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THE ABBATIAL CROSIER


THE FULL SERIES OF

The Mysteries of the People

OR

History of a Proletarian Family

Across the Ages

By EUGENE SUE

_Consisting of the Following Works_:

    THE GOLD SICKLE; or, _Hena the Virgin of the Isle of Sen_.
    THE BRASS BELL; or, _The Chariot of Death_.
    THE IRON COLLAR; or, _Faustine and Syomara_.
    THE SILVER CROSS; or, _The Carpenter of Nazareth_.
    THE CASQUE'S LARK; or, _Victoria, the Mother of the Camps_.
    THE PONIARD'S HILT; or, _Karadeucq and Ronan_.
    THE BRANDING NEEDLE; or, _The Monastery of Charolles_.
    THE ABBATIAL CROSIER; or, _Bonaik and Septimine_.
    THE CARLOVINGIAN COINS; or, _The Daughters of Charlemagne_.
    THE IRON ARROW-HEAD; or, _The Buckler Maiden_.
    THE INFANT'S SKULL; or, _The End of the World_.
    THE PILGRIM'S SHELL; or, _Fergan the Quarryman_.
    THE IRON PINCERS; or, _Mylio and Karvel_.
    THE IRON TREVET; or _Jocelyn the Champion_.
    THE EXECUTIONER'S KNIFE; or, _Joan of Arc_.
    THE POCKET BIBLE; or, _Christian the Printer_.
    THE BLACKSMITH'S HAMMER; or, _The Peasant Code_.
    THE SWORD OF HONOR; or, _The Foundation of the
    French Republic_.
    THE GALLEY SLAVE'S RING; or, _The Family Lebrenn_.

Published Uniform With This Volume By

THE NEW YORK LABOR NEWS CO.

28 CITY HALL PLACE NEW YORK CITY





THE

ABBATIAL CROSIER

OR

BONAIK AND SEPTIMINE

A Tale of a Medieval Abbess

By EUGENE SUE

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH BY

DANIEL DE LEON

NEW YORK LABOR NEWS COMPANY, 1908




Copyright 1908, by the

NEW YORK LABOR NEWS CO.




INDEX


TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE                           v

PROLOGUE.

CHAPTER.

I. NARBONNE                                    3

II. ABD-EL-KADER AND ROSEN-AER                 6


PART I--THE CONVENT OF ST. SATURNINE.

I. THE LAST OF THE MEROVINGIANS               15

II. CHARLES MARTEL                            23

III. FATHER CLEMENT'S REFECTORY               33

IV. MORDECAI THE SLAVE-DEALER                 40


PART II--THE ABBEY OF MERIADEK.

I. ELOI THE GOLDSMITH                         47

II. THE INTENDANT RICARIK                     57

III. THE ABBESS MEROFLEDE                     62

IV. IN SIGHT OF THE ABBEY                     69

V. ASYLUM                                     78

VI. WARRIOR AND ABBESS                        83

VII. THE MOUSE-TRAP                           89

VIII. THE MIRACLE OF ST. LOUP'S TEETH         94

IX. BRENN--KARNAK                            102

X. MISTRESS AND MAN                          117

XI. THE FLIGHT                               122

XII. MOTHER AND SON                          129




TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE


The turbulent epoch that rocked the cradle of the Carlovingian dynasty,
the dynasty from which issued the colossal historic figure of
Charlemagne, is the epoch of this touching story--the eighth of the
series of Eugene Sue's historic novels known collectively under the
title "_The Mysteries of the People; or, History of a Proletarian Family
Across the Ages_." From the seething caldron of the valleys of the
western Rhine, inundated by the Arabs from the south, the Frisians from
the north, the Saxons from the west, and in which the chants of Moslems,
of Christians and of barbarians mixed into the one common cry of
desolating war, the feudal social system, previously introduced by
Clovis, and now threatened to be engulfed, emerged from the chaos as a
social institution. Many a characteristic of feudalism would be missed
if this, a crucial period of its existence, is not properly apprehended.
As in all the others of this series of Eugene Sue's stories, the
information is imparted without the reader's knowledge. What may be
termed the plot seizes and keeps the interest from start to finish,
steadily enriching the mind with knowledge historically inestimable,
besides connecting with the era described in the previous story--_The
Branding Needle; or, The Monastery of Charolles_--and preparing the
ground for the thrilling events that are the subject of the succeeding
narrative--_The Carlovingian Coins; or, The Daughters of Charlemagne_.

DANIEL DE LEON.

New York, 1904.




PROLOGUE




CHAPTER I.

NARBONNE.


Cruel intestine wars between the descendants of the Frankish conquerors
were devastating Gaul when the Arab invasion took place in 719. The
invaders poured down from the Pyrenees and drove back or subjugated the
Visigoths. The exchange of masters was almost a gain to the inhabitants
of the region. The conquerors from the south were more civilized than
those from the north. Many of the Gauls,--either freemen, or colonists
or slaves--took so strongly to the southern invader that they even
embraced his religion, the religion of Mahomet, allured thereto by the
promises of a paradise peopled with houris. "The virtuous believer,"
declared the Koran, "will be taken to the delicious home of Eden,
enchanted gardens, through which well-shaded rivers flow. There,
ornamented with bracelets of gold, clad in green clothes of woven silk
and resplendent with glory, the faithful will recline upon nuptial beds,
the happy prize in the dwelling of delights." Preferring, accordingly,
the white houris promised by the Koran to the winged seraphs of the
Christian paradise, many Gauls embraced Mohamedanism with ardor. Mosques
rose in Languedoc beside Christian churches. More tolerant than the
bishops, the Arabs allowed the Christians to follow their own religion.
Moreover, Mohamedanism, founded by Mahomet during the previous century,
608, acknowledged the divinity of the Scriptures and recognized Moses
and the Jewish prophets as beings chosen by God, only it did not
recognize the godship of Jesus. "Oh, ye, who have received the
Scriptures, keep within the bounds of the faith. Speak only the truth
about God. Jesus is the son of Mary, and he was sent by the All-High,
but is not his son. Say not that God is a trinity. God is one. Jesus
will not blush at being the servant of God. The angels that surround the
throne of God obey God!"--thus spoke the Koran.

The town of Narbonne, capital of Languedoc under the dominion of the
Arabs, had in 737 quite an Oriental aspect, due as much to the clearness
of the sky as to the dress and customs of a large number of its
inhabitants. The laurel shrubs, the green oaks and palm trees recalled
the vegetation of Africa. Saracen women were seen going to or coming
from the fountains with earthen vessels nicely balanced on their heads,
and draped in their white clothes like the women of the time of Abraham,
or of the young master of Nazareth. Camels with their long necks and
loaded with merchandise left the town for Nimes, Beziers, Toulouse or
Marseilles. The caravans passed on these journeys, along the fields, a
great variety of settlements--mud hovels thatched with straw and
inhabited by Gallic peasants, who were successively the slaves of the
Visigoths and of the Musselmen; tents of a Barbary tribe, Arabian
mountaineers who had descended to the plains from the peak of Mt. Atlas,
and who preserved in Gaul the nomad habits of their old home, warriors,
ever ready to mount their tireless and swift horses in answer to the
first call of battle from the emir of the province; finally, and at long
distances apart, on the crests of the mountains, high towers where,
during war, the Saracens lighted fires for the purpose of signaling the
approach of the enemy to one another.

In the almost Musselman town of Narbonne, the same as in all the other
towns of Gaul under the sway of the Franks and the bishops, there were,
sad to say, public market-places where slaves were set up for sale. But
that which imparted a peculiar character to the market of Narbonne was
the diversity of the races of the captives that were offered to
purchasers. There were seen <DW64>s and negresses in large numbers, as
well as Ethiopians of ebony blackness; copper- mestizos; handsome
young Greek girls and boys brought from Athens, Crete or Samos and taken
prisoner on some of the frequent maritime raids made by the Arabs. A
skilful politician, Mahomet, their prophet, had incited in his
sectarians a passion for maritime expeditions. "The believer who dies on
land feels a pain that is hardly comparable with the bite of an ant,"
says the Koran, "but the believer who dies at sea, feels on the contrary
the delicious sensation of a man, who, a prey to burning thirst, is
offered iced water mixed with citron and honey." Around the slave market
stood numerous Arabian shops filled with merchandise mainly manufactured
at Cordova or Granada, centers, at the time, of Saracen art and
civilization: brilliant arms inlaid in arabesques with gold and silver,
coffers of chiseled ivory, crystal cups, rich silk fabrics, embroidered
hose, precious collars and bracelets. Around the shops pressed a crowd
of as various races as costumes: aboriginal Gauls in their wide hose, an
article that gave this section of Gaul the name of "Bracciata" with the
Romans; descendants of the Visigoths who remained faithful to their old
Germanic dress, the furred coat, despite the warmth of the climate;
Arabians with turbans of all colors. From time to time, the cry of the
Musselman priests, calling the believers to prayer from the height of
the minarets, mixed with the chimes of basilicas that summoned the
Christians to their devotions.

"Christian dogs!" said the Arabs or Musselman Gauls. "Accursed heathens,
damned degenerates!" answered the Christians; whereupon both proceeded
to exercise their own cult in peace. More tolerant than the bishops of
Rome, Mahomet said in the Koran: "Do not do violence upon men for reason
of their religion."




CHAPTER II.

ABD-EL-KADER AND ROSEN-AER.


Abd-el-Kader, one of the bravest chiefs of the warriors of Abd-el-Rhaman
during the life of this emir, who was killed five years before on the
field of Poitiers where he delivered a great battle to Charles Martel
(the Hammer)--Abd-el-Kader,