A letter from Eleanor of Aquitaine ()
Sender
Eleanor of AquitaineReceiver
Alexander III, popeTranslated letter:
To her revered father and lord, Alexander, by grace of God highest pontiff of the holy Roman church, Eleanor, humble queen of England, due service with all devotion. Over this great dignity/office the devotion of [your] humble daughter does not cease to exult and praise God, and abounding in the fervor of filial love, often breaks out in paternal praise. The burning mass of such joys cannot be extinguished, and the grace of that most just favor knows not how to be buried in timely silence. Wherefore, whenever there is talk about factions in my presence, I am not afraid to do battle against the attempts of the enemy power but assail/subdue them with my arguments, confidently defending your side.(1) I had in any case most justly rejoiced in and embraced your successes before, but the glorious condescension of your writing and the greeting of great commendation and finally of truest promise were enough to obtain all the favor of my smallness. I can not describe the spiritual sweetness of deepest delight I drew out, receiving the individual words as separate rewards of divine blessing most happily and devotedly. Your sons and my lord cardinals, Henry of Pisa and master William showed me, by the grace of God and you, much honor and benevolence. I rejoice in such delegates from your side, who in the judgment of your choice were held most worthy of every kind of reverence of [your] subjects. But since it is not my intervention for them but theirs for me that is necessary and salutary, I beg your highness continuously, most humbly prostrate at your footstool, for my relative P, abbot of St. Maxentius,(2) that your mercy restore to my dearest one the use of his [holy] orders and the free power of ministering. I would desire your coming to our parts in God's and our purpose, but I am very ready to show all devotion of a humble and faithful minister to [you] absent or present. May divine mercy preserve the father and all the sons of the church.Original letter:
Reverendo patri et domino suo Alexandro, Dei gratia sanctae Romanae ecclesiae summo Pontifici, Alienora humilis Regina Angliae, debitum cum omni devotione famulatum. Super hac tanta serenissimi Patris mei dignitate humilis filiae vestrae devotio, exsultare Deumque benedicere non desinit; et filialis ac verae dilectionis fervor exuberans paternam saepenumero prorumpit in laudem. Non potest extingui tantorum aestuans cumulus gaudiorum, et justissimi favoris gratia intempestivo nescit interire silentio: unde quoties, me praesente, fit sermo de partibus, ego pro parte vestra confidenter defendens, inimicae ausus potestatis impugnare, immo meis rationibus expugnare non vereor. Ante utique justissime laetabar, et vestros merito amplectebar successus; sed illa scripturae et salutationis vestrae, plurimae etiam commendationis, atque in finem verissimae promissionis, gloriosa dignatio, parvitatis meae omnem sufficit impetrare favorem. Nescio quam hausi spiritualem et intimae suavitatis dulcedinem, ac singula verba tamquam singula divinae benedictionis munera laetissime simul devotissimeque suscepi. Praeterea filii vestri et domini mei cardinales, Henricus Pisanus et magister Guillermus, Dei vestrique gratia, multum honorificentiae et benevolentiae mihi exhibuerunt. Gratulor itaque tales a latere vestro delegatos fuisse, qui et vestrae electionis censura et omnimoda subditorum reverentia dignissimi aestimantur. Sed quia non illis meus, sed illorum mihi necessarius est et salutaris interventus, jam pro P., consanguineo meo, abbate S. Maxentii, sublimitati vestrae supplicans, et ad scabellum pedum vestrorum humillime prostrata, postulationem continuo, ut carissimo meo ordinis sui usum, et liberam ministrandi potestatem miseratio vestra pie restituat. Adventum vestrum ad partes nostras in Dei nostrique beneplacito desiderans desiderarem; sed et absenti et praesenti paratissima sum omnem exhibere humilis et fidelis ministrae devotionem. Universis ecclesiae filiis patrem suum divina miseratio conservet incolumem.Historical context:
In this and the letter to cardinal Jacinto, Eleanor's tone suggests that she is strengthening her bonds with them as well as seeking restoration to his clerical position for her relative; she alludes to her defense of the pope against other factions, perhaps those supporting the anti-pope, Victor.
Scholarly notes:
(1) This passage may refer to the emperor Federick Barbarossa and those who supported the anti-pope, Victor, elected the same year as Alexander, 1159.
(2) P. is identified in the HGF, p.767 note c, as Petro-Raimundi, with no information on what led to his loss of office. In the letter to Jacinto, Eleanor speaks of P as her "brother" and relative, but since she had no legitimate brother, he is either an illegitimate half-brother or simply a close relative she is devoted to.