Firestones, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230
The medieval lapidary records that when male and female types of firestones are brought together they can start wildfires. A lapidary (‘Book of Stones’) in Old French is appended to the Rochester Bestiary (MS 12 F XIII). One Latin entry on firestones is found on folio 141r of the manuscript.
ab invicem; ignis in eis non accenditur. Cum autem
casu appropinquaverit femina masculo; statim
ignis accenditur. ita ut ardeant omnia que sunt
circa illum montem. Unde et vos homines qui
istam vitam geritis; a feminis vos longe sepa-
rate. ne cum appropinquaveritis ad invicem;
accendatur in vobis ille ignis geminus. et consumat
bona que christus contulit in vobis. Sunt enim angeli
sathane qui semper inpugnant iustos. non solum
sanctos viros. set etiam castas mulieres. Denique
samson et ioseph ambo per mulieres temptati sunt.
Unus vicit; alter victus est. Eva et susanna temp-
tate sunt. Hec vicit; illa victa est. Custodiendum
est igitur cor. et divinis preceptis omnimodis monen-
dum. Nam amor feminarum quarum peccatum
ab initio cepit; ab adam usque nunc in filios
inobedientie debachatur;
There are firestones on a certain mountain in the East, one male and one female. When they are far from each other, fire in them is not ignited. On the contrary, when the female comes close to the male by chance, fire is ignited at once. Thus, everything around that mountain burns.
And you, men who lead this life, separate yourselves from women for a long while. May that twin fire within you not be ignited, should you come close to each other, and not consume the good that Christ has brought within yourselves. It is indeed the angels of Satan who will always attack the righteous, not only holy men but also chaste women. In the end, Samson and Joseph were both tempted by women.
One won, the other yielded to temptation. Eve and Susanna were tempted: the latter won, the former yielded to temptation. Therefore, the heart must be guarded in every possible way. For instance, the love of women, whose sin took hold from the beginning and from Adam until now, disobedience rages in his descendants.