Augustin, and Gregory the Great are its sources. Its twenty-three chapters are distributed by Hincmar
himself^1398 under three heads:
(a) the royal person and office in general [chaps. 1–15]; (b) the discretion to be shown in
the administration of justice [chaps. 16–28]; (c) the duty of a king in the unsparing punishment of
rebels against God, the Church and the State, even though they be near relatives [chaps. 29–33]. It
was composed in a time of frequent rebellion, and therefore the king had need to exercise severity
as well as gentleness in dealing with his subjects.^1399 Hincmar delivers himself with great plainness
and gives wise counsels.
- The vices to be shunned and the virtues to be exercised.^1400 Another treatise designed for
the guidance of Charles the Bald, compiled chiefly from Gregory the Great’s Homilies and Morals.
Its occasion was Charles’s request of Hincmar to send him Gregory the Great’s letter to king
Reccared, when the latter came over to Catholicism. Hincmar’s treatise is a sort of appendix. It
begins with a reference to the letter’s allusion to the works of mercy, and then out of Gregory’s
writings Hincmar proceeds to treat of these works and their opposite vices. In chaps. 9 and 10
Hincmar discusses the eucharist and shows his acceptance of the view of Paschasius Radbertus.
5, 6. Treatises upon rape, a common offense in those lawless days.^1401- To the noblemen of the Kingdom for the instruction of King Carloman^1402 It was Hincmar’s
response to the highly complimentary request of the Frankish nobles, that he draw up some
instructions for the young King Carloman, on his accession in 882. It was therefore one of the last
pieces the old statesman prepared.
IV. Writings upon ecclesiastical affairs. 1. The Capitularies of 852, 874, 877, 881.^1403 2. Adefense of the liberties of the church, addressed to Charles.^1404 It is in three parts, called respectively
Quaterniones, Rotula and Admonitio; the first sets forth the necessity of the independence of the
Church of the State, and quotes the ancient Christian Roman imperial laws on the subject. The
second is on the trial of charges against the clergy as laid down in synodical decrees and papal
decisions. The third is an exhortation to the king to respect ecclesiastical rights.
- The crimination of priests, a valuable treatise upon the way in which their trials should
be conducted, as shown by synodical decrees and quotations from Gregory the Great and others.^1405
- The case of the presbyter Teutfrid, who had stolen Queen Imma’s tunic, a golden girdle
set with gems, an ivory box, and other things.^1406 The treatise deals with the ecclesiastico-legal
aspects of the case, and shows how the criminal should be treated. Gregory the Great is freely
quoted.
(^1398) See preface, col. 833, 834.
(^1399) Ebert (II. 251) accordingly finds the explanation of the treatise in its third division.
(^1400) De cavendiis vitiis et virtutibus exercendio, ibid. col. 857-930.
(^1401) De coercendis militum rapinis, and De coërcendo et exstirpando raptu viduarum puellarum ac sanctimonialium, ibid.
col. 953-956, 1017-1036.
(^1402) Ad proceres regni, ibid. col. 993-1008.
(^1403) Capitula, ibid. col. 773-804, 1069-1086.
(^1404) Pro ecclesiae libertatum defensione ibid. col. 1035-1070.
(^1405) De presbyteris criminosis, ibid. col. 1093-1110.
(^1406) De causa Teutfridi presbyteri, ibid. col. 1111-1116.