A Restored Palimpsest of the 4th Century

A Restored Palimpsest of the 4th Century

In the days of the Emperor Constantine, there was once an Island called Quaqua, off the coast of Neustria. The people of Quaqua were fiercely independent, and one day, a priest called Clavis fell out with the Bishop of Dol

During this time, a monk called Fraxinus stirred up the people of Quaqua to seek to move from the Bishopric of Dol to that of Coutances, and there was a great conflict, and much anger fermented among the goodly Christians in Quaqua.

And there was no reconciliation, and so it was that Quaqua became part of the diocese of Coutance.

But having caused such unrest, and being unwilling to seek any reconciliation with Dol, the monk Fraxinus decided to take his leave to Cyrnacia, which was a troubled land, and seek to reconcile the peoples there.

And he told the people there to look at their own faults, and quoted the scripture which said:

“Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”

And all this was noted by the historian Acutus Criticus, whose scribe annotated the margin of his manuscript, noting that it was truly strange that the monk Fraxinus had gone south to help a people find peace and reconciliation, when it was so wanting in his actions in Quaqua.