A letter from Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury (1104)

Translated letter:

Anselm, servant of the church of Canterbury: to his lady and mother in god, the truly beloved and reverend countess Matilda,(1) wishing her to rejoice in continued and long-lasting prosperity in this life and eternal felicity in the life to come. I wish to give thanks to your highness but I cannot find words to write worthy of your merit. I realize that it was a great blessing that through you God delivered me not once but many times from the power of my enemies(2) just when they expected me to fall into their hands. But when I consider with what kind, loving and maternal affection this was carried out I realize that it is much more than I can express. I cannot forget with what anxious prayer and entreaty you instructed me through our brother and son Alexander(3) not to expose my body to any danger at all, and with what zeal you instructed your people to receive me with not less care, indeed if possible with even more, than your own person, telling them not to lead me by the shorter but by the safer route to a place of safety.(4) They faithfully carried this out according to what they perceived to be your will. There is no lack of feeling in my heart to give you thanks, but mouth and pen are not capable of expressing what my heart feels. What therefore I cannot do, I pray God that he may reward you, protect you from all the enemies of body and soul and lead you to a blessed and eternal place of safety. I always preserve in my heart the memory of your holy desire through which your heart yearns to hold the world in contempt; but the holy and unwavering love which you have for mother Church lovingly holds you back. From this it is evident that your reverence is pleasing to God in every way and therefore, while calmly awaiting a definite sign from God, you should patiently bear the burden which you are carrying in tribulation with good hope. Nevertheless I presume to give you a word of advice: if you see yourself threatened by certain danger of death — which God avert! — give yourself totally to God before you leave this life, and for this purpose you should always have secretly in your possession a veil which you have prepared. Whatever I may say, I pray and desire for you that God may entrust you to nothing save his providence and advice. Your Highness has informed me through our aforesaid son Alexander that you do not have the Prayers and Meditations(5) which I myself wrote and which I thought you had, so I am sending them to you.(6) May almighty God rule and protect you always with his blessing.

Original letter:

ANSELMUS, servus ecclesiae Cantuariensis: dominae et matri in deo, vere dilectae reverendae comitissae MATHILDI, praesentis vitae continua et diuturna laetari prosperitate et futurae perenni gaudere felicitate. Celsitudini vestrae gratias agere volo, sed condignas meritis eius scribere non valeo. Quippe quod non semel tantum, sed pluribus vicibus me deus per vos liberavit de potestate inimicorum meorum, exspectantium ut in manus illorum caderem, valde magnum beneficium cognosco; sed cum intueor quam benigno, quam pio, quam materno affectu factum sit, multo maius illud quam proferre possim intelligo. Non enim oblivisci possum quam sollicita prece et obsecratione mihi per fratrem et filium nostrum ALEXANDRUM mandastis, ut nullo modo corpus meum ulli exponerem periculo, et quanto studio hominibus vestris mandastis ut me non minori, immo, si fieri posset, maiori cura quam vestram personam susciperent, et non per breviorem, sed per tutiorem viam usque ad securitatem deducerent. Quod illi quidem fideliter effecerunt, secundum quod vestram voluntatem cognoverunt. Cordis quidem mei affectus ad agendum gratias non deficit; sed os et stilus ad proferendum quod cor sentit non sufficit. Quod ergo ego non possum, deum oro ut ipse vobis retribuat, et vos ab omnibus inimicis corporis et animae defendens ad beatam et aeternam securitatem perducat. Sancti desiderii vestri in corde meo semper servo memoriam, quo ad contemptum mundi cor vestrum anhelat; sed illud sancta et necessaria, quam erga matrem ecclesiam habetis, dilectio pie retardat. In quo intelligitur reverentia vestra ex utraque parte deo placere, et ideo debetis, aequo animo certum dei consilium exspectando, onus quod portatis in angaria cum bona spe patienter sustinere. Hoc tamen praesumo consulere ut, si certum mortis periculum interim — quod deus avertat ! — senseritis imminere, prius vos deo omnino reddatis, quam de hac vita exeatis; et ad hoc velum semper paratum secrete penes vos habeatis. Quidquid dicam: hoc oro, hoc desidero, ut deus nulli vos nisi suae committat dispositioni et consilio. Mandavit mihi vestra celsitudo per praedictum filium nostrum ALEXANDRUM quia Orationes sine meditationes, quas ego dictavi et putabam vos habere, non habebatis, et ideo mitto eas vobis. Omnipotens deus sua vos semper benedictione regat et protegat.

Historical context:

Anselm expresses his gratitude to Matilda for protecting him while he was in exile and speaks warmly of her desire to take the veil though like Gregory he does not actively encourage her to do so, recognizing her importance as a leader in the world. He also sends her a book of prayers.

Scholarly notes:

(1) Matilda, born about 1046, in San Miniato, near Florence, was daughter of Count Boniface III of Tuscany. Affer his death in 1052 her mother married Geoffrey, Duke of Lorraine, in 1054 and thus she was related via Countess Ida, ep. 82, to Count Eustace II of Boulogne and their sons, among whom was Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, epp. 235, 324. She was also related through her stepfather to his brother, Frederic of Lorraine, Abbot (Desiderius) of Monte Cassino, later Pope Stephen IX from 1057-1058, see H.E.J. Cowdrey, "The Age of Abbot Desiderius" (Oxford, 1983). Drawn in such a way into the papal reforming party she became one of the most persistent opponents of the German Kings and Roman Emperors, Henry IV and Henry V. In 1069 she married her stepfather's son, from whom she separated in 1071. From then on, as his only heir, she ruled her imperial fiefs and property in Tuscany, Emilia and Lombardy. She revered Pope Gregory VII and supported his plans for the reform of the Church. On 28 January 1077, Gregory VII received Emperor Henry IV, who had crossed the Alps to beg to be freed from excommunication, in her castle at Canossa. Having acted as a mediator with Abbot Hugh of Cluny, ep. 259, Matilda became a fervent supporter of the liberty of the Church. In 1079 she bequeathed her property to the Church, which led to open conflict with Henry IV, who banished her and confiscated her fiefs in 1082. She was successful, however, in fighting off an imperial army; by supporting Henry IV's son, Conrad, against his father, she tried to weaken her opponent even more. In 1089, aged 43, she married the seventeen year old Welf V, Duke of Bavaria, an opponent of the Emperor; she left her second husband in 1095. Having been relieved of the imperial ban and appointed imperial representative in northern Italy, she renewed the donation of her property in 1102; in 1111 she reached an agreement with Henry V, who was to be her heir. The ensuing quarrel concerning Matilda's property lasted over a century and was decided in the reign of Emperor Frederick II in favor of the Church. Matilda died on 24 July 1115, in Bondeno, near Ferrara, and was buried in the Abbey of St Benedetto di Polirone. Pope Urban VIII had her remains translated to St Peter's in Rome in 1634; see P. Maccarini, "Anselme de Canterbury et Mathilde de Canossa dans le cadre de l'influence bénédictine au tournant des Xle-Xlle siècles," Spicilegium Beccense 2, (Paris, 1984) 331-340. (2) For the danger of a journey to Rome, see VA 103, 104; HN 89-90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 133, 151-152. (3) Alexander, a monk of Canterbury, was a member of Anselm's household. For his growing importance, see Southern, Anselm, 199-200. (4) In late summer or autumn 1103 Anselm passed through Countess Matilda's territory on his way to and from Rome, ep. 301; VA 128-130, and Itinerary, vol. 1:341. (5) Anselmi Orationes sive Meditationes AOO III:3-91; ET by Benedicta Ward (Penguin Classics, 1973); T. Bestul, 'The Collection of Private Prayers in the "Portiforium" of Wulfstan of Worcester and the "Orationes sive Meditationes" of St Anselm, Spicilegium Beccense 2, (Paris, 1984) 355-364. (6) There is a picture of Anselm handing Countess Matilda a copy of his Prayers and Meditations in Codex 289 in the library of the Benedictine monastery at Admont, Austria. For a reproduction of the illumination see Spicilegium Beccense 2, (Paris, 1984) facing p. 331, and the cover of these translated letters. (7) The translation is reprinted with the permission of the translator and the publisher, Cistercian Publications Inc. Editorial Offices, Institute of Cistercian Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008. All rights are reserved; downloading and copying for any purpose other than private research is prohibited.

Printed source:

Sancti Anselmi Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi, Opera Omnia, ed. F.S. Schmitt (Edinburgh: T. Nelson, 1946-63), ep.325, 5.256-57; translation and annotation from The Letters of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, trans. Walter Fröhlich, Cistercian Studies 142, 3v (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1990-94), 3.38-41.

Date:

1104