Qualiter Swenomagnus rex Magno defuncto et Haraldo coma pulchro Dacie finibus effugato regnum obtinuerit Danorum.

Post multos igitur bellorum incursus certaminumque conflictus inter Magnum, aquilonalium et occidentalium, et Suegnonem, Magnum etiam nuncupatum, orientalium et australium ducem, acerrimos utrosque, commissos, postque memorabile Nitzę prelium inter Haroldum coma pulchrum et eundem Suegnomagnum de principatu Dacie habitum, Magno quidem uia uniuersitatis egresso et Haraldo Dacie terminis exturbato, Suegnomagnus natiui soli principatum obtinuit et, quo aduixit tempore, nobilissime rexit.

Qui ueluti famosus ille Troianorum quondam heros, inclitus Priamus, speciem dignam preferens imperio, cum secundum diuinum interpretem sapiens corde esset et fortis robore, gentem suam tam diuinitatis auxilio quam et robore et prudentia consilij sui ab extranearum incursione gentium strennue protexit et pace circumquaque reddita armis eam et uiribus plurimis per circuitum gentibus terribilem effecit.

Sed et, quia liberalium non expers erat studiorum et diuinarum non inscius lectionum, religionis cultum euehere non neglexit; immo sanctorum ęcclesias, in quibus erant locis, regali auctoritate prouexit et, in quibus hactenus non fuerant, erexit, clerumque ac pontifices tam adaugere quam et uenerari operam duxit. Orphanis et uiduis, egenis et aduenis et maxime pauperibus clericis regalibus succurrebat stipendiis, et ex iniquo mammona hos sibi amicos efficere satagebat, a quibus se ęternis intromittendum tabernaculis presumebat. Et ne omnibus immorer,

Mitis erat paruis, atrox asperque superbis,

illos mulcebat clementia, istos premebat potentia,

Pauperibusque dapes, nudis dat tegmina, uestes.

Hos fouebat, ne in uia deficerent, illos tegebat, ne aut frigoris rigore aut caloris ardore deperirent.

Sed quid in humanis est omni parte beatum?

Deus enim dominus noster, solus uere bonus et solus uere beatus, equalis et coęternus deo patri existens et homo in fine seculorum deueniens, sicut immaculato et intemerato utero exiuit uirgineo, ita sine molestia et grauedine peccati nostro conuersatus et egressus est seculo: nostro, dico, per humanitatem pro nobis, in nobis, ex nobis assumptam, egressus est seculo, qui per deitatis essentiam sui fidelibus ęternam promisit presentiam.

Nos uero, qui in iniquitatibus concipimur et in delictis ac doloribus parturimur, quamuis salutari lauachro originali absoluamur commisso, fragilitate corporeę infirmitatis et onere superadditę mortalitatis aggrauati in peccati cenum relabimur; et nisi supernus releuaret spiritus, omnes ęternę dampnationis absorberet interitus. Sed qui prothoplasto post mali gustum et diuini precepti transgressum 'morte morieris' dixit, in se credentibus eiusque iussis obtemperantibus uitam eternam promittit; et qui legalis censurę seueritatem per premissos intulit, ipse misericordiam ueniens attulit, ut legalis duricia euangelica mitigaretur clementia, dum, quos illa puniendos diiudicet, ista ad ueniam querendam inuitet.

Nam cum illa ob hoc uel illud commissum hunc a populis delendum, illum lapidibus obruendum, alium morti condempnandum denunciet, hęc penitentiam agentibus regnum cęlorum aperiendum declamat et omnem reatum excepta spiritus blasphemia (id est: ęternę salutis desperatione) remittendum insinuat. Quo enim modo reatibus absoluendus creditur, a quo eiusdem remissionis gratia desperando contempnitur?

Et qui enormitatem scelerum suorum diuini lateris sanguine diffidit preponderandam et multitudinem reatuum spiritualis gratia remissionis non estimat exsuperandam atque in ipsa incredulitatis seu desperationis obstinatia in finem usque perseuerando defecerit, idcirco pietate priuatus omnibus exit criminibus implicatus, et ab ea, quam desperando contempserat, ac per hoc semet indignum ipsa iudicauerat, salute (id est: a Christo) condempnatus ęternę dampnationis baratro sempiternis exurendus incendiis detruditur deputatus.

Qui autem uoce dominica audita uerę remissionis gratiam petit, ut accipiat, commissorumque indulgentiam querit, ut inueniat, atque ad pietatis ęternę ianuam precibus importunis non deficiendo depulsat, portas indeficientis clementię uerę confessioni apertas inueniet, per quas ad atria curię cęlestis deuenitur, ubi deus deorum in Syon (id est: ęternę pacis uisione) conspicitur.

How Sweyn Estridsson obtained the kingdom of the Danes after the death of Magnus the Good and the expulsion of Harald Hardrada from Denmark

After many attacks and clashes of war between Magnus the Good, ruler of the northern and western lands, and Sweyn Estridsson — also called Magnus — leader of the eastern and southern regions, both fierce opponents; and after the memorable battle at (Nissan by Halmstad) between Harald Hardrada and the same Sweyn Estridsson over control of Denmark — when Magnus had departed this life and Harald had been driven from Danish territory — Sweyn Estridsson gained rule over his native land and governed it with great distinction for as long as he lived.

Like the famed hero of the Trojans, the illustrious Priam of old, he possessed an appearance worthy of kingship. As Scripture says, he was wise in mind and strong in body. With God’s help, and through his own strength and prudent counsel, he vigorously defended his people against attacks by foreign nations. Once peace had been restored on all sides, he made Denmark formidable to the surrounding peoples by arms and by military power.

Nor was he lacking in cultivated learning or ignorant of divine writings. He did not neglect the promotion of religion. On the contrary, he strengthened existing churches by royal authority, founded new ones where none had existed before, and took care both to support and to honor the clergy and bishops. He provided royal stipends for orphans and widows, the poor and strangers, and especially for impoverished clerics. In this way he strove to make friends for himself out of worldly wealth, trusting that through them he would be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

And not to dwell on everything:

He was gentle to the humble, but fierce and harsh toward the proud;

the lowly he soothed with mercy, the arrogant he subdued with power.

He fed the poor, clothed the naked,

supported some so they would not fail along the way,

and sheltered others so they would not perish from bitter cold or burning heat.

But what in human affairs is blessed in every respect?

For God our Lord — alone truly good and alone truly blessed, equal and eternal with God the Father — came in the fullness of time as a human being. Just as he was born from a spotless and untouched virgin womb, so he lived among us without burden or stain of sin and departed from this world. He left this world, I say, through the humanity he took upon himself for us, in us, and from us — he who through his divine nature promised his faithful eternal presence.

We, however, who are conceived in wrongdoing and born amid fault and suffering, though cleansed of original sin by the saving washing of baptism, are weighed down by the frailty of the body and the added burden of mortality. We slip back into the mire of sin, and unless the Spirit from above lifts us up, we would all be swallowed by eternal destruction.

Yet the one who said to the first human after the taste of evil and the breaking of God’s command, “You shall surely die,” promises eternal life to those who believe in him and obey his commands. And the same one who once imposed the harshness of the Law now comes bringing mercy, so that legal severity might be softened by gospel compassion: where the Law judges people worthy of punishment, the Gospel invites them to seek forgiveness.

For the Law declares that one person must be cut off from the people for this crime, another crushed with stones, another condemned to death. But the Gospel proclaims that the kingdom of heaven is opened to those who repent, and that every guilt is forgiven except blasphemy against the Spirit — that is, despair of eternal salvation.

For how can someone be forgiven, if they scorn the grace of forgiveness itself through despair? And the one who believes that the weight of their crimes outweighs the blood that flowed from Christ’s side, and who thinks the multitude of their sins cannot be overcome by the grace of spiritual forgiveness, and who persists to the end in unbelief or despair — such a person, deprived of mercy, departs bound by every crime. Condemned by the very salvation they rejected, and judged by Christ himself, they are cast into the abyss of eternal damnation, assigned to burn forever.

But whoever hears the Lord’s voice and asks for the grace of true forgiveness so as to receive it, seeks pardon for their sins so as to find it, and does not cease to knock persistently at the door of eternal mercy with prayer, will find the gates of unfailing compassion opened to sincere confession. Through them one comes into the courts of the heavenly kingdom, where God of gods is seen in Zion — that is, in the vision of eternal peace.