A letter from Geoffrey of Vendôme, abbot (c.1131?)

Translated letter:

Geoffrey, humble servant of the monastery of Vendôme, to his beloved daughter in Christ Ermengard, countess of praiseworthy life, to act so mercifully in this world that she can see and have the merciful Lord in the future. I have heard about you, royal of family, what does not displease me, and should displease no one because it pleases God. In your earthly rule as I have heard, exercising the laws of justice and making peace in the country, you do good to many, you feed the hungry poor, offer drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked; and conquering the nobility of birth with nobility of customs you seem to serve in God's army rather than get involved in worldly matters. These holy works of justice and piety I can and should praise in you with joy; but there is something else which just as I do not presume to reprove out of respect, I do not dare to approve. For while from your soothing charity almost everyone who comes to you sad dries his tears and scarcely anyone is permitted to leave your presence sad, while, moreover, the offering of your devotion so often opens the doors of many churches, it is quite amazing and not to be wondered at with pious admiration, why you do not strive to honor with filial love the church in which your venerable father chose to be buried and which should be honored more by you for his sake, and why, according to the laws of nature, since you were his daughter as you truly were, you do not show the favors you owe it. In the past, in the old law and the new, there were religious and worthy princes who with all praise and memory knew the places where the bodies of their fathers were buried and loving them more dearly, they strove with all their intent to decorate them with various adornments and endow them with many kinds of possessions. We, whom that man of pious memory did not engender in the flesh, nor did he leave us great wealth or any possession, we love and honor the church in which he is buried more for his love and, increasing the number of monks who daily offer precious sacrifices to God of value to his soul, we confer on them a great share in things from our abbey so they can live there. We have written these letters to you especially for your father who has departed from the world, may he live in God. Since except for you there is no heir to the soul of your father, and another heir from his flesh could not be found at the moment, (1) and since indeed mindful of paternal salvation you open the bosom of your charity to others, do not keep it closed for no reason against the place in which the outstanding prince your father lies in his body. Fare well and forgive me if I have spoken badly, if well, acquiesce.

Original letter:

Goffridus Vindocinensis monasterii humilis servus, dilectae in Christo filiae Ermengardi vitae laudabilis comitissae, sic in hoc saeculo misericorditer agere ut in futuro misericordem Dominum videre valeat et habere. Pervenit ad me de te, regia proles, quod mihi non displicet, et nemini debet displicere, quia Deo placet. In terreno regimine, ut audivi, exercens jura justitiae, et patriae faciens pacem, multis proficis, pauperes pascis esurientes, sitientibus porrigis potum, nudos vestis, et nobilitatem generis morum nobilitate superans, Deo potius militare quam saecularibus negotiis implicari videris. Haec sancta justitiae et pietatis opera in te cum gaudio laudare et possum et debeo. Sed est aliud, quod sicut pro tua reverentia non praesumo reprobare, approbare non audeo. Nam dum charitate tua leniente pene omnis moestus ad te veniens lacrymam tergat, et vix aliquem a tua praesentia recedere liceat tristem, insuper etiam multarum ecclesiarum januas saepissime aperiat tuae devotionis oblatio. mirum valde nec est pia admiratione mirandum, cur ecclesiam, in qua tuus venerabilis pater sibi elegit sepulturam, et quae pro illo a te amplius debuit honorari, filiali dilectione honorare non studeas, et naturae jura conservans, te ejus fuisse filiam, sicut veraciter fuisti, debitis beneficiis non ostendas. Olim, et in veteri lege et in nova, religiosi et omni laude et memoria digni principes exstiterunt qui loca, ubi patrum suorum corpora sepulta sciebant, semper charius diligentes, ut ea vario ornamentorum genere decorarent et multimodis possessionibus dilatarent, tota intentione studebant. Nos, quos ille vir piae recordationis nec carne genuit, nec magnas divitias, nec aliquam nobis possessionem reliquit, ecclesiam, in qua sepultus est, pro illo diligimus magis et honoramus, et numerum monachorum qui in ea sacrificia pretiosa, pretia scilicet animae suae, Deo quotidie offerant, augmentantes, de rebus abbatiae nostrae maximam partem, unde ibi vivere valeant, eis contulimus. Has pro patre tuo, qui defunctus est saeculo, utinam Deo vivat! tibi specialiter litteras scripsimus, quia nisi tu sola patris tui animae haeres exstiteris, qui ejus haeres existat alium de sua carne genitum ad praesens invenire non poterit. Cum vero memor paternae salutis aliis tuae charitatis expanderis sinum, contra locum, in quo tuus pater egregius princeps corpore jacet, nulla occasione deinceps contineas clausum. Vale: et parce mihi, si male locutus sum; si bene, acquiesce.

Historical context:

In a very different tone, Geoffrey writes to the countess about the priory of the Trinity at Angers where her father had chosen to be buried. He refers to Ermengard as royal presumably because her brother became king of Jerusalem by virtue of his marriage to Melisende, though there were also other marriages that linked the Angevins to the English royal house, Fulk's daughter had married Henry I's son William, now dead, and his son Geoffrey married Henry's daughter the empress Matilda; Ermengard's own son Conan was married to an illegitimate daughter of Henry, and her daughter married Baldwin of Flanders who descended from King Robert of France.

Scholarly notes:

(1) It is not clear why Geoffrey suppresses the existence of her father's other living heir, her brother Fulk who is king of Jerusalem and who outlived Geoffrey by more than a decade.  Perhaps he means she is the spiritual heir of her father and her brother cannot be reached for aid.

Printed source:

PL157, ep.5.24, c.206-07 and HGF15 ep. 5.24, p.311. The texts are the same except for two words missing in HGF: nec [magnas] divitias nec aliquam [nobis] possessionem reliquit.

Date:

c.1131?