A letter from Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury (autumn 1102)

Translated letter:

To his dearest lady and daughter Matilda, queen of the English: Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, sending faithful prayers and faithful service and the blessing of God and his own. I give thanks to God and to your Highness for the good will which you have for me and for the Church of God(1) and I pray almighty God in his love to increase your devotion, and so make you persevere in it that you may receive an eternal reward from him. I also pray that he may cause your good intention to progress in such a way that through you the heart of our lord the King may turn away from "the counsel of princes"(2) which the Lord rejects and be made to follow God's counsel "which stands firm for ever."(3) I gratefully accept your counsel and exhortation as from a lady and friend in God, for I realize that they proceed from the love of God. If it pleases your love to send me information about anything, you can safely tell it by word of mouth to the bearer of this letter as if to myself. May almighty God guide all your actions and protect you from all evil.

Original letter:

Dominae et filiae carissimae MATHILDAE, reginae Anglorum: ANSELMUS, archiepiscopus Cantuariae, fideles orationes et fidele servitium et benedictionem dei et suam. Gratias ago deo et celsitudini vestrae pro bona voluntate, quam erga me habetis et erga ecclesiam dei, et oro deum omnipotentem, ut in sua dilectione vestram augeat devotionem, et sic vos in hoc faciat perseverare, ut aeternam ab eo recipiatis retributionem. Oro etiam ut sic faciat vestram bonam intentionem proficere, quatenus per vos cor domini nostri regis avertat a consiliis principum, quae reprobat, et consilio suo, quod in aeternum manet, adhaerere faciat. Consolationem et exhortationem vestram gratanter sicut a domina et secundum deum amica accipio, quia de dei dilectione illam procedere intelligo. Si quid placet vestrae dilectioni mihi mandare, latori praesentium sicut mihi ipsi viva voce secure potestis intimare. Omnipotens deus omnes actus vestros dirigat et vos ab omni malo custodiat.

Historical context:

Anselm alludes to a worsening situation between him and the king, Matilda’s husband, and discretely suggests she convey her thoughts to Anselm through the bearer of the letter, that is, not commit them to writing.

Scholarly notes:

(1) See Ep 243. (2) Eadmer reports on the Michaelmas court at Westminster, 1102: "The King began now to insist quite firmly, and in this the bishops and chief men of the Kingdom both supported him and urged him on, that he would take no refusal, but that Anselm should do him homage and promise to consecrate those to whom he had said that he would forthwith give bishoprics, thereby maintaining unimpaired the custom of the King's predecessors," HN 140. See also Ep 214. (3) See Ps 32:10-11. (4) 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.246 4.156; translation and annotation from The Letters of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, trans. Walter Fröhlich, Cistercian Studies 97, 3v (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1990-94), 2.229-30.(4)

Date:

autumn 1102