It went to such a pass, that an arm of St. Augustine was
found and sold to William, Duke of Aquitaine, for 100 talents. The head
of St. John the Baptist was dug up, and attracted an immense multitude
of spectators, amongst whom was Robert, King of France.[3]
[3] "One head of St. John the Baptist (for there are many, and
John was at last [Greek: ekaton ta kephalas],) was found at the
monastery of St. John of Angeli, at Saintange."--_Jortin's
Remarks on Eccles. Hist._ ann. 1010.
The principal supporters of this religious mania were the Crusaders;
that is to say, those persons who went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
These persons, on their return to their own country, finding all their
substance exhausted, exerted their utmost cunning to regain it;
pretending that they had found some relics of the ancient martyrs or
apostles, or some object relative to the life or death of our Saviour.
By these means an immense number of persons, excited by religious
curiosity, repaired to the places where these objects were exposed, and
the churches and the provinces of which became enriched by them.
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