Letter 25: Eberhard, Archbishop of Salzburg, to Hildegard
The Letters of Hildegard oj'B'mgen
Eberhard, Archbishop of Salzburg,1 to Hildegard 1163-64 As a staunch ally of Pope Alexander III, Eberhard feels the heat of the tense political situation and seeks Hildegard's prayers. Note his feeling for the need of secrecy in his closing request that she send her answer under seal.
Eberhard, by the grace of God, archbishop and servant of the church of Salzburg, although unworthy, to Hildegard, sister and mistress of St. Rupert in Bingen, I pray—whatever effect the prayer of a sinner may have—that after the victory over this flesh you may enter with the wise virgins into the embraces of the heavenly bridegroom fcf. Matt 25.10].
A sinner set in this vale of tears, I am worn down by the many whirlwinds and storms of this age, having endured terrors within, combats without [cf. II Cor 7.5]. Therefore, beloved lady, I earnestly beseech that you deign to pour forth your prayers for me so that divine compassion may open the heart of unfailing love to me and mercifully rescue me from all my distress. For on account of the schism now in the Church, the emperor is attempting to use force against us.2
O virgin worthy in God's sight, in your love please remember that when I was at Mainz when the emperor held court there, I very earnestly commended myself to your saintly prayers, so that through your intercession the condition of my life might improve in the Lord and have a blessed ending. At that time, you promised me, your humble servant, that (after you had received my letter) you would hasten to write back to me reporting whatever God deigned to reveal to you. Humble still, I am now asking, O saintly woman, the payment of this promise. Farewell, O virgin of God, and keep me in your remembrance.
Please send whatever response you have under seal."
Notes 1. Eberhard served as archbishop of Salzburg from 1149 until his death in 1164.
A powerful and thoroughly independent personality, he was a commanding and authoritative figure in the complex political situation of the twelfth century. Although staunchly, fearlessly supportive of Alexander III, he was frequently in the company of the emperor, and, thus, served as a pacifying influence in the relations between the two.
2. In opposition to Frederick Barbarossa's "anti-pope" Victor IV, Eberhard was one of the staunches! allies among the high-ranking German prelates of Alexander III.
In this early era of the schism, Hildegard had taken no stance. For however irregular the election, Victor TV had, after all, been elected by the cardinals. But when the emperor chose his own pope after Victor's death (1164), Hildegard took a very firm
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stand, sending off a scorching letter to Frederick—and this despite the fact that Fredcrick must, in a very large sense, he considered her patron. In 1163, for example, he had granted a charter oi imperial protection in perpetuity to Mount St. Rupert.
25r Hildegard to Eberhard, Archbishop of Salzburg 1163-64 Hildegard responds to Eberhard with praise for his unflagging service to the Church, and (in typical Hildegardian fashion) points out to him that such service is not different from efforts toward his own personal salvation, that the two are one and the same. For the image of the two walls joined by a cornerstone with which the letter begins, compare Scivias Ill.ii.
O you who are the representative of the Son of the living God, your present condition, as now revealed to me, is like two walls joined by a cornerstone.
One of these is like a bright cloud; the other, partially obscured by shadows.
And the two are kept rigidly apart, never mixing with one another. These two walls are your labors, joined together by your spirit. The bright side stands for your exertions and your sighs for the narrow road that leads to God. The shadowy side, on the other hand, represents your labors for the people under your authority. This is your true difficulty: you esteem your private efforts for your own salvation, the bright side of the wall, as something personal, while you look upon temporal duties as something foreign to you. This is why you are so frequently exhausted in your spirit. For you do not understand that your striving for God and your labor for His people are the same thing.1 For your eager panting after heavenly things and your care of the people in God's name can be perfectly integrated. Even Christ Himself clung to heavenly things, while, at the same time, He devoted Himself to the people, as is written, "You are gods and all of you the sons of the most High" [Ps 81.6; cf. John 10.34].
Here is the sense of that verse: "gods" in heavenly matters and "sons of the most High" in the care of the people.
Therefore, father, steep your labors in the fount of wisdom, from which Divine Love and Obedience drank, those two daughters clad in regal garments.
For Wisdom along with Divine Love, set all things in order bringing forth many streams, just as she says, "I alone have compassed the circuit of heaven"
[Ecclus 24.8]. For through his own obedience, God has given mankind a precept: Divine Love is the vestment which, in the order of angels, looks upon the face of God, but the vestment of obedience is the garb of the Lord's humanity. These two maids are knocking at your door, and Divine Love is saying to
The Letters of Hildegard ofBingen you, I long to remain with you, and I want you to put me on your bed and love me diligently. For when you search wounds and wash them in your compassion, then I lie in your bed, and when you treat simple, good-living people with kindness in God's name, then I am your beloved. But Obedience also says to you, I remain with you through the law and the precepts of God. Therefore, hold me earnestly in your strength, not as your overseer but as your dearest friend. For you took me up at your baptism, and, in the discipline of submission, you held me as you advanced, and in your high office you embraced me when you were obedient to the commands of God. Divine Love is my source, for I was born from her.
O father, Wisdom speaks to you again, Be like the head of a household who patiently hears the foolishness of his sons, and yet does not cast aside his prudence. In the same way, I join together the heavenly and the earthly for the benefit of the people. Therefore, search and cleanse wounds, and embrace simple, good-living people. In this way, God assisting, you will have joy in both facets of your life.
Now, father, I, poor little woman that I am, I see that your will chooses the door of virtue which will come to you, so that in those virtues with the grinding down of your body, you will complete the cycle of earthly life." May the One Who Is, He Who searches out all things, keep your soul and body in His salvation.
Note 1. This seems to be a firmly held conviction of Hildegard's. For her, service to the Church is service to one's own personal salvation. It is for this reason diat she almost never gives an affirmative to the large number of people who consult her about abdicating an administrative position in order to seek out a solitary monkish life.
Hillinus, Archbishop of Trier,1 to Hildegard 1152(?) The archbishop of Trier asks for a few words of consolation from Hildegard, upon whom God has poured His grace so abundantly.
Hillinus, archbishop and humble servant at Trier, unworthy though I am, to Hildegard, most beloved sister, with prayers that she follow the Lamb and the Bridegroom "whithersoever he goeth" [Apoc 14.4].
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It has pleased the wisdom of God, which chooses "the weak things of the world that he may confound the strong" [I Cor 1.27], to choose a pleasant habitation for itself in your virginity. And so He has abundantly poured forth the grace of His light in the spirit of wisdom and fuller knowledge. By the pouring out of this light, He intended, I believe, to stimulate the minds of others to efforts more conscientiously directed toward salvation [cf. Heb 6.9], and, with you as mediator, O venerable mother, O woman to be embraced in genuine love, to illumine their thoughts.
O beloved virgin in Christ, the true vine, in whose shade you rest and whose fruit is sweet to your throat [cf. John 15.1; Cant 2.3], it now remains for you to further extend the shoots of this vine over this stormy sea, and, for the benefit of souls everywhere, to draw off the nectar of the cup of heaven which you have imbibed, freely giving what you have freely received [cf. Matt
10.8]. In this way, you will not be accused of hiding under a bushel the lamp that was lit for the benefit of your neighbors [cf. Matt 5.15; Mark 4.21; Luke
8.16; 11.33].
Therefore, holy mother, I join all those who fly to the harbor of your consolation, and, with firm hope of obtaining my desire, I beseech your maternal compassion in the name of holy love, and ask that you deign to distill some drops in written form to me, a poor sinner—drops which you have drawn from the King's own wine cellar—and send them along to me by the bearer of this letter." I ask this favor, for I know that, even in this life, you miraculously drink the abundance of His will to the full. I make this request not only for His sake who has shown that these things are possible, but also so that truth may quell those rumors that cause certain people to doubt your divine inspiration.2
May God, Who began a good work in you [cf. Phil 1.6], bring it to perfection in the life of the living.
Notes 1. Hillinus served as archbishop of Trier from 1152 until his death in 1169. Earlier, as a minor prelate in Trier, he was present at the Synod of Trier (1147—48), where
Hildegard's work was read in full audience.
2. An interesting offhand comment on rumors skeptical of Hildegard's divine inspiration. In the Vita (II.ii.22), Hildegard is quoted about the criticism directed at her:
"Why is it that so many mysteries are revealed to this foolish, untaught woman and not to strong and wise men? . . . Many wondered whether this revelation were from God or whether from dry spirits of the air, which lead many astray."
The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen 26r Hildegard to Hillinus, Archbishop of Trier 1152(?) Hildegard exhorts Hillinus to hold the tower of his office staunchly, even if the ramparts (the priests) are breached and the streets (the people) are ransacked.
Wisdom cries out, saying: The present time is a squalid, womanish time." O alas, Adam, the root of the whole human race, was a new testament of all justice.
Afterwards, in his race the manly spirit rose up and went out in three throngs, like a tree spread out into three branches. The first throng was of such a nature that the sons of Adam chose according to their own capacity. The second was such that men rashly became murderers. The third, that they committed whatever idolatry or similar evils they wished. Now this tree has dried up, and the world has been turned upside down through many dangers.1' This time looks back to the time when the first woman gave the nod of deception to the first man. But man has more physical strength than woman. Yet woman is a fountain of wisdom and full joy, which man brings to perfection.'' But, alas, this present time is neither cold nor hot [cf. Apoc 3.15]; it is squalid. After this, a time will come which will bring forth manly strength in the midst of great dangers, fear, injustice, and ferocity. At that time, the error of errors will blow like the four winds which inundate the world with slander amidst great dangers.
Now, therefore, O shepherd, hear what the justice of God has in store for you, because the grace of God has not put you in office in vain. The fact is, however, that when you do perform good works, you become tired all too quickly, and when you are called to the symphony, so that you pause to pray, you immediately dry up.
Oh, you who are Christ's representative, listen again: a certain king held a city in great honor, and he entrusted it to three of his men so that they might carefully guard it. To the first, he entrusted the tower; to the second, the streets; to the third, the walls and its ramparts. You have been stationed in the tower, your people on the streets, and your clergy on the ramparts. But if the wall of the city is breached and its streets ransacked, continue to guard the tower all the same, and be stalwart so that the whole city will not be destroyed and reduced to rubble.
The likeness of the dove teaches you, and the Word of God is knowledge in you. Now, therefore, stay vigilant: discipline those entrusted to you with an iron rod [cf. Ps 2.9], teach them, anoint their wounds; and you will live forever.