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

Translated letter:

Daughter of a past king, wife of a present, mother of a future king, this is special to you. Rarely if ever is a woman found who is at the same time the daughter, wife, and parent of kings. Your nobility did not begin with you, nor will it end with you, but live on after you as it was. You do not dishonor her, revered daughter of a mother who gave birth to you such as she was. Chaste, she bore modest, beautiful she bore elegant, prudent she bore cautious, generous, she bore generous, religious, she bore pious. A rose from the root of a rose; from religion, religion; piety flowed from piety. Splendor from a star, from a great name, a greater. Your father had one, you have two kingdoms. The English venerate you as queen, the Normans as countess: both people as their ruling lady. You do not come to the scepter raw, birth gave you usage. It is yours to reign, a paternal thing for you. You rule by nature, others by fate; these give you rule, fate gives it to others. Nothing is more powerful than you in the kingdom; nothing as beautiful; everyone is less in religion. You so compose your customs, queen, and your actions that there is nothing in them more or less than just. Could you do harm? You do not wish to. Could you take offense? You condone voluntarily. Do you see sorrow? You condole. Do you wish to give? You do not hesitate. To live sparingly? You do not know how. If you speak, the speech has force. If you are silent, it is firm; if you laugh, it is honorable laughter. Do you pray? Mouths are moist with the tears of the praying. Do you fast? You rejoice. Do you eat? Never to satiety. Whatever you do, you have the rein of sobriety. Simplicity adorns your mind within, honesty your face without, graces individually and more together.

Original letter:

Filia praeteriti, praesentis nupta, futuri Mater regis, habes hoc speciale tibi. Aut vix, aut nunquam reperitur femina quae sit Haec eadem regum filia, nupta, parens. Nec tua nobilitas est a te coepta, nec in te Desinet, et post te vivet et [f. ut] ante fuit. Nec tu degeneras, revera filia matris Talem te genuit qualis et illa fuit. Casta pudicam, pulchra decoram, provida cautam, Larga tulit largam, relligiosa piam. Est rosa de radice rosae; de relligione Relligio; pietas de pietate fluit. De stella splendor, de magno nomine majus. Unum patris erat; sunt duo regna tibi. Angli reginam venerantur, te comitissam Normannorum plebs; utraque gens dominam. Non ad sceptra venis rudis; usum tradit origo. Est regnare tuum, resque paterna tibi. Tu per naturam, per sortem caetera turba, Regnas; regnum dant haec tibi, sors aliis. Nulla potentior est in regno; nulla decore Est tibi par; omnis relligione minor. Sic mores, regina, tuos componis et actus, Ut sit in his justo plusve minusve nihil. Quippe nocere potes? Non vis. Offenderis? Ultro Condonas. Cernis tristia? Compateris. Vis dare? Non differs. Vis parce vivere? Nescis. Si loqueris, meritum sermo vigoris habet. Si taceas, rigor est; si rides, risus honestus. Oras? Orantis fletibus ora madent. Jejunas? Gaudes. Comedis? Satiabere nunquam. Quidquid agas, frenum sobrietatis habes. Intus simplicitas mentem foris, ornat honestas Vultum, grata quidem singula, plusque simul.

Historical context:

Hildebert also spoke highly of the queen in a poem in praise of her daughter, empress Matilda: “you have the qualities of your mother who, closed in her tomb,/ illumines the Anglican kingdoms by her merits/ and lest the glory of the female sex decline,/ she gave birth to you, completely reborn in your birth,” Scott, 35. Scott thought that poem was about queen Matilda and the mother in question was queen Margaret, but Chibnall, Empress Matilda, 47, fn.14, accepts the arguments of Therese Latzke that the recipient must have been the empress.

Printed source:

PL171 c1444-45

Date:

1100-18