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GReat Honour and Reverence have been paid for a long time at Turin to the Thebean Souldiers. And the general Opinion is, that they have signaliz'd themselves there by a great num∣ber of Miracles. Hyacinto Ferrero, a Jesuit, re∣lates, that by their means, Constantine the Great
got that memorable Victory which opened him the way both to Rome and to the Empire. He saith, that when he considers that the Battel was Fought in the Neighbourhood of Turin, he can∣not but believe that the Flying Squadron which was then seen in the Air, and cry'd to Constantine, * 1.1n'andiamo a soccorso di Costantino, were those Thebean Souldiers slain by Maximian, who were Arm'd by Heav'n on this occasion; to cause the true Christian Religion to Triumph, which that Tyrant had endeavoured to destroy. If after the rise of Constantine to the Empire, Paganism began to fall, and if the Progress of the Gospel in Turin went so successfully on, and with so much rapidity, that in a short time several Churches, * 1.2and a Bishop with a numerous Clergy, were seen there: All this, adds the same Author, was ow∣ing to the Blood, Miracles, and Prayers of the Thebean Souldiers. He relates afterwards two or three Adventures, in which the Thebean Soul∣diers have visibly shewed their watchful care o∣ver Turin, and how intent they were to procure Blessings from Heaven upon this City. He saith, that the Romish Religion was in extream danger at Turin at the time when the Famous Claudius * 1.3Bishop of that See endeavoured to abolish the Adoration of the Cross, and of the Sacred Images, and the Worshipping of Martyrs: And likewise several Years after, when L'Ediguieres entred into Piedmont with an Army of Calvinists, but that the Thebean Souldiers, by the Merits of their Martyrdom, and the Efficacy of their Prayers, removed the danger, and preserved that
Religion there. But here is something yet more wonderful. The same Jesuite relates, that a Gene∣ral of the Emperour Charles the V. besieged Tu∣rin in the Year 1537. and had taken it infallibly by the secret Intelligences he had there, had he caused his Souldiers to Scale it at any other place * 1.4than that which is call'd now the Bastion of St. George. But that, unluckily for him, the Re∣liques of the Thebean Souldiers rested then near the same Bastion; and that when his Men went to get up, they were frighted by the Sparkling Arms and threatning looks of these Holy Mar∣tyrs, who miraculously appeared for the defence of the City.
And perhaps Cardinal de la Rovere spoke of this Miracle in a Sermon which he Preached be∣fore Emmanuel Philibert, in a certain Solemnity in Honour of the Thebean Souldiers. These are the Saints, Great Prince, said he, who have pre∣served * 1.5to you your Loyal City of Turin, and have averted from it the desolations of War. These are the Saints, O City of Turin! who are the Towers and Bulwarks which have been and shall be thy Defence, to the end that thou mayst remain still a peaceable and a Triumphant Place to thy Prince. Grant us, O ye glorious Saints, that we may al∣ways cry out with joy and Devotion, Jacta est Pax in virtute vestra & abundantia in Turribus vestris.
Charles Emmanuel the First, could not possibly have given a greater Testimony of his Devotion to those Saints, than by freely giving up to the Valesians the Town of St. Mauricius, and other
places which they had Usurped from him during the Wars between his Grandfather and Francis the First; upon Condition, that the Valesians should give him leave to Convey to Turin the Corps of St. Mauricius, Chief of the Thebean Le∣gion, one of whose Arms he had already gotten out of Bohemia, whither it was Transported in the Year of 1250. by King Ottocarus the Fifth. And 'twas perhaps about that time that St. Mau∣ricius * 1.6his Lance, spoken of by Chromer, was brought to Cracovia, where it lyes yet exposed to publick Veneration. I question very much, whether France would now give up Pignerol to the House of Savoy, though that House should proffer in Exchange il Santo sudario, or the Ho∣ly Shroud, notwithstanding the great Zeal it ptetends to have for the Romish Religion, and though this Holy Shroud is look't upon as the most Precious Relique of that Religion. But Charles Emmanuel, in the Devotion he had for the Thebean Souldiers, did nothing but tread in the steps of Emmanuel Philibert his Father. When the Reliques of these Saints were conveyed from the Church of the Blessed Virgin into that of the Jesuites, where they do rest to this Day, Emmanuel Philibert honoured the Ceremony with his presence, and was at a great expence towards the Magnificence of it. And this wise Prince, knowing well that Saints without Power are ordinarily neglected, and that the giving of Indulgences is a means for them to gain a good Reputation, obtained a considerable share of them from Gregory the Thirteenth, for all those who by
Offerings and Prayers should shew their Devoti∣on to the Thebean Souldiers. His Bull was obtain∣ed in the Year 1574. And the * 1.7Pope expresses in it, that he grants these Indulgences upon conside∣ration of the singular Devotion, which both the Duke of Savoy and the People of Turin do pay to the Thebean Souldiers.
Charles Emmanuel had so great a Zeal for the glory of the Thebean Souldiers, that he imparted to Spain some of their Reliques, to the intent they might partake of their Merits and Interces∣sion. He charged Charles Broglia, Archbishop of Turin, with his Orders concerning it, as ap∣pears by the Copy of the Certificate, which, ac∣cording to the Custom of the Roman Church, was put up with the Reliques, and was Signed in the Month of September 1603. This Arch∣bishop saith in the same Certificate, that he him∣self hath taken a Rib of St. Mauricius's Body, one of St. Secundus's great Toes, three Bones of the Fingers of Solutor, Adventor, and Octavius, and a Leg-bone of one of St. Gerion's Compani∣ons. Charles Emmanuel caused these Reliques to be put in a Silver-gilt Shrine, all set with precious Stones, and dispatch'd Leonardo Roncassio his first Secretary of State, to present it to Margaret of Austria Queen of Spain.
All these things plainly shew the great respect and Devotion, that both the Court and City of Turin have long paid to the Martyrs of the The∣bean Legion.
Carolo Hyacinto Ferrero vi∣ta de' pri∣mi Pro∣tettori, &c. pag. 72.
Ferrero pag. 76. Tuttosi deve al Sangue a' Miracoli, alle pre∣ghie re de' nostri Be∣nignissimi Protettori.
Ferrero pag 76.
Ferrero. pag. 131. Difesero in un pericol•• estremo il Principe e la Città dall' Arme et dall' Eresia de' Calvinisti.
Il Card. de Rovere Questi sono quei santi liquali, Se∣renssimo Principe vi hanno re∣stituita inti∣e••a questa fidelissima Citta ve∣stra, &c.
Cromerus de Reb. Pol. l. 3.
Bull Greg. 13. ob eximi∣am devotionem quam erga eosdem sanctos dilectus Fili∣us Emmanuel Phil. Dux sabaudiae, & universus Ci∣vitatis Taurinensis Populus gerunt, &c.