elligence of their coming, which gave Turoldus
time to repair to Stamford with his retinue. Taurus, the Sacrist, also
managed to get away, carrying with him some of their treasures, and among
them a text of the Gospels, which he conveyed to his superior at
Stamford, and by that means preserved them. On the arrival of the Danes,
the remaining monks were prepared to offer a somewhat stern resistance,
but without effect; for setting fire to the buildings, the Danes entered
through the flames and smoke, and pillaged the monastery of all its
valuable contents; and that which they could not carry away, they
destroyed: not even sparing the shrines of holy saints, or the
miracle-working dust contained therein. The monks possessed a great cross
of a most costly nature, which the invaders endeavored to take away, but
could not on account of its weight and size; however, they broke off the
gold crown from the head of the crucifix, and the footstool under its
feet, which was made of pure gold and gems; they also carried away two
golden biers, on which the monks carried the relics of their saints; with
nine silver ones. There was certainly no monachal poverty here, for their
wealth must have been profuse; besides the above treasures, they took
twelve crosses, made of gold and silver; they also went up to the tower
and took away a table of large size and value, which the monks had hid
there, trusting it might escape their search; it was a splendid affair,
made of gold and silver and precious stones, and was usually placed
before the altar. But besides all this, they robbed them of that which
those poor monkish bibliophiles loved more than all. Their library, which
they had collected with much care, and which contained many volumes, was
carried away, "with many other precious things, the like of which were
not to be found in all England."[221] The abbot and those monks who
fortunately escaped, afterwards returned, sad and sorrowful no doubt; but
trusting in their Divine Master and patron Saint, they ultimately
succeeded in making their old house habitable again, and well fortified
it with a strong wall, so that formerly it used to be remarked that this
building looked more like a military establishment than a house of God.

Eminently productive was the monastery of Peterborough in Saxon
bibliomaniacs. Its ancient annals prove how enthusiastically they
collected and transcribed books. There were few indeed of its abbots who
did not help