Saint Germain : Selby’s Patron Saint
A fourth century warrior turned cleric, he won several victories for Christianity in Britain before dying in Italy. Benedict took the saint's finger as a relic from his tomb in Auxerre when he set out on his journey to found Selby Abbey.
The Church of Selby Abbey is dedicated to Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Germain, so to an extent Germain can be seen as Selby Abbey’s 'Patron Saint'.
Germain was born in the year 378 or 380 at Auxerre, France, and in his early days was very much a military man. As a soldier he was distinguished, becoming a “Duke”, or military leader, and sometimes he was referred to as “one of the six Dukes of Gaul.”
He married “a lady of great quality in Rome” called Eustachia, and also seems to have been a skilled orator as he was an advocate in the legal system of the time.
All in all, Germain seems to have been a thorough man of the world. There is very little recorded that is critical of him, except that he could be a bit over-exuberant, as a devotee of hunting and the chase and a little cruel in his dealings with the spoils of the hunting-ground.
At that time Amator was the Bishop of Auxerre. He saw that in spite of his apparent worldliness, Germain had the makings of a saint in him. Amator had often argued with Germain and tried to win him for the Church, but in vain. One day, however, Germain was fooled into entering Amator’s church in Auxerre. Despite his fearsome reputation as a warrior, the monks managed to bar the doors and tie him to a chair.
Suitably restrained, Amator could carry out the action that could cause a man to become a monk. With swift action of his scissors, he cut off the thing that symbolized Germain’s manhood – his flowing hair, of course - and gave him a monks’ tonsure. Amator bade him live “as one who was destined to become a bishop.”
Amator had clearly seen the inner man. Instead of resenting the treatment, Germain quietly accepted his position. It was the turning-point in his career. His old life was abandoned, and very soon he was ordained deacon. He became a monk and for 30 years he is said never to have touched wheaten bread, wine, oil, pulse, or salt, and sometimes he went without food altogether for a whole week at a time. Eventually he was consecrated Bishop of Auxerre. He was a great theologian and, using his skills as an orator came to England to defeat the Pelagian heresy.
Pelagianism effectively states that man's free-will is unimpaired, no influence dominates his choice between good and evil, and that he has all the power he ever had, or needs to have, to do what is spiritually good should he choose to.
The consequence of Pelagian thought was that if man had free will, then there was no need for churchmen such as- bishops and abbots. Not surprisingly, the hierarchy of the church could not accept being ruled irrelevant in this way, and so declared Pelagianism a heresy. The Pope sent Germain to Britain to stamp out the Pelagian tendency in Britain. As with many events linked to Selby, crossing the English Channel was problematic. The Venerable Bede describes the miraculous escape that Germain had from a storm in the Channel..
However, having safely arrived, chroniclers tell of a great assemblage of men, women, and children gathered at St Albans to hear Germain and his colleague Bishop Lupus, "pouring out torrents of eloquence," confounding the heretics and winning the verdict of the people.
Afterwards Germain visited many parts of England and Wales, including Cornwall and the Isle of Man. In North Wales, there was a glimpse of the old soldier as he led the British soldiers against the Picts and Scots, winning the bloodless victory known as the “Alleluia Victory.”
Saxons and Picts had united to launch an assault, supposedly near Mold in northern Wales. The townspeople sought the aid of Germain in fighting the invaders. This led to the earliest-recorded battle in Britain of the Dark Ages, the "Alleluia Victory". This account is adapted from Marran's 'Battles of the Dark Ages'.
Somewhere in the hills of the north west, British forces under St. Germanus and an unholy alliance of Scots and Picts came into conflict. The events were first described in Constantius' 'Life of Germanus' around 480 AD and repeated by Bede. Germanus rapidly baptised his men and advanced against the enemy, choosing a valley as the site to meet his foes and placing his men out of site of the invaders, as if to ambush them.
As the attacking force bore down, Germanus raised his standard, and at that prompt, his entire army shouted "Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!! Given the acoustic properties of the valley, the enemy column panicked, thinking 'the very rocks and sky were falling in on them'. They were so terrified they could not run away rapidly enough. Casting away their weapons, they ran naked from the battlefield, some drowning in an attempt to cross a river.
In conclusion Constantius states "..the British army saw its defeats avenged...the scattered spoils were collected and the Christian forces rejoiced in the triumph of Heaven". Germanus, "having overcome enemies both visible and invisible" returned to continental Europe, and died on July 31st 448 at Ravenna, in Italy. It took two months to take his body back to Auxerre where it was laid to rest on October 1st, 448. Thus there are two ‘saint’s days’ for Germain on July 31st and October 1st. Invading Huguenots removed the bones in the 15th century.
The actual site of this battle is disputed, but a field just west of Mold is called Maes Garmon ("Field of Germanus"), and in 1736 an obelisk was erected to commemorate the supposed bloodless battlefield. This si one of the most impressive monuments to a battle from the Dark Ages, but as Marran puts it, "Like the Alleluia Victory itself, belief in it taking place here is a matter of faith"
Image of the obelisk courtesy of the 'Wellhopper' website wellhopper.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/goblins- well-mold/
An inscription on the base of the obelisk tells the story in Latin : (Courtesy of Public Monuments and Sculpture Association)
AD ANNUM / CCCCXX / Saxones Picriq Bellum adverfus / Britones juildis viribus susciperunt / In Hac Regione Hodieq MAES GARMON / appellata cum in Praedium defcenditur / Apostolicis Britonum Ducibus GERMINO / et LUPO CHRISTUS militabat in Castris / ALLELUIA tertio repetrium exclamabant / Hostile Agmen Terrore prosternitur / Triumphant / Ho ibus Fu s sinc Sanguine / Palma Fide non Viribus obtenta / M P / in VICTORUE ALLELUIATICAE memoria / N G / MDCCXXXVI - The image shows sculpture in Mold of participants in the battle in the act of proclaiming "alleluia".
Alleluia Victory sculpture, by Brian Fell, in Mold.
Selby Abbey is very unusual in having Germain as a dedicatee. Most of the churches in England that are dedicated to him are in Cornwall and Devon, where he spent much time when he was in England. There is no record of him visiting Selby : the reason for the dedication is entirely due to Selby Abbey's founder, Abbot Benedict, having been encouraged to come to Selby following visions inspired by Germain.
Some believe that land at Wistow, near Selby shows a direct link with Germain. Leading from Wistow towards Selby is a 'Garmancarr Lane' passing through low-lying land. The link is believed to be that "Garman" is a garbled version of "Germain" and a "carr" is an old Yorkshire term for such low-lying areas of marshy scrubland. Taking it further
E.A. Thompson : "Saint Germanus of Auxerre and the End of Roman Britain"
Published in 1984, copies are difficult to find and expensive to buy.
A contemporary account of his life : "Life of Germanus" by Constantinus of Lyons (c.480) is referred to in Thompson's book.
P.Marran : 'Battles of the Dark Ages'
Pelagian heresy : www.cushnieent.force9.co.uk/CelticEra/Nature/nature_pelagius.htm
Alleluia victory : british-history.net/sub-roman-britain/germanus-of-auxerre-the-alleluia-victory-and- britannias-descent-into-darkness/
Selby Abbey’s website : http://www.selbyabbey.org.uk Entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography : http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=10568&back/
The Catholic Encyclopaedia's view of Germain can be found here : www.newadvent.org/cathen/06472b.htm
A history of the Miracles of Saint Germain, Bishop of Auxerre called "Miracula Sancti Germani Episcopi Autissiodorensis" was written before ca. 880 AD
A commentary of the Mold sculpture is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/95754142@N00/4692761696/
Comprehensive detail of the Alleluia Victory and Germain's links to it are at http://burnpit.us/2012/04/alleluia-battle-st-germanus-and-britons-ambush-picts-and-their-allies
Public Monuments and Sculpture Association : www.pmsa.org.uk/pmsa- database/11511/#sthash.4iXIEFLA.dpuf
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