Diatribe de Prodigiosis Crucibus

catastrophes of human affairs, with which, as the records of all historians are filled, so we do not wish to dwell upon them at any greater length.

And so that we may approach more closely the argument set before us, we consider that from the recited series of portents, that which not long ago appeared at Naples, to the great dread of all, has obtained no insignificant place: namely, the prodigious and sudden exhibition of Crosses upon the lines of men’s garments, painted by the brush of a pantamorphous nature. Before we explain the cause and reasons for this, lest anyone might perchance deem this portent, unseen and unheard of in all ages, to be unique, we shall first attach here a historical narrative, by which—with God’s favor—we shall show that portents of this kind have been observed at every time in diverse places and regions, so that it may be revealed from them which have arisen by miracle and which by the force of nature.