Gerard Ithier: Miracula Sancti Stephani Grandimontensis

Gerard Ithier, prior of Grandmont at the end of the twelfth century, compiled this collection of miracles of Saint Stephen of Muret, founder of the order of Grandmont in the Limousin. In thirty-five short chapters it records the revelation of the saint, that is, the elevation of his relics, and the miracles associated with it. The opening recalls how the order, long flourishing in peace, was torn by a grave dispute in the last year of Pope Lucius III, under Kings Philip of France and Henry of England, so that brothers once united hurried to the papal court to accuse one another. Later chapters describe healings at the tomb, such as a mother praying there for her daughter, blind for nearly eight years.

The collection is closely linked to Stephen’s canonisation in 1189 and to the efforts of the order to restore its unity and reputation after the internal conflict between clerics and lay brothers. It is a valuable source for the history of Grandmont, one of the distinctive reformed orders of the twelfth century, and for the role of a founder’s cult in times of crisis. Its frank account of the dispute is unusual.