A letter from Widukind ()

Translated letter:

As the form of heaven and earth, the voices of men, their faces and customs vary in a thousand ways with harmonious discord, but they are compelled by the providence of God ruling all things to the perception and leadership of one light, so imperial glory in public and private matters which pours over you as the most serene splendor and shining jewel in the world is one helm of justice and norm of rectitude. So I humbly ask that the work of our labor, which is received diversely by different customs because it lacks the splendor of wit and speech, be received in the bosom of your glorious mercy, so that our devotion is given greater weight in it than our lack of wisdom.

Original letter:

Quemadmodum caeli terraeque facies, hominum voces, vultus ac mores mille modis concordi discordia variantur, sed ad unius luminis sensusque ducatum Dei cuncta regentis providentia coguntur, ita publicis ac privatis rebus intentis imperiale decus, quod te ut serenissimum splendorem gemmamque lucidissimam mundo effudit, unum iustitiae moderamen est normaque rectitudinis. Unde laboris nostri opus, quod a diversis moribus diverse accipitur, eo quod ingenii sermonisque claritate egeat, sinu gloriosae clementiae tuae suscipiatur nec in eo nostra insipientia, sed maior consideretur devotio, humiliter deposco.

Historical context:

Widukind dedicated his Res Gestae Saxonicae, a history of their people, to her, which he wrote to provide models for her.

Printed source:

Res Gestae Saxonicae, ed. Albert Bauer and Reinhold Rau, Quellen zur Geschichte der Sachsischen Kaiserzeit (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1971), preface to book three