R51: Friedrich Barbarossa an Hildegard von Rupertsberg
Greeting and Summons
Emperor Frederick greets Hildegard by her prophetic title and summons her to his presence at Ingelheim, affirming that her predictions have reached him and that he now holds her words in his hands.
Frederick, emperor. To Hildegard. Frederick, by the grace of God emperor of the Romans and always Augustus. To Lady Hildegard of Bingen, his grace and every good. We make known to your holiness that those things you predicted —1 came to us while we were staying at Ingelheim —2 and we asked you to come into our presence. Now we hold it in our hands!3
Exhortation to Prayer and Just Favor
Frederick exhorts Hildegard and her sisters to pray for him so that God may turn his earthly labors toward divine grace, and he promises to address her concerns impartially, guided only by justice.
But we will never stop putting forward every effort for the honor of the kingdom. For this reason, we affectionately admonish your love. that with the sisters entrusted to you, you may pour forth prayers to almighty God on our behalf. so that in earthly affairs he may thus turn us, as we labor, to himself. so that we may be able to obtain his grace. You should hold as certain that in every matter of yours directed to us through you. we will attend to neither the friendship nor the hatred of any person. but we propose to declare equity solely with respect to justice.
Read the original Latin
Fridericus imperator. hildegardi. Fridericus dei gratia romanorum imperator et semper augustus. dominę hildegardi de pinguia gratiam suam et omne bonum. Notum facimus sanctitati tuę quoniam ea quę predixisti. nobis cum ingelheim manentes. te ad presentiam nostram uenire rogauimus. iam in manibus tenemus!
sed nos tamen omni conatu pro honore regni laborare non cessabimus. Quapropter dilectionem tuam quam intime admonemus. ut cum sororibus tibi commissis ad omnipotentem deum preces pro nobis fundas. quatenus in terrenis negotijs nos laborantes ita ad se conuertat. ut gratiam ipsius obtinere ualeamus. Certum autem debes habere quod super omni negocio tuo ad nos per te directo. neque amiciciam neque odium alicuius personę adtendemus! sed solius iusticię respectu equitatem indicare proponimus.
Notes
- 1 ↩quoniam rendered as a dash introducing the content clause; it could also be rendered 'since' with causal force, but the letter's tone favors a simple announcement.
- 2 ↩cum is temporal here ('when/while'), not causal.
- 3 ↩Refers to a written message or prophecy from Hildegard that the emperor has now received.
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
Read one voice like Hildegard's every morning
Chosen Portion delivers daily excerpts from Hildegard and 77 other historic devotional writers, free on iOS.
Hildegard directed souls through short written portions sent one at a time, and Chosen Portion continues that letter-a-day rhythm as daily devotionals.
- Daily 2-minute readings including Hildegard's letters and visions
- 78 complete historic works, translated into modern readable English
- A weekly email tracing one writer's story in depth