Letter 1

From: Remigius, Bishop of Reims To: Clovis I, King of the Franks Date: ~481 AD Context: Remigius writes to the newly crowned pagan king of the Franks — his first communication with the man who will eventually convert to Christianity, urging good governance. Remigius, bishop, to Clovis, most glorious king of the Franks. A great kingdom has come to you, and I want to say something useful about it while the beginning is still fresh. The first thing: do not take the counsel of your own impulses as the principal guide for royal decisions. You are young and you are powerful, and both of these things make a man confident in his own judgment. This confidence is not always wrong. But it is reliably insufficient. Surround yourself with men who will tell you the truth even when it is not what you want to hear. The king who cannot tolerate honest counsel makes himself unable to govern well, and the consequences of that fall on everyone in his kingdom, not only on himself. The second thing: the nobles who flattered your father and who will flatter you have interests that do not always align with yours, and almost never align with those of the ordinary people of your kingdom. Be wary of gifts and favors that come with expectations attached. Be wary of men who are always telling you how great you are. The man who praises you without reservation is usually working toward something. The third thing: justice. Not just the performance of justice — the courts, the procedures, the appearance of impartiality — but the actual substance of it. The poor man who is cheated by the powerful man, and who has no one to appeal to, and who learns from that experience that the king's kingdom is not really for him — this man will not be loyal to you when you need him to be. I hold you in my prayers. Remigius, bishop of Reims