Laudator Temporis Acti

Anonymous, Life of Barbatus, Bishop of Benevento, chapters 1, 2, and 7 (my translation):

[1] When Grimoald had control of the kingdom of the Langobards and his son Romuald was ruling the Samnites, at Benevento a distinguished priest, Barbatus by name, as I mentioned, shone by reason of the Savior's favor. He was famous for his deeds and brilliant for his miracles. In those days, although the Langobards were being washed clean by the water of holy baptism, nevertheless they held fast to an old pagan rite, as they lived with degraded mind—they bent their necks to an image of a beast (commonly called a viper), whereas they should have bent their necks to their Creator. Not far from the city walls of Benevento, as a festival, they worshipped a holy tree, in which they hung a piece of animal flesh. All who were present, turning their backs to the tree, rode quickly, bloodying their horses with spurs, so that each could go in advance of the others. While riding, they cast spears backwards, and they superstitiously took a small piece of the flesh hit by their spears to eat. Because they made their foolish votive offerings there, they named the place Votum, after their practice, and it still retains the name.

[2] Barbatus, the man of the Lord, seeing this, unceasingly told them that those who served two masters could not be saved—those who submitted to the domain of the fallen angel did not deserve to be numbered among the sons of God. He never stopped running about here and there, anxiously preaching these and other words to them in his desire to present them to their Creator cleansed of error. But they, blinded by bestial madness and concerned with nothing other than the practice of war, thought that the observance of the custom of their ancestors was best. They alleged that their ancestors (recalling them by name) were most warlike. Consequently, they utterly rejected the warnings of the man of God.

[....]

[7] Constans, who with divine help was striving to destroy the city and its inhabitants completely and who could not be swayed by immense heaps of gold and silver or countless quantities of precious stones and pearls, the next day abandoned Benevento and went to Naples, taking Romuald's sister as hostage. At once the most blessed Barbatus seized an axe and proceeded to Votum. With his own hands he dug up the ground and cut down the accursed tree from its roots. He made a heap of dirt on top of it, so that no one could find even a trace of it.

Latin text (Vita Barbati Episcopi Beneventani), from the edition of G. Waitz in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores Rerum Langobardicarum et Italicarum Saec. VI-IX (Hannover: Hahn, 1878), pp. 557-563, except that I've adopted Ughelli's emendation celebris for celeps in the first chapter:

[1] Tempore quo Grimoalt Langobardorum regni moderabat abenas eiusque filius Romualt Samnitibus imperabat, insignis sacerdos Barbatus nomine, ut fatus sum, Redemptoris nutu claruit Beneventi, actionibus celebris miraculisque coruscus. His quoque diebus quamvis sacri baptismatis unda Langobardi abluerentur, tamen priscum gentilitatis ritum tenentes, sicut bestiali mente degebant, bestiae simulacro, quae vulgo vipera nominatur, flectebant colla, quae debite suo debebant flectere Creatori. Verum etiam non longe a Beneventi menibus quasi sollempnem diem sacram colebant arborem, in qua suspendentes corium, cuncti qui adherant terga vertentes arbori, celerius equitabant, calcaribus cruentantes equos, ut unus alteri possit prehire; atque in eodem cursu retroversis manibus corium iaculabant, iaculatoque particulam modicam ex eo comedendi superstitiose accipiebant. Et quia stulta illic persolvebant vota, ab actione nomen loci illius, sicut actenus dicitur, Votum imposuerunt.

[2] Quae vir Domini Barbatus cernens, incessabiliter eis annuncians, duobus dominis servientes non posse salvari, et nequaquam inter filiorum Dei numeros merentur adgregari, qui se apostatae angeli ditioni subdiderint. Haec et alia illis indesinenter beatissimus Barbatus huc atque illuc discurrens anxie predicabat, cupiens eos Creatori suo purgatos erroribus presentare. At illi ferina caecati dementia, nihil aliud nisi bellorum meditantes usus, optimum esse fatebatur cultum legis maiorum suorum, quos nominatim bellicosissimos asserebant, ideoque viri Dei monita funditus abdicabant.

[....]

[7] Sequenti namque die divinis opitulationibus is qui usque ad internitionem moliebatur urbem cum suis habitatoribus perdere, et non quibant eum ad misericordiam flectere inmensa pondera argenti vel auri atque innumera multitudo pretiosorum lapidum et margaritarum, accepta solummodo sorore eiusdem Romualt, Beneventum deserens, Neapolim est ingressus. Repente beatissimus Barbatus securem accipiens, Votum pergens, et suis manibus nefandam arborem, in qua per tot temporis spatia Langobardi exitiale sacrilegium perficiebant, defossa humo a radicibus incidit, ac desuper terrae congeriem fecit, ut nec inditium ex ea quis valeat repperire.

See Jean-Marie Martin, "À propos de la Vita de Barbatus, évêque de Bénévent," Mélanges de l'Ecole française de Rome. Moyen-Age, Temps modernes 86 (1974) 137-164, who dates the composition of the Life to the 9th or 10th century (at 139).

It's possible that the participants in the old pagan rite made "Parthian shots" with bows and arrows, rather than casting spears backwards over their shoulders.

Labels: arboricide