Source: Roger of Wendover’s Flowers of History, Comprising the History of England from the Descent of the Saxons to A.D. 1235, trans. J. A. Giles, 2 vols. (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1849), vol. II, pp. 221-235
(http://books.google.com/books?printsec=frontcover&pg=PA333&id=hjVVdz57dR0C#v=onepage&q&f=false) [accessed 4 August 2011]:

[A.D. 1206]

Of a vision of purgatory, the punishment of the wicked, and the glory of the blessed.

In this year, a certain man of simple habits, and hospitable as far as his humble means would allow, who lived in a town called Tunsted [Twinstead, co. Essex], in the bishopric of London, was employed, after the hour of evening prayer, on the eve of the day of the apostles St. Simon and St. Jude, in draining his field, which he had sown that day, when, raising his eyes, he saw a man hastening to him from a distance; after looking at him, he began the Lord’s prayer, when the stranger stepping up to him, asked him to finish his prayer and speak to him : and, accordingly, as soon as his prayer was ended, they exchanged mutual greetings. After this, the man who had come to him asked him where, amongst the neighbours, he could meet with a suitable lodging for that night; but when the questioned person extolled the great hospitality of his neighbours, the inquirer found fault with the hospitality of some who were named. The labourer then understanding that the stranger was acquainted with his neighbours, eagerly asked him to accept of a lodging with him, on which the stranger said to him, ” Your wife has already received two poor women to lodge with her, and I too will turn to your house for to-night, in order that I may lead you to your lord, namely saint James, to whom thou hast even now devoutly prayed ; for I am Julian the entertainer, and have been sent on your behalf, to disclose to you by divine means certain things which are hidden from men in the flesh ; therefore, proceed to your house, and endeavour to prepare yourself for a journey.” After these words, the man who was conversing with him, disappeared from the spot. But Turchill, for that was the labourer’s name, hurried home, washed his head and feet, and found the two women entertained there, as St. Julian had foretold. Afterwards he threw himself on a bed which he had prepared in his house, apart from his wife, for the sake of continence, and slept outside the room; and as soon as all the members of the household were asleep, St. Julian woke the man, and said, “Here I am, as I promised ; it is time for us to be going. Let your body rest on the bed, it is only your spirit which is to go with me; and, that your body may not appear to be dead, I will inspire into you the breath of life.” In this way they both left the house, St. Julian leading the way, and Turchill following.

How the man being released from the body was taken to a certain church, where there was an assemblage of spirits.

After they had travelled to the middle of the world, as the man’s guide said it was, towards the east, they entered a church of wonderful structure, the roof of which was supported only by three pillars. The church itself was large and spacious, but without partitions, arched all round like a monk’s cloister; but on the northern side there was a wall not more than six feet high, which was joined to the church which rested on the three pillars. In the middle of the church there was a large baptistery, from which there arose a large flame, not burning, yet unceasingly illuminating the whole of the church and the places around, like a meridian sun; this brightness proceeded, as he was told by St. Julian, from the decimation of the just. When they entered the hall, St. James met them, wearing a priest’s mitre, and seeing the pilgrim for whom he had sent, ordered St. Julian and St. Domninus, who were the guardians of the place, to show to his pilgrim the penal places of the wicked as well as the mansions of the just, and after speaking thus, he passed on. Then St. Julian informed his companion that this church was the place which received the souls of all those who had lately died, that there might be assigned to them the abodes and places, as well of condemnation as of salvation by the atonements of purgatory, which were destined by God for them. That place, through the intercession of the glorious virgin Mary, was mercifully designed that all spirits which were born again in Christ, might, as soon as they left the body, be there assembled free from the attacks of devils, and receive judgment according to their works. In this church, then, which was called the ” Congregation of spirits,” I saw many spirits of the just, white all over, and with the faces of youth. After being taken beyond the northern wall, I saw a great number of spirits, standing near the wall marked with black and white spots, some of whom had a greater show of white than black, and others the reverse ; but those who were of a whiter colour remained nearer to the wall, and those who were farthest off had no appearance of whiteness about them, and appeared deformed in every part.

Of the unjust decimators.

Near the wall was the entrance to the pit of hell, which incessantly exhaled a smoke of a most foul stench, through the surrounding caverns, in the faces of those who stood by, and this smoke came forth from the tithes unjustly detained, and the crops unjustly tithed; and the stink inflicted incomparable agony on those who were guilty of this crime. The man, therefore, after twice smelling this same stink, was so oppressed by it that he was compelled to cough twice, and, as those who stood round his body declared, his body at the same time coughed twice. St. Julian then said to him, “It appears that you have not duly tithed your crop, and therefore have smelled this stench.” On his pleading his poverty as an excuse, the saint told him that his field would produce a more abundant crop if he paid his tithes justly; and the holy man also told him to confess this crime in the church openly to all, and to seek absolution from the priest.

Of the fire, lake, and bridge of purgatory, and of a church situated on the mount of fog.

On the eastern side of this said church was a very large purgatorial fire, placed between two walls; one of these walls rose on the north side, and the other on the south, and they were separated by a large space, which extended a long way in width on the eastern side, to a very large lake, in which were immersed the souls of those who were passing through the purgatorial fire; and the water of the lake was incomparably salt and cold, as was afterwards proved to the man. Over this lake was placed a large bridge, planted all over with thorns and stakes, over which every one was obliged to pass before he could arrive at the mount of joy; and on this mountain was built a large church, of wonderful structure, which was large enough, as it appeared to the man, to contain all the inhabitants of the world. Then the blessed Julian conducted him altogether unhurt through the aforesaid fire, to the above-mentioned lake, and the two then walked together on the road which led from the church through the midst of the flames; no wood material supplied fuel to this said fire, but a sort of flame rising, like what is seen in a fiercely-heated oven, was diffused over the whole of that space, and consumed the black and spotted spirits for a shorter or a longer period, according to the degrees of their crimes. And the spirits which had got out of the fire descended into that cold salt lake at the command of the blessed Nicholas, who presided over that purgatory; and some of these were immersed over head, some up to the neck, some to the chest and arms, others up to the navel, some up to the knees, and others scarcely up to the hollow of their feet. After the lake, there remained the passing of the bridge, which is on the western side of the church, in front of the same; some of the spirits passed over this bridge very tediously and slowly, others more easily and quicker, and some passed over at will and fast, experiencing no delay or trouble in crossing; for some went through the lake so slowly that they stayed in it many years; and those who were not assisted by any special masses, or who had not in their life-time endeavoured to redeem their sins by works of charity towards the poor, those I say, on reaching the before-mentioned bridge, and desiring to cross over to their destined place of rest, walked painfully with naked feet amidst the sharp stakes and thorns which were set on the bridge.; and when they were no longer able to endure the extreme agony of the pain, they placed their hands on the stakes to support themselves from falling, and their hands being directly pierced through, they, in the violence of their pain and suffering, rolled on their belly and all parts of their bodies upon the stakes, until by degrees they grovelled along to the further end of the bridge, dreadfully bloody, and pierced all over; but when they reached the hall of the aforesaid church, they there obtained a happy entrance, and recollected little of their vehement tortures.

How St. Michael and the apostles Peter and Paul apportioned the spirits to the places ordained for them by God.

After then, having beheld all these things, St. Julian and the man returned through the midst of the flame to the church of St. Mary, and there stopped with the white spirits which had lately arrived; and these spirits were sprinkled with holy water by St. James and St. Domninus, in order that they might become whiter. Here at the very first daylight of the sabbath, came St. Michael the archangel and the apostles Peter and Paul, to allot to the spirits assembled inside and outside the church the places ordained for them by God according to their deserts; for St. Michael gave to all the white spirits a safe passage through the midst of the flames of purgatory, and through the other places of punishment to the entrance of the large church which was built on the mount of joy, with a door on the western side always open; but the spirits stained with black and white spots, which were lying outside the hall on the northern side, were, without any discussion as to their works, brought by St. Peter through a door on the eastern side into the purgatorial fire, that they might be cleansed by that raging flame of the stains of their sins.

Of the weighing of good and evil.

The blessed Paul, too, sat inside the church at the end of the northern wall: and outside the wall, opposite to the apostle, sat the devil with his satellites; and a flame-vomiting aperture, which was the mouth of the pit of hell, burst out close to the feet of the devil. On the wall between the apostle and the devil was fixed a scale hanging on an equal balance, the middle part of which hung without in front of the devil; and the apostle had two weights, a greater and a lesser one, shining like gold, and the devil also had two, sooty and dark. Then the black spirits approached from all directions with great fear and trembling, one after the other, each to try in the scale the weight of their deeds, good or evil; for the aforesaid weights estimated the deeds of each of the spirits according to the good or evil they had done. When, therefore, the balance inclined itself towards the apostle, he took that spirit and brought it through the eastern door which was joined to the church, into the purifying fire, there to expiate its offences; but when the balance inclined and preponderated towards the devil, he and his satellites at once hurried away that spirit, wailing and cursing the father and mother for having begot it, to eternal torment, and, amidst great grinning, cast it into the deep and fiery furnace, which was at the feet of the devil who was weighing. Of the weighing of good and evil in this way, mention is often made in the writings of the holy fathers.

Of a certain spirit which the devil had changed into the form of a horse.

On the sabbath day near the hour of evening, whilst St. Domninus and St. Julian were in the aforesaid church, there came from the northern part a certain devil riding with headlong speed a black horse, and urging him through the many turnings of the place amidst much noise and laughter; and many of the evil spirits went forth to meet it, dancing about and grinning at one another over the prey which was brought to them. St. Domninus then commanded the devil, who was riding, to come directly to him and tell him whose spirit it was that he had brought; but the devil dissembling for a long time, for the great delight which he experienced over the wretched spirit, the saint immediately snatched up a whip and severely lashed the devil, on which he followed the saint to the northern wall, where stood the scale of the spirits. The saint then asked the devil whose spirit it was that he was tormenting so by riding; to which the latter replied that “it was one of the nobles of the kingdom of England, who had died on the preceding night without confession and without partaking of the body of the Lord; and, amongst the other faults which he had committed, his principal crime was his cruelty towards his own men, many of whom he had brought to extreme want, which he had chiefly done at the instigation of his wife, who always incited him to deeds of cruelty. I have transformed him into a horse, since we are allowed to turn the spirits of the condemned into whatever form we please; and I should have already descended with him into hell, and should be consigning him to eternal punishment, if it were not that Sunday night is at hand, when it is our duty to desist from our theatrical sports, and to inflict more severe tortures on wretched spirits.” After he had spoken these words, he directed his look on the man, and said to the saint, “Who is that rustic standing with you?” To which the saint answered, “Do you not know him?” The demon then said, ” I have seen him at the church of Tidstude in Essex, on the feast of its dedication.” The saint then asked, ” In what dress did you enter the church ?” He replied, ” In the dress of a woman; but when I had advanced to the font, meaning to enter the chancel, the deacon met me with the sprinkler of holy water, and sprinkling me with it, he put me to flight so precipitately, that I uttered a cry, and leaped from the church as far as a field two furlongs distant.” The man and several others also of the parishioners bore witness to this same circumstance, declaring that they had heard that cry, and were entirely ignorant of the cause of it.

Of the theatrical sports of the devils.

After this, St. Domninus said to the devil, “We wish to go with you to see your sports.” The devil answered, “If you wish to go with me, do not bring this labourer with you, for he would on his return amongst his fellow mortals disclose our acts and secret kinds of punishment to the living, and would reclaim many from serving us.” The saint said to him, “Make haste and go forward, I and St. Julian will follow you.” The demon therefore went on in advance and the saints followed him, bringing the man with them by stealth. They then proceeded to a northern region, as if they were going up a mountain; and behold, after descending the mountain, there was a very large and dark-looking house surrounded by old walls, and in it there were a great many lanes (platea) as it were, filled all around with innumerable heated iron seats. These seats were constructed with iron hoops glowing white with heat, and with nails driven in them in every part, above and below, right and left, and in them there sat beings of divers conditions and sexes; these were pierced by the glowing nails all over their bodies, and were bound on all sides with fiery hoops. There was such a number of those seats, and such a multitude of people sitting in them, that no tongue would be able to reckon them. All around these courts were black iron walls, and near these walls were other seats, in which the devils sat in a circle, as if at a pleasant spectacle, grinning at each other over the tortures of the wretched beings, and recapitulating to them their former crimes. Near the entrance of this detestable scene, on the descent of the mountains, as we have said, there was a wall five feet high, from which could plainly be seen whatever was done in that place of punishment. Near this wall, then, the before-mentioned saints stood outside looking on at what the wretched beings inside were enduring, and the man lying concealed between them plainly saw all that was going on inside.

Of a proud man, and his tortures.

When the servants of hell were all seated at this shameful scene, the chief of that wicked troop said to his satellites, “Let the proud man be violently dragged from his seat, and let him sport before us.” After he had been dragged from his seat and clothed in a black garment, he, in the presence of the devils who applauded him in turn imitated all the gestures of a man proud beyond measure; he stretched his neck, elevated his face, cast up his eyes, with the brows arched, imperiously thundered forth lofty words, shrugged his shoulders, and. scarcely could he bear his arms for pride: his eyes glowed, he assumed a threatening look, rising on tiptoe, he stood with crossed legs, expanded his chest, stretched his neck, glowed in his face, showed signs of anger in his fiery eyes, and striking his nose with his finger, gave expression of great threats; and thus swelling with inward pride, he afforded ready subject of laughter to the inhuman spirits. And whilst he was boasting about his dress, and was fastening gloves by sewing, his garments on a sudden were turned to fire, which consumed the entire body of the wretched being; lastly, the devils, glowing with anger, tore the wretch limb from limb with prongs and fiery iron hooks. But one of them put fat with pitch and other greasy substances in a glowing pan, and fried each limb as it was torn away with that boiling grease; and each time the devil sprinkled them with the grease, the limbs sent forth a hissing, like what is caused by pouring cold water on boiling blood ; and after his limbs had been thus fried, they were joined together again, and that proud man returned to his former shape. Next, there approached to the wretched man the hammerers of hell, with hammers and three red hot iron bars nailed together in triple order, and they then applied two bars at the back part of his body, to the right and the left, and cruelly drove the hot nails into him with their hammers; these two bars, beginning at his feet, were brought up his legs and thighs to his shoulders, and were then bent around his neck; the third bar, beginning at his middle, passed up his belly, and reached to the top of his head. After this wretch had been tortured for a length of time in the manner above described, he was mercilessly thrust back into his former seat, and when placed there, he was tormented in all parts by the burning nails, and by having his five fingers stretched: and after he had been thus taken from this place of punishment, he was placed in the abode which he had made for himself when living, to await further tortures.

Of a certain priest.

A priest was next dragged forth with violence from his fiery seat to the sport, and placed before these inhuman goblins by the servants of sin, who forthwith, after cutting his throat in the middle, pulled out his tongue, and cut it off at the root. This priest had not, when he could, repaid the people entrusted to his care for their temporal goods which he had taken from them, by holy exhortation, nor by an example of good works, and had not given them the support of prayers or of masses. Afterwards, as we have related of the proud man, they tore him limb from limb, and again restoring him entire, they placed him in a chair of torture.

Of a certain soldier.

After him was brought forward a certain soldier, who had spent his life in slaying harmless people, in tournaments, and robberies. He sat, accoutred with all his weapons of war, on a black horse, which, when urged on by the spur, breathed forth a pitchy flame, with stench and smoke, to the torture of its rider. The saddle of the horse was pierced all over with long fiery nails ; the armour and helmet, the shield and boots covered with flame, severely burdened the rider by their weight, and at the same time consumed him to the very marrow with no less torture. After he had, in imitation of his former custom in war, urged his horse to headlong speed, and shaken his spear against the devils who met him and derided him, he was by them dismounted and torn piecemeal, and his limbs were fried in the execrable liquid above-mentioned; and after having been fried, they were again joined together in the same way as with those who had come before, and were fastened by three bars, and when thus restored he was violently thrust back into his own seat.

Of a certain pleader.

After the soldier, a man well-skilled in worldly law was dragged forth into the midst with great torture, which he had brought on himself by a long course of evil living, and by accepting presents for perverting judgment. This man was well known throughout the English territories amongst the higher ranks, but had closed his life miserably in the year in which this vision was seen; for, dying suddenly without executing any will, all the wealth that he had amassed by his rapacious greediness, was entirely alienated from him, and spent by strangers to him. He had been accustomed to sit in the king’s exchequer, where he had oftentimes received presents from both of the litigating parties. He, too, being dragged forth to the sport, in the presence of the wicked spirits, was compelled by the insulting goblins to imitate the actions of his former life; for, turning himself at one time to the right, at another to the left, he was teaching one party in setting forth a cause, and another in replying to it; and whilst doing this, he did not refrain from accepting presents, but received money at one time from one party, at another from the other, and after counting it, put it in his pockets. After the demons had for a length of time looked on at the gestures of the wretched man, the money suddenly becoming hot, burned the wretch in a pitiable manner, and he was forced to put in his mouth the pieces of money, burning as they were, and afterwards to swallow them: after swallowing them, two demons came to him with an iron cart-wheel, studded all round with spikes and nails, and, placing it on the back of the sinner, they whirled it round, tearing away his whole back in its quick and burning revolutions; and compelled him to vomit forth the moneys which he had swallowed with great agony, in still greater torture; and after he had vomited them up, the demon ordered him to collect them again, that he might in the same way again be fed with them; afterwards, the servants of hell becoming enraged, exhausted on him all the tortures which have been mentioned above. The wife of this man was sitting in one of the fiery spiked seats, because she had been excommunicated in several churches about a ring, which she had unknowingly put in her casket, and declared to have been stolen ; from which decree she had never been absolved, having been prevented by sudden death.

Of an adulterer and adulteress.

There was now brought into the sight of the furious demons an adulterer, together with an adulteress, united together in foul contact, and they repeated in the presence of all, their disgraceful venereal motions and immodest gestures, to the confusion of themselves and amid the cursing of the demons: then, as if smitten with frenzy, they began to tear one another, changing the outward love, which they before seemed to entertain towards one another, into cruelty and hatred: their limbs were then torn in pieces by the furious crowd around them, and they suffered the same punishment as those who had preceded them. All the fornicators, also, who were present, were tormented in like manner, and the intensity of their sufferings was so great that the pen of the writer is inadequate to portray them.

Of slanderers.

Amongst the other wretched beings, two from a company of slanderers were brought into the midst, who, with continual distortions, gaped their mouths open to their ears, and turning their faces on each other, they gazed at each other with grim eyes; in the mouths of both of them were put the ends of a kind of burning spear, eating and gnawing which with distorted months, they quickly reached the middle of the spear, drawing close to each other, and in this manner they tore each other, and stained their whole faces with blood.

Of thieves and incendiaries.

Amongst others there were brought forth thieves, incendiaries, and violators of religious places, and these were by the servants of hell placed on wheels of red hot iron, set with spikes and nails, which from their excessive heat sent forth a constant shower of sparks of fire; on these the wretches were whirled round, and endured horrific tortures.

Then there came to the spot a tradesman with false scales and weights, and also those who stretch the new cloths in their shops to such a degree in length and breadth, that the threads are broken, and a hole is made, and afterwards, cunningly stitching up the holes, sell these same cloths in dark places; these were cruelly torn from their seats, and compelled to repeat the motions of their former sins, to their disgrace, and as an increase of their punishments; and afterwards they were tortured by devils, in the way we have related of those before them. Besides this the man saw, near the entrance of the lower hell, four courts, as it were; the first of which contained innumerable furnaces and large wide caldrons filled to the brim with burning pitch and other melted substances; and in each of these the spirits were heaped together boiling fiercely, and their heads, like those of black fishes, were, from the violence of the boiling, at one time forced upwards out of the liquid, and at another times fell downwards. The second court in like manner contained caldrons, but filled with snow and cold ice, in which the spirits were tortured by the dreadful cold in intolerable agony. The caldrons in the third court were filled with boiling sulphureous water and other things, which emitted a stench mixed with a foul smoke, in which the spirits who died in the foulness of their lusts were particularly tormented. The fourth court contained caldrons full of a very black salt water, the bitter saltness of which would immediately take the bark off any kind of wood thrown into it. In these caldrons a multitude of sinners, murderers, thieves, robbers, sorceresses, and rich men, who by unjust exactions oppressed their fellow men, were incessantly boiling; and the servants of iniquity, standing all round them, pressed them together inside that they might not escape the heat of the molten liquid. Those who had been boiling for seven days in this burning grease, were on the eighth day plunged into the dreadful cold which was in the second court, whilst those on the other hand who had been tortured in the cold, were put into the boiling liquor; in the same way those, who had been boiling in the salt water were afterwards tortured in the stench; and they always observed these changes every eight days.

Of the church situated on the mount of joy, and of the intercession made for the spirits.

After having seen these things, when the morn of the Lord’s day was just beginning to appear, the aforesaid saints, with the man whom they were conducting, proceeded to the mount of joy through the purifying fire, and the lake, and over the spiked bridge, until they arrived at a hall on the western side of the before-mentioned temple, which was situated on the mount; and there was a handsome and large gate always open, through which the spirits, which had been made entirely white, were brought by St. Michael; and in this hall were assembled all the purified spirits praying with all the eagerness of expectation for a happy admission into the place. In the southern quarter outside the temple the man beheld an infinite number of spirits, all of which, with their faces turned to the church, were praying for the assistance of their friends who were alive, by which means they might deserve to gain admission into that church, and the more especial assistance they received, the nearer they approached to the church. In this place he recognised many of his acquaintances, and also all those of whom he had the least knowledge in life. And St. Michael informed the man about all these spirits, for how many masses each spirit could be set free and be permitted to enter the temple. The spirits too which were waiting for admission there suffered no punishment, unless they were waiting for any special assistance from their friends; nevertheless, all the spirits which stood there daily approach the entrance to that church by the general assistance of the whole church.

Of the various stages of the said church.

This man, being brought into the temple by St. Michael, there saw many whom he had seen in life of both sexes in white apparel, who were climbing up to the temple and enjoying great felicity; and the further the spirits climbed up the steps of the temple, the more white and shining they became. In that great church were to be seen many most beautiful mansions, in which dwelt the spirits of the just, whiter than snow, and whose faces and crowns glittered like golden light. At certain hours of each day they hear songs from heaven, as if all kinds of music were sounding in harmonious melody, and this so soothes and refreshes all the inhabitants of the temple by its agreeable softness, as if they were regaled with all kinds of dainty meats; but the spirits which stood in the halls outside did not hear anything of this heavenly song. In this place too several of the saints had abodes of their own, where they receive with joy those who especially serve themselves next to the Lord in any thing, that they might afterwards present them in the sight of God.

Of Paradise, and Adam our first parent.

After this they turned aside to the eastern part of the aforesaid temple, and came to a most pleasant place, beautiful in the variety of its herbs and flowers, and filled with the sweet smell of herbs and trees; there the man beheld a very clear spring, which sent forth four streams of different coloured water; over this fountain there was a beautiful tree of wonderful size and immense height, which abounded in all kinds of fruits and in the sweet smell of spices. Under this tree near the fountain there reposed a man of comely form and gigantic body, who was clothed from his feet to his breast in a garment of various colours and of wondrously beautiful texture; this man seemed to be smiling in one eye, and weeping from the other.” This,” said St. Michael, “is the first parent of the human race, Adam, and by the eye which is smiling, he indicates the joy which he feels in the glorification of his children who are to be saved, and by the other eye which is weeping, he expresses the sorrow he feels for the punishment and just judgment of God on his children who are to be condemned. The garment with which he is covered, though not entirely, is the robe of immortality and the garment of glory, of which he was deprived on his first transgression; for from the time of Abel, his just son, he began to regain this garment, and continues to do so throughout the whole succession of his righteous children, and as the chosen ones shine forth in their different virtues, so this garment is dyed with its various colours; and when the number of his elect children shall be completed, then Adam will be entirely clothed in the robe of immortality and glory, and in this way the world will come to an end.”

How the man returned to his body.

After proceeding a little way from this place they came to a most beautiful gate adorned with jewels and precious stones; and the wall round it shone as if it were of gold. As soon as they had entered the gate, there appeared a kind of golden temple, much more magnificent than the former in all its beauty, in its pleasant sweetness, and in the splendour of its glittering light, so that the places which they had seen before appeared not at all pleasant in comparison with that place; and after they had gone into this temple, he beheld on one side a kind of chapel, refulgent with wonderful ornaments, in which there sat three virgins shining in indescribable beauty; these, as the archangel informed him, were St. Catherine, St. Margaret, and St. Osith. Whilst he was thus admiringly contemplating their beauty, St. Michael said to St. Julian, “Restore this man directly to his body, for unless he is quickly taken back to it, the cold water which the bystanders are throwing in his face will altogether suffocate him;” and directly after these words had been spoken, the man, not knowing how, was brought back to his body and sat up in his bed. He had been lying on his bed, as it were senseless, for two days and nights, that is, from the hour of evening of the sixth day of the week, till the evening of the Sunday following, oppressed as if with a heavy sleep. As soon as morning came he hastened to the church, and, after the performance of mass, the priest, with others of the parishioners, who had seen him as it were lifeless a short time before, besought him to inform them of what had been revealed to him; he however in his great simplicity, hesitated to relate his vision, until on the following night St. Julian appeared to him giving him orders to reveal all that he had seen, because, he said, that he had been taken from his body for the purpose of making public all he had heard. In obedience to the commands of the saint, he, on All Saints’ day, and at times afterwards, related his vision plainly and openly in the English tongue, and all who heard him wondered at the unusual gift of speech of a man who had formerly, from his great simplicity, appeared clownish and unable to speak; and by his continual narration of the vision he had seen, he moved many to tears and bitter lamentations.