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THE FRANCISCAN FRIARY

249

faithful ones. Written in chains on the eve of the ten thousand soldier-martyrs (militum.^[1])

In these last days the thoughts of Hus turned once more to his old friend and comrade in past struggles, Christian Prachaticz. Christian unfortunately, as the reader will remember, had some what fallen away. We feel the shadow of this fall cast over this last brief letter of Hus to one who had been at one period his closest correspondent. (See supra, p. 196, n. 1.)

LXXII. To Master Christian

(Without date: about June 22, 1415)

Master Christian, my master and particular benefactor, take your stand on Christ’s truth and cling to the faithful. Do not be afraid; for the Lord will shortly grant you a defence and increase the number

↑ For the legend of the ‘Ten Thousand Martyrs’ see Acta Sanctorum, June 22, vol. v. 151–62. The authority for this legend originally cited seems to have been Bede’s Martyrologium (Migne, vol. xciv. p. 954), but this work in its present form owes much to twelfth-century additions. June 22 is the Day of St. Alban and the two thousand British martyrs. I imagine the ‘Ten Thousand’ was due to continental rivalry. The ‘Ten Thousand’ were said to have been crucified on Mount Ararat under Marcus Aurelius. Their feast was celebrated at Cracow, Breslau, at Paris in the Church of the Celestines, and especially at Prague, in the treasury of which were many relics of these fabled heroes. Hence the allusion of Hus, for whom relics had a charm (see p. 85). Spanish writers crowned the absurdity by claiming that they were Spaniards.
This tale was one of the earliest to be discredited. Before the end of fourteenth century Ralph de Rivo in his book De Observatione Canonum (in Hittorpius, De div. Cath. Eccles. Officiis, Paris, 1560, pp. 1103–63) mentions this among the fables to which Rome lent no sanction (‘de decern millibus martyrum, quæ fabulosæ—dicam donec aliud videro—finguntur,’ ib. p . 1121).
I may add that Hus’s reading ‘militum’ if genuine is probably a corruption from ‘millia,’ and certainly is not found in the usual versions of the tale (e.g. Usuard’s Martyrologium, ed. Louvain, 1568).

[1] For the legend of the ‘Ten Thousand Martyrs’ see Acta Sanctorum, June 22, vol. v. 151–62. The authority for this legend originally cited seems to have been Bede’s Martyrologium (Migne, vol. xciv. p. 954), but this work in its present form owes much to twelfth-century additions. June 22 is the Day of St. Alban and the two thousand British martyrs. I imagine the ‘Ten Thousand’ was due to continental rivalry. The ‘Ten Thousand’ were said to have been crucified on Mount Ararat under Marcus Aurelius. Their feast was celebrated at Cracow, Breslau, at Paris in the Church of the Celestines, and especially at Prague, in the treasury of which were many relics of these fabled heroes. Hence the allusion of Hus, for whom relics had a charm (see p. 85). Spanish writers crowned the absurdity by claiming that they were Spaniards.
This tale was one of the earliest to be discredited. Before the end of fourteenth century Ralph de Rivo in his book De Observatione Canonum (in Hittorpius, De div. Cath. Eccles. Officiis, Paris, 1560, pp. 1103–63) mentions this among the fables to which Rome lent no sanction (‘de decern millibus martyrum, quæ fabulosæ—dicam donec aliud videro—finguntur,’ ib. p . 1121).
I may add that Hus’s reading ‘militum’ if genuine is probably a corruption from ‘millia,’ and certainly is not found in the usual versions of the tale (e.g. Usuard’s Martyrologium, ed. Louvain, 1568).

[1]

Page:The letters of John Hus.djvu/287

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