86. To Countess Adel A.
The Letters of St. Anselm when I am not at home, you may cause useless trouble to yourself and disappointment to me. c. 1077/78.
NOTES 1. Walter was a monk of Saint Wandrille at Fontenelle under Abbot Gerbert, who ruled from 1062-4 September 1089; See OV 11:296. Later
Walter became prior; see Ep 138.
2. 1 Cor 8:1.
3. Mt 22:40.
4. Mt 18:20.
86. TO COUNTESS ADEL A.
Anselm begs Countess Adela to intercede with her son Robert the Frisian to release the aged Engelhard so that he may become a monk for the few years left to him.
TO HIS REVEREND LADY, COUNTESS ADELA1: BROTHER ANSELM OF
BEC, A SINNER IN LIFE, MONK BY PROFESSION, WISHING THAT SHE
MAY PASS THROUGH ENDURING PROSPERITY IN THIS LIFE TO
ETERNAL HAPPINESS IN THE LIFE TO COME.
ALTHOUGH I KNOW that I have deserved nothing of your highness for which you should assent to my entreaties, ex cept that you have deigned to take notice of my poverty, yet I have always, in the sight of God, wanted you to share in our prayers, whatever they may be worth—if they are even worth mentioning. Yet Dom Englehard, our friend, begged me earnestly to help him gain favor with your holi ness about the castle commonly known as Lenis, so that he might have your support in his dealings with your son.2
Already very old, a man broken with age, he wants to give up warfare, or rather wrong-doing3, which, as long as he was able, he has efficiently exercised up to now. He wants to pass through however little life remains to him in such a way that even if he can do no good at least he can keep away from evil, lest sinning till the end he may
The Letters of St. Anselm
be punished without end. Wherefore he hopes, desires, im plores that through me he may have your help, and through your help he may obtain from your son relief from respon sibilities for his lands. Your prudence knows well that every one ought to encourage those striving towards good, and that the partners of those who do good become heirs to their rewards. For this reason, even though I may have deserved nothing from you, yet I, your servant, beg your holiness, not presumptuously, that for God's sake you give assistance to the afore-mentioned man in gaining what he wishes not only because it will benefit you but also because you should do it even without having been asked. c. 1077/78.
NOTES 1. Adela, daughter of Robert II, King of the French (996-1031), was wife of Count Baldwin V of Flanders (1035-1067). Their children were Bald win VI of Flanders (1067-1070), Robert the Frisian, Count of Flanders
(1071-1093), Mathilda, wife of William I of England (d. 2 November 1083) and Odo, Archbishop of Trier; see OVII: 89, and EHD II: 999.
2. Count Robert the Frisian of Flanders had challenged the authority of his nephew. Count Arnulf, who was a boy of fifteen when his father died in 1070.
3. militiam, immo malitiam—a pun expressing Anselm's view of a vas sal's military service and armed combat in general.