Letter XIII. To the Lord Pope Honorius

(A.D. 1126.)

He begs that the election of Albert to the See of Chalons-sur-M arne may be ratified.

To the supreme Pontiff Honorius, a certain brother, a monk by profession, and by his life a sinner, sends his humble duty.

It is said that over you the prayer of a poor man has more power than the will of the powerful. The thought of this singular nobleness in you, as well as the suggestion of charity, impels me to write without fear to your Highness. 1 speak to you, my lord, with regard to the Church of¹ Chalons, and I neither am able, nor ought I, to conceal from you as far as my ability extends, the danger to which it is exposed. In fact, being in its neighbourhood, I feel already that the peace of this Church will speedily be profoundly troubled, if your Holiness should not be able to assent to the election of that distinguished man, that is, of Magister Alberic, which has united the suffrages of the whole clergy and the people in an equal vote. On that subject, if you should deign to inquire or to care for my opinion, I would say that that man is of a faith irreproachable, that his doctrine is sound, and that he has shown prudence both in divine and human things; and I hope that in the House of God (if by Him he should be chosen) he would be a vessel of honour, and would be of service not only to that house,, but to the whole of the Gallican Church. It is now for your wisdom to judge, whether I am right in asking from you the giving of a dispensation from which such good effects may be expected.

Footnotes

1. Alberic had a school in Rheims. " A man most illustrious for his know ledge of literature and his sound judgment," says Robert de Monte of him. Peter Abaelard, his rival, calls him " Remensis," and " a disciple of William de Champeaux;' (Hist. Calamit. suar. cap. 5). He is said to have been a "fellow scholar" with Abaelard (Epist. Heloissa; ii.), but became a strong opponent of the novel speculations of the latter, and it was by his efforts in great measure in the Council of Soissons that Abaelard was obliged to commit to the flames his Book on the Trinity. The letter and commendation before us does not seem to have been successful in its purpose. But it appears that Alberic succeeded to the See of Bourges at the death of its Bishop, Ulgrinus, some time after 1128. ↩