Era
Vol. 2: A 804 usque ad 1077
Date
c. 850 (between 844 and 855)
Regestum

A poem composed in response to the Synod of Mantua (6th of June, 827), arguing that Aquileia, the old metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province Venetia et Histria, was so thoroughly destroyed by barbarians (Attila, the Avars, Lombards and Goths) that it was never rebuilt; thus, the metropolitan see transferred to "the Venetians" and Aquileia was demoted to a status of a mere parish.

Source
The poem survives in only one manuscript tradition:
B = Vienna, Österreichische Nationabibliothek, Cod. 891, fols. 69r-71r; 10th-century copy.
Previous Editions
Stephan Endlicher, Catalogus codicum philologicorum Latinorum Bibliothecae Palatinae Vindobonensis (Vienna 1836), pp. 300-302.
Edelestand du Méril, Poésies populaires latines antérieures au douzième siècle (Paris 1843), pp. 261-264.
Ernst Dümmler (ed.), “Carmen de Aquilegia numquam restauranda,” in Poetae Latini aevi Carolini I, Monumenta Germaniae historica, Poetae Latini medii aevi 1 (Berlin 1881), pp. 150–53.
FIM Edition
Diplomatic edition based on B.
Transcription

Item versus de Aquilegiaa

[1] Aquilegia gloriosa quondam urbs et inclita,1
bellicosa, triumphalis, Venetum metropolis,
Attila quema sevus2 olim funditus subverterat.
[2] Benignitatis expers factama, augustalis gloria,
vestram precamur submissi pietatis gratiam,
ut eam non integretis, augustales principes
[3] Felicia cives occisum agnum, Dei hostiam
qui adhorantb, benedicunt ante thronum iugiter,
qui lamentantur propter illam, quam dicarunt Domino.
[4] Divinitus hęca post Romam a sanctorum principe
Petro vocatur ad fidem per dilectum filium
Marcum, qui posteab Romę scripsit sacrum evangelium.3
[5] Electum hinc Hermachoram is ad Petrum destinat,
et ut presul ordinetur petit Aquilegicus
ab eodem,4 ipse dehinc adiita Alexandriam.
[6] Factus martyr suo sacro sanguine quam dedicat,
sed nec mora Fortunatus magystrum prosequitur,
Helarus sacer, deinde Tatianus socius.
[7] Genuierea Deo plebem plurimam martyrio,
ib sequacesc eorum per quos est catholica
fides roborata pios huc usque per presules.
[8] Haec dum suo gloriosa pollebat in culmine,
ob inmania offendit Dominum flagitia,
quibus meruit per manus destrui gentilium.
[9] Impiorum Avarorum tradita sub manibus,
conculcantur sacerdotes, perimuntur nobiles,
uxores et matres capte trahuntur et virgines.
[10] Catervatima perit omnis illustris nobilitas
archimonio sublato dirutisque menibus,
sola fides Veneticis est data per sacros servata per pontificesb.
[11] Lucida Venetiarum semper gens et inclita
omnes nationes prima superat per gratiam
sine fine firma fide destruens mendatiaa.
[12] Malum super malum, scelus addidit sceleribus,
Aquilegia core duro consumata crimine
a gente in terraa pulsa confovet demonia.
[13] Natio perosa cęlo terraa simul veluti
in porcor missam tetrab legionem demonum
praecipitatem in mare salvator abegerat.
[14] Ob illorum pertinacem fraudem et maliciam
sempera ibi colubres et ranę degent in lacunulis:5
sicut Deo sunt extortesb, sic terreno agmine.
[15] Pulso Gotho, Longobardus adiit Italiam,
quem Deus ad suam numquam perduxit noticiam,
et sub quo invasora Iohannes abbas deguit etb hereticus.c 6
[16] Qui super nefanda nefas adiecit scelestius,
ut secutus apostatarum dampnator heresima,
ipse primusb unam in duas scinderet Acclesiamc.
[17] Quod Hieroboam malignus in Israel egerat,
ut amisso templo Dei adoraret vitulos,
quos conflatiles erexit rex infidelissimus.
[18] Reus et periurus suo viventio pontificia
isdem Iohannes Foroiuliensib imc plebicula
erectus atque rebellis presulatum arripuit.
[19] Superbus ob infideles et avaros iudices
Longobordosa atque Gothisb periit iusticia[m]
sanctorum et perietur idem infideliter.
[20] Tandem iudicante Deo sanctorumque principe
Francorum katholicorum traditur in manibus
iniustis humilitatis penitus Italia.
[21] Tunca veneficus magnum regem promissis fallacibus
Karolumb Maxentius7 ut totam Dalmatiam
suis exorabat dictis subderet imperio.
[22] Christo tribuente pius ut paternum solium
assederat Ludowicusa, vir catholicissimus,
Maxentium patriarcham nota fraude deicitb.
[23] Ymnizanda quoa pollebat iusticia iugiter,
eius conregnante magno filio Lothario,
quotiens est venenosus vocatus Maxentius.
[24] Celoa Dei Ludowicus cum patre Lothario
Aquilegumb vocando falsa non valet prestigiac,
ut iustum superaret veniant [iudicium]d.e
[25] Gloriosa deitatis unitatis trinitas,
fac devincere fallaces Aquilegiensesa,
exaltetur principum in eternum et in cunctab saeculorum in saecula.
Critical apparatus

asic B; titulum Carmen de Aquilegia numquam restauranda posteriores editores assignaverunt.
1. asic B: pro quam et sic ed. Dümmler.
2. a) expers factam] spes facta coni. Dumeril.
3. a) Celici coni. et sic ed. Dümmler. b) adorant coni. et sic ed. Dümmler.
4a) haec ed. Dümmler et undique ae loco ę scripsit. b) post coni. et sic ed. Dümmler.
5. asic B; adit coni. Dumeril et sic ed. Dümmler.
7. asic B: pro Genuere; genmere leg. et Genuere ed. Dümmler. bsic B: pro hi et sic ed. Dümmler. cseq. sunt add. Endlicher ex coni. et sic item ed. Dümmler.
10. a) Katervatim coni. et sic ed. Dümmler. b) Veneticis est data per sacros servata per pontifices] Veneticos data per pontifices coni. Dumeril; Veneticis data per pontifices ed. Dümmler.
11. a) mendalia leg. et mendacia ed. Dümmler.
12. a) in terra] inferna coni. Dümmler.
13. a) terrae debet esse coni. Dumeril et sic ed. Dümmler. b) porcor missam tetra] immisam tetram coni. Dumeril; porcos immisam tetram ed. Dümmler.
14. aleg. sed intentionaliter om. Dümmler. b) extorres coni. et sic ed. Dümmler.
15. aleg. sed intentionaliter om. Dümmler. bleg. sed intentionaliter om. Dümmler. c) Iohannes invasor add. in marg. man. r.
16. a) secutus apostatarum dampnator heresim] damnatus apostatarum sectator haeresim coni. Dumeril; secutus apostatarum dampnatorum heresim ed. Dümmler. b) ipse primus] ut debet esse coni. Dumeril. csic B: pro Ecclesiam et sic ed. Dümmler.
18. a) suo viventio pontifici] suo Viventio pontifici ed. Dümmler et sic coni. quod unus patriarcha Aquileiensis qui Viventius nuncupatur existitit. Conversom, Meyer (“Die Sapltung,” p. 20), coni. suo viventi pontifici debet esse. Cf. Iohannes diaconus, Istoria Veneticorum, lib. 2, cap. 28: “Iohannes siquidem patriarcha, qui per quattuor annorum spacia Gradensem sedem vivente pastore usurpavit, sinodali censura depositus est.” b) Iohannes Foroiuliensi] Foroiuliensi Iohannes inv. ex coni. Dümmler.
csic B: pro in et sic ed. Dümmler.
19. asic B; Longobardos ed. Dümmler.  bsic B: pro Gothos et sic ed. Dümmler.
21. aleg. sed huc intentionaliter om. Dümmler et in alio loco ipsum verbum transposuit. b) Tunc Karolum coni. et sic ed. Dümmler.
22. a) Ludovicus leg. et ed Dümmler. bseq. iudicium eadem manu add. post sig. additionis B sed profecto versui 3 serierum versuum 24 adpertinet sicut alii editores concluserunt.
23. a) quae ed. Dümmler.
24. asic B: pro Zelo et sic ed. Dümmler. bsic B: pro Aquilegium et sic ed. Dümmler. c) falsa non valet prestigia] non volet praestigia falsa coni. et sic ed. Dümmler. deadem man. add. post sig. additionis B sed iuxta seriem versuum 22. e) Aquilegum—iudicium] Aquilegium vocando non valet praestigia falsa / veniunt ut iustum superet iudicium coni. Dumeril; Aquilegium vocando non volet praestigia / falsa veniant, ut iustum superent iudicium coni. et sic ed. Dümmler
25. aseq. nos add. Dumeril ex coni. et sic ed. Dümmler. b) exaltetur principum in eternum et in cuncta saeculorum in saecula] et exaltetur principes in omnia saecula coni. Dumeril; principes ut exaltentur saeculorum in saecula ed. Dümmler.


1) Cf. Versus de destructione Aquilegiae 2: “Bella, sublimis, inclita divitiis, / olim fuisti celsa edifitiis – huc editum.
2) Cf. Versus de destructione Aquilegiae 6, 1 et 20, 2: “Atilla sevissimus” – huc editum.
3) Cf. Acta synodi Mantuae: “Tempore igitur Aquileia civitate stante in Hysperia illuc sanctus Marcus evangelista ad prędicandum ab urbe Roma scilicet a beatissimo Petro principe apostolorum directus est.” – huc editum.
4) Cf. Acta synodi Mantuae: “Beatissimus igitur Marcus evangelista Aquileia residens vultum beati Petri apostoli videre desyderans Romam urbem regrediens ac secum elegantem virum Hermachoram nomine ab omni electum clero et populo deferens et ab ipso beato Petro apostolo Aquileię urbis ordinatus et constitutus est pontifex.” – huc editum.
5) Cf. Versus de destructione Aquilegiae 18, 1–3: “Sanctorum aedes ... facte vulpium confugium sive serpentium.” – huc editum.
6) Paulus diaconus, Historia Langobardorum, lib. 4, cap. 33, huc editum.
7) Patriarcha Aquileiensis a 811 usque ad c. 833/8 – cf. hoc capitulum.

Medieval Recollections

See the Medieval Recollections featured in this document.

Selected Bibliography
Wilhelm Mayer, "Die Spaltung des Patriarchats Aquileia," Abhandlungen der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen: Philologisch-historische Klasse, Neue Folge, 2/6 (1898): pp. 19–20.
Angelo De Nicola, “I versi sulla distruzione di Aquileia,” Studi goriziani 50 (1979): pp. 7–31.
Francesco Borri, “Arrivano i barbari a cavallo! Foundation Myths and Origines gentium in the Adriatic Arc,” in Post-Roman Transitions: Christian and Barbarian Identities in the Early Medieval West, ed. by Walter Pohl and Gerda Heydemann (Turnhout 2013), pp. 215–70, esp. 231.
Stefano Gasparri, The Formation of an Early Medieval Community: Venice between Provincial and Urban Identity, in Three Empires, Three Cities: Identity, Material Culture, and Legitimacy in Venice, Ravenna and Rome, 750-1000, ed. Veronica West-Harling, Seminari internazionali del Centro interuniversitario per la storia e l’archeologia dell’alto medioevo 6 (Turnhout 2015), pp. 40–42.
Peter Štih, "Gradež kot Aquileia nova in Split kot Salona nova? Lokalno zgodovinopisje in oblikovanje krajevne identitete," Zgodovinski časopis 71/3–4 (2017): pp. 354–67, esp. 359–60.
Editor's Notes

The poem was composed in reaction to the Synod of Mantua of 827 that officially proclaimed Aquileia the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province of Venetia et Histria (see the acts edited here).

As the poet pleas to kings Lothar and his son Louis II, who jointly ruled over Regnum Italiae between 844 and 855, the poem is easily dated to this particular period.

The argumentation set forth in the poem builds upon the previous works of Paul the Deacon (Historia Romana lib. 14, cap. 9; Historia Langobardorum, lib. 4, cap. 33) and, most notably, upon the older poem lamenting the destruction of Aquileia at the hands of Attila and his Huns (see the poem edited here). The author equated Huns with the Avars, but these ethnonyms had already been used as synonyms (Walter Pohl, The Avars: A Steppe Empire in Central Europe (Ithaca 2018), pp. 5-11).

However, the poet adds another layer to the old story of Hunnic destruction of Aquileia: the city, the old metropolitan see of the entire province, was so utterly destroyed not only by the “Avars,” but by the subsequent waves of barbarians (Lombards and Goths) that it was never restored to its former splendor. For these reasons, the “pontiffs” (could be translated as the heads of the ecclesiastical province, but also as the popes) placed their trust only in the Venetians (verse 10, line 3). And just as the grace of the people of Venice exceeded that of all other nations (verse 11, lines 1–2), so Aquileia degenerated into a den of demons (verse 12). Moreover, “the invader” abbot John, the patriarch of Aquileia ordained at the same time as Candidianus became the patriarch of Grado, thus officially splitting the ecclesiastical province in two (see the primary sources here), is deemed a heretic (for being supported by the, at the time still Arian, Lombards) and likened to Jeroboam, the biblical king who divided the Kingdom of Israel by forming the Northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) formed of ten rebellious tribes (verses 15–17).

The poet then proceeds to celebrate the Frankish victory over the “unjust” Lombards (verse 20) and to praise King Louis the Pious, “the most catholic man” for not believing the “poisonous”, “known liar” Maxentius (verse 22), the patriarch of Aquileia who victoriously took part in the Synod of Mantua (see the acts here).

The poem ends by hoping that justice would be served and that, by the wise judgment of King Louis II, the “fallacious Aquileians” will be defeated – that is, that Grado would be decreed as the sole metropolitan see of the entire ecclesiastical province of Venetia et Histria (verses 23–25).

The poem is, as Peter Štih correctly pointed out, a “modest attempt at defending the aspirations of Grado” (“Gradež kot Aquileia nova,” p. 359), but it nevertheless presents an important step in the evolution of the argumentation of the thesis “Grado as the New Aquileia” (see more on that here under Medieval Recollections).

The episode forms part of a story-arc spanning centuries, officially beginning in 607 and ending only in 1180 when Aquileia officially remained the metropolitan see of Istria and the entire Friuli and Veneto, with Grado retaining only the spiritual jurisdictions over Venice and the Dogado (the edition of this document is forthcoming).

How to Cite
First citation: Josip Banic (ed.), Fontes Istrie medievalis, vol. 1: A seculo VI usque ad 803, doc. 844_CA, fontesistrie.eu/844_CA (last access: date).
Subsequent citations: FIM, 1: doc. 844_CA.
Facsimile
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