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If we now read Life B, we find that we are dealing with a quite different portrayal of Marcouf. To start with, the beginning is very much fuller. Following the traditional pattern found in the majority of the Lives of the Saints, Marcouf was born of very rich, very noble, and very Christian parents. His early years are particularly exemplary; he surpasses all his contemporaries in his natural ability to learn the divine subjects, is a model to all, and from his childhood has all the attributes of a soldier of Christ.
He is generous with his alms, supports the widows and orphans with his own means, exhorts his fellow citizens to set their thoughts only on what is fundamental - that is, to set their hope in God, and not in men. The people of Bayeux think then that he will become the most solid and firm pillar and support of the civil authority. But that is not enough for Marcouf. He decides not to be deaf to the word of the Lord: "He who does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be My disciple." He leaves everything which he has, and makes himself poor to follow Christ.
As he had heard about the holiness of the blessed Possessor, bishop of the "city" of Coutances, he goes to him, and Possessor keeps him there for some time; when Marcouf is thirty, he confers the priesthood on him, and sends him to preach in "Le Pays du Cotentin."
There is no reference to the Holy Trinity in Marcouf's preaching. He simply tells the faithful to keep the faith into which they were baptised and to confirm it by their works and good lives. We no longer have here the great popular movement, carried along by the marvellous healings of the anti-Arian preacher as portrayed by Life A. The apostle seems to be transformed into a simple diocesan missionary. The role of Marcouf is again made clear by the angel's words to him: "You will learn that you must promise the grace of the Lord to all and not think only of your own salvation, but also of all those around you." These words of the angel may be compared with the decision of St Lubin: "The solitary life does not bear so much fruit as life in community", and also with St Aubin: "The Lord God was not willing that a pearl so rich and valuable should be hidden, but that it should shine to give light to His people and lead them to the true path of righteousness."
More strangely, the saint gives a very full sermon at Paris, at Childebert's court. He says to the king: "O you who sit on the royal throne, far superior in rank to those around you, think of yourself as just a simple mortal man. Do not look on your humble subjects - who, nevertheless, have the same nature as yourself - with pride and haughtiness. May you be noted for your justice; do not be too slow to show loving kindness; if your subjects have done wrong, correct them with love."
It is a strange sermon for a first meeting with the king, and it would be more interesting still if it were the work of the author of the Life. But it is found in identical form, and in a very much more suitable context, in the instructions given by the future St Ouen to the young king Dagobert (in Life III of St Ouen).
We next find Marcouf at the monastery where he gives his instructions to the brothers before going to spend "La Sainte Quarantaine" (i.e. forty holy days - Lent) on "Les deux Limons". The narrative of the temptation by the Devil is given more concisely than in the other version and again the author of Life I describes the hermit as "soldier of Christ". On his return, there is a particularly marked growth of the monastery and many "annexes" are built. (This probably means separate dependent establishment! rather than extensions at Nantus itself. )
The departure for Brittany comes about in the same circumstances as those which we have already dealt with, although there is no great preamble by Marcouf: and the miracle takes a different course. On the way back, after having healed the young man bitten by a mad or rabid wolf (not dog, as Life A), he learns by a revelation of the Holy Spirit that the end of his life is near, and he then decides to see King Childebert again, to obtain a confirmation of the donation which had been granted to him previously "to the end that the monasteries which he had built for the salvation of souls should remain permanently protected from calumny, without despoliation or injury, and that they should be defended by royal protection."
After the meeting at Compiegne, Marcouf returns to die at Nantus amongst his own people. The Reverend Bishop Laut of the town of Coutances is present at his last moments, and he is laid to rest together with his companions Carioulfe and Domard, who die at the same time.
A long time afterwards the bishop of Rouen, Audoenus (St Ouen) travelled though the Cotentin in the course of visiting his diocese.
It is then that Bernuin (or Enuin), abbot of the monastery, asked him to be present at the removal of the relics. As in the Life of St Ouen, mentioned above, a letter comes down from Heaven to forbid the bishop to take the head, which is kept at Nantus and miracles continually occur around the existing relics.
It is quite certain that the author of Life B is writing after the "exaltation" of the body of the saint, and even after the appearance of Life III of St Ouen; it is also certain that he has used an earlier work, the same as that used by the author of Life A. He has removed the archaisms, which we have noted above, and he knows nothing of the anti-Arian struggle. His intention is to make Marcouf into a model disciple who consistently follows Church regulations, is not ordained until the age of 30, speaks to the people only on the order of the bishop, gives first place to moral teaching in his sermons, and strictly applies the rule of St Benedict in his monastery.
However, one may ask whether another tradition coming from Bayeux, was not in existence, which the author of Life B may have used together with the documents coming from the abbey of Nantus.
The author of Life B knows much more than his predecessor about Marcouf's early days; he knows that Marcouf was of small stature, that he became an orphan early on, that his fellow citizens wanted to make him a magistrate of the town. No doubt, like the tradition which has come down to the present day, he knows the place of birth of the saint, who on several occasions declares that he is from the region of Bayeux. The author of Life B may well be a cleric of that town, who is also in touch with the abbey of Nantus where, at the time that he is writing, the memory of Marcouf is preserved, the Rule of St Benedict is faithfully followed, and the head of the founder saint is kept.
We now have date limits for the writing up of Life B. It is after the visit of St Ouen and the publication of his Life III; it is before the flight to Corbeny of the monks taking the relics with them.
So with a fair degree of probability, we arrive at a date of Life B from the end of the 8th century to the beginning of the 9th. This fits in with the manuscript tradition. For Life B, the manuscript of Cambrai - the oldest, dates very probably to the first years of the 10th century.
It now remains to study a little more fully in the Life of St Marcouf which we have almost left on one side - that is, the journey to Agna.