A letter from Bishop Nicetius of Trier

Translated letter:

To the most merciful mistress and daughter in Christ, Queen Chlodosind, Nicetius, a Sinner.

 As we see your ambassadors to the kings of the Franks, your brothers, leaving, we are solicitous concerning your prosperity; but from them we have heard these things, in respect of which we confess always to celebrate and even now to celebrate -that is, how great, how lofty, how praiseworthy, how beneficial, how humane and bountiful, how concerned for the poor, how astute in religion, how distinguished among all the people for her conversation, you are: may He who now gives to you an intellect and spirit of wisdom recognize this.

We rejoice at this -may Christ make us rejoice concerning king Alboin, whom you have, and may He make us exult at his happiness. We are stunned that -though the peoples fear him, the kings give veneration, the powers praise without cease, and even the emperor himself prefers him- he does not hastily seek the remedy of the soul. We read the scripture: “Seek first the kingdom of God and all good things will be added unto you.” Thus I wonder that anyone who shines with fame as he does is zealous to investigate nothing concerning the kingdom of God and the health of his soul; instead he retains and is satisfied with those who rather destroy the soul in Gehenna than lead it to the way of life. They teach that there are two gods, one a father in divine nature, the other a son in divine nature but a creature in status, while scripture says:”I am the savior,’ and there is none before me.’”

I enjoin upon you, mistress Chlodosind, by the fearful day of judgment, that you both read this letter well and be zealous to show it to him well and frequently, and that you ask him:  “Who is the savior? Do they say that the father is the savior, or the son (because they declare that there are two, when there is one, and the other is not)? If they say it’s the son, then the father is not the savior. And if they will say the father, then the son is not the savior, because he is not at all able to save, because he is not the savior. If they say the two are saviors, they will never find this written, except “I and the father are one.” This is the father in the son and with the son and the son in the father and with the father.

God is not able to be seen by the human eye due to his majesty, because he is so great, so gleaming, even so aflame. We read: “His tabernacle is in the compass of heaven and earth;” because he is not able to be seen by man due to his greatness and splendor, he describes himself, whom he always has with him, who made a refuge for himself from flesh, and for that reason scripture says: “he made the darkness his covert,” and for that reason in the gospel the word of God says, as John says, “Because he was in the beginning, the word was made flesh,” and because he was from Mary, he thus added it to himself, so that it might be one. And through the scriptures he says: “out of Sion the loveliness of his beauty.” That is, man will cross over into God. In the gospels he himself says: “I have come from the father and come into the world.” In the forty-seventh psalm it says,”distribute His houses” -it says “His,” not “their,” because He is known to be one, but not manifestly alone – “that you might recount it in another generation.”

For on the day of the resurrection he who will not believe in the trinity in unity will be able neither to describe nor to prepare, and for Him all the soldiery of the angels exclaims each day: “Holy, holy holy the lord God of hosts” – it says not “three holies,” but “holy” three times, lord God of hosts: the holy father, the holy son, and the holy spirit -one holy, just like one lord. Thence also John the evangelist says: “The savior is he who is, who was and who will be.” Due to their names they might be perceived as ranks, but when you hear “the father,” though he appears to be greater in name (and for that reason he says, “the father is greater than me”) he is greater only in name: in divine nature, he is known most evidently through Christ and through his apostles to be one, because, when asked by a disciple, “Lord, show us the father,” he himself said, “You see me and you ask about the father?” You see, because he is called upon in trinity, he is also found to be in one in divine nature: when you hear “the father,” you do not believe that he is without the son; when you hear “the son,” you do not doubt that he is with the father; nor may you doubt that he is three in person, for he is known to be one in deity; and for that reason he said to his disciples, “Go and baptize in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit – “in the name,” he said, not “in the names,” because he spoke in one deity, not three. However, the holy spirit is not separated, because the grace of God is known to come from it: the gift of God is known to be from it, and all good things live from it, just as the apostle said, “Because everything is from him and through him and in him.” And hence the prophet says: “You alone are most high,” but the savior  “alone is most high in all the earth.” Joshua the son of Nun saw this and for that reason said: “Are you one of us or one of the adversaries?” Responding, however, He said: “I am who am, and there is none other before me.” Abraham, who is said and proven to be a friend of God, saw three and believed one, when he honored the three; he recalled the trinity, as I say; when he bid them enter the house as one, he delared them to be one power.  For again and again He said to Moses: “I am who am, and there is none other before me.”

 Must we point out each little thing? We come to the twelve disciples, whom He had and has, because today the Goths themselves pay veneration to them and their relics, but they do so secretly. But they have nothing there, because they take their faith for nothing. How is it that they do not enter their basilicas, where today their bodies are venerated? Why is it that they do not dare to do anything there, unless they ensnare souls secretly, like dogs at the door step, when King Alboin sends his men there and conducts them to the thresholds of the lords Peter, Paul, John or of the relics of the saints? If they dare to say masses there, they deliberate; but they do not dare, because they do not appear as disciples of the lord Peter and are proven to be enemies of Christ, because those unhappy ones are found to destroy that which he redeemed through the cross. From this such a king and such an age knows their poison.

If he orders something for the lord Martin for his festival, which comes on November 11, may he send them, and there, if they dare, they might see something, where today we see the blind receiving sight, where we see the deaf receive hearing and the mute receive reason. For what might I say about the lepers or so many of the others, who are oppressed by such numerous and great debilities, healed there each year -but each year more and more of them? And they probably say: “the blind are just pretending.” Because they appear to be blind from birth, what do they say, when we see newly illuminated people, and we see them return to their homes healthy with God’s mercy? For what may I say up to this point concerning the lord bishops Germanus, Hilary or Lupus, where such miracles appear today (so many that I cannot say with words), where tribulantes -that is, people possessed by demons- are tortured and suspended in the air, and they reveal themselves to be lords indeed? Now do they do the same in their churches? They do not, because they do not believe that God and the holy lords live there -a demon does not exorcise a demon. For where the saints live a demon is not allowed to wander. And for that reason may it be shown as a place where God is. What have you seen from the lord bishops Remegius and Medard, whom you, I believe, see? We are not able to express such things, what wondrous things we see God do through them.

You have heard how your grandmother, the mistress Chrodechild of good memory, came to Francia, how she led King Clovis to Catholicism; and, since he was a most astute man, he did not wish to assent until he knew the truth. When he saw that these things, which I said above, were proven, he humbly came to the threshold of the lord Martin and without delay consented to be baptized, and you have heard how great a king he, being baptized, became, among the heretics Alaric and Gundobad. What kind of gifts he himself and his son held in this world, you are not ignorant.

Such an honored man as King Alboin is said to be, such fame that the world thus displays, why does he not convert, or why does he appear late to seeking the way of salvation? Good Lord, who is the glory of the saints and the salvation of all, send yourself to him. And when you, mistress Chlodosind, say a word, give comfort, so that all of us might rejoice at such a star and gem, just as we are able to please God. I very greatly welcome such a thing; I ask that you not be quiet: cry out and sing incessantly. You have heard it said, “An unbelieving man will be saved through a faithful woman.” For you know: the first deliverance, the first releasing, is for him who makes a sinner turn from his error. Keep watch, keep watch, because you have a gracious God; I ask that as you proceed you make even the Lombardic people strong over their enemies and that you make us rejoice for your and your husband's health/salvation.  Thus ends the letter.

Original letter:

Cum legatos vestros per Francorum reges, germanos tuos, ire conspicimus, de prosperitate vestra solliciti sumus; sed illa inde audimus, quod semper sonare etiam et sonare confitemur, quam magna, quam alta, quam laudabilis, quam utilis, quam humana vel munifica, quomodo de pauperes sollicita, quomodo de religione astuta, quomodo in cuncto populo prae conversatione splendida: ille hoc concedat, qui tibi spiritum sapientiae et intellectus iam dedit.

Gaudemus ex hoc, gaudere nos Christus faciat de Alboeno rege, quem habes, et de felicitate sua triumphare. Stupentes sumus, cum gentes illum trement, cum reges venerationem inpendent, cum potestates sine cessatione laudat, cum etiam ipse imperius ipsum praeponit, quod animae remedium non festinus requirit. Scriptum legimus: ‘Quaerite primum regnum Dei et omnia bona adponentur.’ Qui sic, quemadmodum ille, fulget fama, miror, quod de regno Dei et animae suae salute nihil investigare studet, sed illos recipit, illis quiescit, qui potius animam in gehenna perdunt, quam ad viam salutis adducant. Duos deos esse praedicant, alium in deitate patrem, alterum in deitate, sed pro  creatura filium, cum scriptura dicat: Ego cum salvator, ‘et non est alius praeter me.’

Te, domna, Hlodosoinda, per tremendum diem iudicii coniuro, ut hanc epistulam et bene legas et bene illi, sed frequenter exponere studeas et ut ipsi interroges: Qui est salvator? Patrem dicunt esse salvatorem, an filium (quoniam duos esse, cum unus est, et alius non est, denuntiant)? Si dicent filium: Ergo pater salvator non est. Et si dixerint patrem: Ergo filius non est salvator, quia salvare, quoniam salvator non est, nullum potest. Si dixerint: duo sunt salvatores, istud scriptum numquam invenient, nisi: Ego et pater unum sumus, hoc est pater in filio et cum filio et filius in patre et cum patre.

Deus prae magnitudine videri ab oculo humano non potest, quia tantum grandis, tantum fulgens, tantum etiam igneus. Legimus: In circuitu caeli et terrae tabernaculum eius; quod etiam prae ista magnitudine et splendore ab homine videri non potest, expraessit de se, quem semper habuit apud se, qui latibulum sibi de carne fecit, et ideo scriptura dicit: ‘Posuit tenebras litubulum suum,’; et ideo in evangelio ait verbum Dei, quem Iohannis dicit: ‘Quod in principio erat, verbum caro factum,’ et quod de Maria erat, sic illum ad se adiunxit, ut esset unum. Et per scriptura dixit: ‘Ex Sion species decoris eius,’ hoc est: homo in deo transibit. In evangeliis ipse dixit: ‘Ego ex patre exivi et veni in hunc mundum.’ In quadragesimo septimo psalmo dixit:  ‘Distribuite gradus eius’ - eius dixit, non eorum, quoniam unus esse, sed nec solus apertissime scitur – ‘ut enarretis in progenie altera.’ Nam in die resurrectionis nec narrare nec parere poterit, qui trinitatem in unitate non crediderit, et pro eo omnis militia angelorum per singulos dies clamat: ‘Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus dominus Deus Sabaoth’ - non tres sancti, sed ter sanctum dixit dominum Deum Sabaoth:  sanctus pater, sanctus filius, sanctus spiritus; unus sanctus, sicut unus dominus. Unde et Iohannes evangelista dixit: ‘Ipse est, qui est et qui erat et qui venturus est, salvator.’ Si pernominavero, gradi esse videntur: cum patrem audis, nomine autem maior esse videtur, et ideo dixit: ‘Pater maior me est;’ sed nomine tantum: in deitate autem evidentissime per Christum et per apostolos eius unus esse agnoscitur; quia ipse, cum a discipulo interrogatur: ‘Domine ostende nobis patrem,’ et ille: ‘Me vides et de patre interrogas’: Vides, quia in trinitate invocatur et in una, in deitate esse invenitur: cum patrem audis, sine filio esse non credas; cum audis filium, cum patre esse non dubites; nec dubites tres in personis, nam unus in deitate esse agnoscitur; et ideo ad discipulos suos dixit: ‘Ite, baptizate in nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti’ - in nomine dixit, non in nomina, quia in una deitate dixit, non tres. Spiritus autem sanctus separari non potest, quoniam inde esse scitur gratia Dei: de donum Dei esse cognoscitur, ab ipso spirant bona omnia, sicut apostolus dixit: ‘Quoniam ex ipso et per ipsum et in ipso sunt omnia.’ Et hinc propheta dixit:  ‘Tu solus altissimus,’ sed ‘solus altissimus in omni terra’ salvator. Iesu Nave ipsum conspicit et ideo dixit: ‘Noster es an adversariorum?’ Ille autem respondens ait: ‘Ego sum, qui sum, et alius praeter me non est.’ Abraham, qui dicitur amicus Dei et probatur, tres vidit et unum credidit, cum tres adorat; trinitatem, sicut dixi, commemorat; cum uno in domo intrare deprecatur, unam potestatem esse denuntiat. Nam Moysi quotiens adque quotiens dixit: ‘Ego sum, qui sum, et alius praeter me non est.’

Quid nos ire per singula? Ad duodecim discipulos, quos habuit et habet, veniamus, quia ipsi Gothi hodie ipsis  venerationem inpendent et reliquiis eorum, sed furtive tollent, sed nihil ibi habent, quia fidem eorum ad nulla re praesumunt. Quid est, quod in basilicas eorum, ubi corpora ipsorum hodie venerantur, non ingrediuntur? Quid est, quod nihil ibidem praesumere audent, nisi furtive, ut canes a foris, animas decipent, cum illos suos fideles rex Alboenus ibidem mittat et ad domni Petri, Pauli, Iohannis vel reliquorum sanctorum limina perducat? Ibidem missas facere, si audent, deliberent; sed non audent, quia domni Petri discipuli non apparent et contrarii Christi esse probantur: quia, quod per crucem ipse redemit, distruere infelices inveniuntur. Qua causa venena eorum talis rex et talis aetas percipit.

Hic si iubet ad domnum Martinum per festivitate sua, quod undecima dies facit November, ipsos mittat, et ibi, si audent, aliquid praesumant, ubi caecos hodie inluminare conspicimus, ubi surdis auditum et mutis sanitatem recipere. Nam quid dicam de leprosos aut de alios quam plures, qui quanta et quantacumque debilitate percussi sunt, ibidem per singulos annos -sed per singulos annos alii et alii -sanantur? Et fortasse dicunt: Confingunt vel caecos.  Quia caeci a nativitate esse videntur, quid dicunt, cum inde inluminatos conspicimus et ad propria, Deo miserante, sanos reverti videmus? Nam quid dicam adhuc de domni Germani, Hilari vel Lupi episcopis, ubi tanta mirabilia hodie apparent, quantum nec dicere verbis valeo; ubi tribulantes, id est demonia habentes, in aera suspensi torquuntur et dominos, quos dixi, esse confitentur? Numquid in ecclesias eorum sic faciunt? Non faciunt, quia Deum et dominos sanctos ibi habitare non sentiunt: daemon daemonem non exorcizat; nam ubi sancti habitant, daemon vagari non dimittitur. Ideo fit, ut locus, ubi Deus est, ostendatur. Quid de domno Remegio et domno Medardo episcopis, quos tu, credo, videres vidisti? Non possumus tanta exponere, quanta mirabilia per illos deum videmus facere.

Audisti, ava tua, domna bone memoriae Hrodehildis, qualiter in francia venerit, quomodo domnum Hlodoveum ad legem catholicam adduxerit; et, cum esset homo astutissimus, noluit adquiescere, antequam vera agnosceret. Cum ista, quae supra dixi, probata cognovit, humilis ad domni Martini limina cecidit et baptizare se sine mora promisit, qui baptizatus quanta in hereticos Alaricum vel Gundobadum regum fecerit, audisti; qualia dona ipse vel filii sui in saeculo possiderunt, non ignoratis.

Talis ornatus, talis vir, qualis Alboenus rex esse dicitur, talis fama, quem mundus sic preponit, quare non convertitur, aut quare tardus at requirendum viam salutis apparet? Deus bone, qui es sanctorum gloria et omnium salus, tu te in illum mitte. Et tu, domna Hlodosuinda, cum verbum facis, solacium tribue, ut omnes de tale stella, de tale gemma sic gaudeamus, qualiter Deo placere possimus. Saluto tantum, quantum valeo; deprecor, ut otiosa non sis:  incessanter clama, incessanter canta. Audisti dictum: ‘Salvabitur vir infidelis per mulierem fidelem.’ Nam sicas: prima salus, prima remissio est, qui converti fecerit peccatorem ab errore suo. Vigila, vigila, quia Deum propitium habes; rogo, ut sic agas, ut et gentem Langobardorum fortem super inimicos facias et nos de salute tua vel viri tui gaudere concedas. Explicit.

Historical context:

The Lombards, and probably Alboin himself, were still largely pagan when Bishop Nicetius of Trier sent this letter to Chlodosind, a Nicene Christian. In it, Nicetius denounces the missionary activities of Arian Christians in Alboin’s court, and he provides Chlodosind with scriptural proofs to draw her husband to Nicene Christianity.  Nothing precise is known about the letter’s context; its date can be narrowed only to the roughly ten-year marriage of Alboin and Chlodosind. As Nicetius himself states in the opening, it was sent along with a Lombard embassy returning from the Frankish kingdoms.  Kent Navalesi provided the translation and the information about the letter.

Printed source:

MGH, Epistolae Merovingici et Karolini Aevi, 1, Epistolae Austrasicae 3, pp. 119-122.

Date: