R52: Hildegard von Rupertsberg an Friedrich Barbarossa
Prophetic Salutation to the Emperor
Hildegard greets Frederick as emperor and introduces a vision of a divine watcher surveying all human deeds from a mountain.
Hildegard to Frederick, to the emperor. From the highest Judge. These words are directed to you. It's a very great wonder that man holds this person as necessary! Namely, you who are king. Hear. A certain man stood on a lofty mountain and looked down into all the valleys. Seeing what each one was doing in them.
The Rod That Awakens and Judges
The visionary figure wields a rod that renews and corrects, but darkness falls on those who refuse to see, and corrupting forces tear it apart.
He held a rod in his hand, and with it he divided all things rightly. That is, what was dry, so that it might become green. And what was asleep, so that it might be watchful.✦ But this rod also took away from them the penalty of their stupor. Those who were in a great stupor. And when the same man would not open his eye, a dark cloud came and touched those valleys. But crows and other birds that were scattered about tore it to pieces.
A Call to the Anxious King
Hildegard directly exhorts Frederick to rule with mercy, reminding him of his glorious name in Israel and the scrutiny of the highest King.
Now, O anxious king, take thought, because all the regions are darkened by the deceitful crowd of those people. Who in the blackness of sins destroy justice. Plunderers and those who wander destroy the way of the Lord. O you, king! With the scepter of mercy rule over sluggish and foreign and most cruel customs. For you have a glorious name, because you are king in Israel.✦ Very glorious is your name. See, therefore, when the highest king considers you.✦
Warning Against Sluggish Prelates
The king is urged not to neglect his duty, to flee the corruption of negligent clergy, and to fight as a soldier of God.
Don't let anyone accuse you of having failed to judge your duty rightly. And don't be ashamed then. Far be it from you. It's clear that it's right for a teacher to imitate his predecessors in what is good. Because the sluggish ways of those prelates who give themselves over to wantonness and corruption are utterly dark. Flee this, O king. But also be a soldier armed against the devil, resisting him strongly, so that God doesn't destroy you, and so that your earthly kingdom isn't put to shame because of this. May God set you free from eternal ruin, and may your days not be barren.
Counsel of Self-Discipline and Vision
Hildegard urges the king to cast away greed, embrace self-discipline, and recognize that God loves him, while she sees him amid earthly storms.
And may God protect you so that you may live forever. Cast away greed and choose self-discipline! because the Most High King loves you deeply. For it is absolutely necessary! so that you may be prudent in your affairs. For I see you in a mystical vision, living amid many storms and adversities, before your very eyes. But nevertheless, you still have time to reign in earthly matters.
Final Warning Against Spiritual Blindness
The letter closes with an urgent warning that the highest King may strike Frederick down if he fails to govern rightly and risks losing God's grace.
Beware, therefore, lest the highest King strike you down on account of the blindness of your eyes! Those who don't rightly see how you might hold the scepter of rule properly in your hand. Make sure, too, that you are that kind of person. Lest, lest the grace of God fail in you.
Read the original Latin
Friderico imperatori hildegardis. A summo iudice. hęc uerba diriguntur ad te. Ualde admirabile est quod hanc personam homo habet necessariam! scilicet quę tu rex es. Audi. Quidam uir stabat in excelso monte et in omnes ualles respiciebat. quid quisque faceret in eis uidens.
Et uirgam manu tenens quęque recte diuidebat. uidelicet quod erat aridum ut uiride esset. et quod dormiebat ut uigilaret. Sed et uirga hęc istis penam stuporis abstulit. qui in magno stupore erant. Cumque idem uir oculum suum non aperiret. uenit nigra nebula quę ualles illas tetigit. sed et corui et alię uolucres quęque circumposita dissipabant.
Nunc o rex sollicite preuide quia omnes regiones sunt obumbratę cum fallaci turba illorum. qui in nigredine peccatorum iusticiam delent. Raptores et errantes uiam domini destruunt. O tu rex! cum sceptro misericordię pigros et peregrinos et seuissimos mores rege. Tu enim habes nomen gloriosum quod rex es in israel. Ualde gloriosum est nomen tuum. Vide ergo quando summus rex te considerat.
ne accuseris quod officium tuum recte non diiudicaueris. et ne tunc erubescas. Quod absit. Manifestum est quod iustum est ut preceptor predecessores suos in bono imitetur. quia nigerrimi sunt torpentes mores illorum prelatorum qui in lasciuia et in putredine currunt. Hoc fuge o rex. Sed et esto armatus miles diabolo fortiter repugnans ne te deus dissipet et ne terrenum regnum pro hoc erubescat. Deus liberet te de eterna perditione et tempora tua non sint arida.
et deus te protegat ut uiuas in eternum. Auariciam abice et abstinentiam elige! quod summus rex ualde amat. Nam ualde necesse est! ut in causis tuis prouidus sis. Video enim te in mistica uisione. in plurimis turbinibus et contrarietatibus uiuentem ante oculos uiuos. Sed tamen adhuc tempus regnandi habes in terrenis materijs.
Caue ergo ne summus rex prosternat te propter cecitatem oculorum tuorum! qui non recte uident quomodo uirgam recte regendi in manu tua habeas. Uide etiam ut talis sis. ne ne gratia dei in te deficiat.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Rom.13.11;1Thess.5.6 — And this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to wake from sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 1Thess.5.6 — So then, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us keep watch and be sober.
- ↩Jer.49.1 — Concerning the Ammonites. Thus says the LORD: Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Then why has Milcom dispossessed Gad, and his people settled in its cities?
- ↩Ps.97.5;Dan.4.14 — The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. Dan.4.14 — By the decree of the watchers is the matter, and by the word of the holy ones is the demand—so that the living may know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of humanity, and gives it to whomever He wills, and sets over it even the lowest of people.
Epistolae: Letters to Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England companion
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