| Keywords |
|
| ID |
5902 |
| Text |
Epistolae (Alcuin) (784 - 804) Alcuin of York |
| Quotation |
Signa enim huius miserie precesserunt, alia per res inconsuetas, ali per mores insolitos. Quid significat pluvia sanguinis, qui quadragessimali tempore Euboraca civitate, in ecclesia beati Petri principis apostolorum, que caput est totius regni, vidimus de borealibus domus sereno aere de summitate minaciter cadere tecti? Nonne potest putari a borealibus poenas sanguinis venire super populum? quod in hoc facto nuper ingruente super domum Dei incepisse videri potest. |
| Translation |
In fact, signs of that trouble had preceded it, some through extraordinary events, others through unusual behavior. What did rain of blood mean that we saw during Lent in the city of York at the church of Saint Peter, the prince of apostles, which is the principal church of the entire kingdom? That rain fell threateningly on a clear day from the peak of the roof on the north side of the church? How can it not be thought that a penalty [to be paid] in blood was descending from the north upon [our] people? Indeed, it can be seen that this event began with [the rain of blood] that recently feel upon the house of God. |
| Quotation source |
Alcuin, Ep. 16, ed. Ernst Dümmler, MGH Epist. 4 (Berlin, 1895), p. 43, translation Edward Dutton |
| Temporal Coverage |
793 - 793 |
| Associated use case(s) |
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| Comment |
This passage refers to the attack of Northmen on Lindisfarne in 793 and connects it to a blood rain Alcuin had probably seen himself in march before he returned to Charlemagne's court, see e.g. Dutton, "Early Medieval Weather in General, Bloody Rain in Particular". |
