A letter from Matilda of Scotland, queen of the English (summer 1106)

Translated letter:

To her lord and father Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, equally to be revered and honored: from Matilda, the queen, devout handmaid of his holiness, sending greeting with Christ. As often as you grant me the protection of your Holiness, through the kindness of a letter, you brighten the nebulous gloom of my soul through the fight of renewed happiness. Holding your letter and the pleasing, oft-repeated reading of it, is, as it were, like seeing you again, although you are absent. Indeed, my lord, what is there more wonderfully adorned in style and more replete with meaning than your writings? They do not lack the seriousness of Fronto,(1) the fluency of Cicero(2) or the wit of Quintilian;(3) the doctrine of Paul,(4) the precision of Jerome,(5) the learning of Gregory(6) and the interpretation of Augustine(7) are indeed overflowing in them. And what is even greater than all this: from them pours the sweetness of evangelical eloquence. Through this grace pouring over me from your lips(8) "my heart, and my flesh thrill with joy"(9) at the affection of your love and the effect of your paternal admonition. Indeed, by the most frequent repetition of your exhortation and of your most kind entreaty memory causes the portal of my heart to resound and decide in favor of compliant obedience. Relying on the favor of your Holiness I have committed the Abbey of Malmesbury,(10) in those things which are under my jurisdiction, to Dom Aedulf,(11) a monk and once sacristan of Winchester, who I believe is known to you. You retain completely whatever pertains to that monastery for your own donation and disposition, so that the bestowal of the crozier and pastoral care is delivered wholly to the judgement of your discretion. May the worthy gift of the grace of your good will, which never grows cold towards me, recompense him like the reward of heavenly grace. Moreover, may Christ, who blesses you on earth, redeem your dignity, and may he soon give me reason to rejoice over your return. Amen.(12)

Original letter:

Domino suo et patri reverendo pariter et colendo ANSELMO, Cantuariensi archiepiscopo: MATHILDIS regina, devota sanctitatis eius ancilla, cum Christo suo salutem. Quotiens epistolari beneficio vestrae mihi sanctitatis municipium impertitis, totiens innovatae laetitiae luce nebulosam animae meae caliginem serenatis. Est etenim vestri quaedam et absentis qualiscumque revisio et cartulae contrectatus et litterae periucunda saepiusque recitata relectio. Quid namque vestris, domine, scriptis aut stilo ornatius aut sensu refertius? Non his desunt Frontonica gravitas, CICERONIS fluvii aut Quintilliani acumina. In his sane doctrina quidem redundat PAULI, diligentia IERONIMI, elucubratio GREGORII, explanatio AUGUSTINI. Et quod his maius est: hinc dulcor evangelici stillat eloquii. Hac igitur mihi gratia diffusa a labiis vestris "cor meum et caro mea exsultaverunt" in affectum vestrae dilectionis in effectumque paternae vestrae monitionis. Frequentissimo quippe recursu exhortationis vestrae benignissimaeque obsecrationis memoria cordis met ianuam reverberat obsecutionisque oboedientiae adiudicat. Vestrae igitur sanctitatis favore freta domno AEDULFO, Wintoniensi monacho olimque sacristae, vobis credo noto, abbatiam Malmesberiae in iis quae mei iuris erant commisi, vestrae quidem donationi et dispositioni quaecumque illius sunt ex integro reservatis, ut scilicet tam virgae quam curae pastoralis commissio vestrae discretionis contradatur arbitrio. Ei autem vestrae bonae voluntatis gratiae, quae erga me non tepescit, dignum menus recompenset numen gratiae caelestis. De cetero vestram Christus dignitatem salvificet, quique vos in terra beatifcat, de vestro me reditu cito laetificet. Amen.

Historical context:

Matilda writes about an abbacy she has assigned, but she devotes most of the letter to the joy Anselm’s letters give her and learned compliments on his writing.

Scholarly notes:

(1) Marcus Cornelius Fronto, c. AD 100-170 , was regarded as the greatest Roman orator after Cicero. (2) Marcus Tullius Cicero, c. 106-43 BC, was the greatest writer of Latin prose and created its classic form. (3) Marcus Fabius Quintilian, C. AD 35-100, was a celebrated teacher of rhetoric and the educator of the princes at Domitian's court. (4) Paul the Apostle. (5) Jerome, c. 347-420, doctor of the Church. At the request of Pope Damasus he translated the Bible into Latin between 380 and 406. The Vulgate Bible, which became the standard text of the Latin Church, was largely his work. (6) Gregory I, c. 540-604, doctor of the Church, was pope 590-604. (7) Augustine, 354-430, bishop of Hippo in North Africa and doctor of the Church. (8) See Ps 44:3. (9) Ps 83:3. (10) Matilda gave only the temporal goods of the abbey to Aedulf and left the spiritual gift — the pastoral staff — to Anselm, who praises her for acting thus, Ep 385. She seems to have done this in the spirit of the compromise suggested by King Henry at I'Aigle, 21-22 July 1105 (Ep 364) accepted by the Pope, 23 March 1106 (Ep 397) and ratified by the curia regis, 1 August 1107 (HN 186). This suggests a date between the return of William de Warelwast and Baldwin of Tournai from the Pope at Benevento, Ep 387, and Anselm's return to England in early September 1106. (11) Aedulf or Eadwulf, abbot of Malmesbury 1106-1118, see Heads, 55. (12) 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.384, 5.326-27; translation and annotation from The Letters of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, trans. Walter Fröhlich, Cistercian Studies 142, 3v (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1990-94), 3.139-40.(12)

Date:

summer 1106