Letters244 Letter CCXLIV. 1146.) to Conrad, king of the Romans
Letter CCXLIV. 1146.) to Conrad, king of the Romans
He urges the King to defend the Papal authority against the rebellious Romans.
1. Never more sweetly, more harmoniously, or more closely could kingship and priesthood have been united or planted together than when they both alike met in the person of the Lord, since He was made for us out of both tribes according to the flesh, at once High Priest and King. And not only so, but he also mingled them and united them in His Body, which is the whole Christian people, Himself being their Head; so that the Apostle calls this race of men, A chosen generation, a royal priesthood (i S. Pet. ii. cj). In another Scripture are not all as many as were predestinated to life called kings and priests? (Rev. i. 6 and v. 10). Therefore, what God hath joined together let not man put asunder. What Divine authority has sanctioned let man's will be the more diligent to fulfil, and let those whom precepts have united be united in their minds. Let them help each other, defend each other, bear each other's burdens. The Wise Man says, If a brother help his brother, both shall receive consolation (Prov. xviii. 19). But shall they not both receive desolation if, which God forbid, they bite and devour each other? May my soul never come into the counsel of those who say that either the peace and liberty of the Churches is injurious to the Empire, or that the prosperity and exaltation of the Empire are harmful to the Churches. For God, the Founder of both, has not joined them for destruction, but for edification.
2. If you know this, how long do you continue to pass over their common reproach, their common wrongs? Is not Rome at once the Apostolic See and the capital of the Empire? To say nothing, then, of the Church, is it to the King's honour to hold in his hands a broken sceptre? I know not, indeed, what advice your wise men and the heads of your kingdom may give you on this matter, but I, speaking in my folly, will not keep back what I think. The Church of God has from the beginning down to the present time many times suffered tribulations, and many times been set free. Listen to what she says about herself in the Psalm, Many a time have they fought against me from mv youth up, but they have not prevailed against me. The sinners built upon my back, and made long their iniquity (Ps. cxxix. 2, 3). The Lord, certainly, O King, will not now let the rod of sinners come into the lot of the righteous. The Lord's hand is not shortened or weakened that it cannot save. He will at this time again without doubt set free His Spouse, whom He redeemed with His own Blood, endowed with His Spirit, adorned with Heavenly gifts, and enriched none the less with earthly bounties. He will set her free, I repeat. He will set her free, but if by the hand of another, even the princes of the realm can see whether that would be to the King's honour or to the benefit of the kingdom. It would not be to either.
3. Therefore gird thee with thy sword upon thy thigh, O, most mighty, and let Caesar restore to himself the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's. It is well known that both are in the charge of Caesar, viz., to guard his own crown and to defend the Church. One befits the King; the other the defender of the Church. The victory, I trust in God, is in your hands. The haughtiness and arrogance of the Romans are greater than their courage.
How is it? Would any Emperor or King, no matter how great and powerful, presume to offer such an insult at once to the Empire and the priesthood? But this accursed and turbulent people, which knows not how to measure its strength, to think of its object, to consider the issue, has in its folly had the audacity to attempt this great sacrilege. God forbid that popular violence and the rashness of the vulgar should for a moment be able to stand before the face of the King. I have become as a fool, in that, though a mean and unknown person, I have thrust myself like some great one into the counsels of such greatness and such wisdom, and in a matter, too, of such importance. But the more unknown and humble I am, the freer I am to say what charity suggests. And therefore I add also this in my folly: I do not suppose that anyone will, but if anyone should attempt to persuade you to anything else but what I have urged upon you, it is certain that either he does not love the King or has but little perception of what befits the royal majesty, or else he seeks his own advantage, and does not thoroughly care either for what is God's or for what is the King's.
1. Nec dulcius, nec amicabilius, sed nec arctius omnino regnum sacerdotiumque conjungi seu complantari in invicem potuerunt, quam ut in persona Domini ambo haec pariter convenirent; utpote qui factus est nobis ex utraque tribu secundum carnem summus et Sacerdos, et Rex. Non solum autem, sed et commiscuit ea nihilominus ac confoederavit in suo corpore, quod est populus christianus, ipse caput illius: ita ut hoc genus hominum apostolica voce genus electum, regale sacerdotium appelletur In alia quoque scriptura quotquot sunt praedestinati ad vitam, nonne omnes reges et sacerdotes nominantur? Ergo quae Deus conjunxit, homo non separet. Magis autem quod divina sanxit auctoritas, humana studeat adimplere voluntas; et jungant se animis, qui juncti sunt institutis. Invicem se foveant, invicem se defendant, invicem onera sua portent. Ait Sapiens: Frater adjuvans fratrem, ambo consolabuntur. Quod si alterutrum se (quod absit) corroserint et momorderint, nonne ambo desolabuntur! Non veniat anima mea in consilium eorum qui dicunt, vel imperio pacem et libertatem Ecclesiarum, vel Ecclesiis prosperitatem et exaltationem imperii nocituram. Non enim utriusque institutor Deus in destructionem ea connexuit, sed in aedificationem.
2. Si hoc scitis, quousque vos communem contumeliam, communem dissimulatis injuriam! Nonne ut apostolica Sedes, ita et Caput imperii Roma est! Ut ergo de Ecclesia taceam, num honor Regi est truncum in manibus tenere imperium! Et quidem ignoro quid vobis super hoc consulant sapientes vestri et principes regni: sed ego, in insipientia mea loquens, quod sentio non tacebo. Ecclesia Dei ab exortu sui usque ad haec tempora pluries tribulata est, et pluries liberata est. Denique audite quid ipsa de se loquatur in Psalmo. Ipsius enim vox est: Saepe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea; etenim non potuerunt mihi. Supra dorsum meum fabricaverunt peccatores, prolongaverunt iniquitatem suam. Certus esto, o Rex, quoniam nec nunc quoque relinquet Dominus virgam peccatorum super sortem justorum. Non est abbreviata manus Domini, nec facta impotens ad salvandum. Liberabit et hoc tempore absque dubio sponsam suam, qui suo redemit eam, suo spiritu dotavit, donis coelestibus exornavit, ditavit nihilominus et terrenis. Liberabit, inquam, liberabit: sed si in manu alterius, viderint regni principes, idne honor Regis, regnive utilitas sit. Non est utique.
3. Quamobrem accingere gladio tuo super femur tuum, potentissime, et restituat sibi Caesar quae Caesaris sunt, et quae sunt Dei Deo. Utrumque interesse Caesaris constat, et propriam tueri coronam, et Ecclesiam defensare. Alterum regi, alterum convenit Ecclesiae advocato. Victoria, sicut in Domino confidimus, prae manibus est. Superbia et arrogantia Romanorum plus quam fortitudo eorum. Quid enim? Numquid quispiam magnus vel potens, verbi gratia, imperator, aut rex, foedam rem istam in imperium pariter sacerdotiumque praesumit? Sed populus hic maledictus et tumultuosus, qui suas nescit metiri vires, cogitare finem, considerare proventum, in insipientia sua et in furore suo ausus est hoc grande sacrilegium attentare. Absit ut vel ad momentum stare possit ante faciem Regis popularis manus, vulgi temeritas. Factus sum insipiens, qui cum sim vilis, ignobilisque persona, tanquam aliquis magnus, consiliis tantae magnitudinis tantaeque sapientiae me ingessi, et de re magna. At quo ignobilior atque abjectior, tanto liberior sum ad loquendum quod charitas suggerit. Unde et adhuc addo in eadem insipientia mea: Si quis aliud, quam locutus sum vobis (quod non credimus) suadere conabitur, is profecto aut non diligit Regem, aut parum intelligit, quid regiam deceat majestatem: aut certe quae sua sunt quaerit, et non valde quae vel Dei, vel Regis sunt, curare convincitur.