A letter from Hildebert, bishop of Lavardin (c.1100-18)

Translated letter:

The humble priest of LeMans Hildebert to Matilda, venerable queen of the English, most worthy in glory and honor, greetings and prayers. It is difficult to place benefits always discretely and prudently. The highest powers do not know the prudence of what is lovely or improper to bestow. I who have experienced such munificence from you, respond to your blessing with thanks, amazed equally by the glory of the gift and the affection of the giver. Your gift must be commended for the magnificence of its material and the splendor of its carving. Its value is increased by the majesty of the sender; art and nature add less to it than that it comes from the queen. Which if it did not please by the weight or skill in the craft, I would still embrace as those above did offerings of frankincense and fat sacrifices. They consider not the offering but the affection, giving thanks for their devotion not the cost. A pure and whole spirit bends them wherever it wishes, a penny mitigates heavenly indignation no less than a pound. So with me your spirit commends your gift, magnifies and illumines it. Though it shines indeed with its gold, it shines more with your spirit, a spirit pleased to bestow not by prompting but by innate desire to give; a spirit, I say, which wished from within, which offered swiftly, eager to be accepted, not importunate to be pressed. It is manifest from this how devoted you are to the Lord’s sacraments for which you provide the instruments since as a woman you can not administer them, imitating as far as possible the holy women who first came to the cross with tears and then to the tomb with spices. They were enflamed with great desire to suffer with the crucified and serve the entombed with zeal. You are also present when Christ is sacrificed, when he is buried; neither is celebrated without your service, since you prepared the lamps there where we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that the author of light is present. It does not matter that the service is different, which is celebrated with the same affection. There are, however, two things which, unless I am mistaken, you determined to suggest to the bishop: memory of you and a reminder of pastoral duty. I understand the candelabra sent to me as instruction placed before me that I remember to give the light of doctrine and to pray for you. Their presence stirs and excites my spirit, demanding with secret exhortations that while I use the gift, I should advance by the example. Indeed covertly but very sharply I am ordered to be attentive to what divine eloquence says about [my role as] the bearer of light: “you are the light of the world” and “they do not light a lantern nor place it under a bushel, but over a candelabrum so that it may give light to all who are in the house.” I embrace your exhortation, daughter of Christ, which even if it were not your intention, if you simply gave, yet as I accept the service of the gift, I shall not scorn its lesson. For it is fitting to advance and be taught from any source, for virtually all things carry mystic [allegorical] meanings and it is easy to extract beauty of customs from anything. For nothing is created for itself, nothing is so simple that there is not something in it by which we can be taught either to avoid what is harmful or to provide what is helpful. What shall I say about remembering you? That memory burst deeply into my breast, occupied it broadly, possesses it firmly and lives with it while it lives. It lives with me, lives, I say, and will even more frequently, whenever I stand at the altar of the Lord, a sinner but a priest. There the candelabra and the pontiff perform the services for/through you, venerable queen, and your memorial/monument. Fare well.

Original letter:

Humilis Cenomanorum sacerdos H. M. venerabili Anglorum reginae gloria et honore dignissimae, salutem et orationum instantiam. Difficile est discrete semper ac provide beneficia collocari. Nesciunt hanc excelsae potestates providentiam, quas pulchrum est benefacere vel indignis. Talem ego apud te munificentiam expertus, benedictionem tuam gratiarum prosequor actione, stupefactus pariter, et gloria muneris, et affectu tribuentis. Munus enim tuum plurimum commendationis ex se ipso promeretur, utpote ambitiosum materia, praeclarum caelatura. Ejus tamen pretium mittentis majestate cumulatur, minusque est quod ars ei contulit aut natura, quam quod habet ex regina. Quod si nec pondere, nec ingenio placeret artificis, non aliter tamen illud amplecterer, quam vel thura superi, vel pinguium libamina victimarum. Illi siquidem non hostiam, sed affectum considerant, eorumque gratiam devotio, non impensa promeretur. Purus et integer animus eos quocunque vult inclinat, nec minus quadrante quam talento, coelestem mitigat indignationem. Sic et apud me tuum donum tuus animus commendat, sic magnificat, sic illustrat. Ipsum bene quidem rutilat auro suo, sed melius animo tuo, animo cui beneficium placuit, cui innata est, non suggesta, voluntas largiendi; animo, inquam, tuo, qui ex animo voluit, qui cito praestitit, a quo improvidus accepi, non importunus extorsi. Porro ex hoc etiam manifestum est quam devota Dominicis interes sacramentis, quibus quia non potes ministrare femina, provides instrumenta. Imitaris, quantum licet, sanctas mulieres illas quae prius ad crucem cum lacrymis, dehinc ad monumentum cum aromatibus accesserunt. Illae nimirum pio succensae desiderio, quibus potuere studiis et crucifixo compassae sunt et obsecutae tumulato. Tu quoque praesens es cum Christus immolatur, cum traditur sepulturae, neutrumque sine tuo celebratur obsequio, cum ibi luminaria praeparas, luminis ubi adesse auctorem et corde credimus et ore confitemur. Nec refert utrum dissimile sit obsequium, quod simili frequentatur affectu. Sunt autem duo, quae, nisi fallor, episcopo suggerere decrevisti; tui scilicet memoria, debitique recordatio pastoralis. Unde velut quoddam commonitorium candelabra mihi missa intelligo, quibus coram positis, et doctrinae lumen gerere, et pro te reminiscerer supplicare. Eorum praesentia succutit et excitat spiritum meum, secretis exigens hortatibus, ut dum utor beneficio, proficiam exemplo. Occulte quidem, sed acute satis, jubeor attendere cujus sim bajulus luminis, quibus divina dicant eloquia: Vos estis lux mundi. Et illud: Non accendunt lucernam, nec ponunt eam sub modio, sed super candelabrum ut luceat omnibus qui in domo sunt (Matth. X, 14, 15). Amplector tuam, filia Christi, exhortationem, quae si tuae defuit intentioni, si dedisti simpliciter, sic tamen muneris accipio famulatum, ne contemnam documentum. Licet undecunque proficere ac doceri: omnia fere mysticos offerunt intellectus, et facile est ex qualibet re morum figurare venustatem. Nihil ita creatum est pro se, nihil ita simplex, cui non sit aliquid unde doceamur vel cavere noxia, vel salutaria providere. De tua vero memoria quid loquar? quae meum pectus altius irrupit, latius occupavit, stabilis possidet, viventi convivet. Convivet ea mihi, convivet, inquam, ea, de frequentissima futura frequentior, quoties ad altare Domini peccator astabo, sed sacerdos. Ibi pro te, regina venerabilis, ibi pro tuis, et candelabra agent obsequio, et pontifex monimento. Vale.

Historical context:

Hildebert thanks the queen elaborately for the gift of gold candelabra, by which she participates in the celebration of the mass and teaches him a pastoral lesson.

Printed source:

PL171 ep.1.9 c160-62

Date:

c.1100-18