A letter from Ivo of Chartres (1103)
Sender
Ivo of ChartresReceiver
Adela of England, Countess of BloisTranslated letter:
Ivo, humble minister of the church of Chartres, to Adela countess palatine,(1) to abound in peace and inner charity. Many things have been told to you about me which you should not believe to be true. For I have had and have many powerful men who advise me to disrupt [the negotiated truces(2)] and who even promise to assist me in all ways in all future [proceedings]. Up to now I have assiduously avoided doing that, which many ascribe not to my respect for religion but to my pusillanimity. And I thought I had found a way to make peace respecting both your honor and the will of the canons, but on the advice of foolish and malicious men, your son [William] took that Herodian oath and compelled his burghers to do the same.(3) Once that was done, having taken counsel from honorable men I was unwilling to bless them any more, but out of love for you I deferred condemning them. For those who merited condemnation and conspired recklessly to cause the death of innocents are not worthy of being blessed until they return to their senses and ask forgiveness for their illicit oath. Therefore, before the situation deteriorates we must hold a colloquy either with you or through suitable mediators, and just as God will have granted things to be better, so we must strive to turn such a dangerous and futile disturbance back to peace. For I, with all due regard for justice, shall not be able to keep this quiet for long, but will strike with just anathema the inciters of such evils and their collaborators, unless a remedy be prepared for such great and illicit outrages, by which this impious matter and useless disturbance can be settled peaceably. Fare well, and let me know by the present bearer what seems best to you.
Original letter:
Ivo, humilis ecclasie Carnotensis minister, Adelae Palatinae Comitissae, et pacis et caritatis visceribus abundare. Multa vobis de me referuntur,quae non oportet ut a vobis vera esse credantur. Habui enim et habeo multos et magnos ad perturbandum suasores, qui se etiam promitterent futuros per omnia et in omnibus adjutores: quod adhuc, studiose evito et evitavi, licet hoc a multis non religioni adscribatur, sed pusillanimitati. Et putabam me invenisse modum quo pax fieri poterat cum vestra honestate et clericorum voluntate, nisi consilio insipientium et malignorum filios vester Herodianum illud sacramentum fecisset, et ad idem burgenses suos coegisset. Quo facto, usus virorum honestorum consilio,nolui eis ultra dare benedictionem, sed tamen pro amore vestro distuli maledictionem; nec enim benedictione digni sunt, qui maledictionem meruerunt, et in mortem immeritorum incaute conspiraverunt, donec resipiscant et pro illicito juramento veniam petant. Oportet ergo ut antequam res in pejus vergat, aut per vos aut idoneos mediatores colloquium habeamus; et prout melius Deus donaverit, tam periculosam et inutilem turbam ad pacem reducere studeamus. Jam enim dissimulare diu juste non potero, quin justo anathemate feriam talium malorum incentores et eorum cooperatores, nisi tantis et illicitis ausibus remedium praeparetur, quo res impia et turba inutilis in pacis serenum convertatur. Valete, et quod melius vobis visum fuerit per praesentium portitorem remandate.Historical context:
Adela's eldest son, William, has taken action which led to violence in the dispute over sworn oaths and the need for papal dispensation for them, discussed in PL 162 ep.116 and ep.121, and Ivo is still trying to work out a solution.Scholarly notes:
(1)This title is used in only this letter from Ivo to Adela, presumably to emphasize her higher status in relation to her son, a count whose part in this dispute neither Adela nor Ivo approved, see LoPrete, Adela of Blois, 257-61 and 466-67 #45.
(2) The agreements to desist from hostilities negotiated by Anselm of Canterbury between Ivo and Adela and by Richard of Albano between Adela and the cathedral chapter; see LoPrete, Adela, 466-67 #44 and #45.
(3) LoPrete notes that ep.134 to Daimbert describes the swearing of the oath in Ivo's presence in Chartres cathedral, which was "to kill the canons, harry [Ivo] and seize episcopal properties." For Herodian oaths as oaths "to perform deeds manifestly illicit and prohibited by divine law and hence non-binding," see Ivo eps. 71 and 105, and LoPrete Adela, 259.