10. Wezilo of Mainz
Letter 10. Archbishop Wezilo of Mainz to King Vratislav
To the most glorious king of the Poles, O., to be venerated as much as [he is] lovable, [from] W., [being] by the grace of God what he is: the love, which a father has for a son of like mind, and the continual sacrifice of prayer with sincere devotion and service.
If the hinge of your affairs turns under the delight of peace and tranquility and the depravity of the wicked does not cloud the serenity of your mind with any injury, we rejoice with all your friends—and if we are able to project anything of truth about ourselves, [we will] even [do so] especially, ahead of everyone. It has been indicated to us through the kindness of your embassy almost as if our lord emperor may have completely changed the disposition and state of his mind towards you, and that his mercy may not smile upon you with the same serenity, so that you might be able to hope from him things closer to the usual grace and good health. This indeed—behold before God!—we neither know nor are able in any way to imagine. But this we confirm under the clear testimony of Christ: that he has few or none in the empire whom he might look upon with a greater privilege of grace and love. Whence we warn your love that, before God and men, you also return a comparable exchange of loyalty and truth to him, and preserve due stability of steadfastness towards him.
That you should have invited us to a solemn celebration of your love, this brought us exultation and joy with the greatest offering of thanks. But these are not tranquil times, such as the affairs of our kingdom might either wish or be able to want. But if dawn from on high should break upon us in the gentleness of peace, we will come to you with complete devotion for the sake of your honor and God’s service.
It was also reported to us that you will have had a meeting with those seducers, not bishops of the Saxons but truly apostates, who try with a feigned a conditional peace, to inflict the dart of harsh deception. And so we warn your diligence not to have any confidence of surety in their promises, since it is the greatest madness to have hope in the words of those, by whose perfidy you might so often be deceived.
We also heard that there might be some taint of disagreement between you and your brother, the bishop; and as much delight as the previous embassy [brought], the ill-fame of this bitterness brought us that much sadness. We request and implore in Lord Jesus, that every inducement to disagreement between you be put to sleep through divine dread and our warning, until, in a mediated peace, we may bring some counsel of devotion and effort. May God do and bring about in you the things he has begun, increasing and heaping up his gifts in you. For to bring about this is no great thing for the omnipotent right hand, which is capable of doing more than we ask or understand.