shade of a great name,"[159] a man who set out to do things too great
for him, but finished nothing, who when he set out for Jerusalem took
from his poor neighbors the little that they had to provide himself
shamefully with provisions for the journey, this man, I say,
unwilling to suffer hunger, while he could see others much needier
than he remaining faithful, silently fled. His reputation in war was
for boasting only, and not for deeds done. In Spain, when a Frankish
expedition took place against pagans who had come from Africa, he,
whose boldness was entirely confined to words, retreated like wretch,
leaving countless men stranded by his flight. This probably took
place by the will of God, so that divine judgment may show that those
men whom public repute has made famous are worse than everyone else,
and less capable of bearing difficulties. Nor is this evident in his
case alone, but it is very clearly the case among others, whose names
I shall pass over, that those whose reputation for martial ferocity
among us had been pre-eminent became weaker than rabbits when they
took their place in the Lord's army. The more their conduct deviated
from the true path, the more contemptible it should be held. While
they were here in France, fighting unjustly, making beggars with
their criminal looting, they clearly should have been afraid that
their souls would undergo certain damnation; but there, where they
had every chance of eternal life, their sinful cowardice was evident.

Then, like the stars that, according to the Apocalypse (VI.13; VIII.
10; IX.1) were seen to fall from the sky, Peter, the celebrated
Hermit about whom we spoke previously, also foolishly fled.

Why do you follow this plan, Peter? Why do you forget the meaning of
your name? If Peter is originally "stone," which designates
something solid, what do you mean by thinking of flight? Stone