1037_KE

Era
Vol. 2: A 804 usque ad 1077
Date
27th of August, 1037
Place
Regestum

Emperor Conrad II donates Lovrečica to the Bishopric of Novigrad.

Source
The original is lost; the text survives only in much later copies, that are in turn based on copies:
F = San Daniele del Friuli, Civica Biblioteca Guarneriana, ms. 262 (= Collezione Fontanini 78: Copie di bolle, privilegi e documenti relativi al Patriarcato d'Aquileia), pp. 600-602; 18th-century simple copy based on Historia Istriensi by Francesco Zeno, a 17th-century bishop of Koper (nowadays lost work), who in turn copied a copy made by notary John Leonico sometime between mid-15th and early 16th century (terminus ante quem 1519).
T = Giacomo Filippo Tommasini, De Commentarij storici-geografici della provincia dell' Istria, pp. 222-223 (edition published in Archeografo triestino, vol. 4, 1837); a mid-17th-century copy of a copy made by notary John Leonico sometime between mid-15th and early 16th century (terminus ante quem 1519).
Previous Editions
Harry Bresslau (ed.), Conradi II diplomata, Monumenta Germaniae historica, Diplomata regum et imperatorum Germaniae, vol. 4 (Hannover – Leipzig 1909), doc. 249, pp. 342-344; a highly emended reconstructive edition based on FT.
FIM Edition
Diplomatic edition based on F, including the notarial attestation, with Bresslau's emendations reported in the critical apparatus.
Transcription

In nomine sanctae et individuae Trinitatis.

Conradus divina favente clementia Romanorum imperator augustus.a

Quocirca notum sit omnibus sanctae Dei Ecclesiae fidelibus praesentibus scilicet etb futuris, qualiter Poppo patriarcha sanctae ecclesiae Aquileiensis pro remedio animae suae sanctae Aemoniensis ecclesiae paupertati misericorditer compassus villam Sancti Laurentii iuxta eandem Aemoniensem civitatem sitam, quam ipse per nostrum praeceptum et privilegium apostolicum usque nunc visus est possidere, in nostrum ius reflexit, eo rationis tenore quatenus pro Dei amore nostraeque animae redemptione atque suae petitionis interventu sanctae Aemoniensi ecclesiae et Ioanni eiusdem sedis praesuli suisque successoribus memoratam villam Sancti Laurentii cum placitis et districtionibus, collectis et angariis, fo[t]roc, suffragio, herbatico et escatico ceterisque publicis fructibusd cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, prout ipse eam hucusque visus est obtinere, per nostrae traditionis auctoritatem largiri atque confirmare dignaremur, quo stabilis et inconvulsa in eiusdem ecclesiae iure perpetualiter deinceps permaneret.

Cuius dignis petitionibus aures nostrae [serenitatis accomodantes per huius imperialis praecepti paginam largimur et corroboramus sanctae]e Aemoniensi ecclesiae et Ioanni eiusdem praesuli suisque successoribus, qui pro tempore fuerint, praelibatam villam Sancti Laurentii iuxta Aemoniensem civitatem positam cum placitis et districtionibus, collectis et angariis, fo[t]roc et suffragio, herbatico et escatico reliquisque publicis fructibusd et cum omnibus quae legali iure ad eam pertinere videntur, secundum quod Popponi patriarchae per praecepti nostri paginam contulimus.

Eo scilicet ordine, ut nullus dux, marchio, comes, vicecomes nullaque regni nostri magna vel parva persona in praedicta villa placitare vel collectas facere vel homines angarizaref praesumantg praeter praelibatum Ioannem episcopum [suosque]h successores.

Si quis vero huius nostri praecepti paginam infringere voluerit, sciat se compositurum libras mille argentii, medietatem camerae nostrae et medietatem Ecclesiae Aemoniensi eiusque rectoribus.

Quod, ut verius credatur et diligentius ab omnibus observetur, manu propria confirmantes sigilli nostri impressione insigniri iussimus.

Signum domni Conradi ⟨secundi⟩ invictissimi Romanorum imperatoris augusti.

Rudolphus episcopus et cancellarius.

Datum sexto decimo kalendas septembris anno Dominicae incarnationis millesimo vigesimo nono, anno autem domni Conradi quinto decimo imperii.

Actum Aquileiae.

Feliciterj.

Nos frater Marcus de Venetiis vicarius generalis domni fratris Ioannis Dei gratia episcopi Aemoniensis praesens instrumentum seu privilegium de nostra voluntate iussimus de verbo ad verbum de autentico privilegio, quod apud nos est, extrahi ut in eo plenius continetur et per notarium infrascriptum fideliter exemplari.

Ego Ioannes Leonico imperiali auctoritate notarius et cancellarius civitatis Aemoniensis praedicta omnia scripsi et roboravi de verbo ad verbum, ut in privilegio ecclesiae civitatis Aemoniensis plenius continetur, unacum honesto viro domno fratre Marco vicario generali supradicti domni Ioanni Dei gratia episcopi Aemoniensis, lecto et autenticato ut de ipsius voluntate.

Critical apparatus

aom. arenga B; Bresslau em. seq. arenga: Si Ecclesiarum Dei cultores nostre largitatis munere ditare studuerimus, id ad nostri regni statum proficere minime dubitamus.  b) ac ed. Bresslau.  csic F: pro fotro, sicut ed. Bresslau.  dsic F: pro functionibus, sicut ed. Bresslau.  e) serenitatis—sanctae] om. F et puncta posuit; ed. et em. Bresslau secundum T.  f) angariare em. Bresslau.  gsic F: pro praesumat, sicut ed. Bresslau.  hom. F; em. Bresslau.  isic F: fort. pro auri.  jseq. amen add. Bresslau.

Selected Bibliography
Giacomo Filippo Tommasini, “De Commentarij storici-geografici della provincia dell' Istria libri otto con appendice,” Archeografo triestino 4 (1837): pp. 220ff.
Bernardo Benussi, Nel medio evo: Pagine di storia istriana (Rovinj – Trieste 2004), pp. 254-256.
Editor's Notes

The charter is only preserved as a much later copy; the codex optimus being the 18th-century manuscript written by Giusto Fontanini. As was noted by Bresslau, the older editions of the charter (edited by Ughelli and Tommasini) were also based on copies and all of them stem from yet another copy, the one ordered by a Marcus de Venetiis, a general vicar of a bishop John of Novigrad, and authenticated by notary John Leonico, supposedly made on the basis of an autenticum privilegium. The original date of the composition of Mark's copy cannot be ascertained; it was definitely done before 1519 as this was the year that Bishop Marc'Antonio Foscarini commissioned a new copy of this John Leonico's copy (as reported by Tommasini, p. 223, cited above).

The charter exhibits some "red flags": the arenga is completely missing (reconstructed based on another charter that served as a template, according to Bresslau); the word "secundi" in the signatio of Emperor Conrad is surely a later interpolation; the elements of dating are wrong and do not concur with each other. Finally, there was no Rudolphus (or Rudilohus as copied by Tommasini) who acted as recognitor in Conrad II's chancellery. All of this, however, can be ascribed to simple scribal errors and "harmless emendations" as the charter had been copied from older copies numerous times.

Thus, the dating of the charter could be fixed, as was originally proposed by Bresslau, in the following way: "millesimo vigesimo nono" was copied instead of the originally written "MXXVIIII" that was in turn erroneously copied from the originally written "MXXXVII" by reading V instead of X and II instead of V, mistakes that are indeed easy to make. The same goes for the year of Conrad's reign: "quinto decimo" was copied in place of the originally written "XV" that was in turn erroneously copied from the originally written "XII". Namely, only the year 1037 and the twelfth year of Conrad II's reign correspond both to each other and to the emperor's itinerary as he was indeed in north-eastern Italy at that particular time. Finally, Rudolphus and Rudilohus would be contaminated forms of the originally-written Kadelohus who indeed worked as a recognitor in Conrad II's chancellery.

In any case, the bishops of Novigrad were indeed recognized as worldly lords of Lovrečica in the Middle Ages (cf. Tommasini's account referenced above). This charter was the template used for the forging of a donation charter by which Conrad II gifted Umag to the Bishopric of Novigrad (see the charter here).

How to Cite
First citation: Josip Banic (ed.), Fontes Istrie medievalis, vol. 2: A 804 usque ad 1077, doc. 1037_KE, fontesistrie.eu/1037_KE (last access: date).
Subsequent citations: FIM, 2: doc. 1037_KE.
Facsimile

Facsimile of F to be published here pending the approval of Civica Biblioteca Guarneriana di San Daniele del Friuli.