Adrevald of Fleury: Miracula Sancti Benedicti

The Miracula Sancti Benedicti by Adrevald, monk of Fleury, records miracles worked through Saint Benedict, whose relics Fleury claimed to possess. A prologue praises Italy, its climate, fertility, cities and rivers, as the land of Benedict’s birth, before turning to the wonders worked at his tomb on the Loire and in the abbey’s lands. Episodes are often vivid and concrete: in the sample a German pilgrim whose offering has been stolen complains loudly at the tomb in his foreign accent, asking why Benedict sleeps while thieves rob his house. The edition also includes an appendix by a monk named Adelerius.

Adrevald’s collection was the first part of what became a long series of Fleury miracle books continued by later monks, including Aimoin and Andrew of Fleury. Beyond its devotional purpose, it is a valuable source for the social history of the Loire valley in the ninth century, recording pilgrims, peasants, lords, Viking raids and disputes over monastic property. It shows how a monastery used its patron’s miracles to defend its lands and rights.