33. To Matilda, Queen of the English

To his honoured lady and dearest daughter, Matilda, queen of the English, Anselm the archbishop offers greeting and God's blessing, with his own if it be worth aught, his service and loving prayers.

My heart gives thanks to your highness for your extreme bounty; it makes what return it can, and ceaselessly longs to do more. May He who thus in spires it, Himself repay you. For, what a pious and sweet affection you by God's inspiration feel for me, you plainly show me when you write me word of all the bitterness and sadness and anxiety which you feel on account of my absence. Which absence of mine, so far as I and those who study the matter understand, has not been thus long extended by any fault of mine. Your excellence with devout feeling complains that my intemperate behaviour has disturbed the equanimity of mind of my lord the king and his nobles; and that this has prevented the good begun by your efforts from being carried out; but in that letter of mine wherein this intemperate language is said to be, nothing unwarrant able, nothing unreasonable can be discovered (although this was imputed to me in the king's letter), if with unbiassed judgment and quiet mind what is there written, and the prohibition which I heard and which all know, be considered. For I advanced nothing against the king's father and Archbishop Lanfranc, men of great and religious memory, when I proved that neither in my baptism nor my ordinations had I promised to obey their law and customs, and declared that I was not going to be false to the law of God. Now that which is required of me because they did it, I, on account of what I heard at Rome with my own ears, could not do without offending most grievously. Were I to despise that I should be acting in defiance of God's law. Therefore, that I might show how reasonably I refused to do that which is demanded of me in accordance with their customs, I explained how much the rather I am a debtor to keep the apostolic and ecclesiastical law known to all, in which we undoubtedly perceive the law of God, since it was promul gated for the support of the Christian religion: how much the more dangerous it would be to despise this law, I need not say here; since Christians who have ears to hear may daily know it from the divine decrees. But that wicked interpretation of my sayings, according to which I am said to have spoken unwarrantably, I do not ascribe to the king's mind or to yours. For as I heard, the king at first received my letter kindly; but afterwards some one, I know not who, with spiteful and insincere intention, excited him against me by a wrong interpretation. Who however that may be, I do not know; but I am quite certain of this, that either he does not love, or knows not how to love, his Lord. May Almighty God so cherish you and your children in prosperity in this life as that He may bring you to the blessedness to come. Amen.