A letter from Osbert, prior of Canterbury ()

Translated letter:

To the most serene lady Eleanor, by the grace of God most illustrious queen of the English, Osbert, prior of Christ Church, Canterbury, greetings and to achieve eternal joy after the transitory kingdom. Armed and induced by the widely-known nobility of your blood, by the special devotion you have had up to now to the Canterbury church, we do not fear to offer prayers to you. The grace which we have been pleased to find in your eyes increases our faith that what you began in the zeal of justice and sincere contemplation of God, you will follow through with the effect of perseverance. So we beseech your grace, so that you may find glory and the grace of almighty God, that you listen benignly to our brothers who have been sent to the lord king your son and to your excellence, that you promote our business, which is also that of the church of Canterbury, efficaciously, and interpose your counsel with said lord our king, that that same church may enjoy the privileges and dignities granted it first in the public nomination, then in the election of a pastor to replace him, as the reason of law demands and the privileged custom of our church, especially since Baldwin of holy memory, once our archbishop and father, may be taken suddenly from us, as we have heard. So for this deed and others worthy to be remembered, you may deserve to receive joy, not temporal but that which without end can not be tainted. Fare well.

Original letter:

Serenissimae dominae Alianorae, Dei gratia, illustrissimae Anglorum reginae, Osbertus prior ecclesiae Christi Cantuariensis, salutem, et post regnum transitorium gaudium consequi sempiternum. De generositate sanguinis vestri ubique divulgata, de devotione ad Cantuariensem ecclesiam hactenus specialiter habita, fiducialiter moniti et inducti, vobis preces porrigere non formidamus. Accedit ad haec gratia quam in oculis vestris invenisse gratulati sumus, obtinentes fiduciam, ut quod zelo justitiae et Dei sincero inchoastis intuitu, perseverantiae prosequamini effectu. Obsecramus itaque gratiam vestram, ut Dei Omnipotentis gratiam et gloriam invenire possitis, quatenus fratres nostros, qui ad dominum regem filium vestrum et excellentiam vestram diriguntur, benigne audire, efficacius promovere in negotiis nostris, sed et ecclesiae Cantuariensis, velitis, et partes vestras apud praedictum dominum nostrum regem interponere, ut eadem ecclesia privilegiis et dignitatibus gaudeat indultis, et maxime cum sanctae recordationis Baldewinus, quondam archiepiscopus et pater noster, nobis subito, prout audivimus, subtractus sit, in substituendi pastoris electione, et prima, prout exigit juris ratio, et ecclesiae nostrae privilegiata consuetudo, publice denominatione; quatenus pro hoc facto et aliis memoria dignis, recipere mereamini gaudium non temporale, sed illud immarcescibile sine fine. Valete.

Historical context:

Osbert asks Eleanor’s help in assuring their convent a free nomination and election of the next archbishop.

Printed source:

Chronicles and Memorials of the Reign of Richard I, v.2, Epistolae Cantuarienses, ed. William Stubbs in series Regnum Britannicarum Medii Aevi Scriptores, Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages (London: Longman, Green, 1865), ep.352