Letter CCCLIV. To Milisendis, Queen of Jerusalem, Daughter of King Baldwin and Wife of Fulk

(A.D. 1142.)

He advises the Queen how she ought to conduct herself now that her husband Fulk was dead.¹

To the most illustrious Queen of Jerusalem, M., BERNARD, Abbot of Clairvaux, wishes health, and that she may find grace in the sight of the Lord.

If I looked only at your title of Queen, your power and your illustrious birth, it would seem to me that there was a certain unfitness in my writing to you, among the multiplied cares and business which trouble you in the midst of your Court. All these things are before the eyes of men, and those who are without them envy those who possess them, and think the man happy to whom they belong. But what blessedness is there in the possession of those things which are all destroyed, as it were, in a moment like the grass of the field, and fall in a moment like flowers? They are indeed pleasant, but their pleasantness alters; it is change able, perishable, and temporary, because it is the pleasantness only of the flesh; and it is of the flesh and its good things that it is said, All flesh is grass and the glory of it as the flower of grass (Isaiah xl. 6). I ought not, there fore, to be withheld from writing to you by such things as those, since their favour is deceitful and their beauty vain. Receive, therefore, what I have in a few words to say: for although I might say much to you, yet I shall make my letter short, because of your many cares as well as mine. My counsels shall be short but salutary: deign to receive them from the distant land from whence they come, like a little seed which shall one day produce an abundant harvest. Receive, I say, advice from the hand of a frienc], who seeks in offering it your honour only, and not any advantage of his own. You know that no one can be a more faithful counsellor than he who loves you alone, not the favours which he may receive from you. The King, your husband, is dead; the young King, your son, being still unable by his youth to bear the burden of the cares of State and to discharge the Royal office, the eyes of all are turned towards you, and upon you alone all the weight of government rests. You need, therefore, to put your hand to brave actions, and, though a woman, to show the spirit of a man; and to do those things which have to be done in the spirit of counsel and strength. It is of great consequence that you should take order for all things with such prudence and discretion that all who behold you may think you from your actions rather a King than a Queen. Let them not say among the nations: Where is the King of Jerusalem? But you will say: I am not sufficient for these things. For these are great matters, above my strength and my know ledge. These are the duties of a man, and I am but a woman, weak in body, changeable in heart, neither provident in counsel, nor accustomed to business. I know, my daughter, I know that these things are great, but I also know this, that although the waves of the sea are mighty, the Lord, who dwelleth on High, is also mighty. These things are indeed great, but great is our Lord, and great is His power.

Footnotes

1. A new Letter; the former No. 354 is now No. 388. ↩