C

Coins

The twelfth-century chronicler, Godfrey of Viterbo, was one of several to speculate on the fate of the thirty pieces of silver paid to Judas, and constructed (or repeated) an elaborate legend that had them originally made by Adam, passing through the hands of patriarchs and pharaohs, finding their way into the Jewish Temple courtesy of the Queen of Sheba, getting looted by Nebuchadnezzar and finally returning to the Jewish high priests via the three kings’ gifts (they are now gold) to the infant Jesus, and Mary’s subsequent carelessness in misplacing them.¹

D

Day of Rest

In the tenth-century Voyage of Saint Brendan, an account of the Celtic monk sailing out towards the Isles of the Blessed in search of heaven, he comes upon Judas, perched on a rock, enjoying his Day of Rest. Monday to Saturday is hellish, Judas tells him – he is variously boiled in tar, flayed, frozen, and force-fed molten lead – but, thanks to God’s mercy, on Sunday he can sit alone on his rock.² Matthew Arnold and Rudyard Kipling both produced poems on this theme, though with Judas on an iceberg.³