The “Miracles of Our Lady of Chartres” are a series of relatively

short didactic tales which recount the deeds of intercession of the

Virgin. The thirty-two miracles by Jehan le Marchant, canon of
Péronne, are from the middle of the thirteenth century, and are
translations/reworkings from the Latin.

XVII. “The Miracle which happened to the good Bretons of Chartres”

Another miracle of high worth

Which I found in Latin and took up
I would like to relate to you and teach,
Because I would believe myself in the wrong
If I did not inform you of it,
For I know the story to be true
And the miracle beautiful and noble.
There once was a people at Chartres
Who loved Chartres by tradition;
Though they weren’t the type who slept on down,
The were people of great strength;
At Chartres they had their dwelling
Within the walls of Holy Faith;
In God and in His Mother they were great believers,
And had use of their own street,
Which was called the Bretonnerie:
For they are Bretons, born in Brittany,
And they carry the sign of Saint Malo.
This people born in Brittany,
One day, celebrated their yearly event:
The held court and council.
All the Bretons of the town
Were there, priests and clerics and lay folk.
They promised that, without delay,
To the church they would mount a cart,
As other people did,
Filled with stones, to contribute to the work.
Nor helping with this task
Would they have anyone except those of their own land.
One evening, when they went to get the cart,
Around dinner time, they were all upset,
They were filled with fear
That others would get there before them,
And would grab the cart first.
For this reason they set out even at this late hour;
None who were at Chartres waited at all:
There was no Breton man nor Breton woman
Who was able to pull a cart or wagon
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With a yoke or a rope,

Who did not quickly jump into action.
They did not delay one bit to fetch
The wagon, loaded with big stones.
All together they set out
And made great efforts to pull
Without the help of anyone else,
Who was not part of their community,
But only those of the same origin (“nacïon”).
With faith and devotion
They pulled the cart, both big and small.
They would have quickly gotten to Chartres
If Fortune had not prevented them,
For neither star nor moon shined,
Nor was there any other light,
But to a remarkable degree
The night was frightful and dark
And the air extremely thick.
The weather was such that they did not know
Where they were nor where they were going.
The family “Brarisïon”
Cried, “Autrou” and “Marion!”
One could not see the other;
And they could have lost their way.
They they were truly bewildered,
At having lost their way,
For they could see neither trail nor path.
But the good lady who sees all,
Full of sweetness and of grace,
Whose need they served, in whose service
They were, showed them the way;
Since for the love of God she sent
Three burning torches of fire.
They hung in the air above the cart.
God lighted the dark air,
And set the lost ones on the right path.
As he did the children of Israel,
Who had suffered great hardship
In Egypt, but out of that land,
He led them, by day, by a cloud,
And, by night, by fire he showed them the way,
Just like God, His Mother
Guided the pilgrims;
The dark night she made bright
By the torches hanging in the air,
Shedding their light over all.
Chartres, the church and tower,
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And all the surrounding parts,

They saw clearly and recognized.
They marveled at the miracle.
Filled with pity, they began to cry,
And to pray to God and His Mother
And to thank Her on bended knee.
“Te Deum Laudamus,” sang
Priests and clerics, with raised voice.
The Bretons were not
Of the following of Chapalu. (monster Cath Palus slain by King For
the Lady, by whom salvation Arthur)
Was brought by the Angel of Heaven,
Comforted them abundantly
And bestowed great grace and a great gift.
The torches led them so
That they were set on the right path.
They were led and accompanied
By this great lordly brightness
Of the star of the sea, Marie, ( = play on sea, Latin “mare”) Who on th
And who sent them safe conduct from the sky.
From on high was the air brightened
And the Bretons shown the way,
Who kept so steadily to their course
That they arrived at Chartres with their cart.

XX. “Of Two Companions,one of which was saved and the other not: one
was blind and the other mute”

The book gives me material

To recount another great miracle,
Which I should not hide from you,
Just as Guillaume of Souday, (Loir-et-Cher)
A knight of high degree,
Who is incapable of withholding the truth,
Recounted it all, word for word.
Many of his friends whom he loves,
And who had come with him
To Chartres, bear witness to the deed.
This knight, who was born
In Souday, says that in his country
There were two men quite contrary:
One of them with one eye could see
Nothing or only a little,
For the white part covered all.
He was an accomplished minstrel
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Just like those lechers

And bad-mouthers and jongleurs;
He wandered from court to court;
And the other man was mute
In his mouth to a great extent,
But his eyes worked rather well.
The one-eyed man, who who was a ribald
And mocking and a tricky sort,
Had heard and understood
That Our Lady had restored
Tongue and speech to a mute,
The news had spread quickly,
Which doesn’t make a secret of the miracles
Which the Lady of Chartres performs.
The one who had heard the news
Called to his side the mute,
Whose hearing otherwise was acute;
Joking with him, he said in his tricky way:
“Good friend, tell me something:
Would you or would you not be interested
In regaining your speech sometime soon,
And in me regaining my sight;
Let us go to Chartres, me and you.
Not long ago there was a miracle,
A mute child began to speak
As soon as he left the church.
Me and you would do well to go there:
Me to see, and you to speak.
Let’s go there and find out,
We’ll see if it is true or not
What many have recounted.”
He begged and pleaded so much
That they began to both want
To seek the health of their broken parts.
This one spoke out of derision;
The other one, with good intention,
Was taken in by the words of the joker,
Who with his tricks deceived him.
The one, who could not speak,
Consented and promised to go there
With noddings and with signs.
He was quite simple and innocent
And feared God and His Mother.
Whatever the other one asked of him
He believed with pure devotion.
He made his confession to God
From the heart, and not from the mouth.
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With his will, which touches the heart,

And not just with his words, he granted
All that the other one recommended.
When they had reached agreement,
The two companions set out,
And they stuck so closely
To the route, that they soon arrived in Chartres.
They were companions along the route;
But the heart which is derailed by thought
Is not good company,
For the one was full of trickery,
Of fraud and of falsity,
And the other one was filled with faith,
Humility and firm belief,
Good thoughts, and good hope
Of having his petition fulfilled.
The other one, like a spy,
Did not come to pray to God,
But to check out the miracles.
When they arrived in Chartres,
The one-eyed man, who was held for
A lout and a ribald,
A glutton and a guzzler,
Didn’t go with his companion
To church, there where one prays
To the Lady of Chartres by name;
For he had heard of the reputation and the renown
Of the good wines sold at Chartres,
Clear, healthy, clean, and delcious.
He was more interested in drinking
And examining mugs of wine,
With which he wouldn’t be bored,
Than in learning true virtue;
For his mouth was too tempted
By good wines and good morsels to eat,
Of which his stomach was the vessel,
So that, as soon as he got there,
He went directly to the tavern,
As he was used to doing every day,
Because he wanted at his leisure
To drink and test the good wines.
His companion went first
To the church, as fast as he could,
For he wanted to follow the scripture
Which teaches us first to seek
The realm of God; that is, the holy church,
Where we should hear the service;
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It is the profit and the meat

Which the soul desires and demands.
And afterwards we should think of the body,
To keep and maintain the soul.
The mute acted in just this way,
He went to pray before the altar
To the Holy Virgin Queen,
With pure and clear devotion.
His mute tongue was quiet,
But with the faith, which pleased the heart,
He prayed and with good thoughts,
Which were hidden safe in his heart.
When he had prayed to perfection
With a true heart, which does not lie,
He passed under the holy reliquary
Where each day still throng
The ones who are true pilgrims.
Now, God, the heavenly king,
Who knows all of our thoughts,
Had listened to his prayers
And worked for the love of his Mother,
For the mute received a loud and clear voice.
He blessed God and His Mother
And thanked them with joy
For the grace that had been bestowed
In restoring his speech.
When he had recovered speech,
Through the power of God working through him,
It happened that a great bitterness came into his mouth,
And the pain reached his heart.
He then approached the door
And went out of the church,
For the pain had such an effect
That he was afraid of vomiting on the spot.
A man, behind him, also came out,
Who had followed him through the church.
He had taken notice for some time,
So that, when he heard him talk,
He marvelled greatly and rejoiced.
He knew it to be a miracle.
But he asked him what was the matter
And why he had left the church.
This one responded in such a way
That, when, by the divine power,
His tongue was made whole,
And new flesh had been grafted
Where once it had been lacking,
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He felt in his mouth a bitterness

Such that his heart almost stopped.
He thought he would throw up on the spot,
And since he did not want
Such a high and holy place
To be soiled and besmirched
With vomit or any other filth,
For this reason, he turned and in great haste,
He issued forth from the church.
When he had responded thus
And the pain had passed,
He stuck out his tongue and showed it,
Whole and beautiful as it was,
Reconstructed out of new flesh.
This was a true miracle with no deception.
Now, back into the church
He returned speaking as gaily as could be,
And he gave devoted
Thanks to the Honored Lady
With the very tongue he had recovered,
And the beautiful gift that she had bestowed.
Then did all the saints resound.
When the news of this miracle became known,
The whole town rejoiced:
Into the streets everyone flocked
And all together ran to the church,
Immediately and with great haste.
And the companion, who for a long time
Had stayed in the tavern and dwelled
For the clear and tasty wine--
Healthy, most pleasant, and excellent--
Which he had imbibed in great draughts,
And poured into his belly,
Though he was not yet drunk,
Could not remain seated,
But with the others ran to see
This miracle and this marvel.
When he learned the truth, he was stunned
To hear his travelling companion speak;
He repented greatly that he did not go
With him to church to pray.
Then his eyes became all teary,
But as I believe and I know,
These were tears of wine.
Kneeling at the altar he made his prayers,
But God in heaven did not receive them,
Knowing well the intention of the one,
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Who prayed without true devotion,

Without faith, and for this reason, he prayed in vain.
His body was not contrite;
He prayed with his mouth alone:
Such prayers do not reach God.
So he went away just as he had come.
Of the two men it happened thus,
That one of them was not heard,
And the other greatly rejoiced
At receiving what he had sought.
They both went back home,
The one filled with joy and lightness,
And the other full of sadness.
By these two men it is proven,
Just as I found it in a book,
That good conscience is worth a lot,
Righteous faith, and obedience.
Holy scripture praises greatly
Good faith and clean conscience:
There is no man who pleases God without faith
Nor one with bad conscience.
The one who has faith, he is wise,
And the one without faith, foolish,
For God refused his request,
And granted that of the other.
God heard his prayer,
And rendered him tongue and speech,
But the other one did not regain his sight
Any more than he had it at the outset.

XXVIII. How the City of Chartres was Delivered from its Enemies by
the Holy Tunic of Chartres

The book here tells

That, by this holy tunic
Housed at Chartres in a reliquary,
A famous miracle, which I will recount,
Occurred in the year of the incarnation
Eight hundred and ninety two.
Charles, as the text attests,
Was king of France and of the country,
Who was the son of King Louis,
Nicknamed “the stammerer.”
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A very famous miracle

Happened in the time of Charles, the king.
A tyrant known for his cruelty
Invaded France, his name was Rollon,
For which one still cries: “Haroul!”
This tyrant led into France a great force,
Which he assembled
Out of pagans and Saracens.
They destroyed everything on the coast,
And laid waste France and the country.
They killed everyone, put them to the sword,
And none could resist him.
He did not want to stop
Until he got to the royal city of Estampes,
Where he began his devastation again.
He got as far as Chartres,
Which he attacked on both sides.
The pagans besieged Chartres.
The towns people were afraid,
Who were assaulted from within,
For they were sorely hurt
By mangonels and trébuchets, (machines of war)
Which, both front and back,
Hurled rocks against their walls.
They were not at all assured
When they saw stones rain down.
They were not able to defend themselves,
Neither to escape, nor to fight.
They see those on the outside,
Who strive to knock down the walls,
And who with great effort attack them;
And they are terrified.
In no one or in nothing do they have faith,
Except in help from the Virgin
Who is called Our Lady of Chartres;
They beg for help from the One,
Who has dominion over Chartres.
They took the holy tunic
Of the Mother of God, which came
Once upon a time from Constantinople.
A great king of France made to Chartres
A precious and noble gift of it:
Charles the Bald was his name from childhood.
This king gave it to Chartres,
Which is endowed with the favor
Of the Lady who wore it
At the side of the son of God,
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For this one believes that it was placed

In Chartres, in the great church,
And that it is still kept there
In the place where she is proclaimed Lady.
The Chartrians took the tunic
And placed it on the walls of the city
In the place of an insignia or banner.
When the enemy saw it,
They started to scorn it,
And to mock and laugh among themselves.
They hurled rocks and arrows
From Turkish bows and crossbows.
But God, who saw their defiance,
Showed divine vengeance:
He blinded them such that they lost
Their sight, and couldn’t see a thing,
So that they could neither retreat
Nor could they go forward.
When the Chartrians saw
The miracle and saw
What the Lady of Chartres had done,
Their joy was unimaginable.
They prepared to issue forth
And strapped their bodies with arms,
The donned haubreks and laced helmets.
With their bishop Gousseaume,
Who wore the holy tunic,
For the defense and safeguard,
With another banner,
Which was from the veil of the Virgin,
From Chartres they all went out
With great commotion and great noise.
They plunged into the pagan army,
With great slaughter,
They killed as many as they could:
There were so many dead
That the ground was piled high;
There were so many mangled bodies
That the swords of the Chartrians
Were drunk with pagan blood.
While they were on the battlefield,
Richard, the Duke Burgundy,
Arrived with a great company of men;
This one brought fierce companions
With him. If the army of the French
Had inflicted such great carnage before,
Now it was doubled!
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They struck heavy blows with sword and lance,

Chartrians, French, Burgundians:
They are all companions in arms
Against the unbelieving sons of whores.
And when Rollon sees that the force
Of the enemy has so increased,
He turned to flight.
He sees his people being butchered,
And that he does not have the power to avenge them.
He flees with a small band,
Of only ten knights.
They rode so hard
They came to Lisieux,
Yet, a part of his army was stunned
And stayed on the field,
Pursued by the Christians.
Those who no longer had a leader
Fled to the top of a hill.
There they protected themselves for a day,
When, at the last minute,
Ebles arrived, the Count of Poitiers,
With a great company of knights.
He saw the pagans on top of the hill,
And surrounded them all around.
But these ones, who knew all the tricks,
Escaped at around midnight;
They passed through the French army.
When day broke and the French saw
The escaped pagans, they jumped
On their horses and chased them.
The horses were fresh and fast,
Which pursued and caught them;
But the pagans surrounded the place
With dead beasts, covered with blood,
With which, all around them,
They hoped to protect themselves from harm.
The French start back,
Who have given long chase.
Each, with his helmet laced on his head,
They return to their tents,
And the pagans, an afflicted people,
Went from death by sword
To their leader, straight to Lisieux.
The Lady of Chartres, Marie,
Thus came to the Chartrians’s aid
Because of the glorious tunic
And the veil I have described;
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They must be held as very precious

Since their power has been proved.