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Chapter 31ViaRegia.1.31

Prohibendum ne captivitas fiat

The Prohibition of Captivity

The king is urged to forbid captivity in his realm, following the example of the heavenly Father and the warnings of the prophets.

Therefore, forbid it, most merciful King: let there be no captivity in your kingdom. Be a most faithful son of that Father to whom you cry out every day with your other brothers: Our Father, who art in heaven. Whatever that loving Father loves, love it too; whatever he forbids when he hears of it, forbid it too.1 Imitate him faithfully—the one with whom you hope to reign forever. For he himself, in giving a command to Moses, said: If a man is caught abducting his brother from among the children of Israel, and after selling him takes the price, he shall be put to death, and you shall remove the evil from your midst.2 He also cries out through the prophet Amos, saying: For three crimes of Gaza, and for four, I will not reverse it—because they carried off a whole captive people to shut them up in Edom.3 Likewise there: For three crimes of Tyre, and for four, I will not reverse it—because they shut a whole captive people into Edom and did not remember the covenant of brothers. Likewise he himself: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not reverse it—because they sold the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals.

The Duty of Fraternal Justice

Scriptural mandates from Isaiah, Sirach, and Jeremiah call for the just treatment and manumission of servants.

So that servants may be treated justly and rightly, and so that they may be set free, Isaiah cries out and says: This is rather the fasting I have chosen: break the bonds of wickedness, untie the crushing yokes, set free those who are broken, and snap every burden.✦ Ecclesiasticus also says: Don't wrong a servant who works faithfully, nor a hired laborer who gives his life.4 Let a sensible servant be as dear to you as your own soul; don't cheat him of freedom, and don't leave him destitute. He adds: If you have a faithful servant, let him be to you as your own soul; treat him like a brother. The Lord also gave the people of Israel this command about servants through Jeremiah. For he says: This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I made a covenant with your fathers on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying: When seven years are completed, each of you shall release his Hebrew brother who was sold to you and has served you six years, and you shall let him go free; but your fathers didn't listen to me, nor did they incline their ear. And you yourselves turned today and did what is right in my eyes, so that each of you proclaimed liberty to his friend. And you entered into a covenant before me, in the house over which my name is called. And you turned back and defiled my name: each of you brought back his male servant, and each his female servant—those you had set free so they would be free and under their own authority—and you put them under the yoke again, so they would be slaves and servant women to you.✦ Therefore the Lord says this: You did not listen to me, that each of you might proclaim freedom to his brother and each to his friend. Look—I proclaim freedom to you, says the Lord: freedom for the sword, for plague, and for famine. And I will make you a horror and upheaval to all the kingdoms of the earth.✦5

The Royal Vocation of Mercy

The king is exhorted to practice humility, charity, and mercy, prioritizing compassion in his role as governor.

Truly, you ought to obey God and His commands—to the extent that God has given you the ability. And among other saving commands and right works, because of His overflowing love each person ought to set free their slaves, considering that it was not nature that put them under him, but fault—for by condition we were created equal, but some have been subjected to others by fault.67 Consider this as well: if you set them free, freedom will be granted to you.8 For you too, my lord, are pressed under a yoke of condition.9 Therefore, honor your God for everything, most just and most devout king—because, as it is written, "He has honored you in all things." Whether it is in the slaves placed under you or the riches granted to you, do not cease to obey His commands by setting those slaves free and giving alms from those riches. Be a father to the poor, a nurturer of wards, a friend to orphans, a defender of widows, a guide to strangers, and, according to your ministry of rule, a defender and governor to all people.10 As Christ gives and His grace bestows, be full of wisdom; be endowed with prudence; be enriched with simplicity; be grounded in patience—yet raised upright by a zeal for what is right. Be gentle and peaceable toward everyone, yet still kindled with a zeal for what is right. When seeking justice, be a careful investigator; when judging, be a cautious enforcer—but always ensure that mercy comes before judgment. Remember that whoever has mercifully forgiven a brother will receive mercy from the Lord.

Divine Sovereignty and the Sword

The king is reminded that his power and military success depend entirely upon the Lord, who grants or withdraws strength according to His judgment.

If you carefully put these things into practice, O king, the Lord will strengthen your kingdom, raise up your throne, and fortify your arm, because the Lord strengthens the arm of the one he chooses, and to win the victory he provides his own sword along with his help. This is how he speaks through the prophet Ezekiel: "I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand; I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and they will groan with the groans of the slain before him. I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh will fall; and they will know that I am the Lord when I put my sword in the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out over the land of Egypt."✦ For the Lord weakens and breaks the arm of whoever he wills: he himself, after all, also says this to Ezekiel: "Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh the king: and look, it has not been wrapped so that health might be restored to him, so that it might be bound with cloths and bandaged with linen strips, so that with strength recovered he could hold a sword." Therefore the Lord God says this: "Look, I am against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and I will shatter his strong arm—yes, the one already broken; I will cast the arm down from his hand: and I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and drive them about through the lands."1112 And in the Psalm it is written: "You turned away the help of his sword, and you did not help him in battle." But that the Lord also knows the victory before it happens, he himself says through Ezekiel: "You then, son of man, this is what the Lord God says: Speak to every winged creature and to all the birds and to every beast of the field: Come together, hurry, rush from every side to my sacrifice, the one I am offering for you—a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel—so that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You will eat the flesh of the strong, and you will drink the blood of the princes of the earth: of rams and lambs, of goats and bulls, of fattened birds and of all that is fat." And you will eat fat until you're full, and drink blood until you're drunk, from the sacrifice I'll offer for you; and you'll be satisfied at my table with horse and strong rider, and with all the fighting men, says the Lord God.

Read the original Latin

Prohibe ergo, clementissime rex, ne in regno tuo captivitas fiat. Esto fidelissimus illius Patris filius ad quem quotidie clamas cum caeteris fratribus: Pater noster, qui es in coelis. Quidquid ille amans diligit, et tu dilige: quidquid audiens ille prohibet, et tu prohibe. Imitare illum fideliter, cum quo speras regnare perenniter. Ipse enim Moysi praecipiens ait: Si deprehensus fuerit homo sollicitans fratrem suum de filiis Israel, et vendito eo acceperit pretium, interficietur, et auferes malum de medio tui. Ipse quoque per Amos prophetam clamat et dicit: Super tribus sceleribus Gazae, et super quatuor non convertam eam: eo quod transtulerint captivitatem perfectam; ut concluderent eam in Idumaea. Item ibi: Super tribus sceleribus Tyri, et super quatuor non convertam eum, eo quod concluserint captivitatem perfectam in Idumaea, et non recordati sunt foederis fratrum. Item ipse: Super tribus sceleribus Israel, et super quatuor non convertam eum: pro eo quod vendiderit pro argento justum, et pauperem pro calceamentis.

Ut juste et recte erga servos agatur, et ut liberi dimittantur, Isaias clamat et dicit: Hoc est magis jejunium, quod elegi: dissolve colligationes impietatis, solve fasciculos deprimentes, dimitte eos qui confracti sunt, liberos, et omne onus disrumpe. Ecclesiasticus quoque: Non laedas servum in veritate operantem, neque mercenarium dantem animam suam. Servus sensatus sit tibi dilectus quasi anima tua, non defraudes illum libertate, neque inopem derelinquas illum. Item ipse: Si est tibi servus fidelis, sit tibi quasi anima tua, quasi fratrem sic eum tracta. Dominus quoque per Jeremiam populo Israel de servis hoc dedit praeceptum. Ait enim: Haec dicit Dominus Deus Israel: Ego percussi foedus cum patribus vestris, in die qua eduxi eos de terra Aegypti, de domo servitutis dicens: Cum completi fuerint septem anni, dimittat unusquisque fratrem suum Hebraeum qui venditus est ei, et servivit tibi sex annis: et dimittes eum a te liberum; et non audierunt patres vestri me, nec inclinaverunt aurem suam. Et conversi estis vos hodie, et fecistis quod rectum est in oculis meis, ut praedicaretis libertatem unusquisque ad amicum suum. Et inistis pactum in conspectu meo, in domo in qua invocatum est nomen meum super eam.

Et reversi estis, et commaculastis nomen meum: et reduxistis unusquisque servum suum, et unusquisque ancillam suam, quos dimiseratis ut essent liberi et suae potestatis: et subjugastis eos, ut sint vobis servi et ancillae. Propterea haec dicit Dominus: Vos non audistis me, ut praedicaretis libertatem unusquisque fratri suo, et unusquisque amico suo: ecce ego praedico vobis libertatem, ait Dominus, ad gladium, ad pestem, et ad famem: et dabo vos in commotionem cunctis regnis terrae.

Vere obedire debet homo Deo, et ejus praeceptis, in quantum ille possibilitatem dederit, obedire. Et inter alia praecepta salutaria, et opera recta, propter nimiam illius charitatem unusquisque liberos debet dimittere servos, considerans quia non illi eos natura subegit, sed culpa; conditione enim aequaliter creati sumus, sed aliis alii culpa subacti. Simul et considerantes quia si dimiseritis, dimittetur vobis. Nam et vos, domine, conditionale opprimit jugum. Honorifica ergo, justissime ac piissime rex, pro omnibus Deum tuum, quia, ut scriptum est, Pro omnibus honorificavit te, sive in servis tibi subactis, sive in divitiis tibi concessis, ex illis liberos faciendo, et ex istis eleemosynas tribuendo, praeceptis illius obedire non cesses. Esto pauperum pater, pupillorum nutritor, orphanorum amator, viduarum que defensor, peregrinorum educator, omniumque secundum regulae ministerium defensor et rector. Esto, Christo donante, illius gratia largiente, sapientia plenus, esto prudentia praeditus, esto simplicitate ditatus, esto patientia fundatus, zelo tamen rectitudinis erectus. Omnibus esto mitis atque pacificus, sed tamen zelo rectitudinis accensus.

In perquirendo justitiam esto sollicitus indagator, in dijudicando cautissimus exsecutor, ita tamen ut misericordia semper judicio praeponatur. Memento quia a Domino misericordiam accipiet, qui fratri misericorditer indulserit.

Haec si diligenter agens impleveris, rex roborabit Dominus regnum tuum, exaltabit solium, et brachium confirmabit, quoniam cujus vult Dominus brachium confirmat, et ad faciendam victoriam suum gladium cum auxilio praestat. Sic enim per Ezechielem prophetam ait: Et confortabo brachia regis Babylonis, daboque gladium meum in manu ejus: et confringam brachia Pharaonis, et gement gemitibus interfecti coram facie ejus, et confortabo brachia regis Babylonis, et brachia Pharaonis concident, et scient quia ego Dominus, cum dedero gladium meum in manu regis Babylonis, et extenderit eum super terram Aegypti.

Nam cujus vult Dominus brachium debilitat et frangit: ipse enim et hoc ad Ezechielem dicit: Fili hominis, brachium Pharaonis regis confregi: et ecce non est obvolutum ut restitueretur ei sanitas, ut ligaretur pannis, et fasciaretur linteolis, ut recepto robore posset tenere gladium. Propterea haec dicit Dominus Deus: Ecce ego ad Pharaonem regem Aegypti, et comminuam brachium ejus forte, sed confractum; dejiciam brachium de manu ejus: et dispergam Aegyptum in gentibus, et ventitabo eos in terris. Et in Psalmo scriptum est: Avertisti adjutorium gladii ejus, et non es ei auxiliatus in bello.

Quod autem et victoriam, antequam fiat, Dominus cognoscit, ipse per Ezechielem ait: Tu ergo, fili hominis, haec dicit Dominus Deus: Dic omni volucri et universis avibus cunctisque bestiis agri: Convenite, properate, concurrite undique ad victimam meam, quam ego immolo vobis, victimam grandem super montes Israel ut comedatis carnem, et bibatis sanguinem; carnes fortium comedetis, et sanguinem principum terrae bibetis: arietum et agnorum, et hircorum, taurorumque, et altilium et pinguium omnium. Et comedetis adipem in saturitate, et bibetis sanguinem in ebrietatem, de victima, quam ego immolabo vobis: et saturabimini super mensam meam de equo et equite forti, et de universis viris bellatoribus, ait Dominus Deus.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Isa.58.6 — Is this not the fast I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and every yoke you shall break?
  2. ↩Jer.34.16 — But you turned back and profaned my name, and each of you took back his male slave and his female slave, whom you had set free to go wherever they wished, and you subdued them to be your slaves and your slave-girls again.
  3. ↩Jer.34.17 — Therefore, thus says the LORD: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, each to his brother and each to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming liberty to you, declares the LORD—to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
  4. ↩Ezek.30.24-Ezek.30.25 — I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him with the groans of the slain. Ezek.30.25 — And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but Pharaoh’s arms shall fall. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩amans and audiens are parallel participles characterizing the Father (loving / hearing). Rendered as manner-plus-identity rather than bare 'lovingly' / 'hearingly'.
  2. 2 ↩sollicitans in this legal context is man-stealing/kidnapping for sale, not modern 'soliciting'.
  3. 3 ↩non convertam eam is the fixed Amos judgment formula ('I will not turn it back' / revoke the sentence). captivitatem perfectam = a complete / entire captive population.
  4. 4 ↩dantem animam suam can mean pouring out his life in hard labor, risking himself for wages, or giving his whole self to the work; rendered as 'gives his life' to keep that force without modern paraphrase.
  5. 5 ↩praedico ... libertatem ... ad gladium is ironic legal reversal: the freedom they withheld from others is repaid as release into sword, plague, and famine. commotionem rendered as horror and upheaval (terror that shakes the nations).
  6. 6 ↩charitatem rendered as love (lexeme default); the force is God's overflowing charity toward humankind as motive for manumission.
  7. 7 ↩culpa / conditione: 'fault' (not mere 'guilt feelings') marks the historical/moral cause of bondage against equal created condition; nature vs. fault contrast preserved.
  8. 8 ↩dimiseritis / dimittetur carries both manumission ('set free') and the Gospel release/forgive cadence; rendering keeps the freedom sense primary in context while remaining open to the forgiveness echo.
  9. 9 ↩conditionale ... jugum: 'yoke of condition' keeps the Latin's compressed sense that the ruler also lives under a conditional yoke (station, mortality, subordination), not a free natural mastery.
  10. 10 ↩regulae ministerium: in Via Regia, regula most naturally means the office/rule of kingship rather than a monastic rule; rendered 'ministry of the rule'.
  11. 11 ↩Latin 'brachium ejus forte, sed confractum' is dense: 'sed' is adversative, but the prophetic sense is that God shatters both the strong arm and the already broken one (cf. the dual arms of Ezek 30:22). Rendered as the strong arm that is already broken, with 'yes' carrying the force of the contrast.
  12. 12 ↩'ventitabo' (frequentative of going about / driving to and fro) is rendered 'drive them about'; near synonym of Vulgate 'ventilabo' in the same Ezekiel context (scatter / winnow among the lands).

Via Regia (The Royal Road) companion

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