AMULETS: ANCIENT, MEDIEVAL, ORIENTAL 335
graven in relief the "hand of glory" (main-de-gloire) ; on the concave side appeared the Sun and Moon done in repousse work.
A
perfectly round onyx, bearing graven in the centre the name or word
"Publeni"; this possibly designated the original Roman owner of the
stone.
In
the opinion of a German writer of the eleventh or twelfth century, the
amethyst, if worn by a man, attracted to him the love of noble women,
and also protected him from the attacks of thieves.30 This
stone was always prized because of its beautiful color, even though it
was never so rare or costly as some others. Some authorities assert
that the amethyst induces sleep.31 Perhaps this was one of
the means by which the stone cured inebriety, as it enabled its
votaries to sleep off the effects of their potations.
As
testimony of the belief in the efficiency, remedial or talismanic, of
precious stones prevalent at the opening of the fifteenth century, may
be noted the presence among the manuscript books of Marguerite de
Flandres, Duchesse de Bourgogne, of a work listed as follows: "The book
of the properties of certain stones." It was carefully enclosed in a
crimson velvet covering.32 Incidentally it is a rather
interesting fact that at this early date, 1405, we find in Duchess
Margaret's little library two Bibles in French and a separate copy of
the Gospels also in that language. This serves to disprove the popular
idea that translations of the Bible into the vernacular were in
distinct disfavor with Roman Catholics before the era of the
Reformation. Of course until the
"Birlinger, "Kleinere deutsche Sprachdenkmäler"; in Germania, vol. iii (1863), p. 303.
" Cardani, " De eubtilitate," lib. vii, Basilea;, 1560, p. 473.
"
Inventaire des biens de Marguerite de Flandres Duchesse de Bourgogne,
Bibl. Nat., coll. Moreau, 1727; on fol. 96 of transcription in author's
library, from the collection of M. E. Molinier.
