SR
← Eruditio regum et principum (Education of Kings and Princes)/Book 1 · Eruditio regum et principum
Chapter 15ErudR.1.15

Undecimum capitulum, in quo additur promissio de successione regnorum et exponitur illud : Ut longo vivat tempore, et caetera.

The Promise of Dynastic Succession

Having completed the tenfold sum of royal perfection, the author introduces the promise that a king and his son may reign over Israel for a long time, grounding dynastic succession in the virtue or wickedness of fathers and citing scriptural warrants for the perpetuation of the throne through just heirs.

When the tenfold sum of perfection has been reached — those things recognized as belonging to the king's rule — the discussion arrives at its final point: the practical value of all this observance, so that the succession of kingdoms may be prolonged. From this, the promise is then added below: that he himself and his son may reign over Israel for a long time. For just as the succession of sons is woven out of — indeed, extended from — the virtue of fathers, so the wickedness of parents cuts off for their children the bounds of both success and life itself. For the salvation of the righteous comes from God as well, and the remnants of the wicked will perish. A son therefore succeeds his father if he has imitated his father's justice. Remove impiety from the king's presence, Solomon says, and his throne will be established by justice. What a great privilege the princes would rejoice in — the one by which the glory of the kingdom is made perpetual even in their own flesh and blood. I will place the fruit of your womb on your throne.

The Condition of Keeping the Covenant

The author cites the Psalmist's covenant promise and its threat of disgrace for disobedient sons, then explains that God accommodated the promise of long duration to a carnal people who knew only earthly goods and had not yet tasted eternal blessedness.

"If your sons keep my covenant" — and so on. The words that follow: "But if his sons abandon my law" — where the passage goes on to speak of their removal and disgrace, and this is not passed over in silence. For this is what people desire most of all: to have worthy successors in their possessions, so that those who know by their very condition that they will die may perpetuate their own life through offspring born of their own flesh. But because the law was addressing a carnal people — a people wise in earthly things who did not know the eternal kingdom, who depended more on earthly goods being given or promised to them as sustenance — the promise made to this carnally wise people was a promise of flesh, and what was promised to them was long duration of time. For they had not yet tasted the sweetness of eternal blessedness, nor had they come to know the length of eternity.

The Spiritual Kingdom and the Brevity of Time

If kings observe the rule of Deuteronomy spiritually, an eternal kingdom of infinite duration is promised; yet all temporal duration is vanishingly brief—life is a vapor, a flower, dew, smoke, stubble, or water-bubble, swiftly passing and never truly long.

Therefore, to kings and princes alike, if they should wish to observe the rule of Deuteronomy spiritually, a kingdom of eternal recompense is promised, and a duration of infinite length, so that he may reign for a long time. For when the duration of all time, however great it may be, fails through the very smallest moments, and in that whole not even a brief moment subsists, what temporal thing will be able to be long, since if all things are gathered into one, they scarcely obtain the place of a point? Where the whole is brief, how will any part of it be able to be long? As it is written: What is our life?✦ A vapor, appearing for a little while.✦ For to what is present life more rightly compared than to vapor, to a flower or to dew, or to smoke — things so swiftly passing — nay rather, to mist, to stubble, or to a bubble of waters?✦ For vapor rises through the heat of the sun, but in its very ascent, while it is believed to be making progress, it vanishes. A flower also, while it shines, dies; and temporal glory, while it is exalted, comes to an end — because all flesh is hay, and the flower of the hay — all its glory is reckoned.✦ So also on the surface of herbs the moisture of nocturnal dew is sprinkled, but by the sudden heat of diurnal light it is dried.

Gregory the Great on Mist, Stalk, and Bubble

Continuing the catalogue of vanishing images, the author cites Gregory the Great's Moralia on mist, a stalk, and a water-bubble—each rising only to perish the higher it climbs—as witnesses to the utter transience of earthly glory.

Smoke rises to the clouds, but even as it swells upward, its soaring comes to nothing — it's scattered and gone. What could be said more clearly about mist, a stalk, or a water-bubble than what blessed Pope Gregory testifies to in the seventeenth book of his Moralia? A mist, he says, lifts itself up from the lowest depths by ascending, but once it has risen, the ray of the sun wipes it away as though it had never been. A stalk is swept to a great height by a blast of wind, but is brought back down again by a swift fall. The foamy bubbles of water are stirred up by the first rains and spring forth from the deepest parts of the earth; and the higher they are carried by their swelling, the more quickly they perish. Though they grow large enough to be visible, in growing they accomplish precisely this — they cannot stand firm.1

The Poverty of Human Life

The kingdom of this age has not only brevity but poverty; the holy man's admonition to his son—'Remember, my son, that we lead a poor life'—introduces a fourfold poverty of bodies, resources, knowledge, and virtues.

The kingdom of this age, therefore, is brief; yet it is also marked by poverty. That is why that holy man said to his son: Remember, my son, that we lead a poor life.2 Truly poor. For his poverty is so great that it can be recognized easily, but it cannot easily be described — and so that I, a poor man, may say something about his poverty in a poor style.3 I see poverty of bodies, of resources, of knowledge, and of virtues.

The Body's Poverty Compared to Animals

Man is born more wretched than all animals, lacking their natural weapons and excelling them in nothing—slower than the swift, weaker than the strong, surpassed in every sense by creatures from the eagle to the spider to the vulture.

O the excessive poverty of human bodies — a poverty that, in order to thrive more fully, needs nourishment drawn, I believe, from a thousand bodies of all living creatures, since the birth of man is considered more wretched and more despised than that of all other animals! For the bull is given horns, the hare stubbornness, the stag its leap and sure sight, birds the duty of their feathers, swimmers the effort of their fins, bees their sting, and wild animals their teeth — each furnished, as it were, with natural weapons. Yet man alone is seen to be destitute of all these things. For to those who excel in the speed of running, man is slower; to those who stand out in the size of their body, he is more frail; and to those who surpass in natural gifts, he is more despised. If strength is weighed, it is greater in lions; if height, it is more outstanding in crabs; if beauty of features, this is better captured in clay statues and wax paintings. In speed, dogs excel; in watchfulness, owls or bats; in industry, bees or ants; in sight, the eagle; in hearing, the pig; in taste, the ape; in touch, the spider; and in smell, the vulture indeed surpasses all.

The Poverty of Resources and of Knowledge

The wealthy can scarcely support themselves, and only voluntary poverty cures greed; knowledge too is impoverished, since we know little of past, present, or future, and cannot even tell whether we are worthy of love or hatred until the soul's final inclination reveals its direction.

After reflecting on bodily poverty, who wouldn't also see the poverty of resources—since we can see that those we call wealthier than the rest can scarcely support themselves even with what they have, whether they're begging from others or taking from them? Greed grows with earthly wealth, and there's no equally effective cure for a poverty of desire—or for a desire born of poverty, I believe—except voluntary begging and poverty itself. There is also a poverty of knowledge, in that we know few things about the past, fewer about the present, and very few about the future — and about eternal things, I would say, practically nothing.45 And to the heap of our ignorance, a person does not know whether they are worthy of love or of hatred — except that where the abundance of branches is greater and heavier, there the tree is bound to fall, if it is then cut down; because our body, poised between carnal and spiritual desires, inclines itself toward whichever side the soul has leaned. And in the instant it is separated from the body, we know the soul inclines either toward the North or toward the South.6789

The Poverty of Virtues in the Present Age

The fourth poverty is that of virtues: the faith of patriarchs, the hope of prophets, the love of apostles, and the fortitude of martyrs are scarcely found among the prelates and teachers of the present age.

But who wouldn't see that this is a poverty of virtues? Otherwise, where do the faith of the patriarchs, the hope of the prophets, the love of the apostles, the prudence of the teachers, the fortitude of the martyrs, the chastity of virgins, and the justice of prelates both ecclesiastical and secular still live?10

From Weariness of This Life to the Fullness of Eternity

Mortal life is a mixture of life and death, compelling us to seek the eternal life where one may reign for a long time; Psalm 90:16 promises length of days, fullness, and salvation—eternity without end, glory without setting, satisfaction without disgust—contrasted with the evil days of this age and the single most serene day of the saints.

Truly, then, we lead a poor life—if this mortal life can even be called a life at all, since it is really a kind of mixture of life and death. And so we are compelled by weariness to depart from this life, and driven forward by longing to seek that other life—where there is no brevity or poverty, but rather eternity and abundance—so that, as Scripture says, one may reign for a long time.11 "With length of days I will satisfy him, and I will show him my salvation."✦12 What does "length" signify if not eternity? What do "days" signify if not glory? What does "fullness" signify if not complete satisfaction? And the eternity meant here has no end, the glory knows no setting, and the satisfaction is free from any disgust. The days of a human life are brief, but with length of days I will satisfy him.✦✦ Surely because the length of days is in his right hand.13 But these are also evil days, the apostle proclaims, and so: "Better is one day in your courts, O Lord, than a thousand elsewhere."✦✦ One day—most serene, most hidden, most sweet—the saints' day, their single glory, their single reward. That day will bow down the darkness and breathe upon the elect toward the noonday sun, as it is written: "My beloved is mine, and I am his, who feeds among the lilies, until the day breaks and the shadows flee away."✦14

The Day That Breathes Toward the South

The eschatological day will breathe toward the south, where the saints strain toward the full vision of God; their longing will be perpetually satisfied, while the rejected sink into endless night; God will show not a mirror of creation but its own salvation—its Jesus—for this is eternal life: to know the true God and the one He sent.

The day will breathe toward the south, when all the brightness of the saints will most eagerly strain toward the clear and, by its own capacity, full vision of God. Yet there will be no distress in that eagerness, since perpetual longing will be matched by equally perpetual satisfaction. Without doubt, when the light that breathes among the angels draws near, it will also breathe the breath of life upon us, but afterward it will give us, from the most gracious shining of its own rays and from a most generous outpouring, the means to breathe again in grace through hope, so that at last the day may dawn for us in glory, breathing toward its goal; since for the rejected there will be, in the outer darkness, a night that sighs and a death that dies without death and expires without end, when shadows decline into darkness and sink into the gloom of deep night. This day will not breathe through the mirror of creation, but will show us its own salvation and, as it is read in Hebrew, its Jesus. For this is eternal life: that we may know the true God and the one the Father sent into the world, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Heavenly Assembly and the Reluctance to Die

If a truthful king promised us a place in a glorious royal assembly, we would strive unceasingly; yet we know the heavenly assembly adorned with justice, with Christ the mediator in its midst, and still we shrink back like stubborn stags, choosing worldly servitude over reigning with Christ—though death is not a departure but a crossing over to immortality.

If someone were to suddenly bring us into an assembly where everyone was seated in a royal gathering, its splendor surpassing the glory of every precious stone, and in the midst stood a king — most beautiful, most truthful, and faithful, adorned with excellences and the finest garments — one whom we knew neither wished nor was able to lie, and if he promised us that among those honored ones we could be enrolled, if we so desired, would we not strive unceasingly, with desire as frequent as it is fervent, lest we be cheated of that very promise? We know the assembly of the heavenly citizens is adorned not with gold or gems but with the merits of justice, outshining the brightness of the stars with its own surpassing light, and gathered from the various ranks of saints and the diverse orders of angels — in whose midst… …is the mediator between God and humanity, the one standing in the midst — God and man, the Lord Jesus Christ — whose brightness flows out upon all.✦ To behold him, then, and to reign with him — would that we might sigh for this unceasingly! For blessed John Chrysostom says in his book On the Reparation of the Fallen: If we must endure torments daily, if we must tolerate even hell itself for a short time, in order that we might be able to see Christ coming in glory and be joined to the number of his saints, was it not worth suffering everything that is now sorrowful, so that we might become partakers of so great a good and so great a glory?✦✦ But we shrink back, in the manner of stubborn stags — thus resisting and struggling — and are brought to the sight of so great a king with sadness and grief, going out from here more by the bond of necessity than by the obedience of willingness, and unwillingly, even though we do not wish to be honored by him with heavenly rewards; we come to him reluctantly, choosing the disgrace of utter servitude in the world rather than to reign with Christ. Surely the fact that we die means we pass over through death to immortality, nor can eternal life follow unless it happens that we go out from here.✦ This is not a departure but a crossing over, and having run through the temporal journey, a passage to eternal things.

The World as Ruin and Shipwreck

If a roof trembled above us or a storm threatened shipwreck, we would flee swiftly; yet the world itself is a ruin or a shipwreck, and once its fragility is seen, it should drive us toward the kingdom where angels and saints await, anxious for our salvation but secure in their happiness.

If the roof were trembling above us from a tottering ancient wall, wouldn't we strain to get out with every ounce of speed? If a turbulent and stormy tempest stirred up by violent waves foretold future shipwrecks while we were at sea, wouldn't we hasten swiftly toward the harbor? What then is the world but a ruin or a shipwreck, which, once its fragility has been seen, drives us in a sense toward the kingdom where a host of friends awaits us, where the throng of angels longs for us — and they are surely anxious about our salvation, but secure now in their own happiness.

The Author's Closing Excuse and Promise

The author acknowledges exceeding the proper length of a letter, blames the anxiety of his duties for his incomplete execution, credits the force of affection for breaking his silence, and commends his words to God and the king, promising further treatment of discipline, officials, and the protection of subjects.

It's time to come to the margins. I know I've already exceeded the proper length of a letter, and yet I haven't fully carried out what I had planned. But the constant and tireless anxiety of my concern — the necessary continuation of my readings and my disputations — have barely left me any leisure for this writing.15 But the force of affection, by which a small speck of dust sometimes flies back to its own Lord, once a short time had been taken up, condemned the negligence of staying silent.1617 If it has pleased the Lord and the king, what I have said in this letter — I hope — comes from reverence for God and from his own diligence. What was declared concerning due discipline and the officials, and what concerns the affection and protection of subjects, will proceed — if the Lord grants it — as well as favorable matters and those pertaining to the officials.1819

Read the original Latin

Consummatis in perfectionis denario quae ad regis regulam pertinere Ra noscuntur, ad extremum tangitur observationis utilitas ut regnorum successio proteletur. Unde postraodum subinfertur : Ut longo tempore regnet ipse et filius super Israël. Nam sicut de virtute patrum texitur, imo protenditur successio filiorum, sic parentum iniquitas praecidit filiis tam successuum quam etiam vitae metas. Nam et a Deo est salus justorum et peribunt reliquiaa impiorum. Patri ergo succedit filius, si patris justitiam fuerit imitatus. Aufer, inquit Salomon, impietatem de vultu regis, et firmabitur justitia thronus ejus. Magno igitur gauderent principes privilegio quibus perpetuatur regni gloria etiam in carne et sanguine suo. De fructu, inquit, ventris tui ponam super sedem tuam.

Si custodierint filii tui testamentum meum etc. quae sequuntur : Si vero dereliquerint filii ejus legem meam, ubi de translatione et flagitio non tacetur. Hoc enim est quod maxime desiderant homines, ut in bonis suis bonos habeant successores, ut qui ex conditione praevident mortem suam, ex suae carnis origine perpétuent vitam suam. Sed quia lex carnalem alloquebatur populum qui terrena sapiens regnum nesciebat aeternum, magis pendentem si bona terrae darentur eidem aut promitterentur in cibum, carnaliter sapienti facta est promissio carnis et eidem promissa est diuturnitas temporis, qui nec dulcedinem praelibaverat aeternae beatitudinis, nec longitudinem noverat aeternitatis.

Regibus igitur atque principibus, si Deuteronomii regulam voluerint spiritualiter observare, regnum promittitur retributionis aeternae et duratio longitudinis infinitae, ut longo tempore regnet ipse. Nam cum diuturnitas totius temporis, quantacumque sit, per minutissima momenta deficiat, et in eo toto non nisi momentum brève subsistât, quid temporale poterit esse longum cum si colligantur in unum omnia vix obtineant puncti locum ? Ubi ergo totum brève est, pars ejus aliqua longa qualiter esse poterit, sicut scriptum est : Quae vita nostra ? Vapor ad modicum parens. Cui enim vita praesens rectius comparatur, quam vapori, flori vel rori, vel fumo sic citatis, quinimo nebulae, stipulae, vel aquarum bullae ? Vapor enim per calorem solis ascendit, sed, in ipso suo ascensu dum profîcere creditur, inanescit. Flos etiam dum nitet moritur, et gloria temporalis dum extollitur terminatur, quia omnis caro foenum et flos foeni omnis gloria ejus reputatur. Sic etiam in herbarum superficie nocturni roris humor aspergitur, sed diurni luminis subito calore siccatur.

Attollitur fumuSj ad nubila, sed nihilominus dum tumescit ad nihilum redigitur ejus elatio dissipata. Quid de nebula, stipula vel aquarum bulla liquidius proferatur, nisi quod in XVII libro Moralium beatus Gregorius papa testatur. Nebula, inquit, ab infimis ascendendo se erigit, sed exortus hanc solis radius ac si non fuerit abstergit ; aurarum IO flatu in altum stipula rapitur, sed ad ima casu concito revocatur; spumosae aquarum bullae inchoantibus pluviis excitatae ab intimis terrarum prodeunt, et quo inflatae altius extenduntur depereunt ", cumque excrescunt ut appareant, crescendo peragunt ne subsistant.

Habet ergo regnum hujus temporis brevitatem ; habet nihilominus paupertatem. Unde ad filium suum intulit ille sanctus : Memor esto, fîli, quoniam pauperem vitam gerimus. Vere pauperem. Tanta enim est ejus paupertas ut leviter possit agnosci, sed non leviter valeat enarrari, et ut stilo paupere pauper ego de ejus aliquid proloquar paupertate. Video pauperiem corporum, facultatum, scientiae et virtutum.

O corporum humanorum paupertas nimia quae ex M corporibus omnium animantium ut vigeant magis, ut arbitror, alimonia indigent aliéna, cum ortus hominis prae caeteris animantibus miserior habeatur et despectior oriatur ! Nam tauro cornua, pervicitas lepori, cervo saltus et certus intuitus, volatilibus pennarum ofïïcium, natatilibus IS pinnarum nisus, apibus aculeus, dentés ferinis sicut arma naturalia corespondent. Solus autem homo omnibus cernitur destituais . Nam hiis qui velocitate currendi praeminent pigrior, illis qui corporis eminent mole magis tenuis, et hiis qui naturalibus excellunt despectior. Si fortitudo pensetur, valentior est in leonibus ; si proceritas, eminentior est in crabibus ; si lineamentorum décor, hune melius infigit et argilla simulacris et cera picturis. Velocitate praeminent canes, vigilia noctuae sive luciniae, apes industria vel formicae, visu aquila, sus auditu, gustu simia, tactu aranea, vultur vero praeminet in olfactu.

Quis autem post pauperiem corporum non videat pauperiem facultatum, cum eos " quos prae caeteris dicimus locupletiores vel in eis quae habent vix sibi sufficere videamus, vel mendicantes ab aliis vel tollentes. Crescit enim cum terrena facultate cupiditas, nec est aeque efficax, ut credo, remedium pauperculae cupiditatis vel cupidae paupertatis nisi mendicitas voluntaria et paupertas.

Est et paupertas scientiae, cum sciamus pauca de praeteritis, pauciora de praesentibus et paucissima de futuris, nulla fere dixerim de aeternis. Et, ad cumulum nostrae ignorantiae, nescit homo utrum dignus sit amore vel odio, nisi quod unde est major et ponderosior ramorum copia, inde casura est arbor si fuerit tune excisa, quoniam inter carnalia et spiritualia desideria medium corpus nostrum ad quameumque partem se inclinaverit, anima in instanti quo a corpore fuerit separata, ad Aquilonem scimus ipsam vergere vel ad Austrum.

Sed quis non videat pauperiem esse virtutum ? Alioquin ubi vivunt fides patriarcharum, spes prophetarum, cari tas apostolorum, prudentia doctorum, fortitudo martyrum, castitas virginum, justitia tam ecclesiasticorum quam saecularium praelatorum ?

Vere ergo pauperem vitam gerimus, si tamen vita dicenda est haec vita mortalis, quaedam scilicet mixtura vitae et mortis. Et ideo compellimur hinc exire taedio, et propellimur desiderio vitam illam quaerere ubi sunt non brevitas et paupertas, sed magis aeternitas et ubertas, ut longo, inquit, regnet tempore. Longitudine, inquit, dierum replebo eum, et ostendam illi sa lutare meum. Quid in longitudine nisi aeternitas, quid in diebus nisi claritas, quid in repletione nisi satietas designatur, sed aeternitas non habens terminum, claritas nesciens occasum, satietas ignorans fastidium ? Brèves dies hominis sunt, sed longitudine dierum replebo eum. Nimirum quia + longitudo dierum in dextera ejus. Sed et dies mali sunt, clamât apostolus, et ideo : Melior est dies una in atriis tuis, Dominé, super milia. Dies una, serenissima, secretissima, suavissima sanctorum, una claritas, merces una quae tenebras inclinabit et electis ad meridiem aspirabit, sicut scriptum est : Dilectus meus mihi, et ego illi, qui pascitur inter lilia, donec aspiret dies et inclinentur umbrae.

Aspirabit ad meridiem dies cum omnis sanctorum claritas ad perspicuam et pro sui capacitate plenam Dei visionem avidissime inhiabit. Nec ulla tamen erit in illa aviditate anxietas, dum perhennibus desideriis aderit aeque et perhennis satietas. Aspirabit procul dubio cum lux intérim spirans angelis adiciet ut spiret et nobis, ab initio spirans spiraculum vitae, sed et postmodum de radiorum suorum benignissima circumfulgentia, sed et diffusione largissima dédit nobis, ne desperaremus propter vitia, per spem in gratiam respirare, ut sit nobis demum in gloria dies aspirans, quoniam reprobis erit in exterioribus tenebris nox suspirans et mors sine morte moriens et expirans, quando umbrae ad tenebras declinabuntur et ad profundae noctis caliginem demergentur. Non aspirabit haec dies per creaturae spéculum, sed ostendet nobis salutare suum, et ut in Hebreo legitur, Jhesum suum. Haec est enim vita aeterna, ut cognoscamus verum Deum et quem Pater misit in mundum Dominum Jhesum Christum.

Si quis enim subito nos introduceret in conventum ubi omnibus residentibus in conventu regium esset et omnium lapidum gloriam superans ornamentum, et in medio rex aliquis pulcherrimus, veracissimus et fidelis, ornatus excellentiis, cultioribus indumentis, quem sciremus nec velle nec posse mentiri, si nobis ille promitteret inter illos honoratos, si vellemus, posse conscribi, nonne jugiter conaremur tam frequenti quam ferventi desiderio ne fraudaremur ipso promisso ? Scimus conventum civium supernorum, non auri vel gemmarum sed justitiae meritis adornatum, suo superante lumine claritatem stellarum et ex variis sanctorum agminibus et diversis angelorum ordinibus congregatum, in cujus medio. Dei ethominum mediator et médius Deus et homo Dominus Jhesus Christus claritatem influit omnibus. Ad hune igitur intuendum et coregnandum eidem utinam incessabiliter suspiremus ! Ait enim beatus Johannes Chrisostomus in libro de reparatione lapsi : Si quotidie oportet nos tormenta perferre, si ipsam gehennam parvo tempore tolerare, pro eo ut Christum videre possimus in gloria venientem, et sanctorum ejus numero sociari, non erat dignum pati omne quod triste est modo ut tanti boni tantaeque gloriae participes haberemur? Sed veremur, pervicacium more cervorum ", sic obnitendo,reluctando, ad tanti regis aspectum producimur cum tristitia et maerore, hinc exeuntes magis necessitatis vinculo quam voluntatis obsequio et invite, et cum nolumus ab eo praemiis ccelestibus honorari, ad quem venimus inviti, praeligentes obprobrium extremae servitutis in mundo quam regnare cum Christo. Certe quod morimur, ad immortalitatem morte transgredimur, nec potest vita aeterna succedere nisi contingerit hinc exire. Non est exitus iste sed transitus, et temporali decurso itinere ad aeterna transgressus.

Si vetusto nutante pariete tectum desuper tremeret, nonne omni celeritate egredi niteremur ? Si navigantibus nobis turbida et procellosa tempestas violentis fluctibus excitatis pronunciaret futura naufragia, nonne ad portum velociter tenderemus ? Quid ergo mundus nisi ruina vel naufragium, qui nos sua fragilitate prospecta quodammodo compellit ad regnum, ubi nos numerus amicorum expectat, angelorum turba desiderat, et utique de nostra salute solliciti sed de sua jam felicitate securi.

Tempus est ut ad margines veniatur. Novi enim quod modum epistolae jam excessi, nec tamen ex toto quod statueram adimplevi. Sed meae sollicitudinis jugis et indefessa confachinatio, lectionum mearum et disputationum necessaria continuatio, vix mihi reliquerunt otium hoc scribendi. Sed affectionis vehementia, qua pulvis exiguus" revolat interdum ad dominum suum, brevi suscepto tempore condempnavit incuriam subticendi. Si domino regi placuerit, quod, spero de reverentia Dei et diligentia sui dictum est in hac epistola. De disciplina debita protestatum et officialium, de affectu et protectione subditorum procedet, si Dominus dederit, et secunda et officialium.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Jas.4.14 — You who do not know what tomorrow will bring — what your life will be! For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
  2. ↩Jas.4.14 — You who do not know what tomorrow will bring — what your life will be! For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
  3. ↩Isa.40.6-Isa.40.8 — A voice says, "Cry out!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass, and all its faithfulness is like the flower of the field. Isa.40.7 — The grass withers, the flower fades, for the breath of the LORD blows upon it; truly, the grass is the people. Isa.40.8 — The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.
  4. ↩Isa.40.6 — A voice says, "Cry out!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass, and all its faithfulness is like the flower of the field.
  5. ↩Ps.91.16 — With long life I will satisfy him, and show him my salvation.
  6. ↩Job.14.1;Ps.89.47-Ps.89.48 — Man, born of woman, is short of days and full of turmoil. Ps.89.47 — How long, O LORD, will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? Ps.89.48 — Remember, what is this life? For what vanity You have created all the children of man!
  7. ↩Job.14.1 — Man, born of woman, is short of days and full of turmoil.
  8. ↩Ps.84.11 — For better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
  9. ↩Eph.5.16 — making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
  10. ↩Song.2.16-Song.2.17 — My beloved is mine, and I am his — the one who grazes among the lilies. Song.2.17 — Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of Bether.
  11. ↩1Tim.2.5 — For there is one God and one mediator between God and humankind, the man Christ Jesus,
  12. ↩Rom.8.18 — For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is about to be revealed to us.
  13. ↩2Cor.4.17 — For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,
  14. ↩1Cor.15.53-1Cor.15.54 — For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 1Cor.15.54 — But when this perishable puts on imperishability, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The token IO in the source (aurarum IO flatu) is marked by the gloss as uncertain — possibly a gloss or marginal mark. It has been omitted from the translation as it does not carry lexical sense in context.
  2. 2 ↩The quotation 'Memor esto, filii, quoniam pauperem vitam gerimus' echoes Ecclesiasticus / Sirach 7:40 ('Memorare novissimorum tuorum…') and related sapiential exhortations to remember one's end and humble estate. Final resolution deferred to tx-08 Moses.
  3. 3 ↩The double use of 'ut' clauses (result and purpose) is preserved: the first 'ut' expresses result (so great that…), the second 'ut' expresses purpose (so that I may speak). The rhetorical humility topos — the author styling himself 'pauper' and his style 'stilo paupere' — is rendered literally to preserve the self-deprecating tone.
  4. 4 ↩cum with subjunctive sciamus rendered as causal ('inasmuch as'); a concessive reading ('although we know') is possible but less fitting in context.
  5. 5 ↩dixerim treated as potential subjunctive ('I would say'), expressing modest assertion rather than future perfect.
  6. 6 ↩Et at sentence opening rendered as continuative/resumptive 'And,' linking to the preceding argument about poverty of knowledge.
  7. 7 ↩tune treated as scribal variant of tunc ('then'); translated accordingly.
  8. 8 ↩The North (Aquilo) and South (Austrum) likely carry symbolic weight — North as the direction of darkness or evil, South as the direction of light or goodness — though the text leaves the valence implicit.
  9. 9 ↩quoniam introduces a causal clause explaining why the soul's direction at death follows the body's lifelong inclination.
  10. 10 ↩cari tas is a split token in the source (caritas); rendered as 'love' per lexeme policy default for charitas. The catalogue of virtues paired with biblical and ecclesial figures functions as a rhetorical question: these virtues are effectively dead in the present age.
  11. 11 ↩The ut-clause (token 23) is ambiguous between purpose and result; rendered as purpose ('so that') as the best candidate reading.
  12. 12 ↩The form 'sa lutare' (tokens 8–9) is uncertain and likely corrupt. The normalized reading is translated according to the most plausible intended sense: 'salutare meum' (my salvation), a well-attested scriptural phrase. The corruption may reflect a scribal error or abbreviation.
  13. 13 ↩The plus sign (+) in the normalized text indicates a lacuna or uncertain reading in the source. The translation follows the most plausible reconstruction. The phrase 'longitudo dierum in dextera ejus' likely alludes to a psalm or wisdom text about God's gifts being held in his hand.
  14. 14 ↩The triple superlative (serenissima, secretissima, suavissima) is rendered with 'most' constructions to preserve the rhetorical crescendo while keeping natural contemporary English.
  15. 15 ↩confachinatio is a rare and uncertain form; the gloss 'toil' is tentative. The sense is some kind of persistent labor or effort joined to sollicitudinis.
  16. 16 ↩subticendi is a rare and uncertain form, possibly a variant of subticeo ('to keep silent'). The sense is that the speaker's devotional impulse condemned his silence.
  17. 17 ↩condempnavit appears to be an orthographic variant of condemnavit ('condemned'); translated as 'condemned'.
  18. 18 ↩protestatum has an uncertain syntactic role; likely an accusative of respect or a substantive participle meaning 'what was declared/protested.'
  19. 19 ↩secunda is ambiguous between nominative singular feminine and neuter plural; here taken as neuter plural substantive, 'favorable/prosperous matters,' parallel to officialium.

Eruditio regum et principum (Education of Kings and Princes) companion

Louis IX kept a daily rule of reading. Keep yours.

After day 21, Chosen Portion keeps the habit going with one historic devotional portion each morning, free on iOS.

Guibert formed Louis IX through short scheduled installments, and Chosen Portion delivers formation in the same daily-installment pattern.

  • One reading and prayer per day, about 3 minutes
  • Continue with 78 royal and monastic works after the plan ends
  • Reflection questions suited to reading with a teen or small group
Chosen Portion — Daily Prayer (free iOS app) →