A letter from Nicholas II, pope (1059, October)

Translated letter:

Nicholas, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to the glorious queen, greeting and apostolic benediction. We give proper thanks to almighty God, the author of good will, because we have heard that the virile strength of virtues lives in a womanly breast. Indeed it has come to our ears, most distinguished daughter, that your serenity overflows with the munificence of pious generosity for the poor, sweats forth with the zeal of most devoted prayer, administers the force of punishment on behalf of those who are violently oppressed, and fulfills with other good works, insofar as it belongs to you, the office of royal dignity. Therefore we urge that you hold him to a way of life, which, with God inspiring, you first followed, and that you strive to rouse your most invincible man, our son the king, toward managing the governing of piety and equity and to preserving the position of the church. For if the eloquence of Abigail saved foolish Nabal, who was unharmed by the sword of David raging, how much more might your holy devotion render your very prudent husband favorable to divine contemplations? Thus indeed you truly love him, if with pious exhortations you cause him to preserve that which is of God. Moreover by what contract are those wives believed to love their men, they who love in them the receptacles of (their) bodies, as I might say, but who ignore the gold of (their) souls, which is concealed in them? According to the apostle We hold this treasure in earthen vessels [2 Cor. 4:7]. Certainly they embrace only that which worms devour in tombs; they madly despise that for which unfading glory is preserved in heaven. Indeed she confirmed her love for the flesh, who said with ironic insolence to David, despising him: How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself before the eyes of his servants, and was naked as if one of the buffoons might be exposed [2 Reg. 6:20, modern 2 Sam. 6:20]. Truly she, because she had asserted her desire for flesh alone, with due punishment she was deprived of fruit of the flesh. Whence scripture adds just after: Therefore there was no child born to Michol, daughter of Saul, to the day of her death [2 Reg. 6:23, 2 Sam. 6:23]. You, however, glorious daughter, because you have merited the gift of divine fecundity, so teach your very renowned offspring, so that among those beginnings of infant suckling they may be nourished toward love of their creator. Therefore may they learn through you to whom they owe the most, both because they were born as nobles in the throne of a royal hall and because in the lap of the church they are reborn far more nobly through the grace of the Holy Spirit. Do not prefer money to justice, but acquire eagerly the treasure of true wisdom. Indeed the queen of Sheba came not to see riches, but to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Yet what she herself did not seek, shecarried away more abundantly. You also, daughter, possess wisdom by obeying divine commands, so that you may merit the salvation of your soul and to abound suitably in earthly things, and to pass from the summit of the transient kingdom to the heavenly.(1)

Original letter:

Nikolaus episcopus, servus servorum Dei, gloriosae reginae salutem et apostolicam benedictionem. Bonae voluntatis auctori omnipotenti Deo dignas gratias agimus, quia in femineo pectore virile vivere virtutum robur audimus. Pervenit quippe ad aures nostras, praecellentissima filia, serenitatem tuam indigentibus munificentia piae liberalitatis affluere, devotissimae orationis studiis insudare, pro violenter oppressis vim districtionis exerere, caeterisque bonis operibus, in quantum tibi competit, officium regiae dignitatis implere. Hortamur igitur, ut eum, quem Deo inspirante semel ingressa es, tramitem teneas, invictissimumque virum tuum, filium nostrum in regem, ad pietatis aequitatisque gubernacula moderanda statumque aecclesiae retinendum provocare contendas. Si enim eloquentia Abigail stultum Nabal ab irascentis David gladio servavit inlaesum, quanto magis sancta devotio tua prudentissimum virum tuum divinis reddet optutibus gratiosum? Sic denique eum vere diligis, si servare, quae Dei sunt, piis exhortationibus facis. Alioquin quo pacto viros suos illae coniuges amare credantur, quae in eis capsas, ut ita loquar, corporum diligunt, sed animarum aurum, quod in eis reconditur, non attendunt? Habemus enim iuxta apostolum thesaurum istum in vasis fictilibus. Quae nimirum hoc dumtaxat amplectuntur, quod vermes devorant in sepulchris; illud vesane despiciunt, cui inmarcessibilist gloria servatur in caelis. In carne quippe amorem suum illa constituerat, quae David se despicienti hyronica insultatione dicebat: Quam gloriosus fuit hodie rex Israel, discooperiens se ante oculos servorum suorum, et nudatus est quasi si nudetur unus ex scurris. Quae profecto, quia desiderium suum in sola carne posuerat, carnis fructu debita est animadversione privata. Unde paulo post scriptura subiungit: Igitur Michol filiae Saul non est natus filius usque ad diem mortis suae. Tu autem, gloriosa filia, quia fecunditatis donum divinitus meruisti, sic clarissimam instrue sobolem, ut inter ipsa lactantis infantiae rudimenta ad creatoris sui nutriantur amorem. Per te igitur discant, cui potissimum debeant, et quod in regalis aulae solio sunt nobiles geniti, et quod in aecclesiae gremio longe nobilius per sancti Spiritus gratiam sunt renati. Noli aliquando pecuniam praeferre iustitiae, sed thesaurum verae sapientiae inhianter acquire. Regina quippe Saba venit non videre divitias, sed audire sapientiam Salomonis. Quas tamen ipsa non petiit, copiosius reportavit. Tu etiam, filia, divinis oboediendo mandatis sapientiam posside, ut merearis ad salutem animae tuae et terrenis competenter affluere, et de transitoru regni culmine ad caeleste transire.

Historical context:

The letter, presumably written by Peter Damian, exhorts the queen to influence her husband to do his duty by God and man, a traditional papal message to queen consorts.

Scholarly notes:

1 This translation was provided by Ashleigh Imus.

Printed source:

MGH BDKz, Die Briefe des Petrus Damiani, ep.64, 225-27; HGF 11.653-54; PL144 cc.447-48.

Date:

1059, October