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The Vexilla Regis.
THE VEXILA REGIS.
THE Vexilla Regis was written about the year 580—two hundred years before the time of Charlemagne, and ſeven hundred years before the birth of the Engliſh language. It is therefore one of the oldeſt of mediæval hymns.
Venantius Fortunatus, an Italian, whoſe birth-place is unknown, was in early life a citizen of Ravenna, from which he was driven by the great invaſion of the Lombards. He paſſed into France, and became the faſhionable poet of his time. Subſequently he devoted his talents to a holier object, and became the friend of Saint Radegunde and Saint Gregory. He removed to Tours, was made Biſhop of Poitiers, and died about the year 600.
