JOHN of SALISBURY
Letter no. 303, mid-October 1170from: The Letters of John of Salisbury, vol. II: 1163-1180. Edited and translated by W. J. Millor and C. N. L. Brooke. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979; pp. 712-715.
To William Brito, sub-prior, Robert, sacrist, and the obedientiaries of Christ Church, Canterbury
To his dear friends and brothers, William the sub-prior, Robert the sacrist, and the others who have charge in Canterbury’s holy church, their John: greeting - and do you make wise provision for the future.
The Lord of compassion and mercy has at long last hearkened to your prayers and the wishes of the faithful, for his name’s sake, as many clear evidences show. He restores peace to the English Church and brings home from exile your father! I wish that you had heard our lord the king, at the recent conference of the kings between the town of Blois and Amboise, send forth the archbishop to take swift leave of the French to whom he was bound, and so return to him with all speed ready to cross to England. Therefore, as arranged, by God’s mercy he will say farewell at Sens on the feast of All Saints to return to his own home, as arranged and planned; he will brighten the city of the saints by his return to Canterbury as shortly as he can. And so do you prepare to meet your father—as you wish to see provision made for the honour and safety of your church from henceforth—and hasten to send across the sea meanwhile a token of faith and friendship, devotion or counsel, by which he may lighten his load and be bound to you for ever. Redeem your delay even now! - or else it will inevitably bring with it the danger of loss of possessions and dishonour. In the History of Recent Events I have found that your predecessors were the first to meet their father Anselm when he returned from exile: will there be such falling off that you will have no comfort or almost none—or less than all you can—to give your father and brothers on their return? Heaven forbid that an example so vile, so cruel, so contrary to true devotion and discipline, should be passed on by the present to the future from the see of Canterbury, the primal see of Britain. Grief and worry hold me from writing all that the topic and the cause press upon me—for I feel for you, and am anxious for you, in case some men’s weakness and stinginess (Heaven forbid!) lead Christ’s church into eternal shame. But I think that for those who fear God, who are wise, who love honour and goodness, enough has been said. Enough by way of warning to my friends. I have no doubt that to those who love the fruits of charity due return will be made; and those who are deaf, as the old proverb has it, will have a bean threshed out of them. Think of yourselves and of us, in love, and farewell.