Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/198

 1 62 Readings in European History (854) The Normans, in addition to the very many evils which they were everywhere inflicting upon the Christians, burned the church of St. Martin, bishop of Tours, where his body rests. (855) In the spring Louis, the eastern king, sent his son of the same name to Aquitaine to obtain possession of the heritage of his uncle Pippin. (856) The Normans again chose a king of the same name as the preceding one, and related to him, and the Danes made a fresh incursion by sea, with renewed forces, against the Christians. (857) A great sickness, accompanied by swelling of the .bladder, prevailed among the people. This produced a ter- rible foulness, so that the limbs were separated from the body even before death came. (858) Louis, the eastern king, held an assembly of the people of his territory in Worms. (859) On the first of January, as the early mass was being said, a single earthquake occurred in Worms and a triple one in Mayence before daybreak. (860) On the fifth of February thunder was heard. The king returned from Gaul after the whole empire had gone to destruction, and was in no way bettered. (86 1 ) The holy bishop Luitbert piously furnished the cloister which is called the Freckenhorst with many relics of the saints, namely, of the martyrs Boniface and Maximus, and of the confessors Eonius and Antonius, and added a portion of the manger of the Lord and of his grave, and like- wise of the dust of the Lord's feet as he ascended to heaven. In this year the winter was long and the above-mentioned kings again had a secret consultation on the above-men- tioned island near Coblenz, and they laid waste everything round about.