Wolfger, the patriarch of Aquileia and margrave of Istria, confirms the boundaries of the territories under the jurisdictions of the bishops of Poreč. A Forgery drawn up by the chancery of Boniface, the bishop of Poreč (1282 - 1305).
Anno Domini MCCIII, indictione VI, die vero IV intrante novembre, actum Parentii in maiori ecclesia, praesente domino Popone Petenensis episcopo, Henrico archidiacono Aquileiensi, Conrado de Sancto Georgio, Thoma et Othone de castro Vallis et aliis multis.
Cum dominus Volcherius patriarcha Aquileiae et marchio Istriae sederet pro tribunali in maiori ecclesia Sancti Mauri, comparuit coram ipso dominus Fulcherius Parentinus episcopus conquerendo, quod multi conantur destruere et minuere terminum proprietatis Sancti Mauri, scilicet territorium illustrissimae dominae Elizae Histriensium comitissae, unde praedictus episcopus fecit vocare coram dicto Domino Patriarcha viros idones et honestos, qui compelli deberent per dictum dominum patriarcham ostendere et assignare confines praedicti termini Sancti Mauri, qui vocati sunt de Parentio:
Artuicus filius quondam Othonis, Cadulus quondam Rocii, Ioannes quondam de Paulina, Ioannes Maleosse, Cadolus Homodei de Duobus Castellis, Oldaricus, Dominicus de Parentio, Andreas de Miripet diaconus, Nopo de Sancto Laurentio, Bernardus gastaldio et Gerungus frater eius, Martinus de Curte, Ditardus diaconus, Vitellus de Grimaldo iudex de Montona, Albinus de Balbo gastaldio, Ioannes de Parci, Martinus de presbytero Ursone, et Maricus; qui omnes supradicti coram praedicto patriarcha, et per ipsum compulsi dicere et assignare confines termini Sancti Mauri iuraverunt, et dixerunt omnes per sacramentum concorditer:
“Hos esse confines termini proprietatis et territorii Sancti Mauri: incipiendo a Muglono, veniendo a Manuchera recto tramite, et de Manuchera veniendo ad Diglanum, quod est Sanctae Mariae de Campo, et de Diglano veniendo ad Roiam presbyteri Albini, et inde veniendo ad montem Messium, qui est desuper monasterium Sancti Michaelis de sub terra versus orientem, et deinde veniendo iuxta lacum Vissignani, et de dicto lacu veniendo iuxta Ponzanum, et de Ponzano veniendo recto tramite iuxta ecclesiam Sanctae Margaritae castri Sancti Laurentii, et deinde veniendo usque ad locum, qui dicitur Sablonere, et de dicto loco veniendo ad montem Lezosum, et de dicto monte veniendo ad horam montis castri Calisetti versus occidentem, et deinde veniendo ad ripam paludis, etiam versus occidentem, et deinde veniendo usque ad campum Basilium, qui est Sanctis Michaelis de Lemo.”
Unde dictus patriarcha et marchio his auditis et diligenter examinatis sententialiter dixit et praecepit, quod non liceat alicui personae a modo in antea frangere, seu devastare aliquo modo praedictum terminum Sancti Mauri, nec modo aliquo gravare ecclesiam Parentinam de illo, quod testificatum est coram ipso, et qui contrafecerit, subiaceat damno nonaginta Bisantiorum patriarchae et marchioni, qui pro tempore fuerit et episcopo Parentino poena mille librarum denariorum Aquileiensium, et poena soluta hoc instrumentum semper firmum et ratum permaneat.
Actum Parentii in episcopali palatio sub anno Domini MCCCXVIII, Indictione I, die vero VI madii.
Ego Henricus imperiali auctoritate notarius interfui, rogatus a praedicto patriarcha, et episcopo, scripsi et roboravi.
Ego Guielmus filius Ugolini olim Bulgardi de Nasinpace de Imola imperiali auctoritate notarius hoc instrumentum authenticum, scriptum Henrici notarii manu, imperiali auctoritate fideliter exemplavi nihil addens, vel minuens, quod sensum mutet, vel variet intellectum, de mandato venerabili patris domini fratris Gratiadei, Dei et Apostolicae Sedis gratia Episcopi Parentini, praesentibus discretis viris fratre Lapo abate Sanctis Michaelis de Subterra, fratre Iacobo ordinis Carmelitarum.
Ego Gerardus de Parentio imperiali auctoritate notarius authenticum huius exempli vidi, legi, et auscultavi, et utrumque consonans reperii, et ideo me in testem subscripsi, et signum meum apposui.
Ego Laigoncius filius Gerardi de Garundo imperiali auctoritate notarius authenticum huius exempli vidi, legi, et auscultavi, et utrumque consonans reperii, signum meum apposui, et nomen meum subscripsi.
Ego Guidetus quondam domini Alberti de Verofatis imperiali auctoritate notarius authenticum huius exempli vidi, legi, et auscultavi, et utrumque consonans reperii, signum meum apposui, et nomen meum subscripsi.
Ego Minacius filius quondam Martini de Cistonie imperiali auctoritate notarius authenticus huius exempli vidi, legi, et auscultavi, et utrumque consonans reperii, signum meum apposui, et nomen meum subscripsi.
The document in question is an undisputed forgery as Patriarch Wolfger became the margrave of Istria only in 1209 (see the primary sources here). Moreover, the forgery is indubitably based on the authentic document from 1214 as the list of witnesses are absolutely identical in both charters (see it here).
The reason behind the drawing up of this forgery lies in the long struggle between the bishops of Poreč and the Commune of Sv. Lovreč over the territories belonging to the jurisdiction of Gradina, a temporal possession of the bishops of Trieste. Namely, the disputed territory was enjoyed both by the subjects of Sv. Lovreč as well as the bishop's subjects from Vrsar. The legal dispute ended up involving three Venetian officials - the captain of Lovreč, Francesco Corner, who was helped by Francesco Polani, the podestà of Poreč, and Francesco Bono, the podestà of Bale - who judged the case in 1340 (see the document here). During this trial, the representative of the bishops of Poreč, Otto de Artizanibus, presented three charters in support of his case: this forgery from 1203, purportedly copied in 1292 from an original; the act of demarcation between Vrsar and the Commune of Sv. Lovreč from 1305 (nowadays lost, but it featured Bishop Boniface who invoked the donations of Countess Azica); and another forgery, the donation charter of Istrian Countess Azica (see it here).
The 1203 forgery, most probably drawn up in 1292, was made in order to legitimize the territorial pretensions of the bishops of Poreč up to mount Bumbažin (campus Basilium), an area that included the territories of Gradina that were enjoyed by the subjects of Sv. Lovreč.
Interestingly, Azica's forgery - a document that was drawn up to achieve the same goal as the 1203 forgery - denotes the territory between mount Bumbažin and the territories of the Bishopric as belonging to St. Michael's monastery by Lim bay, an ecclesiastical institution that came under the potestas of the bishops of Poreč during the 13th century. Thus, the two forgeries present two different paths that Bishop Boniface undertook in trying to achieve the same goal: expand the territorial jurisdiction of his bishopric at the expense of Gradina and, indirectly, the Commune of Sv. Lovreč. The bishop ultimately failed in this endeavor.