The Church Fathers · c. 673–684
The Life of Eligius
Vita Eligii
Audoin of Rouen · c. 609 – 684
What it is
The life of a goldsmith who made the Merovingian royal shrines, became a bishop, and preached to Flemish peasants against Thursday observance, herbal charms, shouting at eclipses, and dancing at the solstice — the sermon lists what he was up against in detail.
Why it lasted
The best evidence anywhere for what ordinary people in seventh-century Gaul actually did, precisely because it survives as a list of prohibitions. Written by a close friend who held high office beside him.
Scripture it works from
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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