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Meridian|Meridiana|Meridiane: the Gerberts legend myth or even true story.

[Meridiana: known as first historical record claiming somone into compact made with female demon-sucubus. ]

translation from latin (bad one): source nr1

DE NUGIS CURIALIUM 




One day Gerbert left the city at noon as if for a 

walk — all the while grievously tormented by hunger 

— and, with all his thoughts far away, strolled deep 

into a grove. There, in the very heart of the forest, 

he found a woman of wondrous beauty, sitting upon 

a great cloth of silk with a huge heap of money 

before her. He tried to slink away undetected, 

for he feared a phantom or a trick. But, calling  

him by name, she bade him trust her, and, with the 

appearance of pity, promised him the present sum, 

and as large a store of wealth as his heart could 

desire, if he would only disdain the mayor’s daughter 

who had spurned so haughtily his suit, and would 

attach himself to her, not as to a sovereign lady, 

but as to a mistress of his own rank. She added : 


 Meridiana by name and born of the best stock, I 

have ever strivgn above all for this, to find a man 

in every way my peer, so that I could count him  

worthy to pluck the first flowers of my maidenhood ; 

but, until thou earnest, I h§.d discovered no one 

who did not lack something of what I craved. 

Therefore, as thou pleasest me at every point, do 

not delay to taste all the joy which God in the 

Highest, thy master and mine, raineth down from 

heaven upon thee. Unless thou provokest me to 

just wrath, thou wilt be blest with all bounty of 

money and rank ; only, when thou fully blossomest 

forth once more through my care, thou must repel  

thy lady disdain with the same scorn by which 

she has made thee wretched. For I know that 

she will repent and will turn again to what she 

once despised, if she have the chance. If she had 

shrunk from thy love through mere maidenly in- 

stinct, her conquest of thee would have redounded 

to her credit. But this alone was the reason for 

her insolent rejection of thee, v r ho, by general 

opinion, wert the most lovable of all (her suitors), 





that she might smile on others without exciting any 

distrust, thus veiling Aphrodite with the false robe 

of Minerva. Under the cover of thy repulse others 

marched on to mastery. Alas ! Pallas is driven 

away and under the shield lurketh a Gorgon. Thy 

obvious overthrow hath given a shelter to the foul- 

ness of a wanton ; if thou shalt with proper spirit 

declare this creature for ever unworthy of thy 

embraces, I shall make thee pre-eminent among all 

 the lofty ones of the earth. 


Perhaps thou fearest 

a cheat and thou art trying to shun the craft of 

the incubus demon in me. 



Footless is this fear, 

for those whom thou fearest are also on their guard 

against the tricks of men, 


and they entrust them- 

selves to no one unless ample security iff given; 

and never do men bring back anything but sin from 

those demons whom they have deceived. 


For if 

indeed, as seldom, the. demons bring success or 

wealth — these (seeming blessings) pass away in such 

 futility and vanity that they are -of no account, or 

else they lead to the distress and destruction of the 

deceiver. 


But I exact from thee no security, for 

I have learned to the full the nature of thy sincerity. 

Nor am I trying to be made secure, but to make 

thee secure. 


I am glad to give thee everything, 

and I want thee to carry all this (money) away 

before our union, and often to return for more 

until thou shalt prove by discharging all thy debts 

that it is not fairy gold, and thou shalt not fear 

 to make just return for the outlays of true love. 



I desire love, not sovereignty, nor indeed do I wish 

to be thy equal, but thy maid-servant ; in me thou 

wilt find naught which will not to thy senses smack 

of love ; true judgment can detect in me no token 

of enmity.’ 


Meridiana said these and many things to like 

purpose, although needless, for Gerbert, greedy for 

the things that he had lost, snatched her with hearty 

assent almost in the midst of her words, eager to 



escape through plenty the thraldom of poverty 

and to enter with speed into the pleasing peril of 

Venus. Hence the suppliant promised all, and 

plighted his troth and — what was not asked — 

joined to his oath kisses, leaving inviolate all else 

that pertaineth to chastity. 


Gerbert returned heavy-laden, pretending to his 

creditors that he had received a remittance, and 

he cleared himself of his debts slowly, to prevent 

rumours of treasure-trove.


 From now on, free  

(from embarrassment) and abounding in the gifts 

of Meridiana, he grew rich in chattels, he increased 

his staff qf servants, he heaped up stores of clothing 

and coins, he filled his cellars and larders, so that 

his plenty at Rheims was like the glory of Solomon 

in Jerusalem.


 Moreover, the full delight of his bed 

was no less, though the great king was the lover 

of many and he of one.* Every night he was 

taught by her, who had full knowledge of the past, 

what to do during the day. 


These were nights like  

those* marvellous ‘ noctes ’ of Numa, in which 

Romans feigned that sacrifices were made and that 

colloquies of the gods were in men’s ears, inasmuch 

as he worshipped one (goddess) from whose teach- 

ings he secretly sweated wisdom in nightly study. 


Gerbert profited to the full from his double instruc- 

tion, both of the bed and-of the benches, and he rose 

in glorious triumph to the highest pinnacles of fame ; 

nor did the lore of the lecturer in his lesson advance 

him less than that of the lecturess of his liaison —  

the second in winning his way to heights of fame, 

the first in acquiring those arts that produce sweet- 

ness and light. In a short time he became every 

one’s master, distancing all men — the bread of the 

hungry, the robe of the needy, and the ready re- 

demption from all oppression — and there was no 

city that did not envy Rheims. 


When the ‘ wretched daughter of Babylon ’ who, 

through her pride, had brought him into the depths 

heard and saw these things, she awaited with 

eager ears the wonted messages and marvelled at 

and chid the delay ; and when at length she 

realized that she was spurned, then she, for the first 

time, ‘ glowed with fierce fires ’ which she had 

scornfully repelled. Now she lived more cleanly 

and walked more meticulously and met him more 

modestly and spoke more reverently ; and because 

she felt that she had altogether fallen into contempt 

 and dejection, she quaffed malice of mind from the 

very beaker in which she had given her lover frenzy 

to drink. She madly seized the bit, caring not 

whither the reins guided or drew, but r obedient 

throughout the whole course to whatever spurs 

urged her ; and she strove to lure him to her hook 

with the devices with which he had' once tempted 

her — that is, with every known bait. But in vain 

did she lay her snares,* stretch her nets, cast her 

hooks. For the avenger of old hatred and flatterer 

 of new love denied what love is wont to give and 

cast at her what hatred is wont to inflict. Having 

wasted all its efforts, the woman’s love grew to 

madness, and her bitter anguish exceeded her sense 

of sorrow ; and just as the stupor of the limbs 

admitted no medicine, so the spirit of exhausted 

hope felt no solace. An old woman living near 

Gerbert aroused her one flay, just as if she were 

bringing the dead to life, and, through a hole in 

her cottage wall, pointed him out walking alone 

 in his little orchard during the heat of the day after 

his meal. In a little while they saw him lie down 

under the shade of a branching oak and compose 

himself in sleep. She could not compose herself, 

but, casting aside her gown, she gave herself wholly 

to him under his cloak in only her smock ; and, 

though veiled, excited him with kisses and embraces. 

From the man, full of wine and food, she easily 

obtained her wish; for the heat of youth and of 

the season, and the warmth of wine and the fullness 




here came together to one banquet of Venus. In 

such wise, forsooth, Apollo and Pan, Ceres and 

Bacchus, ever attend Venus, but, from the notable 

gathering of these, Pallas (goddess of wisdom) is 

ever excluded. The woman loaded Gerbert with 

kisses and caresses, and, though sparing of words, 

she bestowed flattering blandishment, until he re- 

called Meridiana in the confusion of shame and 

with the trepidation of a mighty fear. Wishing 

ashamedly to escape (the amorous girl), he left her  

with a promise to return, and in the accustomed 

grove sought at the feet of Meridiana pardon for 

his fault. She haughtily disdained him for a long 

time, but finally she demanded and obtained of 

him homage for security, because he had been 

found wanting, and he safely continued in her 

service. 


In the meanwhile it happened that the Arch- 

bishop of Rheims came to his end, and Gerbert, as 

the reward of high repute, was enthroned in his  

stead. Some time after that, when he was staying 

in Rome in connection with the business of his 

newlv-found dignity, he was made by the Pope, 

Cardinal and Archbishop of Ravenna; and after 

a little while, upon the death of His Holiness, he 

mounted by public election to his chair. During 

the whole time of his priesthood, he did not once, 

at the giving of the sacrament, partake of the Lord’s 

body and blood (either because of fear or reverence), 

but by dexterous stratagem pretended to do so.  

Meridiana, however, appeared to him in the last 

year of his papacy, assuring the pledge of his life 

to him, until he should celebrate mass at Jerusalem ; 

he thought to escape by his vow of biding at Rome. 

But it came to pass that he was celebrating mass 

in that church where, by popular report, was placed 

that beam which Pilate had fastened upon the top 

of the Lord’s Cross, inscribed with the record of 

His passion — hence the church is called to this day 


Jerusalem — and lo, he beheld opposite to him 

Meridiana clapping her hands, as though in joyous 

expectation of his next coming to her. Having 

grasped the meaning of the vision, and having 

learned the name of the place, he called together 

all the cardinals, the clergy, and the people, and 

made confession, leaving unrevealed no fault of 

his whole life. He moreover decreed that to clergy 

and people the mass should be given in the presence 

 of all men. Hence many celebrate the mass on 

an altar reared in the midst, while the Pope in his 

chair partaketh with his face fixed on the faces of 

them all. 


Gerbert made truly holy the short remnant of 

his life by constant and earnest repentance and 

reverently made his last confession. He was buried 

in the Church of St. John Lateran, in a marble tomb 

which perpetually sweateth, but the drops do not 

unite into a stream unless as a prophecy of the death 

 of some wealthy Roman. Men say that, when the 

parting of a Pope is at hand, the stream floweth 

to the ground, but when the death of some noble, 

it poureth out even to the third or fourth or fifth 

part of the other, as if indicating the dignity of each 

man by its smaller or larger flow. Although Gerbert, 

on account of his avarice, may have been long held 

fast by the glue of the devil, yet he ruled with 

splendour and with sureness of hand the Roman 

Church; and it is said that some of his wealth 

so hath endured to the times of all his successors. 


We have heard that Pope Leo initiated the con- 

ditions under which the heirs of Peter Leonis, by 

disinheriting St. Peter, still possess Castellum 

Crescentii (Castel San Angelo). This Peter Leonis, 

a Jew, was converted to our faith by the work, of 

Pope Leo, and took from him the name Leonis ; 

and Pope Leo eagerly endowed him with revenues 

and estates and entrusted to him the guard of the 

aforesaid castle, to his great glory and honour.


Pp. -. Qerbert. — Gerbert or Pope Sylvester  . (-) 

»v as often reputed a^rcerer m tfce Middle Ages (Olleris, (Euvres de 

Gerb&ct, clxJkxviii.-cxcviii.). William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum, 

’?.‘, makes him the possessor of a magical head that predicts his 

death at * Jerusalem ’ ; and John of Bromton, -, also tells of 

his homage to the devil, of the opening of earth at his incantations, 

of the glimpse of treasures which he was unable to touch and of 

his end at the church* of  Jerusalem in Lateran.’ Giraldus 

(Gemma,  . ) tells of his avoidance of the sacrament. No mediaeval 

writer except Map mentions Gerbert’s association with a fairy 

lady ; but Ordericus Vitalis (  . xxiv.) relates that, when Gerbert 

was master of a school, he had a conference with the devil and 

learned that he would be  translated from R. to R. and as pope 

would be R.’ (Rheims, Ravenna, Rome). His connection with 

Meridiana recalls such lays as Desire, Graelent, LanvaL The 

Jerusalem motive is adapted to Henry iv. (H. iv., Pt. n. iv. iv.), 


 It has been prophesied to me many years I should not die but at 

Jerusalem.’ 


P. , . . Metamorphoseos . — Liebrecht, Zur Volkskunde , p. , 

finds m the Matre morphoseos of the text a concealed reference to 

the Metamorphoseos of Apuleius and points to  the change to an ass.’ 

The translation follows rather closely Webb’s interpretation of this 

doubtful passage in The Classical Review, , . The reference 

to Scylla, Webb derives from Ovid, Metamorphoses, xiii. . 


P. , . . Meridiana — Henno with the Teeth finds Ins lady 

at midday in a grove (iv. ix.) and the followers of Herla are seen 



at midday (iv. xiii.). This superstition is mirrored in the Vulgate 

demonio meridiano ,  the destruction that wasteth at noonday 

(Ps. xci. ), which is quoted by Map,   . 


P. , . . The bundle of twigs . — This oriental story serves its 

turn in the dumb show of the first English tragedy Gorboduc . 


P. ,  . Hinton shows that the passage refers to the arrival 

in England of the news of the election of Lucius in. (Hubald, Bishop 

of Ostia), September , , as the successor of Alexander hi. 

(-). 








Melvis, Peter de, . 


Menestratus,  

Meridiana, a phantom,  f. 

Merlin,  

Messina,  

Metamorphoseos, 

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