A letter from Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury (1104-05)

Translated letter:

To Matilda, glorious queen of the English, reverend lady, most beloved daughter: Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, sending the blessing of God and his faithful service with prayers. Let me speak briefly, but from the heart, as to that person whom I desire to advance from an earthly kingdom to a heavenly one. When I hear anything about you which is not pleasing to God or advantageous for you, and if I then neglected to admonish you, I would neither fear God nor would I love you as I should. After I left England I heard that you were dealing with the churches in your hands otherwise than is expedient for them or for your own soul. I do not wish to say here how you are acting — according to what I have been told — because to no one is it better known than to yourself.(1) Therefore, I beseech you as my lady, advise you as my queen and admonish you as my daughter — as I have done before(2) — that the churches of God which are in your power should know you as mother, as nurse, as kind lady and queen. I do not say this concerning those churches alone but about all the churches in England to which your help can be extended. For he who says that "each one will receive according to what he has done in his body whether good or evil"(3) does not exclude anyone. Again I beg, advise and admonish you, my dearest lady and daughter, not to consider these things heedlessly in your mind, but, if your conscience testifies that you have anything to correct in this matter, hasten to correct it so that in future you will not offend God, as far as this is possible for you through his grace. Concerning the past, if you see that you have failed in your duty, you should make him favorable towards you.(4) Surely, it is not enough for someone to desist from evil unless he takes care, if possible, to make amends for what he has done. May almighty God always guide you so that he may repay you with eternal life.(5)

Original letter:

MATHILDI, gloriosae reginae Anglorum, reverendae dominae, filiae dilectissimae: ANSELMUS, archiepiscopus Cantuariae, benedictionem dei et fidele servitium cum orationibus. Breviter, sed ex corde loquar, sicut illi personae, quam de regno terreno ad regnum caeleste provehi desidero. Cum audio aliquid de vobis quod deo non placet et vobis non expedit: si vos monere negligo, nec deum timeo, nec vos diligo sicut debeo. Postquam exivi de Anglia, didici quia ecclesias, quae in manu vestra sunt, aliter tractatis quam illis expediat et animae vestrae. Quod dicere nunc nolo qualiter facitis — secundum quod mihi relatum est --, quia nulli melius quam vobis notum est. Precor igitur ut dominam, consulo ut reginae, moneo ut filiam — quod etiam olim feci --, ut ecclesiae dei, quae sunt in vestra potestate, vos cognoscant ut matrem, ut nutricem, ut benignam dominam et reginam. Et non solum de illis hoc dico, sed de omnibus ecclesiis Angliae, ad quas vestrum extendi potest auxilium. Qui enim dixit quia "unusquisque" recipiet "prout gessit" in corpore "sive bonum sive malum," nullam excepit personam. Iterum rogo et consulo et moneo, domina et filia carissima, ut haec non negligenter mente pertractetis, et si quid vobis conscientia vestra in his corrigendum testabitur, corrigere festinetis, quatenus de futuro deum, quantum vobis per eius gratiam possibile est, non offendatis, et de praeterito, si cognoscitis vos deliquisse, placabilem eum vobis reddatis. Non enim alicui sufficit pro certo a malo desistere, nisi curet, si potest, pro commissis satisfacere. Omnipotens deus sic vos semper dirigat, ut vobis vitam aeternam retribuat.

Historical context:

Anselm reproaches the queen for her treatment of the churches in her hands, presumably a reference to lay investiture, but he trusts to her conscience to correct herself. Froehlich notes that: "Anselm is referring to the papal decrees of Lent 1099 forbidding lay investiture and homage of clerics to laymen. Anyone breaking these decrees was threatened with excommunication, HN 114. Anselm had published these decrees when he returned to England after his first exile in September 1100."

Scholarly notes:

(1) Anselm is referring to the papal decrees of Lent 1099 forbidding lay investiture and homage of clerics to laymen. Anyone breaking these decrees was threatened with excommunication, HN 114. Anselm had published these decrees when he returned to England after his first exile in September 1100. (2) See Ep 288. (3) 2 Co 5:10. (4) See Gen 43:14. (5) The translation is reprinted 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.346, 5.284-85; translation and annotation from The Letters of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, trans. Walter Fröhlich, Cistercian Studies 142, 3v (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1990-94), 3.75-76.(5)

Date:

1104-05