according to a narrative of landulphus senior, the eleventh-century chronicler of milan, charlemagne attempted to abolish the ambrosian rite, as he or his father, pepin the short, had abolished the gallican rite in france, in favour of a gallicanized roman rite. he sent to milan and caused to be destroyed or sent beyond the mountain, quasi in exilium (as if into exile), all the ambrosian books which could be found. eugenius the bishop, (transmontane bishop, as landulf calls him), begged him to reconsider his decision. after the manner of the time, an ordeal, which reminds one of the celebrated trials by fire and by battle in the case of alfonso vi and the mozarabic rite, was determined on. two books, ambrosian and roman, were laid closed upon the altar of st. peter's church in rome and left for three days, and the one which was found open was to win. they were both found open, and it was resolved that as god had shown that one was as acceptable as the other, the ambrosian rite should continue. but the destruction had been so far effective that no ambrosian books could be found, save one missal which a faithful priest had hidden for six weeks in a cave in the mountains. therefore the manuale was written out from memory by certain priests and clerks (landulph, chron., 10-13). walafridus strabo, who died abbot of reichenau in 849, and must therefore have been nearly, if not quite, contemporary with this incident, says nothing about it, but (de rebus ecclesiasticis, xxii), speaking of various forms of the mass, says: "ambrosius quoque mediolanensis episcopus tam missæ quam cæterorum dispositionem officiorum suæ ecclesiæ et aliis liguribus ordinavit, quæ et usque hodie in mediolanensi tenentur ecclesia" (ambrose, bishop of milan, also arranged a ceremonial for the mass and other offices for his own church and for other parts of liguria, which is still observed in the milanese church).