Dhuoda, Manuel pour mon fils, intro., text and notes by Pierre Riché, French trans. by B. Vregille and C. Mondésert, Paris, Du Cerf, 1975. (“Sources Chrétiennes”, 225).

Dhuoda, The Liber Manualis of Dhuoda: Advice of a Ninth-Century Mother for Her Sons, ttext and English trans. by Myra Ellen Bowers. PhD thesis. Catholic University of America, 1977.

Dhuoda, Educare nel Medioevo. Per la formazione di mio figlio. text and Italian trans. by Gabriella Zanoletti, Milan, Jaca Book, 1982.

Dhuoda, La educación cristiana de mi hijo, Castilian trans. by Marcelo Merino. Pamplona, Eunate, 1995.

Duoda, De mare a fill. Escrits d’una dona del segle IX, Catalan trans. by Mercè Otero Vidal. Barcelona, LaSal, 1989.

Dhuoda, Handbook for William: A Carolingian Woman’s Counsel for Her Son, English trans. by Carol Neel. Lincoln and London, University of Nebraska Press, 1991.

Dhuoda, countess of Barcelona and marchioness of Septimania, encourages her son Guillermo to frequently read the book that she wrote for him to relieve the pain of their separation and so that he might always remember that in it he will find the testimony of his birth and, also, all the wisdom that he will need to be useful in the world and to find spiritual happiness.

In Name of the Holy Trinity

The manual that Dhuoda dedicated to her son Guillermo begins.

Most of the mothers of this world are able to enjoy the closeness of their children, whilst I Dhuoda, find myself so far from you, my son Guillermo, and consequently full of anxiety and of the desire to be useful to you; that is why I am sending you this little written work of mine, so that you can read it and be educated; I will be happy if, although I am absent in body, this very book makes you think, when you read it, of what, out of love for me, you should do.

[...]

Prologue

There are many things that are evident for many that for me are hidden; If I say of my fellow women of confused notions, lacking in intelligence, that they are lacking, the more so am I. But it is always present that which opens the mouth of the dumb and makes the tongues of little girls and boys eloquent (Sb. 10, 21). I, Dhuoda, although of delicate sensitivity, living unworthy amongst worthy women, am, however, your mother, my son Guillermo, and I address you now with these words in my manual, so that, like the game of dice seems to young people to be the most convenient and adequate amongst the worldly arts, or, also, like some women as a habit examine their faces in the mirror to get rid of imperfections, bringing out their clarity, since they take great pains to please their husbands in the world, in the same way I ask you that, when you are grieved by the amount of worldly and temporal activities, you might often read this little book that I address to you, and, in memory of me, as if it were a matter of mirrors and of games of dice, not neglect it.

Although you will have more and more books, give yourself the pleasure of often reading this little work of mine, and be capable, with the help of all-powerful God, of understanding it for your own benefit. You will find in it, in brief, everything that you might wish to know; you will also find a mirror where you will be able to contemplate without hesitation the state of health of your soul, in such a way as to not only please the world but that you might also please in everything Him who has shaped you out of the dust of the earth (Gn. 1,7)): because it is absolutely necessary for you, my son Guillermo, in both matters to show yourself in such a way as to be useful to the world and to have the courage to always please God in everything.

What most concerns me, oh son Guillermo, is to address these words of salvation to you, amongst which my ardent and attentive heart rises up in flames so that you might have, in this little book in codex, out of my desire, testimony of your birth, with the help of God, as is more usefully ordered in what follows.

In nomine Sanctae Trinitatis

Incipit liber Dhuodane Manualis quem ad filium suum transmisit Wilhelmum.

Cernens plurimas cum suis in saeculo gaudere proles, et me Dhuodanam, o fili Wilhelme, a te elongatam conspiciens procul, ob id quasi anxia et utilitatis desiderio plena, hoc opusculum ex nomine meo scriptum in tuam specietenus formam legendi dirigo, gaudens quod, si absens sum corpore, iste praesens libellus tibi ad mentem reducat quid erga me, cum legeris, debeas agere.

[...]

Incipit prologus

Multis plura patent, mihi tamen latent, meae quoque similes, obscurato sensu, carent intellectu, si minus dicam, plus ego. Adest semper ille qui ora aperit mutorum et infantium linguas facit disertas.Dhuoda quanquam in fragili sensu, inter dignas uiuens indigne, tamen genitrix tua, fili Wilhelme, ad te nunc meus sermo dirigitur manualis, ut, ueluti tabularum lusus maxime iuuenibus inter ceteras artium partes mundanas congruus et abtus constat ad tempus, uel certe inter aliquas ex parte in speculis mulierum demonstratio apparere soleat uultu, ut sordida extergant, exhibentesque nitida, suis in saeculo satagunt placere maritis, ita te obto ut, inter mundanas et saeculares actionum turmas oppressus, hunc libellum a me tibi directum frequenter legere, et, ob memoriam mei, uelut in speculis atque tabulis ioco, ita non negligas.

Licet sint tibi multa adcrescentium librorum uolumina, hoc opusculum meum tibi placeat frequenter legere, et cum adiutorio omnipotentis Dei utiliter ualeas intelligere. Inuenies in eo quidquid in breui cognoscere malis; inuenies etiam et speculum in quo salutem animae tuae indubitanter possis conspicere, ut non solum saeculo, sed ei per omnia possis placere qui te formauit ex limo; quod tibi per omnia necesse est, fili Wilhelme, ut in utroque negotio talis te exibeas, qualiter possis utilis esse saeculo, et Deo per omnia placere ualeas semper.

Sunt mihi curae multae, ad te, o fili Wilhelme, uerba dirigere salutis, inter quas ardens et uigil meus aestuat animus, ut tibi de tua, auxiliante Deo, natiuitate, in hunc codicem libelli ex meo desiderio habeas conscriptum, sicut in sequentibus est utiliter praeordinatum.