PRIVILEGIUM DOMINI NICOLAI PAPAE.
Papal Greeting and Prayer for the King
Pope Nicholas sends Edward a devotional salutation, gives thanks for his love of blessed Peter, prays for his protection and eternal glory, and recalls the apostolic favor shown to English kings.
Nicholas, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to the most glorious and most pious, and in every honor most worthy, also our special son Edward, king of the English: every kind of devoted greeting, honey-flowing health, and apostolic blessing. We give thanks to almighty God, who has adorned and honored your supremely prudent excellence in every way, and granted you to share in love with blessed Peter, the prince of the apostles, and to stand with us in every apostolic judgment. Therefore we send letters to your nobility, and through them we grant you the fellowship of the holy apostles and our own, praying for the mercy of the one who is Lord of all and king above everything alone, so that he may make you share in all the good works that are ours before God, and establish us as brothers and companions in love for all time, and entrust no lesser portion of our service to you in his kingdom than we desire for ourselves. We too will surely keep praying for you from now on, without any doubt, that God himself may bring your enemies and foes under your feet — those who try to rise up against you — and confirm you on your father's throne and your own inheritance, and that blessed Peter may be your protector and helper in every trial. For it is well known that the kings of the English have flourished in glory and honor because of the reverence and devotion they showed to blessed Peter the apostle, and that through his patronage they have won celebrated triumphs. Through the merits of that blessed apostle, may almighty God bring your desire and will to fulfillment, confirm for you the dominion of your father's kingdom, grant it increase, and after this present life lead you to the eternal, abiding dominion of glory.
Pardon, Privileges, and Monastic Liberty
The pope grants Edward remission of his vow and sins, confirms and increases his privileges, and establishes the royal monastery as a permanent, self-governing Benedictine house exempt from outside control.
Therefore we renew, confirm, and increase your privileges: namely, that you are released from the vow you feared and from all your other sins and wrongdoings, by the authority of the one who willed me, though unworthy, to preside over his holy Church. Furthermore, for the place that you undertook to build and improve under the name of holy repentance — since, as is said, it received its first consecration long ago from blessed Peter the apostle, whose vicars we are, though unworthy, and because it has long been a royal seat — by the authority of God and the holy apostles, and of this holy Roman see, and by our own authority, we grant, permit, and firmly confirm that the place shall remain in perpetuity as a royal foundation and consecration, a repository of royal insignia, and a permanent dwelling for monks, who are subject to no one at all except the king, and who shall have the power to choose worthy abbots according to the Rule of Saint Benedict through their successors, and that no outside person shall be brought in by force, but only one whom the assembled community chooses to preside over them. We also release that place from every service and episcopal control, so that no bishop may enter there to ordain or command anything, except with the consent and at the request of the abbot and the monks.
Sacred Precinct, Possessions, and Apostolic Protection
The pope grants freedom for the monastery's precinct, confirms its possessions and charters, pronounces judgment on violators, and entrusts Edward and his heirs with royal advocacy and protection of the Church.
And may the same place have its enclosed precinct free — that is, the surrounding area and the cemetery of the dead — on its own terms, without any episcopal oversight, or anyone else's authority or demands. And we grant, with the most willing and cheerful heart, that everything which can contribute to the freedom and dignity of that place, for the honor of God, should accrue through our authority. The possessions, however, which ancient kings — or any other men — along with you and your barons, have bestowed on that same place, and the charters drawn up from them, we confirm by divine and our own authority, and we decree that they are to be ratified and firm. And we condemn those who break them — or invade them, diminish them, or scatter them — and those who sell them, with an eternal curse alongside Judas the betrayer, so that they may have no share in the blessed resurrection; but let them know they will be judged by blessed Peter the apostle, when he sits with his fellow apostles judging the twelve tribes of Israel.✦ To you indeed and to your descendants as kings we entrust the advocacy and protection of that same place and of all the churches throughout England, so that in our stead, with the counsel of bishops and abbots, you may establish everywhere what is right. Knowing that through this you will receive a worthy reward from him whose kingdom and empire will never cease or be diminished, forever and ever.
The King's Joy and Turn to Contemplation
Having received the apostolic letters, King Edward rejoices, is freed from anxiety, entrusts royal affairs to his nobles, and devotes himself wholly to God, growing in spiritual contemplation and heavenly revelations.
So when the letters of apostolic authority had been read, the most blessed king rejoiced with joy, and he was freed from every anxiety that the burden of his vow had laid upon him, entrusting all the affairs of the kingdom to his leaders and nobles, and devoting himself wholly to the service of God. The more he withdrew from bodily concerns, the more fully he gave himself to spiritual contemplation. As a result, he deserved to be renewed again and again by the revelation of heavenly secrets and the sweetness of spiritual visions, as the events that follow will make clear.
Read the original Latin
NICOLAUS episcopus, servus servorum Dei, gloriosissimo ac piissimo, omnique honore dignissimo, speciali quoque filio nostro EDWARDO Anglorum regi, visitationem omnimodam, salutem mellifluam et benedictionem apostolicam.
Omnipotenti Deo referimus grates, qui vestrum prudentissimam excellentiam in omnibus ornavit ac decoravit erga beatum Petrum apostolorum principem, et nobiscum habere dilectionem et in omnibus apostolicis consentire censuris. Litteras igitur vestrae nobilitati transmittimus, et per eas societatem sanctorum apostolorum et nostram vobis damus, orantes misericordiam illius qui est Dominus omnium et rex super omnia solus, ut ipse participem vos faciat ex omnibus si qua sunt coram Deo bonis operibus nostris, et fratres nos, et socios in dilectione constituat in omni tempore amplius, ac non minorem partem nostri obsequii reconsignet in suo regno quam nobismetipsis provenire optamus. Erimus etiam deinceps pro vobis sine dubio orantes assidue, ut ipse Deus vobis subjiciat hostes et inimicos qui contra vos voluerint insurgere, et confirmet vos in paterno solio ac propria haereditate, et beatus Petrus sit vobis custos et adjutor in omni tribulatione. Claret enim Anglorum reges pro reverentia et devotione quam exhibuerunt beato Petro apostolo, gloria et honore floruisse, ac ipsius patrocinio famosos triumphos obtinuisse. Cujus beati apostoli meritis, vestro desiderio et voluntati omnipotens Deus praestet effectum, et confirmet vobis paterni regni imperium, et tribuat incrementum, et post praesentis vitae decursum, perducat ad aeternum permanentis gloriae imperium. Renovamus ergo, et confirmamus, et augemus vobis privilegia vestra; scilicet, ut absolutus sitis ab illo voto quod timebatis, et ab omnibus aliis peccatis et iniquitatibus vestris, auctoritate illius qui me licet indignum sanctae suae praeesse voluit Ecclesiae. Praeterea, illi loco quem sub nomine sanctae poenitentiae construendum et meliorandum suscepistis, quoniam, ut fertur, primam antiquitus consecrationem a beato Petro apostolo accepit, cujus licet indigni vicarii sumus, et quia regia antiquitus sedes est, ex auctoritate Dei et sanctorum apostolorum, atque hujus sanctae Romanae sedis, et nostra concedimus, permittimus, et solidissime confirmamus, ut amplius in perpetuum regiae constitutionis et consecrationis locus sit, atque repositorium regalium insignium, et habitatio perpetua monachorum, qui nulli omnino personae nisi regi subdantur, habeantque potestatem secundum Regulam sancti Benedicti per successores eligere idoneos abbates, neque introducatur per violentiam extranea persona, nisi quam concors congregatio praeesse elegerit. Absolvimus etiam eum locum ab omni servitio, dominatione episcopali, ut nullus episcopus illuc introeat ordinaturus vel praecepturus aliquid, nisi ex consensu et petitione abbatis et monachorum.
Et habeat idem locus liberum praecinctum, id est ambitum et coemeterium mortuorum circa se absque episcopali, vel cujuslibet respectu, vel exactione. Et omnia quae ad libertatem et exaltationem loci illius, ad honorem Dei pertinentia, per nostram auctoritatem accedere possunt, promptissima et hilari voluntate concedimus. Possessiones autem quas antiqui reges, seu quicunque alii homines, vos quoque et vestri barones ad eumdem locum contulistis, et chartas quae ex eis factae sunt, divina et nostra auctoritate roboramus, et ratas ac stabiles esse decernimus. Et infractores, vel earum invasores, vel diminutores aut dispersores, venditores etiam aeterna maledictione cum Juda proditore damnamus, ut in beata partem non habeant resurrectione; sed a beato Petro apostolo se judicandos sciant, quando sedebit cum suis coapostolis judicans duodecim tribus Israel. Vobis vero et posteris vestris regibus committimus advocationem et tuitionem ejusdem loci, et omnium totius Angliae ecclesiarum, ut vice nostra cum consilio episcoporum et abbatum constituas ubique quae justa sunt. Scientes per hoc vos recepturos dignam mercedem ab eo, cujus regnum et imperium non desinet nec minuetur in saeculum.
Lectis igitur apostolicae majestatis apicibus, exsultavit in gaudio rex beatissimus, omnique sollicitudine quam ex voti obligatione contraxerat exuitur, cuncta regni negotia ducibus proceribusque committens, totum se divinis mancipabat obsequiis. Quanto autem se corporalibus subtrahebat, tanto luminosius se spiritualibus indidit theoriis. Unde crebro coelestium secretorum revelatione et spiritualium visionum suavitate meruit refoveri, sicut sequentia declarabunt.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.19.28;Luke.22.30 — And Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Luke.22.30 — that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Aelred of Rievaulx, Vita Sancti Edwardi Regis et Confessoris companion
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