The Holiness of Azédarac

"The Holiness of Azédarac" is a short story by American author and Lovecraft contemporary Clark Ashton Smith. First published in the November 1933 issue of Weird Tales magazine, "The Holiness of Azédarac" was included in the 2012 ebook collection The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack by Wildside Press.
The story is key in linking Smith's Averoigne setting to the Cthulhu Mythos.
==Synopsis==
A young monk in medieval France is on his way to alert his superiors to the existence of a subversive cult in the ranks of the Catholic Church. He is soon intercepted by one of his opponents and cast back in time seven hundred years. In the past, the monk falls for the charms of a beautiful sorceress and, after engaging in an abortive attempt to return to his own era, decides to accept his fate and stays in the arms of his new love.
==Characters==
*Brother Ambrose, a pious Benedictine monk in service to the Catholic Church in 1175.
*Azédarac, Bishop of Ximes, a dark occultist and sorcerer, many hundreds of years old, who has infiltrated the church. Later canonised as Saint Azédarac.
*Jehan Mauvaissoir, Azédarac's manservant, who masquerades as the Sieur des Émaux of Touraine to ensnare his target, Brother Ambrose. Known as Melchire in the distant past.
*Moriamis, an enchantress in pre-Christian France and former lover of Azédarac.
*Archbishop Clément, a senior member of the Catholic Church (reference only).
==Mythos Connections==
*The story is set in the province of Averoigne.
*Azédarac makes reference to the entities the Ram with a Thousand Ewes, Dagon, Iog-Sotôt and Sodagui.
*Brother Ambrose steals Azédarac's copy of the Book of Eibon for proof of the man's corruption.
== External Links ==
*"The Holiness of Azédarac" text at Eldritch Dark
Category:Clark Ashton Smith works
Category:Lovecraft Circle Works
Category:Averoigne Cycle