in, whose
errors against faith were condemned in the council of Soissons in
1095. Such scandalous reports excited the zeal of some good men, and
they are mentioned in a letter ascribed to Marbodius, bishop of
Rennes, and in another of Godfrey, abbot of Vendome, addressed to
the holy man himself. This last letter seems genuine, though some
have denied it. But the charge was only gathered from hearsay, and
notoriously false, as the very authors of these letters were soon
convinced. It is not surprising that a man who bade open defiance to
all sinners, and whose reputation ran so high in the world, should
excite the murmurs of some and envy of others, which zeal and merit
never escape. But his boldness to declaim against the vices of great
men, and the most hardened sinners; the high encomiums and favorable
testimonies which all who knew him gave to his extraordinary
sanctity, which forced even envy itself to respect him; and his most
holy comportment and happy death, furnish most invincible proofs of
his innocence and purity; which he preserved only by humility, and
the most scrupulous flight of all dangerous occasions. Godfrey of
Vendome was afterwards perfectly satisfied of the sanctity of this
great servant of God and became his warmest friend and patron; as is
evident from several of his letters. See l. 1, ep. 24, and 26, l. 3,
ep.2, l. 4, ep. 32. He entered into an association of prayers with
the monastery of Fontevraud in 1114; and so much did he esteem his
virtue that he made a considerable foundation at Fontevraud, often
visited the church, and built himself a house near it, called Hotel
de Vendome, that he might more frequently enjoy the converse of St.
Robert, and promote his holy endeavors. The letter of Marbodius is
denied to be genuine by Mainferme and Natalis Alexander, and
suspected by D. Beaugendre, who published the works of Marbodius at
Paris, in 1708. But the continuator of the Hist. Litter. t. 10, p.
359, clearly shows this letter to have been written by Marbodius,
who, in it, speaks of these rumors without giving credit to them,
and with tenderness and charity exhorts Robert to reform his conduct
if the reports were true; to dissipate them by justifying himself,
if they were false. Marbodius was soon satisfied as to these
calumnies, and was the saint's great protect