Instructio ad Ludovicum Balbum
by Hincmar of Reims
Source text: Public Domain. English translation/apparatus/encoding: CC BY-NC 4.0, Wroot Press.
https://migne.app/pl/125/instructio-ad-ludovicum-balbum/
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## Instruction to Louis the Stammerer

[0983D]To the lord LOUIS, the glorious king, be health and life always.

## CHAP. I.

Your Lordship has commanded me to hasten to come to you, because you wished to treat with me of the interests of yourself, and of holy Church, and of the kingdom: [0984D] whereupon I render you satisfaction with a humble and sure reply. The holy Apostle says [n: (Rom. XV, 4)]: Whatsoever things were written, were written for our instruction. We read in the ancient histories that often, when kings were set up, discord arose among the chief men of the kingdom, [0985A] because some wished to claim for themselves the establishing of the king without the counsel of others. And that discord was not pacified without hindrance. We read that good kings, once established, took to themselves good counselors, and that through good kings and good counselors the peoples of the kingdoms had many good things, and through bad kings and bad counselors the peoples of the kingdoms endured many evils.

## CHAP. II.

To set before you examples from more recent histories: when Pippin your great-great-grandfather fell sick with the sickness of which he also died, he called together at the monastery of Saint Denis the chief men of his kingdom, and by their counsel arranged how, after him, his sons Carloman and Charles, who were with him, should peaceably govern his kingdom. And when he was dead [0985B] and buried with great devotion, Carloman came to Soissons and Charles to Noyon, and on the fifteenth day after his death, by the counsel and help of the chief men of the kingdom, they were raised up as kings; and each one of the chief men of the kingdom came over to his own king without any contention. About three years later, when Carloman had died at Samoussy, Charles came to Corbeny, and the chief men of the kingdom who had been with Carloman came over to him there, except a few, of whom it is not now needful to speak.

## CHAP. III.

But when the emperor Charles had died and had been buried in the palace at Aachen, the chief men of the kingdom who were with him sent to Louis your grandfather, who was in Thionville; and on the thirtieth day after his father's death [0985C] he came to Aachen, and with the counsel of the chief men of the kingdom he peaceably set the kingdom in order — until, from a cause arising which it is not fitting to speak of now, discord arose between him and his sons, on account of which a great part of the chief men of the kingdom set out with Lothar into Lombardy.

## CHAP. IV.

When Louis the emperor, your grandfather, had died, certain of the chief men of this kingdom summoned Lothar, and the chief men who were with him, out of Lombardy into this kingdom. And certain of the chief men of the kingdom were with Charles your father, and certain with Louis your uncle. Meanwhile the chief men of the kingdom who were with the three brothers began to contend one by one over honors — which of them might obtain the greater and the more of them: and holding of little [0985D] account the oaths made about the division of the kingdom, and contending more for their own greed than for the safety of their lords and of themselves, and for the peace of holy Church and of the people, those who were with Lothar drove him to this, that he should disinherit his brothers and reduce to nothing the chief men of the kingdom who were with them, since he himself was firstborn and bore the name of emperor. But those who were with Charles and Louis said that their lords were Lothar's brothers, and that by oaths the kingdom had been divided among them, and that they were inferior neither in birth nor in power to those who were with Lothar, and that therefore they would not entrust themselves against them. Whence many and very great evils grew up in the land, until at last among [0986A] kinsmen by blood and Christians there came about at Fontenoy so great an evil and so great a peril as has not happened among Christians from that time when Charles first fought with Ragamfred at Vinchy. But not by that slaughter which was made at Fontenoy did peace come about in the kingdom; rather that misery remained among the Christian people and among kinsmen by blood until, willing or unwilling, both the lords and the chief men of the kingdom divided the kingdom into three parts, and confirmed by oaths that this same division ought to stand firm.

## CHAP. V.

When Lothar had died, his sons divided his kingdom among themselves. Whereupon, while they were still living, an assurance was made by oath between your father and your uncle Louis. And when Lothar [0986B] the son of Lothar had died, after many disputes a division was made between your father and your uncle Louis concerning the portion of Lothar's kingdom. And when Louis the brother of Lothar had died in Lombardy, a share of his kingdom was demanded of your father by his brother and by his brother's sons: whereupon, while Louis was still living, and also in the past year, such miseries came about as are known to you; and in this year there has come about such a lamentable unhappiness as will deservedly be a reproach through almost the whole world and through the times to come.

## CHAP. VI.

For that reason it seems to my littleness that it is your counsel to attend as much as you can to the ancient histories, lest at the beginning of your reign discord arise among the chief men of the kingdom concerning your rule, which could not be settled without hindrance: [0986C] and that the chief men of the kingdom who are with you should so temper themselves and their own wills that they do not, by their greed or negligence, provoke the other chief men of this kingdom to scandal. Especially since you have no brother among whom the people ought to divide itself — just as it was not divided when the emperor Charles died, but united itself with Louis his only son. For if those good barons, after the death of Pippin, dealt with the two brothers by counsel so sound that there was peace between the brother kings and among the chief men of the kingdom and the people, then much more easily — unless envy and greed interpose themselves — will they be able, with God's help, to come along with you to the will of God and to their own salvation, if they attend to how great a misery arose from the discord which came about among the three brothers after the death of Louis [0986D] the emperor.

## CHAP. VII.

You know that your father first arranged at Reims, with the chief men of his kingdom, concerning your establishment after him in the rule of the kingdom: where, so far as I recall, very nearly all the chief men of the kingdom were present, except the venerable abbot Hugh and Bernard count of Auvergne: and all consented, according to your father's arrangement, to your royal establishment. And when most recently at Quierzy he made arrangement about it, and gave you the names written out of those by whose counsel and help you were to order the affairs of the kingdom (among whom Boso too was enrolled), all were present except Boso himself, and abbot Hugh, and Bernard count of Auvergne: and all [0987A] who were present consented to your royal establishment, and so did those who set out with your father. Therefore send with speed to the abbots Hugh and Gozlin, and to Boso, and Conrad, and Bernard, and likewise Bernard, the counts: and ask them to provide such a place as shall seem more convenient to them for you and for those who are in these parts, and also for those who are in those parts, to meet at, and to send you word that you should come there with the chief men who are in these parts. And let each so come together that the kingdom be not plundered nor laid waste, so that by common counsel you may treat of the common need and advantage — how those chapters which your father most recently proclaimed at Quierzy may be able to come into effect; which chapters in the meantime do you re-read, both you and those [0987B] who are with you, and lay them up in mind.



## CHAP. VIII.

I believe also that your father, after he knew that he could not recover from his sickness, did not fail to command you certain things in particular concerning the ordering of the kingdom — such things as he knew to be for the will of God and the standing of holy Church and your honor and that of the chief men of the kingdom, and for the necessity and advantage of the people. Therefore it is needful, and it seems good, that those also should be present who were with him, and that all in common should treat of the common necessity and advantage. I too, though the least of them, and weak and infirm, will gladly come together for the service of God and of you, and for their attendance, the Lord granting it; and if I shall be able to contribute anything of use, I shall willingly do so, because it is needful that you treat and make arrangement with the faithful men of God [0987C] and your own.

First, how you may be able, in the rule of the kingdom, to hold your ground with honor and safety, and with a sufficiency of the things that are necessary, together with your kingdom and your household. Second, that the aforesaid chapter lately proclaimed by your father at Quierzy, concerning the honor of holy Church and the due privilege of the priests and servants of God, may be brought into effect: and that the churches in this kingdom be not afflicted by opportunistic circuit-levies and by undue customary exactions, which did not exist in the time of Pippin, Charles, and Louis, and were imposed less than twenty years ago. Third, how the chief men of the kingdom may hold their ground toward you with due security and honor, and how the rest of the noble men in the kingdom may have security, lest by [0987D] various contrivances they be stripped of whatever goods they have been able to have: because after greed, the root of all evils, blazed up in this kingdom, so that no one, or almost no one, could acquire or keep an honor or any good thing without a price, or have security, peace and counsel and justice and judgment have not had the place in this kingdom that they needed to have. Fourth, that you may find, with the faithful men of God and your own, how these robberies and plunderings in this kingdom may cease, and how this wretched people — which for many years now is afflicted by various and continual plunderings, and by exactions for driving back the Northmen — may have some remedy, and how justice and judgment, which among us are as if dead, may come to life again, so that God may give back to us strength [0988A] against the pagans: because up to now, for many years past, defense has had no place in this kingdom, but ransom and tribute; and they have already emptied out not only poor men but also churches once rich. Fifth, that you take pains, as far as you can, that the concord which is according to God — of which your father lately made mention at Quierzy — should be had and flourish among the faithful men of God and your own; and that you make yourself such toward them that they may be able and may dare to give you true counsel. For, as I have heard from many, much of what was useful in this kingdom has been lost, for this reason: that the counselors did not dare to say what they knew to be good and useful, nor had they any occasion for saying it. For no man is so wise as not to need another's counsel, as it is written: *The wise man hearing [0988B] shall be wiser, and the man of understanding shall possess the helm,* and, *he who trusts in his own thoughts shall act impiously [n: (Prov. I, 5; XII, 2)]*. Sixth, that you may find, with the faithful men of God and your own, how you may have peace and friendship according to God with your cousins, the sons of your uncle, and may render mutual help to one another for the will of God, and for the honor of holy Church and your own, and for the common salvation of your faithful men.

## CHAP. IX.

For the rest, as to how these things may come into effect, and the other necessary things be found and attained, God is to be entreated, who promises to every devout man: *If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, and it shall be given him [n: (Jac. I, 5)]*. And likewise he says: *I will show thee, O man, what is good, and what God requires [0988C] of thee: that is, to do judgment and justice, and to walk solicitously with thy God [n: (Mich. VI, 8)]*. Justice is to be done, not for any earthly gain, but for this very reason, that it is justice, as it is written: *Justly shalt thou pursue that which is just [n: (Deut. XVI, 20)]*. Judgment is to be given for the correction of the wicked, and for the setting right of those who suffer wrong; not for the avenging of ill-will, nor for the oppression of those who have a just cause. For those who judge unjustly do not give judgment — that is, a thing spoken by right and lawfully — but prejudgment. Whence, as the Lord says, *those who judge unjustly shall be justly judged and condemned.* Every man must walk solicitously with his God, and a king above all, who in the age to come will be under punishments, if he has been wicked, as great as the number of those over whom he was in this age, in [0988D] which he did not correct himself from wickedness, and did not do judgment and justice, and did not walk solicitously with his God. For just as a subject man walks solicitously with his lord, so as to do those things which please him according to God unto salvation, and according to the world unto honor and profit, and if in anything he has done what displeases his lord he hastens at once to amend it, that he may come back into his favor: so it is needful for you to walk solicitously with your lord, the King of kings — that for things past which you have done against his will you make satisfaction to him by confession and contrition of heart and by good works, and that henceforth you do not turn aside from his commands: and if through frailty you slip in anything, then, just as a man who slips with one [0989A] foot helps himself with the other foot or with his hand so as to be set upright again, so do you again strive, by devotion and good working, to come back into the favor of your lord the Lord God; because those who sin and do not repent the Lord long bears with, that they may be converted, but those not converted he condemns the more harshly. As indeed in your own lifetime you can hear and see, and concerning yourself, lest the like befall you, you ought to fear and beware. And show yourself such toward divine worship, and holy Church, and the priests and servants of God, and your other faithful men abiding in every rank, and toward the people committed to you by God, that they may love you, and that it may delight them to render due attendance, both in spiritual service and in temporal help, wherever it shall be needful for you; and let the Christian [0989B] religion and humility of heart delight you more than empty pomp and the pleasures of the flesh: since, with however great masses of silver and gold the flesh be surrounded, with whatever precious garments it be clothed, what is it other than flesh? that is, rottenness; and the son of man, a worm, and dust, and ashes? Let it not delight you so much to pursue wild beasts in hunting as to fight against the pleasures of the flesh and against the enemies of God and of his holy Church, both bodily and spiritual: because, as the Lord says through the Apostle: *The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh [n: (Gal. V, 17)]*. And: *Our wrestling is not against [0990A] flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickednesses [n: (Ephes. VI, 12)]*. Let not the riches of possessions, of gold and silver and gems, so delight you that you be reckoned among those who adore idols — since, as the Apostle says, *Avarice is the service of idols [n: (Coloss. III, 5)]* — as let faith, hope, and charity, justice, truth, and just judgment delight you, which lead the man who perseveres in them to the eternal kingdom and to the fellowship of the angels.

## CHAP. X.

What I would now say in words to your Lordship, if I were present in body, this I put forward in a letter: because concerning the general affairs of the Church and of the kingdom, without the general counsel and consent of the chief men of the kingdom, I do not know how to give particular counsel, and I am not able, nor do I presume, to determine consent. Therefore, [0990B] worn down as I now am by age and by sickness and weakness, there is no need for it to be laid upon me by your Lordship that I labor without cause before the faithful men of God and your own come together at your assembly; and I, in whatever way I shall be able, the Lord favoring it, as I said before, will come for the service of God and of you and for their attendance. But if — which God avert — in the meantime any cause of disturbance shall arise, and it shall please you to make it known to me, I will labor faithfully in your service, according to my knowledge and power, both with counsel and with help.
