A letter from AEthelweard ()

Translated letter:

Ealdorman Fabius AEthelweard [i.e. noble quaestor] wishes everlasting [salvation] in Christ to his cousin Matilda. To the most talented Matilda, a true handmaid of Christ, the noble Ethelweard [wishes] salvation in the Lord. Most beloved, I have received the letter I desired from you, and having clasped what you wrote to my soul, I have not merely read it, but have laid it away in the treasury of my heart. Indeed I pray very frequently for the grace of most high God, that he may keep you safe in this life and after departure from the body, conducting you to the everlasting dwellings. Just as we have previously informed you by letter about what is known of our common family and also about the migration of our nation, it is now desirable, with the help of God, employing the annalists from the beginning of the world, to offer a clearer exposition, so that attention may be increased by the gentle voice of the reader and the desire of the listener to hear [may grow]. In the following pages you can very easily find by way of example so many wars and slayings of men and no small wreck of navies on the waves of ocean, especially with reference to the arrival of our ancestors in Britain from Germany, that in the present epistle I dwell in plain style upon our family in modern times and upon the re-affirmation of our relationship, so far as our memory provides proof, and as our parents taught us. AElfred was the son of AEthelwulf, from whom we are descended. Five sons followed him.(1) Of these, I am descended from King AEthelred, and you from King AElfred, both sons of King AEthelwulf, who has been already mentioned. AElfred sent his daughter Elfthryth to the land of Germany to marry Baldwin, who had by her two sons, AEthelwulf and Earnwulf, and also two daughters, Ealhswith and Eormenthryth. From AElfthryth, as a matter of fact, Count Earnwulf, who is your neighbour, is descended. Eadgyfu was the name of the daughter of King Eadweard, the son of AElfred, who has been mentioned already, and she was your great-aunt and was sent into the country of Gaul to marry the younger Charles. Eadhild, furthermore, was sent to be the wife of Hugo, son of Robert. King AEthelstan sent another two [of his sisters] to Otho, the plan being that he should choose as his wife the one who pleased him. He chose Eadgyth, from whom you spring in the first place. The other sister he married to a certain king near the Alps, concerning whose family we have no information, because of both distance and the not inconsiderable lapse of time. But it is your task to bring information to our ears, for you have not only the family connection but the capacity, since distance does not hinder you. Fare well always and at all times.

Original letter:

Perpetuam patricius consul Fabius quaestor Ethelwerdus Mahtildi consobrinae optat in Christo. Disertissimae et uerae Christi ancillae Ethelwerdus in domino patricius Mahtildi salutem. Suscepi desiderii mei epistolam, charissima, uestram, et amplexus animotenus scripta non tantum legi sed etiam condidi in thesauro cordis mei. Siquidem altissimi exoro crebrius gratiam dei, ut in hac praesentia incolumem et post migrationem corporis custodiat, ducens ad aeterna tabernacula. De notitia equidem communis prosapiae, generis quoque et migratione, ut ante breuiter per epistolam insinuauimus tibi, nunc cooperante deo ab ipsius principio mundi annalem sumentes ritum, dilucidius explicare oportet, ut et lectoris susurro intuitus et auditoris augmentetur capiendi uoluntas. Quin etiam de priscorum aduentu parentum a Germania in Brittanniam, tot bella, tot caedes uirorum, classiumque periclitationem gurgite oceani non paruam, in subpositis paginulis facilius inuenire potes exemplar. Ergo prosapia de moderna et de iteratione propinquitatis nostrae in praesenti epistola sine nexilitate exorno, qui et quomodo et unde propinqui, in quantum memoria nostra argumentatur, et sicut docuere parentes. Scilicet AElfred rex Athulfi regis filius, ex quo nos originem trahimus; cui filii quinque subiiciuntur, ex quibus ego de Etheredo rege, et tu de AElfredo rege progeniti uidemur, filiis supradicti regis Athulfi. Misit AElfthrythe filiam suam ad partes Germaniae Baldwino in matrimonium, et genuit ab ea filios duos Athulfum uiz. et Earnulfum, duas filias quoque Ealhswid et Earmentruth; quippe ex AElfdryde seriem ducit Earnulfus comes, qui et uicinus uester. Siquidem Eadgyfu nominata est Eadwerdi regis filia, filii AElfredi supra scripti regis, quae et abmatertera tua ipsa in matrimonium Galliarum ad partes minori Karulo mittitur regi. Eadhild etiam in coniugium mittitur Hugoni filio Hrodbyrhti. Alias vero duas Aedestanus rex tali ratione misit ad Oddonem, ut quce ab eis placuisset sibi in matrimonium elegisset; cui uisa melior Eadgyde, ex qua tu principium tenes natiuitatis. Alteram etiam subiunxit cuipiam regi iuxta Iupitereos montes, de cuius prole nulla nobis notitia extat, tam pro extenso spatio, quam per obruptionem quodam modo temporum; sed uestrum hoc opus est innotescere auribus nostris, quae non solum affinitate sed et potestate uideris obpleta, nulla intercapedine prohibente. Esto mihi ualens cunctis perhenniter horis.

Historical context:

Matilda commissioned or requested a history of her distinguished English forebears from an English cousin, AEthelweard, who apparently adapted the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle into Latin for her.

Scholarly notes:

(1)AEthelbald, AEthelberht, AEthelred and AElfred successively followed their father AEthelwulf on the throne. AEthelstan was only a sub-king during AEthelwulf's lifetime, and it may be that AEthelweard misinterprets the chronicle in assuming him to be a son (not a brother) of Aethelwulf.

Printed source:

Chronicon AEthelweardi, The Chronicle of AEthelweard, ed. A. Campbell (London: Thomas Nelson, 1962), prologue to book 1, p.1-4