Letter XCVII. To Duke Conrad

(A.D. 1132.)

Bernard urges upon him not to make war upon the Count of Geneva, lest he should draiv itpon himself the -vengeance of God.

1. All power comes from Him, to whom the prophet says, Tliine is the power, Thine the kingdom, O, Lord; Thou art over all nations (1 Chron. xxix. n). Therefore I have thought it fit, O illustrious Prince, to warn your Excellency how great reverence it behoves you to show to that terrible One, who takes away the life of princes themselves. The Count of Geneva, as I know from his own mouth, offers to do you justice with respect to all the causes of complaint which you declare you have against him. If, after this, you continue to invade the country of another, to destroy churches, to set houses on fire, to plunder the poor, to perpetrate homicides, and to pour out human blood, it is certain that you will arouse against you the stern anger of Him who is the Father of orphans and the judge of widows. And if He is angry with you, neither the number nor the bravery of your soldiers will profit you at all. The Almighty Lord of Sabaoth will give the victory to whom He pleases, whether it be by many or by few. He has made, when He saw fit, one soldier put to flight a thousand, and two ten thousand (Deut. xxxii. 30).

2. The cry of the poor which has come to me has inspired me, a poor man, to use this language to your Greatness, knowing that it is more honourable and worthy of you to yield to the entreaties of the humble than to the threats of your enemies; not that I think your enemies more¹ powerful than you, but that I know Almighty God is far more powerful than either, and that He resists the proud while he gives grace unto the humble. If I had been able I would have come unto your presence, noble Prince, to treat of this matter, but now I have sent to you, in my place, these of my brethren to obtain from your Highness, by their prayers united with mine, either a solid peace, if that be possible, or, at least, a truce while we endeavour to settle the conditions of a definitive peace, according to the will of God, and both to your honour and the safety of your country. Otherwise, if you neither accept the satisfaction offered you, nor deign to regard our entreaties, or rather do not give ear to the salutary advice which God gives you by me, let Him look upon it and judge. For I know, nor can I reflect upon it without trembling, that such great armies can hardly meet in battle without horrible carnage and slaughter of each side.

Footnotes

1. Samuel Guichenon, in his History of the Dukes of Savoy, written in French, reports that Conrad, Duke of Zeringen, was at this time contemplating hostilities against Amadeus I., Count of Geneva. Zeringen, says Munster (Cosmography, B. iii.), was a certain castle, now destroyed, situated on the Brisgau, half a mile below Fribourg, from which the Dukes of Zeringen derived their title. These Dukes were descended from the Counts of Hapsburg by a ceitain Gebizo about the time of the Emperor Henry III.; and continued until i ?. The sixth and last inheritor of the title was named Egon. ↩