A letter from Matilda of Scotland, queen of the English (1104)

Translated letter:

To her piously esteemed father and devoutly revered Lord, archbishop Anselm: Matilda, by the grace of God queen of the English, lowliest handmaid of his holiness, sending perpetual greeting in Christ. I render countless thanks to your unceasing goodness which has not forgotten me but has deigned to show the presence of your present absence through a letter of yours.(1) Indeed, after the clouds of sadness in which I was wrapped were driven away, the stream of your words broke through to me like a ray of new light. I embrace the parchment sent by you in place of a father, I press it to my breast, I move it as near to my heart as I can, I reread with my mouth the words flowing from the sweet fountain of your goodness, I go over them in my mind, I ponder them again in my heart and when I have pondered over them I place them in the sanctuary of my heart. Where everything is worthy of praise I only wonder at what the excellency of your judgement has added about your nephew.(2) For myself I do not consider that I make any distinction between what is yours and what is mine; that means of course between what is mine and what is mine. Indeed what is yours by kinship is mine by adoption and love. Truly, the consolation of your writing strengthens my patience, gives me hope and maintains it, lifts me up as I fall, sustains me when I am slipping, gives me joy when I grieve, mitigates my anger and calms my weeping.(3) Frequently and secretly it wisely assures me of the return of the father to his daughter, the lord to his handmaid, the shepherd to his sheep. In the same way however, the confidence which I have in the prayers of good men and the benevolence which, after careful investigation, I consider comes from the heart of my lord,(4) gives me assurance. For he is more kindly disposed towards you than most people might think. With God's help and my suggestions, as far as I am able, he may become more welcoming and compromising towards you. What he now permits to be done concerning your revenues,(5) he will permit to be done better and more abundantly in future when you ask for it in the right way and at the right time. Although he considers himself more than a fair judge, nevertheless I beg the abundance of your loving-kindness that, having excluded the rancor of human bitterness which is not usually found in you, you may not turn away the sweetness of your love from him. May you rather show yourself before God as a devoted intercessor for him and for me, as well as for our child(6) and the state of our kingdom. May your holiness always prosper.(7)

Original letter:

Pie colendo patri et digne reverendo domino suo, ANSELMO archiepiscopo: MATHILDIS, dei gratia regina Anglorum, minima sanctitatis eius ancilla, perpetuam in Christo salutem. Indesinenti vestrae bonitati, quae, mei non immemor, litteris praesentatis absentis vestri praesentiam exhibere dignata est, gratias innumeras refero. Tristitiae quippe nebulis quibus obvolvebar expulsis, verborum vestrorum me rivulus, tamquam novae lucis radius, perlustravit. Cartulam quidem a vobis missam loco patris amplector, sinu foveo, cordi quoad possum propius admoveo, verba de dulci bonitatis vestrae fonte manantia ore relego, mento retracto, corde recogito, recogitata in ipso cordis arcano repono. Ubi digne laudatis omnibus hoc solum miror, quod de nepote vestro excellentia vestrae discretionis inseruit. Non enim mihi iudico quicquam facere aliter, vestris, aliter meis; aliter scilicet meis quam meis. Vestri quippe genere sunt mei adoptione et dilectione. Vestrae vero scripturae consolatio patientiam mihi corroborat, spem facit et servat, quae relevat me cadentem, sustinet labentem, laetificat dolentem, mitigat irascentem pacatque, flentem. Ea namque mihi frequenter secretoque consulens spondet reditum filiae patris, ancillae domini, ovi pastoris. Spondet autem itidem confidentia quam in orationibus bonorum hominum habeo, et benevolentia quam ex corde domini mei sollerter investigans perpendo. Est enim illi erga vos animus compositior quam plerique homines aestiment, qui deo annuente et me qua potero suggerente vobis fiet commodior atque concordios. Quod vero vobis in praesenti de redditibus vestris fieri permittit, idem et melius ampliusque in futurum, cum ex re et tempore postulaveritis, fieri permittet. Ubi quamvis amplius quam aequum iudicem sibi teneat: oro tamen vestrae pietatis affluentiam, ut excluso amaritudinis humanae rancore, qui vobis inesse non assolet, dilectionis vestrae dulcedinem ab illo non avertatis; immo vero apud deum pro ipso et me et communi sobole et regni nostri statu pium vos intercessorem exhibeatis. Valeat vestra semper sanctitas.

Historical context:

In this letter, the queen responds to one of Anselm's which is not in the collection, in which he gave her hope of his return, a letter which she cherishes. She tells Anselm what he is not likely to hear from other sources, that the king is more disposed towards him than many think.

Scholarly notes:

(1) This letter is not preserved. (2) See Ep 309. (3) Matilda's letter is remarkable for its style which in some of the repetitions and puns seems to be imitating Anselm's own style. Who was writing these letters? See also Epp 242, 317, 323, 395, 400. (4) Her husband King Henry I; Matilda refers to Henry and Anselm by the same word, "Dominus," Lord. (5) See Ep 318. (6) William, their first-born son, see Ep 305. (7) The translation is reproduced with the permission of the translator and the publisher, Cistercian Publications Inc. Editorial Offices, Institute of Cistercian Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008. All rights are reserved; downloading and copying for any purpose other than private research is prohibited.

Printed source:

Sancti Anselmi Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi, Opera Omnia, ed. F.S. Schmitt (Edinburgh: T. Nelson, 1946-63), ep.320, 5.248-49; translation and annotation from The Letters of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, trans. Walter Fröhlich, Cistercian Studies 142, 3v (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1990-94), 3.28-29.

Date:

1104