" 3. "Letters." 4. "The History of the
Translation of the Blessed Martyrs of Christ, SS. Marcellinus and
Petrus."
It is to the last, as one of the most singular and interesting records
of the period during which the Roman world passed into that of the
Middle Ages, that I wish to direct attention.[33] It was written in
the ninth century, somewhere, apparently, about the year 830, when
Eginhard, ailing in health and weary of political life, had withdrawn
to the monastery of Seligenstadt, of which he was the founder. A
manuscript copy of the work, made in the tenth century, and once the
property of the monastery of St. Bavon on the Scheldt, of which
Eginhard was Abbot, is still extant, and there is no reason to believe
that, in this copy, the original has been in any way interpolated or
otherwise tampered with. The main features of the strange story
contained in the "Historia Translationis" are set forth in the
following pages, in which, in regard to all matters of importance, I
shall adhere as closely as possible to Eginhard's own words.
While I was still at Court, busied with secular affairs, I
often thought of the leisure which I hoped one day to enjoy
in a solitary place, far away from the crowd, with which the
liberality of Prince Louis, whom I then served, had provided
me. This place is situated in that part of Germany which
lies between the Neckar and the Maine,[34] and is nowadays
called the Odenwald by those who live in and about it.
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