Since a few friends have been asking me about the historical accuracy of the recent episode of Midwinter of the Spirit (and one even commented saying that when the characters on the show mentioned knowing of an expert on Thomas de Cantilupe, they expected me to turn up) I decided to make this quick blog post.
The miracle in question in Midwinter of the Spirit relates to a demon being trapped within the tomb at Hereford Cathedral; whilst this is somewhat true that there was this ‘demon’ in Hereford Cathedral, the story which was portrayed is not wholly accurate. The miracle is actually recounted in Rupert Matthews, Haunted Herefordshire on page 84, and this is the reason for its inaccuracy – the translation. Whilst translations are wholly the construction of those who do it, Lydia and I have tried to keep it as close to the document as possible. Compared with the one in ‘Haunted Herefordshire’ there are a fair few stylistic changes – unfortunately, with the literal translation, the demon was never put in the shrine, and, Thomas de Cantilupe did not physically fight this demon as made out in Midwinter of the Spirit.
The Latin is taken from:
Bartholomaei de Cotton, Monachi Norwicensis, Historia Anglicana (AD 449-1298) Vol. I-II, ed. H. R. Luard, Rolls Series (London: Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts, 1859), reprinted by Cambridge University Press, 2012, APPENDIX B to page 179, pp. 427-428.
Legend of the Apparition of a Demon in Hereford Cathedral.
A.D. 1290.
Tempore sub eodem quoddam inauditum et quodammodo impossibile in ecclesia cathedrali canonicorum Herefordensi contigebat. Ubi quidam daemon, in habitu fratris canonici in choro, in choro post matutinas decantatas in quodam stallo sedebat, accessit ad eum quidam canonicus quaerens ob quamnam causam ibi sedebat, credens ipsum concanonicum cuum fore et fratrem ; qui obmutescebat nec vocem emisit. Idem vero canonicus ultra quam dici potuit perterritus, credens ipsum esse spiritum malignum, sperans in Domino, ipsum conjuravit in nomine Jesu Christi et Sancti Thomae de Cantilupo, ne ab eodem loco accederet, sed ibidem remaneret ; mox verba ex virtute remansit. Ac demum auxilio petito, ibidem accessit et ipsum invenit. Tandem eum Teutonice vapulaverunt, et demum in vinculis posuerunt. Qui taliter vinctus et ligaus, ibidem jacet coram feretro Sancti Thomae praenominati.
During the same time a certain unheard of and almost impossible event happened in the cathedral church of the canons of Hereford, where a certain demon in the habit of a canon in the choir was sat in a certain stall in the choir after Matins had been sung. A certain canon approached it; believing it to be a brother and a canon, he asked for what reason it was sitting there. The demon was silent and did not utter a sound. The same canon, more terrified than could be said, perceived it to be an evil spirit. Trusting in the Lord, he commanded in the name of Jesus Christ and Saint Thomas de Cantilupe that it should not depart from that place, but it must remain there. At first, it endured the words out of miraculous power; but eventually, after the canon had sought help, it conceded and remained there. At last they beat him and eventually bound him in chains. The demon, defeated and bound in such a manner, lay there before the shrine of the aforementioned Saint Thomas.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing things for me is that Bartholomew Cotton, attributing this to 1290, makes use of Sancti Thomas or Saint Thomas when Cantilupe was not officially canonised until 1320. The miracle itself unfortunately does not appear in Exeter College Manuscript 158 which I have been studying recently in order to create a critical edition; however, we do have cases in ECMS158, the first of which is in the 1290’s, of people suffering from ‘demons’:
Mulier quedam Agneta nomine dicta Noreys filia Galfridi Noreys de Muchele Dene Herefordensis diocesis ad tumulum viri dei habens demonium et illud erat mutum.
A certain woman by the name of Agneta, surnamed Noreys, the daughter of Galfridus Noreys of Muchele Dene of the diocese of Hereford, (made her way) to the shrine of the man of God, having a demon- one that was mute.
Exeter College MS 158, f.16r.
Thousands of pilgrims passed to Hereford after word was spread that the bones had started performing miracles in 1287 when they had been translated from the Lady Chapel to the tomb. Therefore, the ‘demon’ in this miracle account of Bartholomew Cotton’s could have just been a visiting pilgrim, just like Agneta Noreys, who was branded as a ‘demoniac’ and was thus beaten and held in chains before the shrine. One can only imagine how the scene would have played out…
I&L
(Thanks goes to Hereford Cathedral Library and Archives for allowing me access to the microfilm of Exeter 158).