The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter

In the month of May of 1680, the Franciscan monks Egidiy, Roman, and Ambrose set out from the city of Passau for the monastery of Berchtesgaden near Salzburg. Ambrose barely reached 21 years of age. After spending many days on the road and almost reaching the mountain monastery, they saw a strange sight. In the middle of a green meadow strewn with flowers stood a gallows with the body of an executed man. A beautiful girl wearing a wreath of bright flowers on her golden, unbound hair and an al. red dress was singing loudly and painstakingly driving away the vultures circling around...