A Discourse on the Albigensian Heresy

...could tell and sufficiently illustrate; that you were born, I say, from a most noble family, were educated in the Court of the most powerful Kings, have attained the highest honors, and hold great authority and favor with Princes. But there are besides those qualities which pertain to the soul, and because they are uniquely human, they are held in even higher esteem by wiser and more discerning men. If I wished to recount these one by one, both the day and the time would fail me, and I would perhaps seem to wander too far from my intended purpose.

I will say only this most briefly: of those steps of honors and duties that usually lead to the Supreme Magistracy original: "Magistratum"; here referring to the office of Superior General or the highest administrative position within the religious order., You have fulfilled them all—and you have done so in such a way that no one has ever achieved them in a shorter time, with greater goodwill from others, or with such apparent divine favor. For indeed, in a Religious family original: "Religiosæ familiæ"; the author uses the term "family" to describe the religious order, emphasizing its communal and spiritual bonds.—especially one that is highly adorned both by the praise of virtue and the splendor of learning, and is furthermore spread far and wide across all regions of the earth—there are men innumerable in multitude, diverse in their variety of peoples and nations, and most distinguished in their lineage, duties, and authority.

It is therefore fitting that the one who rules them should be he who has joined to these other external praises, and to the highest integrity and sanctity of life, this further quality: that he has not only mastered the most noble and excellent disciplines through study, but has demonstrated his mastery in them through teaching and instruction. Moreover, in the very art of governing original: "gubernandi arte", which is the most difficult of all tasks, he must have shown himself to be most prudent original: "prudentissimum"; in this context, it implies "practical wisdom"—the ability to make the right decisions in complex situations. and experienced.

You, without doubt, are that man, MOST REVEREND FATHER, who, having reached a somewhat more mature age, [entered] the Religious