[344b]
But the means of baffling the powers of the air which came to be
most widely used was the ringing of consecrated church bells.
This usage had begun in the time of Charlemagne, and there is
extant a prohibition of his against the custom of baptizing
bells and of hanging certain tags[344c] on their tongues as a
protection against hailstorms; but even Charlemagne was
powerless against this current of medieval superstition.
Theological reasons were soon poured into it, and in the year
968 Pope John XIII gave it the highest ecclesiastical sanction
by himself baptizing the great bell of his cathedral church, the
Lateran, and christening it with his own name.[345]
This idea was rapidly developed, and we soon find it supported
in ponderous treatises, spread widely in sermons, and
popularized in multitudes of inscriptions cast upon the bells
themselves. This branch of theological literature may still be
studied in multitudes of church towers throughout Europe. A bell
at Basel bears the inscription, "Ad fugandos demones.
Pages:
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628