Praefatio
Devotional Invocation and Prophetic Mandate
The author addresses God in devotion and grounds his work in the prophetic command to seek divine law through the priests.
Glorious Lord, faithfully devoted and faithful in devotion. Obeying the Lord's command through the prophet who commands it: 'Ask the priests my law' (Hag.
The Purpose of the Inquiry
The author explains his desire to consult on scriptural chapters and invokes Christ's warning against self-seeking speech.
It pleased me to consult you on certain chapters (2 Chr 12). Since Truth itself speaks about these things: 'Whoever speaks on his own seeks his own glory' (John
The Florilegium Method and Divine Promise
The author explains his method of gathering patristic and scriptural testimonies and cites the divine promise of repayment for generous effort.
I thought it right not to answer you with my bare words alone, but to gather for you certain fragrant little flowers from what the Holy Spirit speaks in the sacred Scriptures and through the Catholic doctors — truly from the full field, that is, the field of Scriptures, which the Lord has blessed — and to bring them together briefly into one place for you. And knowing the promise — 'What you have given over and above, I will give back to you when I return' (Luke
The Royal Ministry and Classical Wisdom
The author presents his additions to the king's knowledge on royal ministry and begins a classical citation on the duty of counsel.
I have added, as it were, certain gleaming sparks to the light of your knowledge, concerning those things that belong to the royal ministry entrusted to you by God. Because indeed, as the comic playwright says (Ter.
The Terence Fragment
A fragmentary citation from Terence's Andria is quoted, introducing the theme of truthful counsel over flattery.
in Andr.
Truthful Counsel Over Flattery
The author urges that truth, not flattery, should please a prince, and assures the king that the collected opinions are for his benefit, not against him.
Obedience produces friends, truth breeds hatred — and it is not assent, that is to say flattery, that ought to please a prince and lord of the earth. Least of all should a priest pursue that kind of thing. If you find something rather sharply said among the opinions I have gathered from the person of the king and the royal ministry, please do not think I collected them against you, but for your benefit — since I know that you are, in kindness and goodness, just as the opinions themselves describe, and that you act accordingly; or, if you are not such, I desire that you be so and act so.
The Threefold Structure of the Treatise
The author outlines the threefold arrangement of the treatise: the king's person and ministry, the discretion of mercy and capital punishment, and the duty of impartial justice even toward kin.
Now the opinions in this little book are arranged in a threefold collection. First, concerning the person of the king and the royal ministry in the general cause of the commonwealth. Next, what discretion ought to be exercised in showing mercy, and concerning the punishment of specific persons who, if they act destructively and cannot be corrected otherwise, are commanded to be penalized with temporal death — a point that some say is contradicted. Then, because of his royal ministry, the king ought not to spare even those bound to him by any ties of kinship when they act criminally against God and holy Church, or against the commonwealth, out of carnal affection.
Read the original Latin
Domino glorioso fideliter devotus et devote fidelis. Obaudientes praeceptum Domini per prophetam jubentis, Interroga sacerdotes legem meam (Agg. II, 12), super quibusdam capitulis me consulere vobis placuit. De quibus quoniam per se Veritas dicit, Qui a semetipso loquitur, gloriam propriam quaerit (Joan. VII, 18), dignum duxi non nudo meo sermone vobis respondere, sed quid in Scripturis sacris et per catholicos doctores inde loquatur Spiritus sanctus, quosdam odoriferos flosculos, ut revera de agro pleno, Scripturarum scilicet campo, cui benedixit Dominus, breviter in unum vobis colligere. Et sciens pollicitum, Quod supererogaveris, ego cum rediero reddam tibi (Luc. X, 15), de his quae regio ministerio vobis a Deo commisso competere vidi, quasi scintillas micantes lumini scientiae vestrae superadjeci. Quia vero, ut Comicus dicit ( Ter.
in Andr. ): Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit, et non assentatio, videlicet adulatio, principi ac domino terrae placere debet, minime autem sacerdotem sectari eam oportet, si quiddam mordacius dictum in sententiis a me collectis de regis persona et regio ministerio inveneritis, non contra vos, quaeso, sed pro vobis eas me collegisse putetis, quoniam aut talem in benignitate ac bonitate, sicut ipsae describunt sententiae, vos esse et sic agere scio, aut talem esse et sic agere cupio. Hujus autem libelli sententiae triformi sunt collectione distinctae. Primo quidem de persona regis et regio ministerio in generali reipublicae causa. Deinde quae debeat esse discretio in misericordia, et de ultione specialium personarum, quae si exitialiter agentes aliter non potuerint corrigi, temporali morte praecipiuntur multari, quod a quibusdam dicitur contradici. Tum quia rex propter ministerium regium, etiam nec quibuscunque propinquitatis necessitudinibus, contra Deum sanctamque Ecclesiam atque contra rempublicam agentibus criminaliter, affectu carnali parcere debeat.
On the Person and Ministry of the King (De regis persona et regio ministerio) companion
Keep the examination going after day 7
Chosen Portion delivers a short historic devotional reading and prayer to your phone every morning — free.
The same counsel Hincmar prepared for a reigning king arrives as short daily portions in Chosen Portion, so leaders can pray through the whole treatise a few minutes at a time.
- A 5-minute reading and prayer each morning, drawn from 1,000 years of royal devotional texts
- Continue Hincmar's leadership examination with daily portions from the full 34-chapter treatise
- Set one reminder once; a fresh portion is ready every day at the time you choose