How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Line). We used the line numbering found on Librarius's online edition.
Quote #1
Valerian, corrected as God wolde,
Answerde agayn, 'If I shal trusten thee,
Lat me that aungel se, and hym biholde,
And if that it a verray aungel bee,
Thanne wol I doon as thou hast prayed me.
And if thou love another man, forsothe
Right with this swerd thanne wol I sle yow bothe.'
(162 – 168)
Unable to see the angel Cecilia talks about, Valerian doubts the truth of her statement, suspecting she may be engaged in some deception. What's interesting, though, is that the tale is quick to fulfill Valerian's request for visual proof rather than to portray him as a "doubting Thomas."
Quote #2
'I leeve al this thyng,' quod Valerian,
'For sother thyng than this, I dar wel say,
Under the hevene no wight thynke may.'
(213 – 215)
Valerian immediately recognizes the truth of the statement he has read from the holy book. In this tale, a character's ability to recognize Christianity's truth is a marker of the state of his soul. An unhealthy soul, the tale implies, will simply miss this truth.
Quote #3
'I pray yow that my brother may han grace
To knowe the trouthe, as I do in this place.'
(237 – 238)
In portraying grace as necessary for a soul to know the truth, this tale suggests that a soul may not come to truth without God's willing it. This raises the possibility that salvation may be predestined, or pre-determined by God, and that the individual human soul actually has no power over his own fate.
Quote #4
'So shaltow seen hem, leeve brother deere,
If it so be thou wolt, withouten slouthe,
Bileve aright and knowen verray trouthe.'
(257 – 258)
Valerian promises Tiburtius that he will be able to see the roses if he believes rightly and knows truth. This raises the question: is believing rightly something different from knowing "verray trouthe"? If so, what's the difference?
Quote #5
'In dremes,' quod Valerian, 'han we be
Unto this tyme, brother myn, ywes;
But now at erst in trouthe oure dwellyng is.'
(262 – 264)
Valerian is basically telling Tiburtius that the Christianity in which he and Cecilia believe is more true than the life they have led up until this point. But how can one part of life be more or less true than any other? One way of interpreting this statement is that those who dwell in the "trouthe" of Christianity dwell with God, who is eternal. Ancient Greek philosophy held that things that were eternal were more "true" than things that passed away; hence, a life in God would be more true.
Quote #6
'The aungel of God hath me the trouthe ytaught
Which thou shalt seen, if that thou wolt reneye
The ydoles and be clene, and elles naught.'
(267 – 269)
Valerian portrays the Christian conversion as a process the soul must undergo. It's not a simple matter of just deciding to believe: instead, the soul must renounce its prior attachments and divest itself of sin.
Quote #7
'Whoso that troweth, nat this, a beest he is,;
Quod tho Tiburce, 'if that I shal nat lye.'
And she gan kisse his brest that herde this,
And was ful glad he koude trouthe espye.'
(288 – 291)
In saying that those who don't recognize Christianity are beasts, Tiburtius is claiming that Christianity is an eminently reasonable thing that anyone with reason (i.e., not beasts) would acknowledge as true. Yet Cecilia's pleasure that Tiburtius "koude trouthe espye" raises the real possibility that many might not be able to recognize it when they saw it.
Quote #8
'Youre princes erren, as youre nobleye dooth,'
Quod tho Cecile, 'and with a wood sentence
Ye make us gilty, and it is nat sooth.'
(449 – 451)
In claiming that Christians are not guilty of any crime, Cecilia is implicitly placing all Christians before a different judge: God. For in fact, in the eyes of Roman law, Christians are guilty of a crime in refusing to obey their prefect's order.
Quote #9
And if thou drede nat a sooth to heere,
Thanne wol I shewe al openly by right
That thou hast maad a ful grete lesyng heere,
Thou seyst, thy princes han thee yeven myght
Bothe for to sleen, and for to quyken a wight.
Thou that ne mayst but oonly lyf bireve,
Thou hast noon oother power, ne no leve!
(477 – 483)
The irony of this passage is that of course Almachius dreads hearing Cecilia's "sooth," or truth, because, in claiming that power over life belongs to the Christian God, it deprives Almachius of his authority.
Quote #10
'But thou mayst seyn thy princes han thee maked
Ministre of deeth, for if thou speke of mo,
Thou lyest, for thy power is ful naked.'
(484 – 486)
"Minister of death" is not much of a title. In calling him this, Cecilia probably means more than that he sentences people to death. She is calling attention to how his religion is dead (because its idols are deaf and dumb) and how it lacks access to the eternal life Christianity promises its followers.