by fire. Then they were stripped naked and led, by order of the
bishop of Puy and others, through all the nearby camps, and beaten in
the cruellest fashion with whips, to the terror of the onlookers.

The above-mentioned bishop of Puy assiduously exhorted men to be more
patient in their sufferings and more careful about their vices; he
let no Sunday or holiday go by without preaching the authority of
holy writ through every corner of the camp. He enjoined every priest,
bishop, abbot, and cleric whom he met and who seemed educated, to do
the same.

It seems to me worthwhile, since the word "abbot" has made its way
into my work, to tell about a certain abbot who, when this journey
was first proposed among our people, finding himself without
sufficient funds for the pilgrimage, cut into his forehead by I know
not what means the sign of the cross, which ordinarily was made out
of some kind of material and affixed to clothing. It did not look as
though it had been painted on, but as though it had been inflicted,
like stigmata received in battle. After he had done this, to make
the trick look authentic, he claimed that an angel had appeared to
him in a vision and placed it there. His hopes were not disappointed;
when the restless crowd, always avid for novelty, heard this story,
the man was innundated with gifts, both from people in and from
people outside of his own region. Such a trick, however, could not
be hidden from the eyes of those who looked at him carefully, because
a slimy liquid seemed very clearly to ooze from the forcefully
inscribed lines that formed the cross itself. Finally he set out on
the crusade, was present at the siege of Antioch, displayed what he
had fabricated, although others had seen through it for some time,
and did not hide his intention to gain money. He behaved well there,