the sovereign honor and perfect love of God, the exaltation of His holy name and the extending of His holy service, and for the salvation of souls and the increase of the spiritual and temporal good of the said town. I agreed to the foundation and construction of the said convent not because I had any desire, intention, or wish that this convent should be prejudicial to your lordship and your province, nor to that of the churches, nor that it would be for the detriment of the poor, the deprived, or strangers. For if that were indeed the case, even if the convent were to be founded and completely finished with your consent and good pleasure, I would neither wish to live nor stay there, for that would be to usurp the rights of others. But, before God, I believe that the aforementioned construction would be for the honor of God and of yourselves, to the credit of your monastery, and profitable to it, as well as for the strengthening of yourselves and of the townspeople. As I have always seen and learned by my own experience, in every place where our convents have been built, whether in large, average, or small towns, including ones smaller and poorer than Corbie, I have seen nothing that has not been provided by God’s bounty, without harm or loss to anyone else. Neither the nobles, nor the inhabitants, religious or secular, have suffered any dishonor or loss, but have profited spiritually and temporally and have been consoled and strengthened thereby.

64. Preface to the translation of this letter by the nuns of the Marian House of the Holy Spirit, Ty Mam Duw, .

264 Letters by, to, and about Colette You ask me to agree to desist from the building of this convent, which I do, with regret, because I have no doubt that once you stand before Him, the Lord would judge that you have no right to prevent so great a good. Nevertheless, at your request I will notify his Lordship, asking him to agree to desist from the said convent and abandon the work, and that you have all judged against allowing the said monastery to be built during your lifetime as long as you can muster any resistance to it. Most honored and reverend Sirs, I humbly beg the Holy Spirit to keep you always in his holy grace and finally to bring you to everlasting glory. Written at Hesdin, the 2nd of March.

Colette’s Second Letter to the Monks of Corbie, March 10, 1446? [The monks were not satisfied with Colette’s answer and urged her again to stop construction of the convent immediately. Colette finally accepted their refusal in a letter both humble and dignified. The manuscript is in the archives of the monastery of Amiens kept at Poligny.65]

Most honored and reverend Sirs, as humbly as I can and know how to, I commend my poor soul to your devout prayers and holy supplications. May it please you to know that I have received the letters which you have been pleased to write and send me, in which are contained several points touching on the foundation of the convent of our Order which Monseigneur de Saveuse is having built in your town. Having seen them, I have sent with all haste to the said Lord of Saveuse to request and beg him most strongly to desist from the said foundation, notwithstanding that I have already requested and asked him on an earlier occasion most humbly to do so. Most honored and revered Sirs, I humbly beg the blessed Holy Spirit to keep you in his holy grace and lead you at last to eternal glory. Amen.                                                Written at Hesdin, 10th of March,               Your most useless supplicant, Sister Colette

65. The manuscript is in the archives of the monastery of Amiens kept at Poligny (Lettres de Sainte Colette, 44–45).

Letters by, to, and about Colette 265 Letter of Henry VIII of England to Pope Leo X, September 15, 151366 [This letter was part of an intensifying campaign for Colette’s canonization in the early sixteenth century. Henry VIII (1491–1547), as Henry VII’s second son, originally destined for a career in the Church, separated the Church of England from the papacy after 1534. This letter to Pope Leo X (r. 1513–21), endorsing Saint Colette’s canonization,67 was written a little before Henry’s Defence of the Seven Sacraments against Martin Luther, which he began in 1518.] To our Holy and Most Clement Lord, Pope Leo X Holy Father, Humbly prostrated before Your Holiness, I beg to kiss his feet with the most profound respect. Since we arrived in Belgian Gaul68 we have heard from everywhere the name and the resounding praise of the glorious virgin Colette, so celebrated for her purity, her simplicity and innocence of life, but above all for her admirable zeal and her active charity. We understand that like a diligent bee she has gathered exquisite honey from the precious flowers of the rarest virtues and has presented it to the celestial gardener.69 She has put all her efforts into producing numerous hives with her gatherings; for it is she who has enriched not only Belgium, but France, Burgundy, Savoy, and other countries as well by those many monasteries she had had constructed—always under the guidance of the Holy Spirit—by her efforts and her industry, which monasteries she had filled with chaste virgins who unceasingly offer up to Almighty God their songs and sacrifices of praises. Also, God has not permitted that His servant rests entombed in obscurity, but has been pleased to glorify this virgin by remarkable miracles, both when her soul was still bound in the chains of her body, but even more so since she has been permitted to enjoy the immortal glory that she has so well merited by her works. 66. A modern French version of this letter can be found in Louis Sellier, Vie de Sainte Colette, vol. 2 (Lyon and Paris: Alfred Caron, 1855), 144–46. Anna Campbell generously sent me a photo of the letter and provided the following reference: “Poligny Séries A 41, D1, Cahier 15, pp. 22–23. Part of the Acts of Canonisation in the 18th century.  The letter was examined and entered into evidence Anno Nativitatis Domini 1747, die 1 aprilis.” 67. See Anna Campbell, “Colette of Corbie: Cult and Canonization,” in Mueller and Warren, eds., A Companion to Colette of Corbie, 173–206, at pp. 185–86. Leo X received a deputation of friars— representing not only Henry VIII but Margaret of Austria, duchess of Savoy, and her father, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I—who came to make the case for Colette’s sainthood. Embroiled in war, however, Leo refused their request; “it was not the time for a lengthy canonization process” (186). 68. That is, modern-day Belgium. 69. See note 18 for the significance of the image of the bee. Here Henry VIII is referring to Colette as a bee because she has gathered chaste women into the religious life of her many “hives” or convents.

266 Letters by, to, and about Colette Numerous gatherings of the faithful can be seen daily at her tomb, where they all find comfort in their troubles and tribulations near those precious relics where they also find answers to their petitions. That is why it has seemed to Us quite astonishing that this blessed virgin, who in the judgment of your Holy See has been recognized worthy to receive in this world the honors due her, has so far not yet been inscribed in the number of the holy virgins. Therefore, We, too, come to deposit at the feet of Your Holiness our most fervent prayers. We, therefore, come to you to supplicate you in the most insistent manner that you inscribe this blessed Colette where the vote of the people has already placed her—in the number of holy virgins. All this, though of course, only after Your Holiness will have duly examined into, and pronounced upon, the authenticity of the virtues and miracles attributed to her. Such a solemn Act will not fail to contribute to the increase of our holy Religion and honor of Colette, but to the greater glory of Almighty God, who never leaves his own Church without fruitfulness. Also, it will mightily contribute to the immortality of the name of Your Holiness. May the All-Highest accord to Your Holiness a perfect health and the fulfilment of all Your wishes. Your very devoted and very obedient Son, Henry.

Map

Figure 11. Map of France and surrounding regions, showing Burgundian possessions and convents founded or reformed by Colette of Corbie.

267

Chronology Historical Events in the World and the Church

Events in Colette’s Life

1337 Beginning of the Hundred Years’ War between France and England. 1378 Death of Pope Gregory XI. Beginning of the Great Western Schism: Election of Pope Urban VI (Roman Obedience), followed by the election of Pope Clement VII (Avignon Obedience) a few months later. 1380 Death of Charles V, King of France, and accession of his son Charles VI. Death of Saint Catherine of Siena. 1381 Birth of Nicolette Boylet (Colette), on January 13, to Marguerite Moyon and Robert Boylet, carpenter at the Benedictine abbey in Corbie, Picardy. 1383 English siege of Ypres in support of the revolt of the citizens of Ghent against their ruler, Louis de Male. 1384–1440 Francesca Romana (Saint Frances of Rome). 1385 Charles VI of France marries Isabeau of Bavaria. 1388 Beginnings of the Observant Franciscan Movement at Mirebeau. 1389 Death of Pope Urban VI. Pope Boniface IX elected on the Roman side. 1392 Beginning of Charles VI’s intermittent bouts of madness. 269

270 Chronology Historical Events in the World and the Church

Events in Colette’s Life

1394 Death of Pope Clement VII. Pope Benedict XIII elected on the Avignon side. 1395 Colette, small of stature at fourteen, grows miraculously after making a pilgrimage and praying to become taller. 1396 Battle of Nicopolis (modern-day Bulgaria), in which the forces of a European crusader coalition are wiped out by the Ottoman Turks. John of Nevers—son of Philip the Bold, later to succeed his father as John the Fearless—is taken prisoner. 1398 The French clergy and kingdom withdraw obedience from Pope Benedict XIII. Obedience is restored in 1403. 1399 Both of her parents now deceased, Colette gives away all her possessions. 1400 Searching for a vocation, Colette stays with the Beguines of Corbie, with the Benedictines as a lay sister, and then with the Urbanist Clarisses of Pont-Sainte-Maxence. 1402 Colette becomes a recluse in Corbie with the guidance of father Jean Pinet, guardian of the Hesdin monastery. 1404 Death of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Succeeded by John the Fearless (r. 1404–1419), a great supporter of Colette.

Chronology 271 Historical Events in the World and the Church

Events in Colette’s Life

1405 Death of Jean Pinet. Henry de Baume visits Colette and becomes her mentor and confidant. 1404–1406 Pope Innocent VII, Roman side. 1406 Pope Gregory XII elected on the Roman side.

1406 Colette receives dispensation from the Bishop of Amiens to leave her cell in Corbie. With an entourage of pious aristocratic ladies, and accompanied by Henry de Baume, she travels to meet with Pope Benedict XIII in Nice. He invests her with the veil of the Poor Clares and authorizes her to found a monastery with the Rule of Saint Clare. After her attempts to do so in Corbie fail, she takes refuge at the castle of Alard de la Roche et de Baume, Henry’s brother and the father of Perrine de Baume (born ca. 1408), Colette’s future companion and biographer.

1407 Assassination of Louis, Duke of Orléans, Charles VI’s brother, on the orders of John the Fearless, their cousin. Beginning of the conflict between the Armagnac and Burgundian factions in France, which leads to a civil war that lasts on and off until 1424. 1408 Colette resides with Blanche of Geneva. Pope Benedict XIII authorizes Colette to take over the almost deserted Urbanist monastery in Besançon. 1409–1410 Pope Alexander V elected at the Council of Pisa. The Roman and Avignon Popes Gregory XII and Benedict XIII are condemned, but do not abdicate.

1410 Colette creates a community in Besançon, living in strict observance of the Rule of Saint Clare in absolute poverty.

272 Chronology Historical Events in the World and the Church

Events in Colette’s Life

1410–1415 Pope John XXIII elected at the Council of Pisa. 1412 (ca.) Birth of Joan of Arc.

1412 The Franciscan friary at Dole becomes the first of the male Franciscan “Coletan” houses, albeit not without some difficulty. Colette visits Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, in Dijon, and receives authorization from her husband, John the Fearless, to found the monastery at Auxonne. She also meets friar Pierre de Vaux (who becomes her confessor and future biographer) and friar François Claret. Both will play important roles in her life.

1414–1418 Council of Constance: all three popes (Gregory XII, Benedict XIII, John XXIII) are forced to abdicate. With the election of Pope Martin V (r. 1417–1431), the Great Schism ends. In 1415 the Council grants autonomy to the Observants in France.

1414 The Duke of Burgundy donates the former arsenal of Poligny to Colette for her foundation of a convent.

1415 Battle of Agincourt: King Henry V of England defeats French forces under Charles VI. Occupation of Northern France (see Figure 11 ).

1415 Colette moves to Poligny with several sisters to complete construction of the convent. She also returns to Besançon. 1417 Colette is back in Poligny. The monastery at Notre-Dame de Pitié is finished and inhabited by the sisters.

1418 An Anglo-Burgundian alliance rules Paris until 1437. 1419 Death of Saint Vincent Ferrer.

1419 Colette founds the convent of Decize on the lands of Bonne of Artois, Countess of Nevers (the actual foundation occurs in 1423). She visits the Duchess of Burgundy after the assassination of her husband, John the Fearless.

Chronology 273 Historical Events in the World and the Church

Events in Colette’s Life

1419 Assassination of John the Fearless in retaliation for the 1407 murder of Louis of Orléans. Philip the Good becomes Duke of Burgundy (until 1467). 1420 Treaty of Troyes: The French king Charles VI recognizes the English king Henry V as his heir, disinheriting his son Charles VII.

1420–1423 A citizen of the town of Seurre donates land to found a monastery there, as planned by Margaret of Burgundy. Martin V’s papal bull permits Marie of Berry, duchess of Bourbon, to found a community in Moulins. Colette’s early supporter Blanche of Geneva dies, and her body is transferred to the chapel in Poligny for burial.

1422 Deaths of Charles VI and Henry V; Pope Benedict XIII dies a short time later in 1423. Henry VI becomes King of England. Charles VII, nicknamed the “King of Bourges,” remains limited to a small territory (see Figure 11 ), a king without a crown or a kingdom. 1423 Colette visits the Duchess of Burgundy. Marie of Berry helps found the convent at Aigueperse. 1424 After more English victories, Charles VII concludes a truce with the Burgundians in Chambéry. 1425 Death of Margaret, duchess of Burgundy. Isabeau de la Marche, daughter of Jacques de Bourbon, becomes a sister at Aigueperse. In the face of opposition at Chambéry, Colette founds a community in Vevey, authorized by a papal bull from Martin V.

274 Chronology Historical Events in the World and the Church

Events in Colette’s Life

1426 Her supporter Jacques de Bourbon becomes a Tertiary Franciscan. The citizens of Ghent approach her about founding a convent there. Jeanne of Montfaucon-Montbéliard requests a foundation at Orbe, which is authorized by a papal bull; the community is established in 1428. 1427 Colette returns to Poligny. 1428–1429 Siege of Orléans by English 1428 Called to the south of France by and Burgundian troops. Jacques de Bourbon and his son-inlaw Bernard of Armagnac, Colette starts the foundations at Castres (1428) and Lézignan (1431) with their help. 1429 Joan of Arc liberates Orléans and leads Charles VII to Reims for his coronation as King of France. 1430 John of Capistrano becomes vicar to William of Casale, the Minister General of the Franciscans and a strong supporter of Colette.

1430 Colette edits her Constitutions in Orbe.

1430–1431 Capture, trial, and execution of Joan of Arc. Henry VI of England is crowned King of France in Paris. 1431 Pope Eugene IV elected. 1431–1439 Council of Basel. In 1437 the Council is transferred to Ferrara and breaks with Pope Eugene IV.

1432 With the support of the Countess of Polignac, Colette begins a foundation at Le Puy. 1434 After stays in Le Puy, Castres, and Lézignan, Colette reforms the convent in Béziers. Her Constitutions are approved by William of Casale.

Chronology 275 Historical Events in the World and the Church

Events in Colette’s Life

1435 Peace accord between Charles VII and Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, concluded in Arras. 1437 From Besançon, Colette travels to Heidelberg to set up a foundation there with the support of Louis III of Bavaria and his wife Matilda, or Mechtilde, of Savoy, the niece of Blanche of Geneva. Plans for a foundation at Pont-à-Mousson are followed by an authorization by the Duke of Burgundy to found a convent at Hesdin. 1438–1439 Jacques de Bourbon and Henry de Baume die. 1439 The Council of Basel is transferred to Florence. Colette’s friend Amadeus of Savoy is elected as Pope Felix V, antipope to Pope Eugene IV. Colette breaks with Amadeus. 1442 Philippe de Saveuse is authorized by Pope Eugene IV to found a Colettine convent in Amiens. 1442 Colette arrives in Ghent for her newly constructed monastery, then goes to Besançon for John of Capistrano’s visit as papal legate. 1443 Letter by Pierre de Vaux to the citizens of Amiens in support of the foundation of the Colettine convent there which was completed in 1445. 1444 The Treaty of Tours establishes a truce between France and England; its collapse in 1449 is followed by French victories.

276 Chronology Historical Events in the World and the Church

Events in Colette’s Life

1445 Colette tries again to found a monastery at her hometown of Corbie, which has been authorized by a papal bull, but the local Benedictines successfully resist. Colette stays in Hesdin. 1446 Colette leaves for Ghent in December. 1447 Pope Eugene IV dies, and is succeeded by Pope Nicholas V.

1447 Colette dies in Ghent on March 6 with Pierre de Vaux at her side.

1449 End of the schismatic Council of Basel. The antipope Felix V abdicates. 1450–1455 Gutenberg prints the first Bible with movable type. 1453 End of the Hundred Years’ War. Constantinople captured by forces of the Ottoman Empire. 1455 Election of Pope Calixtus III. 1456 Rehabilitation of Joan of Arc, who was canonized in 1920.

• 1807 Colette is canonized by Pope Pius VII.

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Bibliography 281 ———. “Du songe de Jacob aux visions de saints dans l’art médiéval.” Micrologus 6 (1998): 43–57. Hedeman, Anne Dawson. Of Counselors and Kings: The Three Versions of Pierre Salmon’s Dialogues. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2001. Herzig, Tamar. “Flies, Heretics, and the Gendering of Witchcraft.” Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 5 (2010): 51–80. Katajala-Peltomaa, Sari. Gender, Miracles, and Daily Life: The Evidence of Fourteenth-Century Canonization Processes. Turnhout: Brepols, 2009. Kieckhefer, Richard. Unquiet Souls: Fourteenth-Century Saints and Their Religious Milieu. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984. Knox, Lezlie S. Creating Clare of Assisi: Female Franciscan Identities in Later Medieval Italy. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2008. Kumler, Aden. Translating Truth: Ambitious Images and Religious Knowledge in Late Medieval France and England. New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press, 2011. Kuuliala, Jenni. “The Saint as Medicator: Medicine and the Miraculous in Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century Italy.” Social History of Medicine (2020), hkaa053, . Laget, Mireille. Naissances: L’accouchement avant l’âge de la clinique. Paris: Seuil, 1982. Laharie, Muriel. La Folie au Moyen Age: XIe–XIIIe siècles. Preface by Jacques Le Goff. Paris: Le Léopard d’Or, 1991. Le Goff, Jacques. The Birth of Purgatory. Translated by Arthur Goldhammer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984. Lopez, Elisabeth. Colette of Corbie (1381–1447): Learning and Holiness. Translated by Joanna Waller. St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2011. Originally published as Culture et sainteté: Colette de Corbie, 1381–1447. SaintEtienne: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Etienne, 1994. ———. Petite vie de Sainte Colette. Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1998. ———. “Sainte Colette.” In Sainte Claire d’Assise et sa postérité: Actes du colloque international organisé à l’occasion du VIIIe centenaire de la naissance de Sainte Claire, UNESCO (29 septembre–1er octobre 1994), edited by Geneviève BrunelLobrichon, Dominique Dinet, Jacqueline Gréal, and Damien Vorreux, 193– 217. Paris: Les Editions franciscaines, 1995. MacEvitt, Christopher. The Martyrdom of the Franciscans: Islam, the Papacy, and an Order in Conflict. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020. Metzler, Irina. Disability in Medieval Europe: Thinking about Physical Impairment during the High Middle Ages, c. 1100–1400. London and New York: Routledge, 2006. Miller, Tanya Stabler. The Beguines of Medieval Paris: Gender, Patronage, and Spiritual Authority. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014.

282 Bibliography Minnis, Alastair J., and Rosalynn Voaden, eds. Medieval Holy Women in the Christian Tradition, c. 1100–c. 1500. Turnhout: Brepols, 2010. Mixson, James D. Poverty’s Proprietors: Ownership and Mortal Sin at the Origins of the Observant Movement. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2009. Mooney, Catherine M. Clare of Assisi and the Thirteenth-Century Church: Religious Women, Rules, and Resistance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016. Moorman, J. R. H. A History of the Franciscan Order: From its Origins to the Year 1517. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968. More, Alison. Fictive Orders and Feminine Religious Identities, 1200–1600. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. ———. “Institutionalizing Penitential Life in Later Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Third Orders, Rules, and Canonical Legitimacy.” Church History 83 (2014): 297–323. Mueller, Joan. “Colette of Corbie and the ‘Privilege of Poverty.’ ” In Mueller and Warren, eds., A Companion to Colette of Corbie [cited below], 101–29. Mueller, Joan, and Nancy Bradley Warren, eds. A Companion to Colette of Corbie. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2016. Mulder-Bakker, Anneke B. Lives of the Anchoresses: The Rise of the Urban Recluse in Medieval Europe. Translated by Myra Heerspink Scholz. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. Nagy, Piroska. Le Don des larmes au Moyen Age: Un instrument spirituel en quête d’institution (Ve–XIIIe siècle). Paris: Albin Michel, 2000. Newman, Barbara. “On the Threshold of the Dead: Purgatory, Hell, and Religious Women.” In From Virile Woman to WomanChrist: Studies in Medieval Religion and Literature, 108–36. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995. Nimmo, Duncan. Reform and Division in the Medieval Franciscan Order: From Saint Francis to the Foundation of the Capuchins. Rome: Capuchin Historical Institute, 1987. Nixon, Virginia. Mary’s Mother: Saint Anne in Late Medieval Europe. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004. Orlemanski, Julie. “How to Kiss a Leper.” Postmedieval 3 (2012): 142–57. Orth, Myra D. “ ‘Madame Saint Anne’: The Holy Kinship, the Royal Trinity, and Louise of Savoy.” In Ashley and Sheingorn, eds., Interpreting Cultural Symbols [cited above], 199–227. Pearson, Andrea. “Imaging and Imagining Colette of Corbie: An Illuminated Version of Pierre de Vaux’s Vie de Colette.” In Mueller and Warren, eds., A Companion to Colette of Corbie [cited above], 130–72. Peyroux, Catherine. “The Leper’s Kiss.” In Monks and Nuns, Saints and Outcasts: Religion in Medieval Society. Essays in Honor of Lester K. Little, edited by Sharon Farmer and Barbara H. Rosenwein, 172–88. Ithaca, NY, and London: Cornell University Press, 2000.

Bibliography 283 Pidoux de La Maduère, André. Sainte Colette (1381–1447). Paris: Librairie Victor Lecoffre, 1907. Richards, Joan Marie. “Franciscan Women: The Colettine Reform of the Order of St. Clare in the Fifteenth Century.” PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1989. Richards, Marie. “The Conflict between Observant and Conventual Reformed Franciscans in Fifteenth-Century France and Flanders.” Franciscan Studies 50 (1990): 263–81. Roest, Bert. Franciscan Literature of Religious Instruction before the Council of Trent. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2004. ———. Order and Disorder: The Poor Clares between Foundation and Reform. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2013. ———. “The Poor Clares during the Era of Observant Reforms: Attempts at a Typology.” Franciscan Studies 69 (2011): 343–86. ———. “A Textual Community in the Making: Colettine Authorship in the Fifteenth Century.” In Seeing and Knowing: Women and Learning in Medieval Europe, 1200–1550, edited by Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker, 163–80. Turnhout: Brepols, 2004. Roest, Bert, and Johanneke Uphoff, eds. Religious Orders and Religious Identity Formation, ca. 1420–1620: Discourses and Strategies of Observance and Pastoral Engagement. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2016. Roisin, Simone. “Colette de Corbie.” In vol. 13 of Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, cols. 238–46. Paris: Letouzey, 1956. Sainte Colette et sa postérité: Actes du colloque “Colette de Corbie, la résurgence d’un charisme.” Preface by André Vauchez. Paris: Les Editions Franciscaines, 2016. Schnitker, Harry. “Multiple Memories: Pierre de Vaux’s Vie de Sainte Colette, Burgundy and the Church.” In Mémoires conflictuelles et mythes concurrents dans les pays bourguignons (ca 1380–1580), Rencontres de Luxembourg (22–25 septembre 2011), Publications du Centre européen d’études bourguignonnes (XIV– XVI s.) 52 (2012): 149–62. Sellier, Louis. Vie de Sainte Colette. Vol. 2. Lyon and Paris: Alfred Caron, 1855. Sensi, Mario. “Clarisses entre Spirituels et Observants.” In Sainte Claire d’Assise et sa postérité: Actes du colloque international organisé à l’occasion du VIIIe centenaire de la naissance de Sainte Claire, UNESCO (29 septembre–1er octobre 1994), edited by Geneviève Brunel-Lobrichon, Dominique Dinet, Jacqueline Gréal, and Damien Vorreux, 101–18. Paris: Les Editions franciscaines, 1995. Sheingorn, Pamela. “Appropriating the Holy Kinship: Gender and Family History.” In Ashley and Sheingorn, eds., Interpreting Cultural Symbols [cited above], 169–98. Sigal, Pierre-André. L’Homme et le miracle dans la France médiévale (XIe–XIIe siècle). Paris: Cerf, 1985.

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Index The names of Perrine de Baume and Pierre de Vaux are indexed mostly for their biographies because Perrine and Pierre appear throughout the texts. Acta sanctorum, 41 Agnes de Vaux (Vaulx, Waulx), abbess, 179, 182, 192, 198, 218, 234 holds the enraptured Colette in her arms, 199 Alençon, Ubald d’, 41 Amadeus VIII of Savoy (= Felix V, antipope), 4, 17, 21–22, 24, 204, 245 Andrew, saint, 52 Anne, saint, xi, 28, 81, 82 fig. 5, 91–92, 198 Apostles, 16n53, 29, 52, 55, 71, 132 friar Claret sent to, 154, 228 speak all languages, 87, 191 vision of, 227 visit with Colette, 136–39 Augustine, saint, 43, 47, 83, 152

Blanche of Geneva (sister of Pope Clement VII), xi, 13–15, 67, 184 saved from drowning, 155, 156, 157 fig. 8 visit to Pope Benedict XIII, 64 fig. 3 Blanche of Savoy, 13 Bonaventure, saint Life of Saint Francis, 8, 38n114 Brisay, baroness of, xi, 14, 204 visit to Pope Benedict XIII, 60, 64 fig. 3, 182–84 Caesarean section, 35 and n106, 160, 231 Capistrano, John of, 23–24 Letter to Colette, 253 Casale, William of, 15, 17n56, 22–25, 49, 177 Letter to King Jacques de Bourbon, 242–43 Letters to Colette, 239–42 Catherine of Alexandria, saint, 31–32 Catherine of Siena, saint, 1, 31n98 Cesarini, Giulio, cardinal, 22 Letters to Colette, 243–46 Charles VI, king of France, 3, 13, 20 Charles VII, king of France, 13, 19, 20–21, 134n162, 244, 255 Colette’s Letter to, 260–62 Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, xi, 19, 82n82 and fig. 5 Clare of Assisi (see also Poor Clares), 5–7, 14, 183, 240 Rule of, 25–28, 54n32, 65, 67–68 vision of, 212

Benedict XIII (Pedro de Luna), pope, xi, 9, 13, 15, 168n220 Colette’s visit to Benedict XIII in Nice, 14, 60–67, 64 fig. 3, 161, 182–84 Benedictines of Corbie, 11–12, 15, 19, 175n10 Abbot Raoul of Roye, 175, 178–79 ghost of, 38, 202 Colette’s Letters to, 260–64 Bernard VII, count of Armagnac, 15 Bernard VIII, count of Armagnac and de la Marche, 117 and n144, 168, 171n224 Bernard of Clairvaux, saint, 47 and n13, 83n83, 98 Birgitta of Sweden, saint, 1, 84n86 285

286 Index Claret, François, friar, 32, 178 resuscitated by Colette after being sent to heaven, 153–54, 228 Clement V, pope, 2, 3 Clement VII, pope, 13 Coletan friars, 7, 15–16 Colette of Corbie, saint and animals, 77–78, 83, 126–30, 187 childhood and search for vocation, 10–15, 43–47, 173–75 Constitutions, 22–23, 25–28, 49, 239–40 death, 149 fig. 7, 225 food, 31, 108–10 foundations, 16n54 ghostly apparition of, 39, 150–51, 226–28 illnesses, 32–33, 111–15, 211–13, 222, 234 levitation, 90 prophecies and telepathy, 22, 115–25, 135–36, 179, 221, 223 reforms, 15–20, 67–71, 146 visions, 25, 39, 56–58, 181–82, 212–13 visit to Pope Benedict XIII, 14, 60–67, 64 fig. 3, 161, 182–84 Copra, saint, 133n161 Corstantje, Charles van, 13 Council of Basel, 3, 20, 22, 135, 221, 240, 245 Council of Constance, 3–4, 18, 20, 39, 115n141, 145n176, 244n20 Council of Paris, 14 Council of Pisa, 3, 15, 20 Derolez, Albert, 41 Dole affair, 17–18, 217–18 Dominic, saint, 58 Donatus, saint, 110

Elizabeth of Hungary, saint, 1 Ermine de Reims, 31n97 Eucharist, 22, 30, 35, 38, 105–7, 204 Eugene IV, pope, 4, 21, 24, 243, 245, 255, 260, 263 Felix V, antipope (=Amadeus VIII of Savoy), 4, 21, 24, 135, 204 and n74, 221, 245 Ferrer, Vincent, saint, 39–40, 90 and nn98–99, 192 Francis of Assisi, saint, xi, 1, 4, 25, 48, 72 and n63, 240 vision of, 58–59, 181–82, 212–13 Franciscan Order, 4–7 François de Maretz, friar, 9 Great Schism of the Western Church, 2–3, 14–15, 20, 39–40 Gregory, saint, 143 Gregory IX (Ugolino of Ostia), pope, 6 Gregory XI, pope, 3, 14 Guillemette de Gruyère, countess of Valentinois, 96 becomes a Poor Clare, 204 and n76 Henry VIII, king Letter about Colette, 265–66 Henry de Baume (Basme), xi, 1, 7, 12–15, 21, 23, 31, 39, 84, 115, 162, 203 Colette burns his book, 49, 177 Colette’s Letter about his death, 247 Henry becomes Colette’s confessor, 60 on the road with Colette, 198 saved from death by Colette, 158, 229 summoned by Colette’s letter, 207–8 Hildegard of Bingen, saint, 1

Index 287 Holy Kinship, 81 Honorius III, pope, 5 Hours, canonical, 29, 51n23, 85, 91, 174, 184, 188 Hundred Years’ War, 2–3, 20, 24 Hus, Jan, 145n176, 243–44 Isabelle of France, 7, 11, 176n11 Jacques II de Bourbon, count de la Marche, 17, 22, 154n190, 202n67, 226n119, 240–41, 244 Je(h)an Foucault, 17, 144n175, 222 and n114 Jerome of Prague, 145n176 Joan of Arc, 20 John XXIII, pope, 18, 144n175 John the Baptist, saint, 31–32, 44–45, 80 John the Evangelist, 79, 259 John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, 15, 20 Knox, Lezlie, 23 Laurent (Lawrence), saint, 113 Leo X, pope, 265 leprosy, 51 and n24, 163, 167, 178 and n17, 201–2 Lopez, Elisabeth, 16, 26 Louis, duke of Orléans, 15, 20 Louis III of Bavaria, 19, 67n52, 259 Louis XI, king, 260n60 Luther, Martin, 260 manuscripts of the two Lives, 41 Margaret of York, xi, 19, 41, 82n82 and fig. 5 Martin V, pope, 3–4, 18, 19, 21, 135, 221, 240, 248 Mary, Virgin, 12n38, 24n75, 28n88, 39, 58, 76, 90, 91, 137, 141, 152, 190, 193, 196, 235

as part of Holy Kinship, 81 Coronation of (painting by Enguerrand Carton), 258n54 cures Colette with eggs, 115, 212 friar Claret sent to, 154, 228 lamb as symbol of, 242n18 Mary Magdalene, saint, 212 Mary of Oignies, 165n210 Matilda of Savoy, 19, 67 and n52, 184 Mirebeau, 7, 18, Moncel, royal abbey, 10, 48n15, 176n11 Nicholas V, pope, 24 Observant reform, 7, 22–24 Patermutius, saint, 133n161 Perrine de Baume, 1, 8–10 Philip IV, king of France, 2 Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, 15, 24 Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, 134n162 Philippe de Saveuse, governor of Amiens, 260–64 Pierre d’Aisy, friar, xi, 202, 209 cured from migraine, 170, 235 heals a friar with Colette’s hair, 164, 233 his uncle freed by Colette from a Saracen prison, 156, 230 Pierre de Vaux, xi, 1, 8–10 Letter to the Citizens of Amiens, 19, 254–60 Pinet, Jean, 11–12, 38, 53, 178n18, 179 Colette has telepathic knowledge of his death, 179 ghost of, 38, 201 Poor Clares, 2, 5–7, 48 Privilege of Poverty, 7, 14

288 Index Radegund, saint, 31n97 Raymond of Capua, 1 recluses, 12 Richards, Marie, 18 Salmon (Psalmon), Pierre, friar, 115–16 and n141, 194 saved from death through confession, 213–14 saved from drowning, 156, 229–30 Sorores minores, 11, 176n11 Spiritual Franciscans, 7 True Cross, 101 and n119, 195–96 Urban IV, pope, 6 Urban VI, pope, 3 usury, 145 and n177, 223 Vincent of Saragossa, saint, 113 Vinitti, Antonio, Minister General of the Franciscan Order, 3 xenoglossia, 36 and n108, 87 Zacharias, father of saint John the Baptist, 59

The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series

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Series Titles Madre María Rosa Journey of Five Capuchin Nuns Edited and translated by Sarah E. Owens Volume 1, 2009 Giovan Battista Andreini Love in the Mirror: A Bilingual Edition Edited and translated by Jon R. Snyder Volume 2, 2009 Raymond de Sabanac and Simone Zanacchi Two Women of the Great Schism: The Revelations of Constance de Rabastens by Raymond de Sabanac and Life of the Blessed Ursulina of Parma by Simone Zanacchi Edited and translated by Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Bruce L. Venarde Volume 3, 2010 Oliva Sabuco de Nantes Barrera The True Medicine Edited and translated by Gianna Pomata Volume 4, 2010 Louise-Geneviève Gillot de Sainctonge Dramatizing Dido, Circe, and Griselda Edited and translated by Janet Levarie Smarr Volume 5, 2010

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François Rousset, Jean Liebault, Jacques Guillemeau, Jacques Duval and Louis de Serres Pregnancy and Birth in Early Modern France: Treatises by Caring Physicians and Surgeons (1581–1625) Edited and translated by Valerie WorthStylianou Volume 23, 2013 Mary Astell The Christian Religion, as Professed by a Daughter of the Church of England Edited by Jacqueline Broad Volume 24, 2013 Sophia of Hanover Memoirs (1630–1680) Edited and translated by Sean Ward Volume 25, 2013 Katherine Austen Book M: A London Widow’s Life Writings Edited by Pamela S. Hammons Volume 26, 2013 Anne Killigrew “My Rare Wit Killing Sin”: Poems of a Restoration Courtier Edited by Margaret J. M. Ezell Volume 27, 2013 Tullia d’Aragona and Others The Poems and Letters of Tullia d’Aragona and Others: A Bilingual Edition Edited and translated by Julia L. Hairston Volume 28, 2014 Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza The Life and Writings of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza Edited and translated by Anne J. Cruz Volume 29, 2014

Russian Women Poets of the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries: A Bilingual Edition Edited and translated by Amanda Ewington Volume 30, 2014 Jacques Du Bosc L’Honnête Femme: The Respectable Woman in Society and the New Collection of Letters and Responses by Contemporary Women Edited and translated by Sharon Diane Nell and Aurora Wolfgang Volume 31, 2014 Lady Hester Pulter Poems, Emblems, and The Unfortunate Florinda Edited by Alice Eardley Volume 32, 2014 Jeanne Flore Tales and Trials of Love, Concerning Venus’s Punishment of Those Who Scorn True Love and Denounce Cupid’s Sovereignity: A Bilingual Edition and Study Edited and translated by Kelly Digby Peebles Poems translated by Marta Rijn Finch Volume 33, 2014 Veronica Gambara Complete Poems: A Bilingual Edition Critical introduction by Molly M. Martin Edited and translated by Molly M. Martin and Paola Ugolini Volume 34, 2014 Catherine de Médicis and Others Portraits of the Queen Mother: Polemics, Panegyrics, Letters Translation and study by Leah L. Chang and Katherine Kong Volume 35, 2014

Françoise Pascal, MarieCatherine Desjardins, Antoinette Deshoulières, and Catherine Durand Challenges to Traditional Authority: Plays by French Women Authors, 1650–1700 Edited and translated by Perry Gethner Volume 36, 2015 Franciszka Urszula Radziwiłłowa Selected Drama and Verse Edited by Patrick John Corness and Barbara Judkowiak Translated by Patrick John Corness Translation Editor Aldona Zwierzyńska-Coldicott Introduction by Barbara Judkowiak Volume 37, 2015 Diodata Malvasia Writings on the Sisters of San Luca and Their Miraculous Madonna Edited and translated by Danielle Callegari and Shannon McHugh Volume 38, 2015 Margaret Van Noort Spiritual Writings of Sister Margaret of the Mother of God (1635–1643) Edited by Cordula van Wyhe Translated by Susan M. Smith Volume 39, 2015 Giovan Francesco Straparola The Pleasant Nights Edited and translated by Suzanne Magnanini Volume 40, 2015 Angélique de Saint-Jean Arnauld d’Andilly Writings of Resistance Edited and translated by John J. Conley, S.J. Volume 41, 2015

Francesco Barbaro The Wealth of Wives: A Fifteenth-Century Marriage Manual Edited and translated by Margaret L. King Volume 42, 2015 Jeanne d’Albret Letters from the Queen of Navarre with an Ample Declaration Edited and translated by Kathleen M. Llewellyn, Emily E. Thompson, and Colette H. Winn Volume 43, 2016 Bathsua Makin and Mary More with a reply to More by Robert Whitehall Educating English Daughters: Late Seventeenth-Century Debates Edited by Frances Teague and Margaret J. M. Ezell Associate Editor Jessica Walker Volume 44, 2016 Anna StanisŁawska Orphan Girl: A Transaction, or an Account of the Entire Life of an Orphan Girl by way of Plaintful Threnodies in the Year 1685: The Aesop Episode Verse translation, introduction, and commentary by Barry Keane Volume 45, 2016 Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi Letters to Her Sons, 1447–1470 Edited and translated by Judith Bryce Volume 46, 2016 Mother Juana de la Cruz Mother Juana de la Cruz, 1481–1534: Visionary Sermons Edited by Jessica A. Boon and Ronald E. Surtz Introductory material and notes by Jessica A. Boon Translated by Ronald E. Surtz and Nora Weinerth Volume 47, 2016

Claudine-Alexandrine Guérin de Tencin Memoirs of the Count of Comminge and The Misfortunes of Love Edited and translated by Jonathan Walsh Foreword by Michel Delon Volume 48, 2016 Feliciana Enríquez de Guzmán, Ana Caro Mallén, and Sor Marcela de San Félix Women Playwrights of Early Modern Spain Edited by Nieves Romero-Díaz and Lisa Vollendorf Translated and annotated by Harley Erdman Volume 49, 2016 Anna Trapnel Anna Trapnel’s Report and Plea; or, A Narrative of Her Journey from London into Cornwall Edited by Hilary Hinds Volume 50, 2016 María Vela y Cueto Autobiography and Letters of a Spanish Nun Edited by Susan Diane Laningham Translated by Jane Tar Volume 51, 2016 Christine de Pizan The Book of the Mutability of Fortune Edited and translated by Geri L. Smith Volume 52, 2017 Marguerite d’Auge, Renée Burlamacchi, and Jeanne du Laurens Sin and Salvation in Early Modern France: Three Women’s Stories Edited, and with an introduction by Colette H. Winn Translated by Nicholas Van Handel and Colette H. Winn Volume 53, 2017

Isabella d’Este Selected Letters Edited and translated by Deanna Shemek Volume 54, 2017 Ippolita Maria Sforza Duchess and Hostage in Renaissance Naples: Letters and Orations Edited and translated by Diana Robin and Lynn Lara Westwater Volume 55, 2017 Louise Bourgeois Midwife to the Queen of France: Diverse Observations Translated by Stephanie O’Hara Edited by Alison Klairmont Lingo Volume 56, 2017 Christine de Pizan Othea’s Letter to Hector Edited and translated by Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Earl Jeffrey Richards Volume 57, 2017 Marie-Geneviève-Charlotte Thiroux d’Arconville Selected Philosophical, Scientific, and Autobiographical Writings Edited and translated by Julie Candler Hayes Volume 58, 2018 Lady Mary Wroth Pamphilia to Amphilanthus in Manuscript and Print Edited by Ilona Bell Texts by Steven W. May and Ilona Bell Volume 59, 2017 Witness, Warning, and Prophecy: Quaker Women’s Writing, 1655–1700 Edited by Teresa Feroli and Margaret Olofson Thickstun Volume 60, 2018

Symphorien Champier The Ship of Virtuous Ladies Edited and translated by Todd W. Reeser Volume 61, 2018 Isabella Andreini Mirtilla, A Pastoral: A Bilingual Edition Edited by Valeria Finucci Translated by Julia Kisacky Volume 62, 2018 Margherita Costa The Buffoons, A Ridiculous Comedy: A Bilingual Edition Edited and translated by Sara E. Díaz and Jessica Goethals Volume 63, 2018 Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle Poems and Fancies with The Animal Parliament Edited by Brandie R. Siegfried Volume 64, 2018 Margaret Fell Women’s Speaking Justified and Other Pamphlets Edited by Jane Donawerth and Rebecca M. Lush Volume 65, 2018 Mary Wroth, Jane Cavendish, and Elizabeth Brackley Women’s Household Drama: Loves Victorie, A Pastorall, and The concealed Fansyes Edited by Marta Straznicky and Sara Mueller Volume 66, 2018 Eleonora Fonseca Pimentel From Arcadia to Revolution: The Neapolitan Monitor and Other Writings Edited and translated by Verina R. Jones Volume 67, 2019

Charlotte Arbaleste DuplessisMornay, Anne de Chaufepié, and Anne Marguerite Petit Du Noyer The Huguenot Experience of Persecution and Exile: Three Women’s Stories Edited by Colette H. Winn Translated by Lauren King and Colette H. Winn Volume 68, 2019 Anne Bradstreet Poems and Meditations Edited by Margaret Olofson Thickstun Volume 69, 2019 Arcangela Tarabotti Antisatire: In Defense of Women, against Francesco Buoninsegni Edited and translated by Elissa B. Weaver Volume 70, 2020 Mary Franklin and Hannah Burton She Being Dead Yet Speaketh: The Franklin Family Papers Edited by Vera J. Camden Volume 71, 2020 Lucrezia Marinella Love Enamored and Driven Mad Edited and translated by Janet E. Gomez and Maria Galli Stampino Volume 72, 2020 Arcangela Tarabotti Convent Paradise Edited and translated by Meredith K. Ray and Lynn Lara Westwater Volume 73, 2020 Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve Beauty and the Beast: The Original Story Edited and translated by Aurora Wolfgang Volume 74, 2020

Flaminio Scala The Fake Husband, A Comedy Edited and translated by Rosalind Kerr Volume 75, 2020 Anne Vaughan Lock Selected Poetry, Prose, and Translations, with Contextual Materials Edited by Susan M. Felch Volume 76, 2021 Camilla Erculiani Letters on Natural Philosophy: The Scientific Correspondence of a SixteenthCentury Pharmacist, with Related Texts Edited by Eleonora Carinci Translated by Hannah Marcus Foreword by Paula Findlen Volume 77, 2021 Regina Salomea Pilsztynowa My Life’s Travels and Adventures: An Eighteenth-Century Oculist in the Ottoman Empire and the European Hinterland Edited and translated by Władysław Roczniak Volume 78, 2021 Christine de Pizan The God of Love’s Letter and The Tale of the Rose: A Bilingual Edition Edited and translated by Thelma S. Fenster and Christine Reno With Jean Gerson, “A Poem on Man and Woman.” Translated from the Latin by Thomas O’Donnell Foreword by Jocelyn Wogan-Browne Volume 79, 2021

Marie Gigault de Bellefonds, Marquise de Villars Letters from Spain: A Seventeenth-Century French Noblewoman at the Spanish Royal Court Edited and translated by Nathalie Hester Volume 80, 2021 Anna Maria van Schurman Letters and Poems to and from Her Mentor and Other Members of Her Circle Edited and translated by Anne R. Larsen and Steve Maiullo Volume 81, 2021 Vittoria Colonna Poems of Widowhood: A Bilingual Edition of the 1538 Rime Translation and introduction by Ramie Targoff Edited by Ramie Targoff and Troy Tower Volume 82, 2021 Valeria Miani Amorous Hope, A Pastoral Play: A Bilingual Edition Edited and translated by Alexandra Coller Volume 83, 2020 Madeleine de Scudéry Lucrece and Brutus: Glory in the Land of Tender Edited and translated by Sharon Diane Nell Volume 84, 2021 Anna StanisŁawska One Body with Two Souls Entwined: An Epic Tale of Married Love in Seventeenth-Century Poland Orphan Girl: The Oleśnicki Episode Verse translation, introduction, and commentary by Barry Keane Volume 85, 2021

Christine de Pizan Book of the Body Politic Edited and translated by Angus J. Kennedy Volume 86, 2021 Anne, Lady Halkett A True Account of My Life and Selected Meditations Edited by Suzanne Trill Volume 87, 2022 Vittoria Colonna Selected Letters, 1523–1546: A Bilingual Edition Edited and annotated by Veronica Copello Translated by Abigail Brundin Introduction by Abigail Brundin and Veronica Copello Volume 88, 2022 Michele Savonarola A Mother’s Manual for the Women of Ferrara: A Fifteenth-Century Guide to Pregnancy and Pediatrics Edited, with introduction and notes, by Gabriella Zuccolin Translated by Martin Marafioti Volume 89, 2022 Maria Salviati de’ Medici Selected Letters, 1514–1543 Edited and translated by Natalie R. Tomas Volume 90, 2022 Isabella Andreini Lovers’ Debates for the Stage: A Bilingual Edition Edited and translated by Pamela Allen Brown, Julie D. Campbell, and Eric Nicholson Volume 91, 2022

Marie Guyart de l’Incarnation, Anne-Marie Fiquet Du Boccage, and Henriette-Lucie Dillon de La Tour du Pin Far from Home in Early Modern France: Three Women’s Stories Edited and with an introduction by Colette H. Winn Translated by Lauren King, Elizabeth Hagstrom, and Colette H. Winn Volume 92, 2022 Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, baronne d’Aulnoy Travels into Spain Edited and translated by Gabrielle M. Verdier Volume 93, 2022