title: Norma vivendi

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 83, coll. 1247B–1252C

source_text:
## Norma vivendi

[1247B] *341* 1. Age, fili, ut oportet, age ut decet, age ut dignum est. Propone tibi ut non pecces, ut culpas tuas non reiteres, post lapsum denuo ne delinquas; bona et mala prout eveniunt tolera; quaecunque eveniunt mente libera sustine; patientiae et mansuetudini ante omnia operam des; irrisionem despiciendo supera; sagittas contumeliae patientiae clypeo frange; praepara contra omnem aspectum clypeum patientiae; contra linguae gladium tolerantiae praebe scutum, tacendo siquidem melius vinces [n: (Vide Isidoriana, cap. 82)].

## 2.

Disce a Christo modestiam, disce et moderantiam, [1247C] tolerantiamque Christi attende, et non dolebis injurias. Maxima est virtus, si non laedis a quo laesus fueris, vel etsi laesus permittis. Maxima est virtus, si cuicunque nocere potuisti parcis; quando enim cruciaris propterea, peccata tua praecingunt te; quando minaris, mala tua iter faciunt; quidquid tibi adversi evenit, propter peccata tua tibi evenit. Consideratione igitur justitiae dolorem tempera; melius dolorem portabis, si pro quibus tibi eveniunt intendas.

## 3.

Cum igitur tibi derogatur, ora; cum maledicitur, tunc benedic; maledictioni benedictionem oppone, et irascentem patientia delinire stude; blandimento iracundiam fervescentem dispelle; nequitiam bonitate verbi vince; malitiam benignitate, inimicos omnes modestia placa, aliorum mala tua bonitate supera. Tranquilla mente illatas contumelias perde, aperi tranquillo corde dolores; vulnus in imo corde, quamvis grave sit, apertum evaporat, valde autem comedit animum inclusum. Quanto enim magis tegis, [1247D] tanto magis auges; aperi igitur grato animo, et non te excruciet.

## 4.

Si tristaveris in aliquo fratrem tuum, satisfac ei. Si peccaveris in illum, poenitentiam age cum eo. Si offenderis aliquem, propitia eum prece, parce velociter, ad reconciliationem offensioni tuae cito veniam postula; non dormites, nisi convertaris ad pacem; non requiescas, nisi reconciliatus fueris fratri tuo. Revoca eum celerrimo dilectionis affectu. Revoca eum humilitate ad gratiam; humilitatis affectu illi te prosterne, et supplici modo veniam deprecare; petenti quoque tibi veniam libenter indulge, et poscenti indulgentiam placatus dimitte.

## 5.

Reverentiam sanctam amplectere, et confestim benigna suscipe charitate; peccanti juste non dimittas, sed culpam sciturus, quia in te est venturum judicium; non habebis indulgentiam, nisi dederis. Etsi ille non supplicet, sibique humiliter dimitti non postulet, si peccatum suum mala consuetudine non [1248B] cognoscat conscientia, tu tamen ex corde relaxa, veniam quoque propria voluntate concede; aufer a corde fraternam offensam, vel offensionem, et alienae nequitiae non servito; odium enim a Deo separat, nec sanguine fuso deletur.

## 6.

Pacem ama, pacem dilige, pacem cum omnibus habe et tene, *342* omnesque in mansuetudine et charitate complectere; praepara amplius amare quam ameris ipse; non sis in pace infidus, non sis levis in amicitia, retine semper vinculum constantiae; odientes ad pacem invita. [1248C]

## 7.

Discerne te tuo, non alieno judicio; nec ex alieno sermone, sed ex tua te mente metire. Nemo melius et magis scire potest quid tu scis quam tu, cum conscius tui es. Quibus vero prodest, si malus, si bonus praediceris; aut quae laus hominum pertinet ad te, si alius es quam laudaris? Quapropter vita simulationem, vita hypocrisin, sub obscuriori veste non simula sanctitatem. Qualis haberi vis, talis esto professione tua et habitu; et in incessu tuo sit simplicitas, et in motu puritas; nihil dedecoris, nihil lasciviae, nihil petulantiae, nihil insolentiae in incessu tuo appareat; gestus enim corporis signum est mentis; non praebeas de te aliis spectaculum, nec aliis obtrectandi locum.

## 8.

Non te adjungas levibus personis, nec te admisceas vanis; vita malos, cave iniquos, fuge malignos, sperne ignaros, fuga a te turbas hominum, maxime illius aetatis qui ad vitia proni sunt. Bonis jungere, et sanctis individue sociare. Si feceris, socius [1248D] conversationis illius eorum eris et virtutum; periculum enim est pessimis sociari, melius est eorum odium quam consortium.

## 9.

Claude aures, ne audias aliquid impudicum; vanus enim sermo cito polluit mentem, et facile laeditur turpibus, et malis omnibus, agiturque libenter quod auditur. Nemo enim creditur odisse quorum relatione non laeditur; nihil ex ore tuo procedat quo turpescas, vel quod turpe sit; sed haec erumpant ex ore tuo, et ex labiis, quae aures non polluant audientium; sermo enim vanus conscientiae vanae est index. Mores hominis lingua pandit, et qualis sermo ostenditur, talis animus comprobatur. Ab otioso sermone compesce linguam, nec inania verba loquaris; sermo enim otiosus non erit sine judicio. Unusquisque enim redditurus est rationem sermonum suorum, ante uniuscujusque hominis faciem stabunt verba sua. Qui verba mala non reprimit, ad noxia cito transit; et qui minima non respuit, in [1249A] maxima valde prorumpit; minorum namque culpa majorem generat.

## 10.

Particulatim crescunt vitia, et dum parva non cavemus, in magnis prolabimur; minora itaque devita, et ad majora non devenies. Ea quae loqueris gravitate atque doctrina existant culta, sitque sermo tuus irreprehensibilis, ad exspectationem audientium utilis; stude loqui omnino quodlibet secundum quod oportet; discerne quid loquaris, quid taceas. Intende, et loquere, et loquendo peritus esto. Multum autem delibera quod loqui vis, ne revocare non possis quod dixeris; fuge casus linguae, nec pateat injuriae jaculis os tuum. Cum amico semper habeto silentium, vide opportunitatem loquendi, et proferendi sermonem, et expendendi. Maneat in ore tuo mensura, in sermone tuo sit statera, abscinde et a lingua tua vitium detrahendi, et de alieno malo os tuum, non coinquines; quod in alio detrahis, hoc in te potius pertimesce.

## 11.

Quod inter se loquuntur homines, hoc nunquam [1249B] scire desideres, *343* nec quaeras aliquem qui dicat tibi; omitte causam quae ad animam tuam non pertinet, nec oblitus morum tuorum alienos perscruteris; tanto animo corrige vitia tua, quanto studio prospexeris aliena.

## 12.

Omne genus mendacii summopere fuge; non studium loquacium fratrum, nec qualibet fallacia vitam alicujus defendas; nullum mendacium justum, quod a veritate discordat, in quo etiam prohibetur duplex juramentum, assiduitas enim perjurii assuetudinem facit. Fac bonum quod spopondisti, non in verba facilis, sed etiam factis et operibus difficilis: sine consideratione unquam nil facias, vel praesumas; quando poteris facere, non pollicearis facere. Multum Deo reus eris, si non reddideris quod voves; in malis autem promissis rescinde fidem. Non est promissio quae dolore adimpletur.

## 13.

Si vis tuas adimplere virtutes, prodere noli; [1249C] occulta virtutes pro elatione; absconde bona facta pro arrogantia; fuge videri quod esse meruisti; qui manifestando poteras amittere, tacendo custodi. Vitia vero cordis tui revela, pravas cogitationes manifesta illico, peccatum enim revelatum cito curatur, simulata culpa crescit. Si patet vitium, ex magno fit pusillum; si latet peccatum, ex minimo fit maximum. Melius est autem ut vites vitium quam ut emendes, ne forte cum incurreris, pessima consuetudine revocare non possis. Consuetudinis vincula vix solvuntur, et inolita diu tardius corriguntur.

## 14.

Incipientem diu delibera sententiam, et quod vis diu agere, diu exquire, proba, et age; nil enim in agendo praecipiti consilio, sed mora melius est. In rebus autem bonis tarditas removeatur; in bonis enim dilatio nocet, et quod expedit differre impedit. In bonis absit remissa segnities, absit negligentia, carnis vitia cito captant inertes; per torporem enim vires et ingenium defluunt, et desidia natura corrumpitur; hebetudo scientiae lumen exstinguit, solertia [1249D] autem meliorem reddit; ardentius fit ingenium subjuncto studio, et tardiora ingenia studiis acuuntur. Torporem naturae industria excitat, spiritus tarditatem assiduitas acuit. Expergiscentia perficit spiritum, expergiscentia plus scitur, saepe namque consuetudinem superat, saepe ex consuetudine naturae est effectus; assiduitas enim mores facit, jugis usus in naturam se vertit, quod cum difficultate per usum sine difficultate perficies.

## 15.

Disce quod nescis, ne doctor inutilis inveniaris; bonum autem quod didiceris doce; sapientiam cum caeteris impertieris, tibi hanc auges, sapientia exinde longior fit; retinendo minor est, et dum plus confertur, abundat. Verba tua cum praecedunt opus, quae ore promis, quae ore promittis, opere adimple; quae verbis doces, exsecutione exhibe et ostende. Esto non solum magister, sed imitator virtutum. Si doces, et facis, tunc gloriosus eris. Non enim satis est laudare quod dixeris, nisi dictis facta commisceas, [1250A] In doctrina tui ipsius ab humana te laude tempora; sic instrue alios, ut teipsum custodias, sic doce, ut humilitatis gratiam non amittas.

## 16.

Cave, ne, dum alios docendo erigis, ipse laudis appetitione derogeris. *344* Cum autem instruis eos, obscuritate noli uti, sed ita dic ut intelligaris, ne loquendo simplicibus displiceas, ne prudentes offendas; juxta spiritum audientium erit sermo doctorum. Secundum mores incipienda est doctrina; juxta vulnus adhibenda sunt remedia, variae enim voluntates diversam disciplinam desiderant. Unusquisque igitur secundum suam professionem est docendus. Inspicienda est utilitas personarum, et unumquemque taliter in erudiendo tracta. Committe omnibus secreta professionis tuae, loquere aperte.

## 17.

Cunctis operta paucis annuntia; ne erubescas loqui quod nosti defendere; et quod tibi scientiae sentis deesse, ab aliis quaere; quaerendo enim obtecta clarescunt, et difficilia conferendo aperiuntur. [1250B] Nulla sit tibi curiositas sciendi latentia, nec ultra quam scriptum erit quaeras scientiam. Non cupias quod scire non licet. In disputatione non contradicas justitiae; nec contendas evacuare quod rectum est; in omni disputatione rectum tene, et plus dilige audire quam loqui. In principio audi, in fine loquere. In omni re finis attendatur, extrema quaerantur, meliorque est sermo novissimus quam primus.

## 18.

Venerare omnes scientia et vita meliores, et unumquemque pro suo merito sanctitatis potiori gradui competentem reverentiam tribue, nec te aequalem sanctiori exhibeas. Senioribus praesta obedientiam, et eorum senio obsequio obedi. Cunctis in praeceptis sic obtempera, ut obtemperando hominum votis Deum non offendas. Malum visus facere, non consuescas, nec adhuc si poenae immineant, peccanti cuiquam non aquiescas; melius namque est pati mortem quam perniciosa mala adimplere. Non solum quippe factorum, sed conscius peccati tenetur obnoxius; [1250C] neque immunis est a scelere qui, ut faceret male, obedivit. Similis est qui obtemperat malo ei qui facit malum; facientem et obsequentem pari poena constringe.

## 19.

A subditis magis venerari quam timeri stude, ut tibi plus dilectionis officio quam contradictionis necessitate adhaereant. Subjecti te plus revereantur quam timeant; ex reverentia enim amor procedit, et odium tremor confert; fidem metus tollit, affectus restituit; timor non servat diuturnam fidem; ubi timor audet, eum sequitur robur; ubi timor, audentia sequitur; et ubi metus, desperatio occurrit. Quapropter tempera oris sementem, summaque bonitate subditos convenit regere; non sis terribilis in subjectis, sed sic dominare, ut tibi delectent servire.

## 20.

Tene modum in omni tempore, ut nihil intemperatum agas, nec minus, nec ultra quam oportet, nec in bonis nisi moderatus esse non debes. Omnia enim medicamenta utilia sunt, et cum tempore omnia fiunt utilia; recta enim immoderato usu corrumpuntur, [1250D] omnis nimietas in vitio est; prospice igitur quid aptum sit tibi, et tempori, et ubi, quando, quare, quandiu facere debeatur; causas rerum et tempora inspice, et singulorum operum discretiones diligenter distingue.

## 21.

Dignosce omnia quae agis, quare bonum incipias, quare peragas; in omni operatione discretionem tene, nec in aliquo indiscretus sis. *345* Cum bene discreveris opus tuum, multa sunt consuetudine vitiata, multa pravo usu praesumpta, et multa contra pudicos mores usurpata; tunc minime consuetudinem serva et legem, usus auctoritati cedat, pravum usum lex et ratio vincant. Testimonio tuo nulli noceas, nec ad alicujus periculum vocem testificationis adhibeas. Sermo tuus nec animam cujusquam, nec res impediat, nullum contra veritatem defendas.

## 22.

Cum judicas, ne ullius personae affectu deflectaris, a viro paupere, aut a divite, causam prospice, non personam. Sperne munus, ne per hoc justitia [1251A] corrumpatur; munera enim semper veritatem praevaricant, et cito a viro violatur justitia. De justo judicio temporalia lucra non appetas, pro justitia nullum tibi praemium quaeras dum judicas, pro futuro serva mercedem, nec quaeras in terra rependi quod tibi in futuro debetur. Excute manus tuas ab omni munere, si in coelis velis habitare; in judicio quoque sine misericordia sedeas. Custodi justitiam discretionis, et noli plus justus esse quam oportet. Omne enim quod nimium est vitium est.

## 23.

Impia justitia est fragilitati humanae non ignoscere; non igitur ames damnare, sed emendare potius quam corrigere. Tene rigorem in discretione justitiae, judicii examen sequatur pietas, disciplinae rigorem temperet indulgentia, ita clemens esto in alienis delictis, sicut in tuis, nec quemquam districtius judices quam sicut teipsum. Sic alios judica, ut te judicari cupis; dum enim indulges aliena peccata, tibi misereris; judicium quod aliis imponis ipse portabis. In [1251B] eo enim in quo judicas es judicandus; in qua mensura mensus fueris, remetietur tibi.

## 24.

Omnia quae inquisieris cum justitia definias, nunquam judices suspicionis arbitrio; ante proba, tunc judica; non enim qui accusatur, sed criminator reus est; periculum est aliquid praesumptuose judicare. In ambiguis de judicio serva sententiam. Qui nosti tua, quando nescis, divino serva judicio; non nitaris damnare judicio humano quod Deus suo examini servat; incerta non judicemus, quoadusque novissime veniat Dominus, qui latentia producat in lucem. Quamvis enim non credenda sunt, ideo tamen dimittentur, nisi quae certis indiciis approbantur, et non quae manifesto examini committuntur, et non quae ordine judiciario comprobantur.

## 25.

In summo honore tibi suprema sit veritas; quamvis sublimis sis potestatis, in te celsitudinem reprime; non te extollat honor, sed praesideat humilitas culmen sublimitatis. Tanto esto majori humilitate conspicuus, quanto es magna dignitate praeclarus. [1251C] Impositas tibi curas humiliter exple, et traditum tibi ministerium mente subdita suscipe. Esto obediens divinae dispositioni, et voluntati ejus contraire non audeas. Jura potestatis adeptae moderanter exerce, et omnia non turbulento, sed tranquillo corde dispone. Cave honores, quos sine culpa tenere non poteris. [1252A] Sublimitas enim honorum magnitudo scelerum, in majori gradu sine dubio poena major.

## 26.

Si vis esse quietus, nihil saeculi appetas. Semper requiem mentis habebis, si a te curam mundi abjicias, semperque quiete aeterna frueris, *346* si te a strepitu terrenarum rerum abstraxeris. Abjice a te quidquid bonum propositum impedire poterit, et toto animo odies damna quae diligit mundus. Quidquid habes, habeto ad misericordiam. Suffragatur virtus tua in operibus. Non eligas cui miserearis, ne forte praetereas illum qui meretur accipere. Omnibus da, ne forte cui non dederis ipse sit Christus; et cui largiris, cum hilaritate largire; et quidquid tribuis, cum affectu tribue; tribue misericordiam sine murmuratione, praebe eleemosynam sine taedio.

## 27.

Major autem sit benevolentia quam quod datur. Major sit gratia quam quod impenditur; tale enim erit opus tuum qualis fuerit intentio tua. Quod enim affectu bono dispensatur, hoc accipit Deus; qui [1252B] autem cum taedio dat, perdit mercedem suam. Qui cum tristitia manum porrigit, fructum amittit remunerationis; non est misericordia, ubi non est benevolentia. De tuis justis laboribus ministra pauperibus. Non auferas uni unde tribuas alteri. Nihil prodest si alium inde reficis unde alium inanem facis. Condemnat miseratio ista, non propitiat. Bonum quod facis misericordiae causa, non jactantiae, facito; nil propter temporalem opinionem, nihil propter famam, sed propter vitam aeternam et Dei charitatem. Quidquid agis, pro futura mercede age, aeternae remunerationis exspectatio te teneat. Amplius quidquid egeris causa gloriae, hoc est facti tui.

## 28.

Si dederis ita, ut hominibus innotescat, non homini, sed propriae personae praestitisti, nec quod ad aeternae, sed quod ad hujus [ *Forte,* hujus vitae] gloriam proficit. Ecce accepisti modica, data est tibi norma vivendi; nulla te ignorantia excusat, non es jam vitae nescius, non es imprudens, aut ignarus, legem [1252C] quam debes sequi, dispositionis qualis esse debeas, descripsi. Cognitiones mandatorum habes. Jam scis quid est recte vivere, vide ne ultra offendas, vide ne quod recipis legendo contemnas vivendo. Bonum scire, acceptum retine, et imple opere quod didicisti praeceptione. Vide deinceps ne bonum quod accepisti despicias. Amen.

english:
## The Rule of Living

[1247B] *341* 1. Act, my son, as you ought; act as is fitting; act as is worthy. Set it before yourself not to sin, not to repeat your faults, not to offend again after a fall; bear good things and bad as they come; endure with a free mind whatever comes; give your effort before all else to patience and gentleness; overcome mockery by despising it; break the arrows of insult upon the shield of patience; make ready the shield of patience against every look; against the sword of the tongue hold out the buckler of endurance — for by keeping silent you will conquer the better [n: (Vide Isidoriana, cap. 82)].

## 2.

Learn modesty from Christ, learn moderation too, [1247C] and give heed to the endurance of Christ, and you will not grieve at injuries. It is the greatest virtue if you do not wound the one by whom you have been wounded, or if, even when wounded, you let it pass. It is the greatest virtue if you spare anyone you had the power to harm; for when you are tormented on this account, your own sins are girding you about; when you are threatened, your own evils are making their way. Whatever adversity comes upon you, it comes upon you because of your sins. Temper your grief, therefore, by considering justice; you will carry the grief better if you attend to the things for which it comes upon you.

## 3.

When, therefore, you are disparaged, pray; when you are cursed, then bless; set a blessing against the curse, and be eager to soothe the angry man by patience; drive off boiling wrath with a gentle word; conquer wickedness by goodness of speech; conquer malice by kindness, appease all your enemies by modesty, overcome the evils of others by your own goodness. Undo with a tranquil mind the insults brought against you; open up your griefs with a quiet heart. A wound in the depth of the heart, however grave it be, evaporates when opened, but eats away the soul terribly when shut in. For the more you cover it, [1247D] the more you increase it; open it, therefore, with a grateful spirit, and it will not torture you.

## 4.

If you have made your brother sad in any matter, make it good to him. If you have sinned against him, do penance with him. If you have offended anyone, win him over by entreaty, spare him swiftly, quickly ask pardon in order to be reconciled for your offense; do not sleep unless you have turned back to peace; do not rest unless you have been reconciled to your brother. Call him back with the swiftest affection of love. Call him back to favor by humility; prostrate yourself before him in the affection of humility, and beg pardon in a suppliant manner; and when you yourself are asked for pardon, grant it freely, and, being appeased, release the one who asks for indulgence.

## 5.

Embrace holy reverence, and receive it at once with kindly charity; do not lightly dismiss the sinner justly, but know the fault, since the judgment is coming upon you; you will not have indulgence unless you have given it. And even if he does not entreat you, and does not humbly ask that it be forgiven him — if by a bad habit his conscience does not [1248B] recognize its own sin — do you nevertheless release it from the heart, and grant pardon of your own will as well; take the brotherly offense, or the taking of offense, away from your heart, and do not be a slave to another's wickedness; for hatred separates a man from God, and is not blotted out even by the shedding of blood.

## 6.

Love peace, cherish peace, have and hold peace with all men, *342* and embrace all in gentleness and charity; make ready to love more than you are loved yourself; do not be faithless in peace, do not be fickle in friendship, hold always to the bond of constancy; invite those who hate you to peace. [1248C]

## 7.

Judge yourself by your own judgment, not another's; and measure yourself not by another's talk, but by your own mind. No one can know better or more fully what you know than you, since you are conscious of yourself. And to whom is it any profit if you are foretold bad, or good? Or what does the praise of men have to do with you, if you are other than you are praised for being? Wherefore shun pretense, shun hypocrisy, do not counterfeit holiness beneath a drabber garment. Be, in your profession and your habit, such as you wish to be reckoned; and let there be simplicity in your walk and purity in your movement; let nothing unseemly, nothing wanton, nothing impudent, nothing insolent appear in your walk; for the bearing of the body is the sign of the mind. Do not offer yourself to others as a spectacle, nor give others occasion to disparage.

## 8.

Do not attach yourself to frivolous persons, nor mingle with the empty; shun the bad, beware of the wicked, flee the malicious, spurn the ignorant, drive from yourself the crowds of men, especially of that age which is prone to vices. Join yourself to the good, and be inseparably allied with the holy. If you do so, you will be a companion [1248D] of their manner of life and of their virtues; for it is a peril to be allied with the worst, and their hatred is better than their fellowship.

## 9.

Close your ears, that you may hear nothing shameless; for empty talk quickly pollutes the mind, and the mind is easily injured by base things and by all evils, and what is heard is gladly done. For no one is believed to hate those by the report of whom he is not injured. Let nothing proceed from your mouth by which you may be made base, or which is itself base; but let those things burst forth from your mouth and from your lips which do not pollute the ears of the hearers; for empty speech is the index of an empty conscience. The tongue lays open a man's character, and as his speech is shown to be, such is his mind proved to be. Restrain your tongue from idle talk, and do not speak empty words; for idle speech will not be without judgment. For each man is to render an account of his words; before the face of every man his own words shall stand. He who does not check evil words passes quickly on to harmful ones; and he who does not reject the least things breaks out utterly into [1249A] the greatest; for guilt in lesser matters begets guilt in greater.

## 10.

Vices grow bit by bit, and while we do not guard against small ones, we slip and fall in great ones; avoid the lesser, therefore, and you will not arrive at the greater. Let the things you say stand out well cultivated by weight and by learning, and let your speech be beyond reproach, useful to the expectation of the hearers; be zealous to speak whatever you speak wholly as you ought; discern what you should say and what you should keep silent. Give heed, and speak, and be skilled in speaking. But deliberate much on what you mean to say, lest you be unable to call back what you have said; flee the slips of the tongue, and let your mouth not lie open to the darts of injury. With a friend always keep silence; watch for the right moment for speaking, and for bringing forth a word, and for weighing it. Let measure remain in your mouth; let there be a balance in your speech; cut away from your tongue also the vice of disparaging, and do not defile your mouth with another's evil; what you disparage in another, this rather fear in yourself.

## 11.

What men say among themselves, never [1249B] desire to know, *343* nor seek out anyone to tell you; leave aside the matter that does not pertain to your own soul, and do not, forgetful of your own character, scrutinize the characters of others; correct your own vices with as much spirit as the zeal with which you have looked into another's.

## 12.

Flee every kind of lie with the utmost care; do not defend anyone's life by the zeal of talkative brethren, nor by any deceit whatever; no lie is just, since it is at variance with truth — and in this matter a double oath is likewise forbidden, for the constant practice of perjury breeds a habit of it. Do the good that you have promised, being not ready with words but slow rather in deeds and works too: never do anything, or presume anything, without consideration; when you will be able to do a thing, do not promise to do it. You will be greatly guilty before God if you do not render what you vow; but in evil promises, break your word. That is no promise which is fulfilled with grief.

## 13.

If you wish to bring your virtues to completion, do not betray them; [1249C] hide your virtues, on account of pride; conceal your good deeds, on account of arrogance; flee to be seen as what you have deserved to be; what by making it known you could lose, keep safe by keeping silent. But reveal the vices of your heart, disclose evil thoughts on the spot — for a sin revealed is quickly cured, while a fault dissembled grows. If the vice lies open, it becomes small from great; if the sin lies hidden, it becomes greatest from least. But it is better that you avoid a vice than that you amend it, lest perchance, when you have run into it, you be unable, through a very bad habit, to call yourself back. The chains of habit are loosed only with difficulty, and things long ingrained are corrected more slowly.

## 14.

Deliberate long on an opinion at its beginning, and what you intend to do at length, search out at length, test, and do; for in acting, nothing is better than delay, and nothing worse than headlong counsel. But in good matters let slowness be put away; for in good things delay does harm, and to put off what is expedient is to hinder it. In good things let slack sluggishness be absent, let negligence be absent; the vices of the flesh quickly seize the idle; for through torpor strength and talent flow away, and nature is corrupted by sloth; dullness puts out the light of knowledge, while skill [1249D] makes it better; talent becomes more ardent when zeal is joined to it, and slower talents are sharpened by studies. Industry rouses the torpor of nature; persistence sharpens the slowness of the spirit. Wakefulness perfects the spirit; by wakefulness more is known — for it often overcomes habit, and often what belongs to nature is the effect of habit; for persistence makes character, and continual practice turns itself into nature, and what you now do with difficulty you will accomplish, through practice, without difficulty.

## 15.

Learn what you do not know, lest you be found a useless teacher; and teach the good you have learned. When you share wisdom with others, you increase it for yourself; wisdom thereby grows longer; by holding it back it grows less, and while it is bestowed more widely, it abounds. When your words go before your work — what you utter with the mouth, what you promise with the mouth, fulfill in deed; what you teach in words, display and show in execution. Be not only a master of the virtues but an imitator of them. If you teach and also do, then you will be glorious. For it is not enough to commend what you have said, unless you mingle deeds with your words. [1250A] In the teaching of your own self, hold yourself back from human praise; so instruct others that you may keep guard over yourself; so teach that you may not lose the grace of humility.

## 16.

Beware lest, while you lift others up by teaching them, you be yourself disparaged through an appetite for praise. *344* And when you instruct them, do not use obscurity, but speak so as to be understood, lest by your speech you displease the simple or offend the prudent; the discourse of teachers will be according to the spirit of the hearers. Teaching must be begun according to men's characters; the remedies must be applied according to the wound, for different wills call for different discipline. Each man, therefore, is to be taught according to his own profession. The profit of the persons must be looked to, and you must handle each one accordingly in instructing him. Entrust to all the secrets of your profession; speak openly.

## 17.

Announce to all what is hidden from a few; do not blush to speak what you know how to defend; and what you feel to be lacking to your knowledge, seek from others; for by seeking, covered things become clear, and hard things are opened up by comparing. [1250B] Let there be in you no curiosity to know hidden things, nor seek knowledge beyond what shall have been written. Do not desire what it is not permitted to know. In debate do not speak against justice; do not strive to make void what is right; in every debate hold to what is right, and love to hear more than to speak. At the beginning, listen; at the end, speak. In every matter let the end be attended to, let the last things be sought out — and the last word is better than the first.

## 18.

Reverence all who are better in knowledge and in life, and to each one render the reverence befitting a higher rank according to his own merit of holiness, and do not present yourself as the equal of a holier man. Render obedience to your elders, and obey their old age with deference. Comply with all in their precepts in such a way that by complying with men's wishes you do not offend God. Do not grow accustomed to doing the evil of sight, nor, even if punishments hang over you, do not give consent to anyone who is sinning; for it is better to suffer death than to carry out ruinous evils. For a man is held liable not only as a doer of deeds, but as one privy to the sin; [1250C] nor is he free from the crime who obeyed in order that evil be done. He who complies with evil is like the one who does evil; bind the doer and the compliant under an equal penalty.

## 19.

Be zealous to be revered by those under you rather than feared, so that they may cleave to you more by the service of love than by the necessity of opposition. Let your subjects revere you more than they fear you; for love proceeds from reverence, and trembling brings hatred; fear takes away trust, affection restores it; fear does not preserve a lasting fidelity; where fear grows bold, strength follows it; where there is fear, boldness follows; and where there is dread, despair comes on. Wherefore temper the sowing of your mouth; and it is fitting to rule your subjects with the utmost goodness; do not be terrible toward those set under you, but so rule that they delight to serve you.

## 20.

Keep measure at every season, so that you do nothing immoderate, neither less nor more than you ought — nor ought you to be anything but moderate even in good things. For all medicines are useful, and with the right occasion all things become useful; for right things are spoiled by immoderate use, [1250D] and every excess lies in vice; look forward, therefore, to what is fitting for you and for the occasion, and where, when, why, and how long a thing ought to be done; examine the causes and the occasions of things, and carefully distinguish the discriminations proper to each work.

## 21.

Discern all that you do — why you begin a good thing, why you carry it through; in every operation hold to discretion, and be indiscreet in nothing. *345* When you have well discerned your work, you will find that many things have been corrupted by custom, many presumed upon through bad practice, and many usurped against chaste morals; then keep custom and the law least of all — let practice yield to authority, let law and reason conquer bad practice. Harm no one by your testimony, nor lend the voice of witness to anyone's peril. Let your speech obstruct neither anyone's soul nor his goods; defend no one against the truth.

## 22.

When you judge, do not be turned aside by partiality toward any person, whether from a poor man or from a rich; look to the case, not the person. Spurn a gift, lest through it justice [1251A] be corrupted; for gifts always play the traitor to truth, and justice is quickly violated by a man. Do not seek temporal gains from a just judgment; seek no reward for yourself for justice while you are judging; keep your wage for the future, and do not seek to be repaid on earth what is owed you in the world to come. Shake your hands free of every gift, if you wish to dwell in heaven; in judgment, too, sit without mercy. Keep the justice of discretion, and do not be more just than you ought. For everything that is excessive is a vice.

## 23.

It is an impious justice not to pardon human frailty; do not, therefore, love to condemn, but rather to amend than to correct. Keep rigor in the discretion of justice; let mercy follow upon the scrutiny of judgment; let indulgence temper the rigor of discipline; be as merciful in others' offenses as in your own, and judge no one more strictly than you would yourself. So judge others as you desire to be judged; for while you pardon another's sins, you have mercy on yourself; the judgment you lay upon others you will yourself carry. For in [1251B] that in which you judge, you are to be judged; in what measure you shall have measured, it will be measured back to you.

## 24.

Determine with justice all the things you have inquired into; never judge by the verdict of suspicion; first prove, then judge; for it is not the one accused, but the accuser, who is guilty; it is a peril to judge anything presumptuously. In doubtful matters, hold back your sentence in judging. You who know your own affairs, when you do not know, leave the matter to the divine judgment; do not lean upon a human judgment to condemn what God keeps for his own scrutiny; let us not judge uncertain things, until at the last the Lord shall come, who will bring hidden things into the light. For although they are not to be believed, yet on that account they will be dismissed — except such as are proved by sure evidences, and not such as are committed to open scrutiny, and not such as are established by the order of judicial process.

## 25.

Let the highest truth be held by you in the highest honor; however lofty the power you hold, press down loftiness in yourself; let honor not exalt you, but let humility preside over the summit of your high station. Be conspicuous by so much greater humility as you are illustrious with great dignity. [1251C] Fulfill humbly the cares laid upon you, and take up with a submissive mind the ministry handed over to you. Be obedient to the divine dispensation, and do not dare to go against his will. Exercise with moderation the rights of the power you have obtained, and set all things in order with a tranquil, not a turbulent, heart. Beware of honors which you will not be able to hold without guilt. [1252A] For loftiness of honors is a greatness of crimes, and in a higher rank the punishment is without doubt greater.

## 26.

If you wish to be at rest, desire nothing of the world. You will always have rest of mind if you cast the care of the world away from you, and you will always enjoy eternal quiet *346* if you withdraw yourself from the din of earthly things. Cast away from you whatever will be able to hinder a good purpose, and hate with your whole soul the losses which the world loves. Whatever you have, have it for mercy's sake. Your virtue lends its support in works. Do not pick out the one on whom you will have mercy, lest perchance you pass by the one who deserves to receive. Give to all, lest perchance the one to whom you have not given be Christ himself; and to whomever you give generously, give with cheerfulness; and whatever you bestow, bestow with affection; bestow mercy without murmuring, offer alms without weariness.

## 27.

But let the good will be greater than what is given. Let the favor be greater than what is laid out; for your work will be such as your intention has been. For what is dispensed with a good affection, this God receives; but he who [1252B] gives with weariness loses his reward. He who stretches out his hand with sadness forfeits the fruit of the recompense; there is no mercy where there is no good will. Minister to the poor out of your own just labors. Do not take from one in order to bestow on another. It is of no profit if you refresh one from that whereby you leave another empty. Such compassion condemns; it does not win favor. The good that you do, do for mercy's sake, not for boasting; nothing for the sake of temporal reputation, nothing for the sake of fame, but for the sake of eternal life and the charity of God. Whatever you do, do for the reward to come; let the expectation of eternal recompense hold you fast. Beyond that, whatever you have done for the sake of glory — this is the whole of your deed.

## 28.

If you give so that it becomes known to men, you have given not to a man but to your own person, and not to what profits toward eternal glory, but toward the glory of this [ *Forte,* hujus vitae]. Behold, you have received small things; a rule of living is given you; no ignorance excuses you; you are no longer unacquainted with life, not imprudent or unknowing: I have described the law [1252C] you ought to follow, and what manner of ordering you ought to have. You have knowledge of the commandments. Now you know what it is to live rightly; see that you offend no further; see that you do not despise in living what you receive in reading. It is good to know; keep what you have received, and fulfill in work what you learned by precept. See henceforth that you do not despise the good you have received. Amen.


site: migne

title: Analecta

author: Various Authors

languages: en la

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 87, coll. 313B–318B

source_text:
## § 1. *Sancti Sigeberti uxor Imnechildis, filius Dagobertus rex Austrasiorum; neptis sancta Irmina, abnepos sanctus Gregorius Ultrajectinus, aliique a sancto Sigeberto, prognati.*

[0313B]

## 1.

Uxor sancti Sigeberti fuit Imnechildis, nonnullis Emnechildis, Eumechildis et Chinechildis appellata; e qua Dagobertus et forsan plures liberi prognati sunt. Mortuo sancto Sigeberto, Dagobertus, octo aut decem annos natus, cui jure haereditario regnum debebatur, factione magnatum, et potissimum Grimoaldi majoris domus, pulsus est, atque in clericum, Didonis Pictavensis episcopi consilio, attonsus, in Scotiam, sive Hiberniam insulam directus, proque eo in regnum Austrasiorum intrusus Childebertus filius Grimoaldi; quem a sancto Sigeberto in regni haeredem fuisse adoptatum, et Dagobertum defunctum, esse falsus rumor sparserat, uti alibi ex antiquis auctoribus probamus. Imnechildis uxor sancti Sigeberti, abducto in Hiberniam filio videtur Parisios [0313C] fugisse, opem imploratura contra regni invasorem. Hoc namque pulso, ipsa cum Childerico adolescente Austrasios rexit, cujus regni an. 2 tam Childericus rex, quam Imnechildis regina Barisiacum monasterium in agro Laudunensi sancto Amando condonarunt. Ejusdem etiam reginae Imnechildis consilio traditur Childericus in Alsatia superiore monasterium in valle sancti Gregorii fundasse.

## 2.

Vivebat eo tempore in Anglia sanctus Wilfridus, an. 664 episcopus consecratus, et circa an. 669 toti Northumbriae praepositus. Hic Dagobertum, ex Hibernia ad se venientem, hospitio excepit, et equis sociisque adjutum in patriam remisit: cui Imnechildis mater in locis magis remotis partem regni procuravit, et inter utrumque regem pacem concordiamque fovit. Dagobertus rex constitutus sanctum Wilfridum ad se venientem benigne excepit, multisque precibus fatigavit ut provinciam remanentia sua dignaretur, episcopatum Strateburgensem accipiens. [0313D] Quae alibi ex Actis sancti Wilfridi deducimus. Dagoberto huic uxorem fuisse Mechtildem Saxonum ducissam colligimus ex Bruschio, in Episcopis Argentinensibus, in sancto Arbogasto. Imo Dagobertum regno pulsum cum conjuge sua apud Thuringos habitasse tradit e Chron. Mss. Matthaeus Merianus, in topographia archiepisc. Moguntini, agens de Heiligenstadio Eichsfeldiae urbe primaria, quem locum sua primordia Dagoberto debere aiunt. Quae etiam in additionibus ad Lambertum Schafnaburgensem a Pistorio editum, pag. 264, de monasterio Erphurti exstructo leguntur, ad eumdem Dagobertum referenda videntur, et tempus Kygiberti seu Richberti, episcopi Moguntini, probat, sed pro ann. 707 substituendus est an. 677, aut huic vicinus. Ipse autem [0314B] Dagobertus appellatus est rex Germanorum, Francorum, Germanicorum, et Francorum Transrhenanorum, ac praeter ditiones trans Rhenum sitas, obtinuit etiam Alsatiam cum urbe Argentoratensi. In hac Alsatia palatium suum Kirchemium aliaque loca monasterio Haselacensi attribuit, cum sanctus Florentius, dein episcopus Argentoratensis, filiae ejus visum ac loquelam reddidisset. Varia item a Dagoberto ecclesiae Argentoratensi et monasteriis Schutterano et Saraburgo, donata sunt, cum filius ejus a sancto Arbogasto, episcopo Argentoratensi, fuisset ad vitam revocatus. Videtur hic Dagoberti filius in arce regia Semburgo, sive Isemburgo, in lucem editus, ac sacro baptismatis fonte renatus, de avi sui nomine Sigebertus appellatus. Hinc temporibus non distinctis, ipse sanctus Sigebertus suscitatus a morte perperam traditur a Brusch. et Guilliman., de Episc. Argentin., in sancto Arbogasto, atque a Coc., in Dagoberto praevio, c. 15. At resuscitatione omissa, ab apro in venatione ad insulam Rheni Novietensis occisus dicitur [0314C] a Joan. Isacio Pontano, l. II Hist. Gelricae; exstinctus veneno per Grimoaldum a Miraeo, in Fast. Belgic., 21 Febr., in elogio Beati Pippini ducis. Veneni suspicionem movent etiam Sanmarth. tom. I Hist. Geneal. reg. Francor., l. V, c. 8. Quae omnia temporum ac personarum facta distinctione corruunt. Reliqua ex Actis sanctorum Arbogasti et Florentii episcoporum Argentoratensium alibi firmamus.

## 3.

Imnechildis uxor sancti Sigeberti, ac hujus Dagoberti mater commorabatur apud Childericum regem, etiam postquam hic Bilichildem uxorem duxerat. Donationes monachis Stabulens. et Malmundariens. a sancto Sigeberto factas hi tres confirmant. Ipsum diploma infra dandum sic incipit: « Childericus rex Francorum, Emnechildis et Bilechildis gratia Dei reginae, viris illustribus Gundoino duci et Odoni domestico. » Et haec ejus clausula: « Ut haec praeceptio nostra in membranis conscripta, firma et inviolabilis perseveret, manu nostra subter eam decrevimus [0314D] affirmare. Signum gloriosi domni Childerici regis. Signum Emnechildis reginae. Signum Bilichildis gratia Dei reginae. Signum Gundoini ducis. Data quando fecit mensis Septemb. dies 6, anno 8 regni domni Childerici regis. Trajecto feliciter. » Annus is est 672. Dein an. 686, mortuo Clotario III, Neustriae et Burgundiae rege, Childericus successit, et una regnum Austrasiorum retinuit; in quo Imnechildem reginam aliqua adhuc cum potestate vixisse innuitur in Vita sancti Praejecti episcopi Arvernorum, 25 Jan., ex Ms. Ultraject. edita, ubi, n. 11, ita legitur: « Cum vir Dei Praejectus (in jus ab Hectore comite vocatus) se undique arctatum cognovisset, necessitate compulsus, ita respondit, se causas Ecclesiae Imnichildae reginae ditioni commendatas habere. Cumque [0315A] hanc assertionem cognovissent, imperfectum opus permansit. Beatus igitur Praejectus operis sui laborem, et quomodo per fidejussores venisset exhibitus, tandem depromit. Rex vero et regina Bilichildis (ita nomen in altera Vita exprimitur) timore perculsi, veniam coram omnibus a praedicto episcopo expetunt. » Contigerunt ea an. 679, in solemnibus vigiliis Paschae. Non diu superfuit Childericus, ab insidiatoribus impiis cum regina praegnante interfectus, et Rothomagi in basilica sancti Petri sepultus

## 4.

Occiso Childerico, Theodericus a Neustriis Burgundisque ad regnum revocatus est; ab Austrasiis vero Clodoveus quidam, quod Clotarii III crederetur filius, rex constitutus est, sed eo dein rejecto, legitimus regni haeres Dagobertus sancti Sigeberti filius ab optimatibus evocatus, videtur patris regnum, cujus aliqua parte jam pridem potiebatur, ultro oblatum potius accepisse, quam armis, ac vi bellica subegisse. Hoc novi belli Austrasios inter et Neustrios [0315B] fomes fuit. Quod bellum ex Vita sanctae Salabergae abbatissae ab auctore coaevo scripta alibi deducimus.

## 5.

Inter illustriora monasteria a sancto Sigeberto exstructa, mox dicemus eminere Stabulaum et Malmundarium: quibus donationem a patre suo factam confirmavit Dagobertus jam rex apud Austras. constitutus. Quod diploma ita incipit: « Dagobertus rex Francorum illustris vir. Illud nobis ad stabilitatem regni in Dei nomine provenire confidimus, si facta domni et genitoris nostri Sigeberti quondam regis pro nostris oraculis in Dei nomine firmare deliberamus. Atque ideo vir venerabilis Goduinus, abbas de monasterio Stabulau et Malmundario clementiae regni nostri suggessit, eo quod Dominus . . . et genitor noster Sigebertus rex. . . . per suam praeceptionem concessisset. » Integrum diploma alibi damus, et aliis imperatorum tabulis ac constitutione sancti Leonis IX papae confirmamus. Frisiorum ad fidem [0315C] conversionem a Dagoberto rege commendatam fuisse ep. Colon. tradit sanctus Bonifacius archiep. in epist. hac de re ad Stephanum papam missa, atque inter illius epistolas ad Serrarium, n. 97, edita; quam alibi damus et de Dagoberto filio sancti Sigeberti intelligendam esse probamus.

## 6.

Praeter filium precibus sancti Arbogasti a morte suscitatum plures fuerunt Dagoberto filiae; inter quas praecipua est sancta Irmina virgo monasterii Horrei apud Treviros prima abbatissa, etiam Fastis Martyrol. Rom. ad 24 Dec. ascripta. Sepulta ea est in monasterio Wissenburgensi munificentia Dagoberti parentis dotato, a quo plura monasteria fundata aut dotata fuisse alibi ostendimus. Altera Dagoberti filia, et sancti Sigeberti neptis est Adela, quae post mariti obitum, Irminae sororis exemplo inflammata, monastico item cultu assumpto, vitam sanctissime traduxit, ac monasterio Palatiolo ad Mosellae fluminis ripam exstructo abbatissa praefuit, ejusque ecclesiam bonorum suorum haeredem [0315D] scripsit, testamento signato Kal. April. anno 12 Theoderici regis, scilicet, ultimi, an. Chr. 731. In eo testamento mentio fit sororis Regentrudis, qua omissa, alii Rathildem, seu Rothildem, tertiam filiam Dagoberti statuunt, voluntque nuptam fuisse Luderico Bucano, Castri Insulensis in Galloflandria fundatori. Sed id necdum antiquis monumentis probatum reperimus. Id certum est, Albericum dictae Adelae filium plures procreasse liberos, ex quibus sanctus Gregorius individuus sancti Bonifacii ad obitum usque socius, postea Ultrajectinae sedi vice episcopi praefuit presbyter; cujus vitam scripsit sanctus Ludgerus, ejus discipulus. An ex aliquo fratrum sancti Gregorii prognatus sit sanctus Albericus, dein episcopus Ultrajectin. et ab avi nomine ita appellatus, alibi inquirimus. Coluntur santus, Gregor. 25 Augusti et sanctus Albericus 14 Nov. An qui sanctus Dagobertus martyr colitur apud Sathanacenses in Lotharingia, rex fuerit Francorum, et [0316A] filius sancti Sigeberti, hactenus judicio nostro definire non audemus.

## § II. *Monasteria exstructa, dotata.*

## 1.

Monasteria duodecim exstructa refert in Actis sancti Sigeberti auctor; quae soli Ardennae attribuit Gelenius; universim viginti exstructa cum Gelenio volunt Molan., in Auctario Usuardi, Galesin. et Sauss., quorum verba supra dedimus. Brouwerus de iis, in sua Metropoli, necdum edita, ita scribit: « Anno 651, Sigebertus Austrasiorum rex Metis in sua regia, eximia vitae innocentia ac praestanti in omne religiosorum genus liberalitate florebat, viginti amplitudine non vulgari conditis exstructisque et vectigalibus perpetuis auctis passim monasteriis, in quibus Malmundariu II et Stabulense in Ardennae finibus, sancti Martini vero in Metensi suburbano fuere. » Haec Brouwerus, sed reliqua monasteria nec ipse, nec alii nominant. De Metensi condito et [0316B] destructo infra agemus. Ad Vitam sancti Amandi, 6 Feb., referemus apud Austrasios, dum iis praeesset rex sanctus Sigebertus, multa in Belgicis et Germanicis provinciis exstructa esse monasteria, quae hic omittimus recensere. Ante Stabulense et Malmundariense, aliud erectum est Casaeconguduni in ducatu Luxemburgensi ad amnem Sesmarum seu Sesomirim, vulgo *Sesmoy* aut *Semoy,* inter Chinium et Bullonium oppida: cujus posterioribus saeculis exstitit prioratus in pago Cougnon. De eo pluribus agemus 3 Feb., ad Vitam sancti Hadelini. Damus infra [n: (Col. 319, dipl. I)] diploma sancti Sigeberti nobis ab humanissimo viro Joanne Antonio Gournesio congregationis Oratorii presbytero communicatum, ex quo constat sanctum Remaclum abbatem constitutum esse, cum necdum esset episcopus Trajectensis, superstite adhuc episcopo Metensi Godone, aliis Dodone, seu Godeo, cui successit sanctus Clodulphus filius sancti Arnulphi, ad quem episcopum [0316C] Remaclus primo anno sui episcopatus sanctum Trudonem misit. Hinc optime refellitur Bouchetus, qui, p. I Originum familiae regiae Francorum, cap. 6, tempus episcopatus Godonis numerat ab anno 659 ad 667, eique suffectum sanctum Clodulphum vixisse ad annum 707 arbitratur. Qui in diplomate praeter Sesomirim nominatur Alsnia fluvius, supra Luxemburgum exortus, urbem alluit, et Atarto mistus, aquam in Suram exonerat, ac dein in Mosellam delabitur. Silva autem Uriacuise ad vicum Ures infra Bullonium pertigerit, aut potius Viracuise legendum, et tum referretur ad vicinum Viram amnem. His ante expositis diploma facilius intelligetur.

## 2.

Notgerus, episcopus Leodiensis, in Vita sancti Remachi episcopi Trajectensis, 3 Sept., meminit alterius Vitae ab auctore antiquiore et fere coaevo conscriptae, de quo in prologo ad Werenfridum abbatem haec scribit: « Obtulistis libellum de Vita tam nostri, quam vestri specialis patroni, domini, [0316D] scilicet, Remacli, conquestus propter incuriam tamen praedecessorum vestrorum brevius, quam ut res postularet pro magnitudine gestorum ejus esse eruditam; simulque visus es, ut ne dicam precari, sed potius exhortari, ut eam non modo exemplari, verum aliquanto lepidius mandarem poliri. » In hoc priori libello, seu Vita sancti Remacli, de exstructis monasteriis Stabulensi et Malmundariensi ita legitur: « Contigit, Deo favente, juberi a piis principibus regni Francorum Sigeberto rege, et Grimoaldo duce, ex voluntate Dei et consilio optimatum suorum, ut construerentur infra forestem monasteria, sita in pago qui Ardoenna dicitur, cognominata Stabulaus, sive Malmundarium, in quibus commanerent religiosi monachi, qui spiritualiter inibi Christo famularentur; et pro statu totius regni, et regis salute vel filiorum, sive curam regni exercentium, omnipotentem Dominum exorarent. Tunc coeperunt aedificare attentius, et, ut assolet in tali opere, virtus divina [0317A] subsecuta est, prosperoque successu velociter adimpleta sunt. Cumque adesset tempus ut ecclesiae nova materia ornatae dedicarentur, mittens praefatus rex ad beatum Remaclum episcopum, quia alter eorum, id est, Stabulaus, ad ejus pertinebat dioecesim; alterum vero, id est, Malmundarium, quia metropolim respiciebat, cum consensu Cuniberti, qui erat metropolitanus Agrippinae, evocavit eum, ut, sicut conveniebat ejus ministerio [ *Al.,* mysterio], eas dedicaret. Quod sanctissimus vir illico obaudiens, cum magna diligentia explevit opus sibi injunctum, quod ejus dispositione dudum fuerat actum; quia, cum esset regi ac primis palatii propter maximam sanctitatem vicinus ac amatus, nihil praecipuum absque ejus consultu fiebat. Unde factum est, quia tam charus eis habebatur, ut missarum peractis solemniis, traderet ei praedicta loca jam dictus major domus Grimoaldus, sua ditione cuncta ordinari, et monasticae vitae instituta isthic servari. Post non multum vero temporis impetravit tandem a rege, quatenus relinquens [0317B] successorem post se in sede pontificali, ut diu desiderabat, hunc eremi locum adiret, et ibi ab hominibus remotus soli Deo vacaret . . . . Manens itaque pervigili cura, absque ulla reprehensione, in monasticis documentis, multos nobilium virorum animos convertit, ut imitatores fierent illius vitae, cujus erat doctrina [0318A] perfecta: quia, quod ore docebat, prius opere adimplere curabat. Unde factum est ut crescente religione cresceret etiam census ejusdem ecclesiae, in usus ibidem servorum Dei famulantium. Nam audientes cultum hujusmodi religionis jam dicti piissimi principes, evocantes beatum virum, tradiderunt ei ex ipsa foreste duodecim leucas in longitudine, similiter et in latitudine, in quo spatio nullus contradictor existeret suae ditioni vel succedentium ei, ut quiete Deo militarent. Nec non affirmarunt testamento cum signaculis imperialibus, ut stabile illud omni tempore duraret: quod Pater sanctissimus suscepit libenter ac tenuit reverenter. Verum non multo post ipsum spatium abbreviare studuit, ut sine impedimento fieret sequacibus, et sine ullo obstaculo rectores loci possent servare, quod ad nostrum usque tempus inconvulsum durare videtur omnino. » Haec ibi. Sunt vero monasteria Stabuletum et Malmundarium dissita Leodio o to fere leucis horariis, qua versus Orientem et Treviros abitur. Exstrui [0318B] utrumque coeptum circa annum Christi 655, qui erat episcopatus sancti Remacli sextus; diplomata vero concessa sunt sub finem vitae ejusdem regis Sigeberti. Horum partem profert Notgerus in Vita sancti Remacli. Haec diplomata damus infra.

english:
## § 1. *The wife of Saint Sigebert, Imnechildis; his son Dagobert, king of the Austrasians; his granddaughter Saint Irmina, his great-great-grandson Saint Gregory of Utrecht, and others descended from Saint Sigebert.*

[0313B]

## 1.

The wife of Saint Sigebert was Imnechildis, called by some Emnechildis, Eumechildis, and Chinechildis; of whom Dagobert and perhaps several other children were born. When Saint Sigebert had died, Dagobert, then eight or ten years old, to whom by hereditary right the kingdom was owed, was driven out by a faction of the magnates, and above all of Grimoald the mayor of the palace; and, tonsured a cleric on the advice of Dido, bishop of Poitiers, he was sent off into Scotia, that is, the island of Ireland; and in his place Childebert, Grimoald's son, was thrust into the kingdom of the Austrasians — the false report having been spread abroad that he had been adopted by Saint Sigebert as heir of the kingdom, and that Dagobert was dead, as we prove elsewhere from ancient authors. Imnechildis, the wife of Saint Sigebert, once her son had been carried off to Ireland, seems to have fled [0313C] to Paris, to implore aid against the invader of the kingdom. For when he had been driven out, she herself governed the Austrasians together with the young Childeric; and in the second year of his reign both Childeric the king and Imnechildis the queen granted the monastery of Barisiacum, in the territory of Laon, to Saint Amandus. By the counsel of the same queen Imnechildis, too, Childeric is said to have founded a monastery in Upper Alsace in the valley of Saint Gregory.

## 2.

At that time there was living in England Saint Wilfrid, consecrated bishop in the year 664, and about the year 669 set over the whole of Northumbria. He received Dagobert with hospitality when he came to him from Ireland, and sent him back to his native land helped with horses and companions; for whom his mother Imnechildis procured a portion of the kingdom in the more remote regions, and fostered peace and concord between the two kings. Dagobert, once established as king, received Saint Wilfrid kindly when he came to him, and wearied him with many entreaties that he would deign to remain in the province, accepting the bishopric of Strasbourg. [0313D] These things we draw out elsewhere from the Acts of Saint Wilfrid. That this Dagobert had as wife Mechtild, duchess of the Saxons, we gather from Brusch, in the *Bishops of Strasbourg*, under Saint Arbogast. Indeed, that Dagobert, driven from his kingdom, dwelt with his consort among the Thuringians is reported from a manuscript chronicle by Matthaeus Merian, in the topography of the archbishopric of Mainz, when treating of Heiligenstadt, the chief city of the Eichsfeld, which place is said to owe its beginnings to Dagobert. The things also that are read in the additions to Lambert of Hersfeld, published by Pistorius, page 264, concerning the monastery built at Erfurt, seem to be referred to the same Dagobert; and the time of Kygibert, or Richbert, bishop of Mainz, confirms it — but for the year 707 the year 677, or one near to it, is to be substituted. This same [0314B] Dagobert, moreover, was called king of the Germans, of the Franks, of the Germanic peoples, and of the Franks beyond the Rhine; and besides the dominions situated across the Rhine, he obtained Alsace also with the city of Strasbourg. In this Alsace he assigned his palace of Kirchheim and other places to the monastery of Haslach, when Saint Florentius, afterwards bishop of Strasbourg, had restored sight and speech to his daughter. Various things likewise were given by Dagobert to the church of Strasbourg and to the monasteries of Schuttern and Saarburg, when his son had been recalled to life by Saint Arbogast, bishop of Strasbourg. This son of Dagobert seems to have been brought into the light in the royal stronghold of Semburg, or Isemburg, and, reborn at the sacred font of baptism, to have been named Sigebert from his grandfather's name. Hence, the times not being distinguished, Saint Sigebert himself is wrongly reported to have been raised from death by Brusch and Guillimann, *On the Bishops of Strasbourg*, under Saint Arbogast, and by Cointe, in the preliminary matter on Dagobert, chapter 15. But with the resuscitation omitted, he is said to have been killed by a boar while hunting at the island of the Rhine at Neuss [0314C] by Johannes Isacius Pontanus, Book II of the *Gelrian History*; and to have been destroyed by poison at Grimoald's hand, by Miraeus, in the *Belgian Fasti*, 21 February, in the eulogy of Blessed Pippin the duke. The Sainte-Marthes also raise the suspicion of poison, in volume I of the *Genealogical History of the Kings of the Franks*, Book V, chapter 8. All of which collapses once the distinction of times and of persons has been made. The rest we establish elsewhere from the Acts of Saints Arbogast and Florentius, bishops of Strasbourg.

## 3.

Imnechildis, the wife of Saint Sigebert and mother of this Dagobert, was residing with King Childeric, even after he had taken Bilichild to wife. These three confirm the donations made by Saint Sigebert to the monks of Stavelot and Malmedy. The diploma itself, to be given below, begins thus: « Childeric, king of the Franks, Emnechildis and Bilechildis by the grace of God queens, to the illustrious men Gundoin the duke and Odo the *domesticus*. » And this is its closing clause: « That this our precept, written out on parchment, may endure firm and inviolable, we have determined to confirm it below with our own hand. [0314D] The sign of the glorious lord Childeric the king. The sign of Emnechildis the queen. The sign of Bilichildis by the grace of God queen. The sign of Gundoin the duke. Given when the month of September made the 6th day, in the 8th year of the reign of the lord Childeric the king. At Utrecht, happily. » That year is 672. Then in the year 686, upon the death of Chlothar III, king of Neustria and Burgundy, Childeric succeeded, and held the kingdom of the Austrasians along with it; in which that Queen Imnechildis was still living with some measure of power is intimated in the Life of Saint Praejectus, bishop of the Arverni, 25 January, published from a Utrecht manuscript, where, at number 11, we read thus: « When the man of God Praejectus (summoned to court by Count Hector) had realized that he was hemmed in on every side, compelled by necessity he answered that he held the causes of the Church entrusted to the jurisdiction of Queen Imnichildis. And when [0315A] they had learned of this assertion, the work remained unfinished. Blessed Praejectus therefore at last discloses the labor of his work, and how he had come forward by means of sureties. But the king and Queen Bilichildis (so the name is expressed in the other Life), struck with fear, sought pardon of the aforesaid bishop before them all. » These things happened in the year 679, during the solemn vigils of Easter. Childeric did not long survive, slain by impious plotters together with his pregnant queen, and buried at Rouen in the basilica of Saint Peter

## 4.

When Childeric had been killed, Theuderic was recalled to the kingdom by the Neustrians and the Burgundians; but by the Austrasians a certain Clovis was made king, because he was believed to be the son of Chlothar III; but when he had afterwards been rejected, the lawful heir of the kingdom, Dagobert the son of Saint Sigebert, was summoned by the magnates, and seems rather to have accepted his father's kingdom — some part of which he had long since been in possession of — as freely offered, than to have subdued it by arms and the force of war. This was the tinder of a new war between the Austrasians and the Neustrians. [0315B] Which war we draw out elsewhere from the Life of Saint Salaberga the abbess, written by a contemporary author.

## 5.

Among the more illustrious monasteries built by Saint Sigebert, we shall shortly say that Stavelot and Malmedy stand out: to which Dagobert, now established as king among the Austrasians, confirmed the donation made by his father. Which diploma begins thus: « Dagobert, king of the Franks, illustrious man. We trust that this will come about, in the name of God, for the stability of the kingdom, if in the name of God we resolve to confirm by our own utterances the acts of our lord and begetter Sigebert, once king. And therefore the venerable man Goduinus, abbot of the monastery of Stavelot and Malmedy, has suggested to the clemency of our kingdom, that the Lord . . . and our begetter King Sigebert . . . . had granted by his precept. » The whole diploma we give elsewhere, and we confirm it by other charters of the emperors and by a constitution of Saint Pope Leo IX. That the conversion of the Frisians [0315C] to the faith was entrusted by King Dagobert to the bishop of Cologne is reported by Saint Boniface the archbishop in a letter sent to Pope Stephen on this matter, and published among his letters, in Serarius's edition, number 97; which we give elsewhere, and prove is to be understood of Dagobert the son of Saint Sigebert.

## 6.

Besides the son raised from death by the prayers of Saint Arbogast, Dagobert had several daughters; among whom the chief is Saint Irmina, virgin, first abbess of the monastery of Oeren at Trier, inscribed also in the calendars of the Roman Martyrology at 24 December. She was buried in the monastery of Wissembourg, endowed by the munificence of her father Dagobert, by whom several monasteries were founded or endowed, as we show elsewhere. Another daughter of Dagobert, and granddaughter of Saint Sigebert, is Adela, who after her husband's death, kindled by the example of her sister Irmina, likewise took up the monastic habit, passed her life in the greatest holiness, and presided as abbess over the monastery built at Pfalzel on the bank of the river Moselle; and she named its church heir [0315D] of her goods, the testament being signed on the Kalends of April in the 12th year of King Theuderic — that is, the last — the year of Christ 731. In that testament mention is made of her sister Regentrudis; and, omitting her, others set down Rathildis, or Rothildis, as a third daughter of Dagobert, and would have her married to Ludericus Bucanus, founder of Insulense Castrum in Gallo-Flanders. But this we have not yet found proved by ancient records. This is certain, that Alberic, the son of the said Adela, begot several children, from among whom Saint Gregory was the inseparable companion of Saint Boniface until his death, and afterwards, as a presbyter, presided over the see of Utrecht in the bishop's stead; whose life Saint Ludger, his disciple, wrote. Whether from one of Saint Gregory's brothers was descended Saint Alberic, afterwards bishop of Utrecht and so named from his grandfather's name, we inquire elsewhere. Saint Gregory is venerated on 25 August, and Saint Alberic on 14 November. Whether he who is venerated as Saint Dagobert the martyr among the people of Stenay in Lorraine was king of the Franks and [0316A] the son of Saint Sigebert, we do not thus far, in our judgment, dare to determine.

## § II. *Monasteries built and endowed.*

## 1.

The author in the Acts of Saint Sigebert reports twelve monasteries built; which Gelenius attributes to the Ardennes alone; twenty built in all, with Gelenius, Molanus, in the *Auctarium* to Usuard, Galesinius, and Saussay would have it — whose words we have given above. Brouwer writes thus of them in his *Metropolis*, not yet published: « In the year 651, Sigebert, king of the Austrasians, at Metz in his royal seat, flourished by the singular innocence of his life and by outstanding liberality toward every kind of religious, with twenty monasteries founded and built on no common scale and enriched with perpetual revenues here and there, among which were *Malmundariu II* and Stavelot within the bounds of the Ardennes, and Saint Martin's in the suburb of Metz. » So Brouwer; but the remaining monasteries neither he nor others name. Of the one at Metz, founded and [0316B] destroyed, we shall treat below. At the Life of Saint Amandus, 6 February, we shall relate that among the Austrasians, while Saint Sigebert the king was set over them, many monasteries were built in the Belgic and Germanic provinces, which we here omit to enumerate. Before Stavelot and Malmedy, another was erected at Casaeconguduni in the duchy of Luxembourg on the river Sesmarus, or Sesomiris, commonly *Sesmoy* or *Semoy*, between the towns of Chiny and Bouillon: of which in later ages there existed a priory in the district of Cougnon. Of it we shall treat more fully on 3 February, at the Life of Saint Hadelin. We give below [n: (Col. 319, dipl. I)] a diploma of Saint Sigebert communicated to us by that most courteous man Jean Antoine de Gournay, presbyter of the Congregation of the Oratory, from which it is established that Saint Remaclus was appointed abbot when he was not yet bishop of Maastricht, while Godo — by others Dodo, or Godeo — bishop of Metz, was still surviving, whom Saint Chlodulf, son of Saint Arnulf, succeeded, to which bishop [0316C] Remaclus in the first year of his episcopate sent Saint Trudo. Hence Bouchet is excellently refuted, who, in part I of the *Origins of the Royal Family of the Franks*, chapter 6, reckons the period of Godo's episcopate from the year 659 to 667, and judges that Saint Chlodulf, put in his place, lived until the year 707. In the diploma there is named, besides the Sesomiris, the river Alsnia, which rises above Luxembourg, washes the city, and, mingled with the Atarto, discharges its water into the Sûre, and thence glides down into the Moselle. And the wood Uriacuise would have reached to the village of Ures below Bouillon; or rather Viracuise is to be read, and then it would be referred to the neighboring river Vire. These things having been set out beforehand, the diploma will be more easily understood.

## 2.

Notger, bishop of Liège, in the Life of Saint Remaclus, bishop of Maastricht, 3 September, makes mention of another Life composed by an older and almost contemporary author, concerning which he writes thus in the prologue to Abbot Werenfrid: « You have offered a little book on the Life of the special patron both of ours and of yours, that is, of the lord [0316D] Remaclus, complaining that, owing to the negligence of your predecessors, it had been treated more briefly than the matter required for the greatness of his deeds; and at the same time you seemed — that I may not say to entreat, but rather to exhort — that I should bid it be not merely copied out, but polished somewhat more elegantly. » In this earlier little book, or Life of Saint Remaclus, we read thus concerning the building of the monasteries of Stavelot and Malmedy: « It came to pass, by God's favor, that it was ordered by the pious princes of the kingdom of the Franks, King Sigebert and Duke Grimoald, by the will of God and the counsel of their magnates, that monasteries should be built within the forest, situated in the district which is called the Ardennes, named Stavelot and Malmedy, in which religious monks should dwell together, who might there spiritually serve Christ; and might beseech the almighty Lord for the state of the whole kingdom, and for the safety of the king and of his sons, or of those exercising the care of the kingdom. Then they began to build more earnestly, and, as is wont in such a work, the divine power [0317A] followed after, and with prosperous success they were swiftly completed. And when the time was at hand that the churches, adorned with new material, should be dedicated, the aforesaid king, sending to the blessed bishop Remaclus — because one of them, that is, Stavelot, belonged to his diocese, but the other, that is, Malmedy, since it looked to the metropolitan see, with the consent of Cunibert, who was metropolitan of Cologne — summoned him, that, as befitted his ministry [ *Al.,* mysterio], he might dedicate them. And that most holy man, obeying at once, with great diligence completed the work enjoined upon him, which had long since been carried out by his own arrangement; because, since by reason of his very great sanctity he was close to the king and to the chief men of the palace and beloved by them, nothing of importance was done without his counsel. Whence it came about, since he was held so dear by them, that when the solemnities of the Masses had been performed, the aforesaid mayor of the palace Grimoald handed over to him the said places, that all things should be ordered under his jurisdiction, and that the institutes of the monastic life should be kept there. But after no long time he at last obtained from the king that, leaving behind [0317B] a successor after him in the pontifical see, as he had long desired, he might go to this place of the desert, and there, removed from men, be free for God alone . . . . And so remaining with unsleeping care, without any reproach, in the monastic disciplines, he converted the minds of many noble men, so that they became imitators of that life whose teaching was [0318A] perfect: because what he taught with his mouth, he took care first to fulfill in deed. Whence it came about that, as religion grew, the revenue of that same church also grew, for the uses of the servants of God serving there. For the aforesaid most pious princes, hearing of the practice of religion of this kind, summoning the blessed man, handed over to him from that same forest twelve leagues in length, and likewise in breadth, within which space there should be no gainsayer of his jurisdiction or of those succeeding him, so that they might quietly serve God as soldiers. Moreover they confirmed it by a testament with the imperial seals, that it might endure stable for all time: which the most holy Father received gladly and held reverently. But not long after he took pains to shorten that same space, that it might be without hindrance to those who followed, and that the rulers of the place might be able to keep it without any obstacle — which down to our own time appears to endure altogether unshaken. » So far that. Now the monasteries of Stavelot and Malmedy lie about *o to* hours' leagues distant from Liège, in the direction in which one goes eastward and toward Trier. The building [0318B] of both was begun about the year of Christ 655, which was the sixth of the episcopate of Saint Remaclus; but the diplomas were granted toward the end of the life of the same King Sigebert. Notger sets out a part of them in the Life of Saint Remaclus. These diplomas we give below.

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