Quomodo necdum natus, in regem fuerat electus.
The Unborn Preferred to the Born
Edward, still enclosed in his mother's womb, is divinely preferred to his elder half-brothers Edmund and Alfred through God's sovereign will.
So when the glorious king Ethelred had a son, Edmund — surnamed Ironside — by the daughter of that most distinguished count Thoret, and then Alfred by Queen Emma, the blessed Edward, enclosed in his mother's womb, was preferred to them both, through the working of the one who accomplishes all things according to the plan of his will, who rules in the kingdom of mortals, and gives it to whomever he chooses.
A Kingdom in Crisis Deliberates
A great assembly of bishops, nobles, and commoners gathers amid signs of disaster to deliberate the succession, with opinions divided between Edmund's strength and Alfred's Norman lineage.
A great assembly convenes before the king — bishops and nobles alike — and a great crowd of commoners and people gathers, because the cruel signs of a coming disaster had already appeared, and a discussion about the kingdom's condition is carried on among them. Then the king, wanting to designate a successor for himself, explores what seems right to each individual and to everyone as a whole. With different people holding different opinions, the matter hung in uncertainty. For some judge Edmund preferable to the rest because of his most extraordinary physical strength; others consider it safer to advance Alfred on account of the valor of his Norman lineage.
God Directs Hope to the Hidden King
God foreknows the fates of Edmund and Alfred, redirects all hope toward the unborn child, and the king and nobles swear oaths of fidelity to a king not yet born.
But the one who foreknows all things to come, seeing that the first would have a very brief life and the other an untimely death, directed everyone's hopes toward the boy not yet born. Still enclosed in the womb, he is chosen as king; though not born, he is preferred to those already born; and the one whom the earth had not yet received is designated its lord. The king gives his consent to the election; the nobles joyfully swear their oath; and by an extraordinary miracle they pledge fidelity to him without knowing whether he would even be born.
Christ's Work in the Election of His Chosen
A doxological address to Christ Jesus, who before the foundation of the world designated Edward as ruler of His people through these signs of election.
These are your works, Christ Jesus, who work in everyone, who declared the one chosen and loved by you before the foundation of the world to be ruler of your people by these signs—the one whom, though he would come through them, you, not they, chose instead.✦
The Folly and Wisdom of God's Choice
The election of an unborn child over grown sons amid mortal danger defies all human reason, yet God pours out prophetic confirmation so all know the chosen king is His consolation.
Who wouldn't see that it was neither practical to use, nor fitting for the time, nor consistent with reason, nor endurable by human feeling—that with legitimate grown sons set aside, and an enemy sword hanging over them, a small child not yet born would be chosen as king, one whom in such necessity neither enemies would fear nor citizens respect? But almighty God poured out the spirit of prophecy on both the voice and the heart of the people at the same time, tempering present evils with the hope of future consolation, so that everyone would know that the king to come would be the consolation of the whole kingdom—the one whom, with the people not knowing what God had done, no one would doubt was chosen by God himself.
Read the original Latin
Cum igitur gloriosus rex Ethelredus ex filia praeclarissimi comitis Thoreti filium suscepisset Eadmundum, cognomento Ferreum latus, ex regina autem Emma Aluredum, beatus Edwardus inter viscera materna conclusus utrique praefertur, agente eo qui omnia operatur secundum consilium voluntatis suae, qui dominatur in regno hominum, et cui voluerit dat illud. Fit magnus coram rege episcoporum procerumque conventus, magnus plebis vulgique concursus, et quia jam futurae cladis indicia saeva praecesserant, agitur inter eos de regni statu tractatus. Deinde rex successorem sibi designare desiderans, quid singulis quidve omnibus videretur explorat. Pro diversorum diversa sententia res pendebat in dubio. Alii enim Eadmundum, ob invictissimum robur corporis, caeteris aestimant praeferendum; alii ob virtutem Normannici generis Aluredum promovendum tutius arbitrantur. Sed futurorum omnium praescius, prioris brevissimam vitam, alterius mortem immaturam prospiciens, in puerum necdum natum universorum vota convertit. Utero adhuc clauditur et in regem eligitur, non natus natis praefertur, et quem necdum terra susceperat, terrae dominus designatur. Praebet electioni rex consensum, laeti praebent proceres sacramentum, et inusitato miraculo in ejus fidelitate jurarunt qui utrum nasceretur ignorarunt.
Tua sunt haec opera, Christe Jesu, qui omnia operaris in omnibus, qui electum et dilectum tibi ante mundi constitutionem plebis tuae rectorem his indiciis declarasti, quem licet per illos non tamen illi, sed tu potius elegisti. Quis enim non videat nec aptum usui, nec conveniens tempori, nec consonum rationi, nec humano ferendum fuisse sensui, ut omissis filiis legitimis et adultis, hostili gladio imminente, parvulus necdum natus eligeretur in regem, quem in tali necessitate nec hostes metuerent nec cives revererentur? Sed omnipotens Deus spiritum prophetiae voci simul et affectui plebis infudit, praesentia mala spe futurae consolationis temperans, ut scirent omnes in totius regni consolationem regem futurum, quem ab ipso Deo plebe nesciente quid fecerit, nullus dubitaret electum.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.17.24;Eph.1.4;1Pet.1.20 — Father, I desire that those whom You have given Me may be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world. Eph.1.4 — just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love 1Pet.1.20 — He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake.
Aelred of Rievaulx, Vita Sancti Edwardi Regis et Confessoris companion
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