Extract V

With his head bowed, he awaited the arrival of the second blow. When the second wound was inflicted on his head, he fell to the ground, his body lying straight as if he were prostrated in prayer. A third man cut off a large part of his skull, dreadfully enlarging the preceding wound. The fourth man, who was criticized by one of them for being slow to strike, hurled his sword with great force at the same wound, and the sword broke on the marble floor. He left both the tip and the hilt of the sword in the church. It seems to be true that this portends a great deal. What would the breaking of the enemies’ sword seem to signal unless it were the true casting down of the hostile power and the victory of the triumphant church by means of the martyr’s blood? It did not seem to be enough for that son of Satan to have committed such an outrage on the priest of God, for then – it is horrible to describe – he inserted his sword into the most holy head to pull out the brains of the dead man and to spread them, most cruelly, onto the pavement. He cried out to his partners in this crime: “He’s dead: we should go right away.” From this it may be supposed that they were afraid that some of the knights or servants of the holy martyr might come upon them and revenge the blood of their lord. As they went out of the monastery, they cried out the sign of a remarkable victory, as is customary on the field of battle: “The king’s knights, the king’s!” Others mockingly said, “He wished to be king, and wished to be more than the king. Let him be king now, let him be king now!” And in this they were similar to those who insulted the Lord hanging on the cross, passing by and wagging their heads [Mt 27:39] and among other things saying, “For he said, ‘I am the Son of God’” [Mt 27:43].