Secundum capitulum, in quo agitur de reverentia Dei.
Four Necessities for Salvation
The author names four things necessary for the salvation of kings and princes: reverence for God, self-governance, proper discipline of officials, and care for subjects.
So it seems to me that four things are necessary for the salvation of kings and princes: reverence for God, diligence in governing themselves, proper discipline of authorities and officials, and the care and protection of their subjects.12
Reverence for God in Spirit and Body
Reverence toward God is rendered both spiritually, through inward worship and outward deeds, and bodily, through respect for holy places, ecclesiastical persons, and their privileges.
Reverence is shown to God both spiritually and bodily. That is to say, spiritually, when God is faithfully worshipped with the affection of the mind and effectively honored by the work done; and bodily, when holy places and the uses to which pious things have been dedicated are respected, along with ecclesiastical persons and their privileges, and all their protections are upheld.3 Bodily reverence is shown when holy places and the uses to which pious things have been dedicated are respected, along with ecclesiastical persons and their privileges, and all their protections are upheld.4
Royal Witness to Reverence
Beyond Scripture, the laws and institutions of kings and princes bear witness to this reverence by upholding the Catholic faith and the privileges of holy places and persons.
Beyond the testimonies of Sacred Scripture, the institutions of kings and princes bear witness more broadly to this same reverence — institutions that venerate and approve the Catholic faith, and that confirm all the privileges of venerable places and persons.
Kings as Nursers of Holy Church
Drawing on Isaiah's prophecy, the text declares that kings of old, and the ruler's own descendants, nourished and nursed Holy Church at royal breasts.
So kings of old, and your own descendants especially, nourished holy Church — as Isaiah prophesied — and nursed her at royal breasts.✦5
The Prince as Minister of the Church
The prince receives the sword from the Church as her minister, wielding bodily power on her behalf while she retains spiritual authority through the pontiffs.
The fact that the prince receives the sword from the hand of the Church shows that he is her minister. For although the Church has no sword of bloodshed at all, she nevertheless uses that sword through the hand of the prince, to whom she has entrusted bodily power, while keeping to herself, in the authority of the pontiffs, the power over spiritual matters.6
Read the original Latin
Regibus igitur atque principibus IIIIor mihi videntur necessaria ad salutem : Dei reverentia, sui diligentia, disciplina debita potestatum et officialium, affectus et protectio subditorum.
Reverentia Deo spiritualiter et corporaliter exhibetur. Scilicet spiritualiter, cum affectu mentis fideliter colitur et effectu operis efficaciter honoratur. Corporaliter vero, cum locis sanctis et eis quae piis dedicata sunt usibus, cum personis ecclesiasticis et eorum privilegiis, emunitas custoditur. Ad hoc ipsum praeter Scripturae Sacrae testimonia patent latius regum et principum instituta, quae fidem catholicam venerantur et approbant, et locorum venerabilium cum personis privilégia universa confirmant. Sic reges olim, sic vestri progénitures specialiter, juxta vaticinium Ysaiae, sanctam ecclesiam nutrierunt, et regiis uberibus lactaverunt. Quod autem de manu ecclesiae princeps gladium accipit, eumdem ministrum ecclesiae ostendit, quae cum gladium sanguinis omnino non habeat, eo tamen utitur per manum principis, cui contulit corporalem potestatem, spiritualium sibi in pontifîcibus auctoritate servata.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Isa.49.23 — And kings shall be your foster fathers, and their princesses your nursing mothers. They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet. And you shall know that I am the LORD; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.
Notes
- 1 ↩The colon introduces an explanatory list of the four necessaria. The connective igitur is inferential, drawing a conclusion from the preceding chapter's discussion.
- 2 ↩sui is a reflexive genitive referring back to reges and principes — the diligence is directed at their own conduct and governance.
- 3 ↩The Latin sentence covers both the spiritual and bodily dimensions in a single period. For readability the translation renders the spiritual half here and defers the bodily half to the next sentence, which the Latin also treats separately.
- 4 ↩emunitas — rare term rendered here as 'protections' in the sense of upheld immunities or guarantees of security.
- 5 ↩Allusion to Isaiah 49:23 — 'kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers.'
- 6 ↩The passage articulates the Gelasian doctrine of the two swords: the Church delegates temporal coercive power to the prince while retaining spiritual authority through the pontiffs.
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