A letter from Eleanor of Aquitaine (1193)

Translated letter:

To her revered father and lord, Celestine, by the grace of God the highest pontiff, A[Eleanor], in the wrath of God queen of the English, duchess of Normandy and countess of Anjou, to show himself a father to her, a suffering mother. I had determined to be silent, lest I be accused of insolence and presumption if the overflowing of my heart and the violence of my grief evoked some less cautious word against the prince of priests. Grief is not very different from illness: in the impetus of its fire it does not recognize lords, it does not fear colleagues, it does not respect or spare anyone, not even itself. Let no one be surprised, then, if the power of grief makes the words more harsh, for I lament a public loss while the private grief is unconsolably rooted in the depths of my spirit. For the arrows of the Lord are in me, and the indignity of it drains my spirit. Peoples ripped apart, the lacerated multitude, desolated provinces, and the whole western church, consumed by laments, in contrite and humbled spirit beg you whom God set over peoples and kingdoms in every fullness of power. I beg that the clamor of the afflicted enter your ears; for our calamities are multiplied beyond number. You cannot pretend not to know of the crime and infamy, when you are the vicar of the crucified, the successor of Peter, the priest of Christ, the anointed of the Lord, the God even of Pharaoh. From your face, father, let judgment come forth, let your eyes see equity; on your decision and the mercy of your see hang the vows of the people and unless your hand seizes judgment early, the whole tragedy of this evil will redound on you, since you are the father of orphans and judge of widows, the consoler of the grieving and sorrowing, the city of refuge for all. In such a mass of misery, the only and common solace is awaited from the authority of your power. The sons of Israel in their difficulties consulted Moses, whose vicar you are, and fled to the tabernacle of the covenant in their distress. Our king is confined and on all sides anguish oppresses him. You see the state, indeed the fall of the kingdom, the malice of time, the cruelty of the tyrant who incessantly forges arms of iniquity from the furnace of avarice against the king whom, on his holy pilgrimage, under the protection of the God of heaven and the care of the Roman church, he captured and restrained by imprisoning chains and whom he is killing by prison/fear. For he scorns God and his terrible justice, broods over loot, and there is no one who can wrest [the king] from his hand. If the Roman church, with clasped hands, is silent to so many injuries of Christ, let God rise up and judge our cause and look on the face of his anointed. Where is the zeal of Elias against Achab, the zeal of John against Herod, the zeal of Ambrose against Valens, the zeal of Alexander III who, as we heard and saw, cut off the father of this prince, Frederick [Barbarossa, father of Henry VI], with the full authority of the apostolic see, solemnly and terribly, from the community of the faithful? Henceforth the tyrant holds the apostolic keys in derision and looks on the law of God as only words. But all the more constantly you must seize the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. For it is written: Who scorns you, scorns me. Therefore if you do not wish injury to yourself or the Roman church, you should not hide the shame to Peter nor the injury to Christ. Let the word of the Lord not be bound up in your mouth, nor human fear destroy the spirit of liberty in you. It is more acceptable to fall into the hands of men than to abandon the law of God. They now trust in his power and glory in the multitude of his riches, the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is ruin and whose glory is their confusion. The insatiable maw of greed devours whatever is drawn off from the needs of churches and the poor but the time nears when the hand of the Lord will exercise revenge and blessed Job will protest to the impious predator: the riches which he devoured he will vomit up and God will cast them from his belly; he will give back all that he made and will not consume it. For even if they evade human judgment within time, the divine that hangs over them is more terrible; their present joy is like a moment, but their punishment of fire and worms is without end. What persecutor of innocence has ever evaded the avenging hand of him who takes away the spirit of princes and powerfully punishes the powerful? Though I be silent about gehennal punishment, we have often read how the finger of God by his judgment transfers kingdoms and empires, powers which he raises as he wills and as he wills throws down. Let no secular pride deter you, I pray. Moab is proud and his pride is greater than his fortitude; but the name of the Lord is the greatest fortitude. It saddens the church publicly and excites the murmurs of the people not a little at the expense of their opinion of you that, in the face of such crime, of such tears, of the supplications of so many provinces, you have not sent one messenger to those princes. Often for insignificant causes your cardinals have been despatched in legations with great power even to barbarous regions; yet in such an arduous, lamentable, common cause, you have not yet sent one subdeacon or acolyte. Profit makes legates today, not respect for Christ, not the honor of the church, not the peace of kingdoms or salvation of the people. What profit or outcome could be more glorious to you than to exalt, in this liberation of the king, the peak of the highest pontificate, the priesthood of Aaron and Phineas? Certainly it/you would not have greatly humbled the dignity of the holy see if you had descended personally into Germany to free such a prince: one who had been received so courteously in prosperity should not be deserted so slothfully in adversity. Why do you not weigh in the scales of justice the benefits which the father of this king, Henry [II] of good memory, showed you as we witnessed at the point of your greatest need in contrast to the tyranny of Frederick which he exercized against you and the possessions of the Roman church and all who faithfully adhered to you? For when that same Frederick, promotor and author of schismatic dissension, conspired on the part of the apostate Octavian against Alexander III, canonically elected as you know, and the church labored in all lands under the pressure of that schism, the kings of France and England were approached by various legations from both sides. When the king of France fluctuating with the variety of counsels vacillated in doubt over which side to favor, King Henry, grieving that the tunic of Christ had been rent so long, was the first to come over to Pope Alexander and with great care drawing the king of the Franks to apostolic consent, fortified with his counsels and strengthened with his help and set the ship of Peter which had been in danger of sinking safe on shore. We saw these things at Châteauroux where royal magnificence satisfied the wishes of the Romans who preached the miracle publicly with greater gifts of gold and silver.(1) It is a notable dishonor to the glory of the apostolic see that ingratitude could ever abolish the memory of such benefit; whenever the ferment of schism is again brought forth from similar cause, God forbid, the memory of your present sloth and defects will cause some to sob. If that crafty old serpent, that tortuous snake, impedes the freeing of that king with deceptive machinations, we trust in the Lord that he will at the proper time look on the face of his anointed and give full power to his king. Our expectation grows stronger in certain hope and firm faith; let there be incessant prayer from the church to God for him. God, however, who heeds in good time and helps on the day of salvation, will look on the prayers of men and not spurn their pleas; the assiduous praying of the just has great value. The sun stood still at the prayer of Joshua and the moon did not move against the valley of Aijalon, for the prayers of the just keep the sun of justice from leaving the heart of sinners and the mind of man, though prone to defect, is nonetheless made firm in the stability of virtues. For not only is sin remitted by prayer, but the punishment of sin is reduced by the benefit of prayer. It is good for the king to stand ready to salute the Lord with silence for, if he is now purged in the furnace of tribulation by God, who disposes adversity and prosperity with very salutary moderation, his vexation will cross over into glory and for his present double confusion and shame he will possess doubly in his land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and the Lord will be his assurance. Surely as there are now public sighs and general tears for him, so at the proper time what is desired by the people with common wishes will come to pass with the rejoicing of the whole earth. Lord, in your power the King will rejoice and the Roman church, which now is so culpably slow in his liberation, will blush, not without tears, that it did not help/ recognize such a son in such anguish.

Original letter:

Reverendo Patri et domino Coelestino, Dei gratia summo pontifici A. in ira Dei regina Anglorum, ducissa Normanniae et comitissa Andegaven., miserae matri exhibere se patrem. Silere decreveram, ne insolentiae et praesumptionis arguerer, si forte adversus principem sacerdotum verbum aliquod minus cautum abundantia cordis, et vehementia doloris eliceret. Sane non multum ab insania differt dolor, dum in impetu suae accensionis est, dominos non agnoscit, socium non veretur, nec defert, nec parcit alicui, sed nec sibi. Nemo ergo miretur, si verborum modestiam vis doloris exasperet, jacturam enim plango publicam: sed et familiaris dolor in spiritus mei praecordiis inconsolabiliter radicavit. Sagittae enim Domini in me sunt, quarum indignatio ebibit spiritum meum. Gentes divulsae, populi lacerati, provinciae desolatae, et generaliter tota occidentalis Ecclesia confecta lamentis in spiritu contrito et humiliato supplicat vobis, quem constituit Deus super gentes et regna in omni plenitudine potestatis. Afflictorum, quaeso, clamor introeat in aures vestras: calamitates enim nostrae multiplicatae sunt super numerum (Psal. XXXIX). Nec ista dissimulare potestis citra criminis et infamiae notam, cum sitis vicarius crucifixi, successor Petri, sacerdos Christi, Christus Domini, Deus etiam Pharaonis. "De vultu tuo," Pater, "judicium prodeat, oculi tui videant aequitatem" (Psal. XVI). De arbitrio vestro et de clementia vestrae sedis pendent vota populi, et nisi maturius arripiat manus vestra judicium, tota redundabit in vos tragoedia hujus mali: cum sitis pater orphanorum, et judex viduarum, moerentium et dolentium consolator, et omnibus civitas refugii. In tanto cumulo miseriarum unicum et commune omnibus exspectatur de vestrae potestatis auctoritate solatium. Filii Israel Moysen, cujus agitis vices, consultabant in duris, et ad tabernaculum foederis confugiebant in angustiis suis. Rex noster in arcto est, et undique angustiae premunt eum. Videte statum, aut potius casum regni, malitiam temporis, tyranni saevitiam, qui de fornace avaritiae arma iniquitatis incessanter fabricat contra regem, quem in sancta peregrinatione, in protectione Dei coeli, et tuitione Romanae Ecclesiae captum, et vinculis carceralibus coarctatum tenet, occiditque tenendo. Contemnit enim Deum, et terribilia judicia ejus, praedae incubat, et non est qui de manu ejus possit eruere. Si Ecclesia Romana, complosis manibus, ad tantas injurias Christi silet; "exsurgat Deus" (Psal. LXVII), et judicet causam nostram, "respiciat in faciem Christi sui" (Psal. LXXXIII). Ubi est zelus Eliae in Achab? zelus Joannis in Herodem? zelus Ambrosii in Valentem? zelus Alexandri tertii, qui, sicut audivimus et vidimus patrem istius principis Fredericum plena auctoritate apostolicae sedis solemniter et terribiliter a fidelium communione praescidit? Porro tyrannus apostolicas claves habet ludibrio, nec nisi verba reputat legem Dei. Sed tanto constantius deberetis arripere "gladium spiritus, quod est verbum Dei" (Ephes. VI). Scriptum est enim: "Qui vos spernit, me spernit" (Luc. X). Ideo si vestram non vultis aut Ecclesiae Romanae injuriam [col. 1263D] persequi, vobis tamen dissimulare non licet Petri opprobrium, et injuriam Christi. Non sit ergo alligatum in ore vestro verbum Domini, nec in vobis timor humanus obruat spiritum libertatis. Tolerabilius est incidere in manus hominum, quam derelinquere legem Dei. "Confidunt in virtute sua, et in multitudine divitiarum suarum gloriantur" (Psal. XLVIII.) inimici crucis Christi, "quorum finis interitus, et gloria eorum in confusione" (Philip. III). Quidquid ecclesiarum et pauperum necessitati subtrahitur, insatiabilis avaritiae devorat ingluvies. Sed prope est, ut in eos manus Domini tempestivam exerceat ultionem, et eveniet, quod B. Job de praedone impio protestatur: "Divitias, quas devoravit, evomet, et de ventre ejus extrahet eas Deus (Job XX); luet, quae fecit omnia, nec tamen consumetur" (Job XVIII). Quod si ad tempus humanum evadunt judicium, divinum terribilius est, quod imminet eis: quorum gaudium praesens ad instar puncti, interminabilis vero poena ignis et vermis. Quis enim unquam persecutor innocentiae ultricem illius manum, "qui aufert spiritum principum" (Psal. LXXV), potentesque potenter punit, legitur evasisse? Ut de poena taceam gehennali, saepe legimus, quomodo digitus Dei pro arbitrio suo regna et imperia transfert; quas etiam, sicut vult, erigit, et sicut vult dejicit potestates. Non deterreat, quaeso, vos saecularis elatio. Superbus est Moab, et major est superbia ejus, quam fortitudo illius; econtrario autem nomen Domini plurima fortitudo. Illud vero publice contristat Ecclesiam, populique murmur excitat, nec mediocriter militat in dispendium vestrae opinionis, quod in tanto discrimine, in tot lacrymis, in tot provinciarum supplicationibus, nec unum nuntium ad principes illos a vestro latere destinastis. Saepe pro causis mediocribus vestri cardinales in magna potestate, etiam ad partes barbaras legatione funguntur; in causa vero tam ardua, tam lamentabili, tam communi, nec unum adhuc subdiaconum, aut acolythum destinastis. Legatos enim hodie facit quaestus, non respectus Christi, non honor Ecclesiae, non regnorum pax, aut populi salus. Quis quaestus vobis, aut proventus gloriosior posset esse, quam in hac liberatione regis summi pontificatus apicem, sive sacerdotium Aaron, et Phinees exaltare? Sane non multum humiliasses sedis apostolicae dignitatem, si in propria persona ad tanti liberationem principis in Germaniam descendisses. Quem enim tam officiose colebat in prosperis, tam desidiose deserere non debuit in adversis. Quare non appenditis in libra justitiae beneficia, quae bonae memoriae Henricus pater istius regis vobis, sicut vidimus, in articulo summae necessitatis exhibuit, ut e diverso tyrannidem Frederici, quam in vos et Ecclesiae Romanae possessiones, et in omnes, qui vobis fideliter adhaerebant, exercuit? Cum enim praenominatus Fredericus fautor schismaticae dissensionis et auctor contra Alexandrum III canonice, sicut scitis, electum, in partem apostatae Octaviani conjurasset, atque sub illa schismatis concussione generaliter ubique terrarum Ecclesia laboraret, reges Franciae et Angliae variis ex utraque parte legationibus tentabantur: cumque sententia regis Franciae consiliorum varietate, cui faveret parti, fluctuans dubia vacillaret, rex Henricus dolens Christi tunicam diutius scindi, primus Alexandro papae consensit, multaque cautela trahens regem Francorum pariter ad consensum apostolicum et suis munivit consiliis, et firmavit auxiliis, et sic navem Petri jam sub certo discrimine naufragantem in secura littoris statione locavit. Haec apud castrum Radulphi vidimus, ubi etiam Romanorum votis, sicut ipsi pro miraculo publice praedicabant, plenioribus xeniis auri et argenti regia munificentia satisfecit. Notabiliter igitur dehonestat gloriam sedis apostolicae, quod aliqua unquam ingratitudo tanti beneficii memoriam potuit abolere. Quandoque poterit ex causa consimili, quod Deus avertat! schismatis pullulare fermentum, vestraeque praesentis desidiae et defectus recordatio poterit nunc aliquibus cedere in singultum. Licet enim liberationem regis ille veterator serpens, ille coluber tortuosus machinationibus praestigiosis impediat, confidimus tamen in Domino, quod tempestive "respiciet in faciem Christi sui" (Psal. LXXXIII), "et dabit imperium regi suo" (I Reg. II). Exspectatio siquidem nostra in spe certa, et fide firma convaluit. Fit enim incessanter oratio ab ecclesia ad Deum pro eo. Deus autem qui in tempore accepto exaudit, et adjuvat in die salutis, respiciet in orationes humilium, et non spernet preces eorum (Psal. CI). "Multum enim valet deprecatio justi assidua" (Jac. V). Sol ad preces Josue stetit, et luna contra vallem Achialon non est mota (Josue X). Quia justi precibus obtinetur, ut a corde peccatoris sol justitiae non recedat, et mens hominis, quamvis in defectum prona sit, virtutum tamen stabilitate firmatur. Non enim tantum remittitur oratione peccatum, sed poena peccati declinatur beneficio precum. Ideo "bonum est regi praestolari cum silentio salutare Domini" (Thren. III). Nam si nunc in fornace tribulationis purgatur a Deo, qui circa eum adversa et prospera saluberrima moderatione disponit, vexatio transibit in gloriam, atque pro confusione duplici et rubore, in terra sua duplicia possidebit. "Beatus" itaque "vir, qui confidit in Domino, et erit Dominus fiducia ejus" (Jer. XVII). Sane, sicut nunc ei publici gemitus, et generales impenduntur lacrymae, sic desideratus gentibus tempestive communibus excipietur votis in exsultatione universae terrae. "Domine, in virtute tua laetabitur rex" (Psal. XX), et Ecclesia Romana, quae nunc nimis culpabiliter in ejus liberatione lentescit, non sine lacrymis erubescet, quod in tantis angustiis tantum filium non adjuvit.

Historical context:

Eleanor's three letters to pope Celestine III are included among the letters of Peter of Blois, but how much of their text Peter is responsible for is an open question. Peter may have written these letters according to Eleanor’s intent, he may have taken dictation from her and supplied biblical allusions and rhetorical flourishes, though an intelligent woman who had lived in three sophisticated courts, surrounded by learned men and poets of Latin, French, and Provençal, would not be a stranger to either biblical or rhetorical language. We cannot know how many of the words in these letters are hers, but we can be fairly sure that they express her views. The queen-regent of England would not have allowed herself to be represented to the pope in words she did not approve or did not wish to be publicly connected with her. But for a summary of other views, see Lena Wahlgren, The Letter Collections of Peter of Blois (Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, 1993), 13. Eleanor addressed these three letters to the pope during her son Richard’s captivity in Germany which lasted some sixteen months. With strong criticism of the pope’s failure to act and of the emperor’s tyranny, Eleanor urged the pope to use any means to persuade the German emperor, Henry VI, to free Richard, while she raised a huge ransom to pay off his captors. He was eventually released into her custody in 1194.

Scholarly notes:

(1) The events involving Alexander may refer to the council of Tours called by Alexander in 1163 while he was in exile in France, which the prelates of France and England attended with the assent of their kings, Henry and Louis VII, see WL Warren, Henry II (Berkeley: University of California, 1973), 451-2. Châteauroux, however, was the scene of a later showdown between Henry and Philip in 1187, mediated by clergy, led by a papal legate Octavian, see Warren, 615ff.

Printed source:

PL 206 var ep.2 cc.1262-65; HGF19 pp.277-79; few and only minor differences in text. Also in Rymer, Foedera 1.23-4 (3rd ed.).

Date:

1193