A letter from AEthelweard ()

Translated letter:

The three preceding books having been finished in the above pages, it is now our task to direct our pen to the fourth, in which the presence of profit is greater, and [in which] the origin of those descended from our family is indicated more clearly. And although I may seem to be sending you a burdensome quantity of reading, darling sister of all my desire, may I not be judged too severely by you, but as [these things] were written in our love for you, so may they be read in your love for us. May God, who is praised in trinity and in undivided power, preserve you under the shadow of his wings, and your companions with you. Amen.

Original letter:

Peractas quidem tribus paginulas superioribus libris, nunc instat ad quartum flectere pennam, in quo et emolumenti magis pollet praesentia, et origo prosapiae generis nostri indicatur apertius. Et quamuis uidear tibi lectionis transmittere onus, omni desiderii mei charissima soror, non grauius a te iudicer, sed sicuti amore tuo conscripta, ita et nostro legantur. Qui autem in trinitate laudatur et unapotentia deus, conseruet te sub umbra alarum suarum, tecumque socias tuas. Amen.

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.

Printed source:

Chronicon AEthelweardi, The Chronicle of AEthelweard, ed. A. Campbell (London: Thomas Nelson, 1962), prologue to book 4, p.33.