Patriarch Rodoald donates Rovinj, a land that was destroyed by the "abominable Slavs", to the Bishopric of Poreč (13th-century forgery).
In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.
Rodoaldus superno munere fretus sancte Aquilegiensis ecclesie humilis patriarcha.
Legimus in ecclesiasticis sanctionibus, quod nos, qui non nostro merito sed Dei dono pastores animarum imo quia patres aliorum episcoporum ortodoxa fides etiam confirmat, curam et solicitudinem erga nostro subiectos episcopos et eorum ecclesias habere debeamus, atque illorum damna et inopiam quasi propria deflere ac postmodum in quantum valeamus, Deo largiente, eis solatium et auxilium cuncta pubblica et secularia lucra remota ubique afferre non desistere.
Quapropter hec sancta precepta altius intuentes diligentiusque considerantes quemdam nostrum Episcopatum Parentinum, silicet ecclesiam magna inopia et calamitate oppressam cognoscentes, eidem pro Dei amore atque sancti Mauri martyris corporis cuius in honore dicatum est, nec non pro petitione et oratione suffraganeorum nostrorum episcoporum Histriensium Gaspaldi Polensis, Ioannis Tergestinensis, et Ioannis Civitatis Nove ac pro consulto omnium clericorum nostrorum graduum universorumque nostrorum fidelium consilio et pro consensu advocati nostri Azonis quandam terram, que de nostro episcopatu nobisque nostreque ecclesie pertinet, Rubinensi nomine, quod etiam – heu proh dolor – nuper a nefandis Sclavis ac duris barbaris destructum, Adam prefate ecclesie episcopo eiusque successoribus prefatam terram concedimus, et omnino in illorum delegamus potestate et dominio omni occasione et a nobis et a nostris remota successoribus.
Sancimus preterea, si aliquis ex nostris successoribus hoc privilegium a nobis factum et apud nominatos ac venerabiles episcopos hanc nostram securitatis privilegii paginam constipulatam per aliquod ingenium violare tentaverit, prefate ecclesie Parentine eiusque presulibus, qui pro tempore fuerint, coactus decem libras auri solutionis pena persolvat.
Et hec nostra privilegii confirmatio et formata securitas propria in soliditate consistat.
Actum in civitate Aquileie sedis die XXII mensis ianuarii, indictione vero VIII, anno autem incarnatione Domini nostri DCCCCLXVI.
Feliciter.
Rodoaldus sancte Aquilegiensis ecclesie patriarcha in hoc constituto a me promulgato signum sancte (SC) feci, et subscripsi.
Ganspaldus episcopus mea manu subscripsi (S)
Ego Ioannes episcopus mea manu subscripsi (S)
Fredebertus sancte Petenensis ecclesie humilis episcopus mea manu subscripsi.
Albericus sancte Aquilegiensis ecclesie presbyter mea manu subscripsi.
Petrus presbyter mea manu subscripsi.
Martinus presbyter mea manu subscripsi.
Petrus presbyter mea manu subscripsi.
Benedictus presbyter mea manu subscripsi.
Lupo presbyter mea manu subscripsi.
Pero diaconus sancte Aquilegiensis ecclesie mea manu subscripsi.
Perixo diaconus mea manu subscripsi.
Audorinus diaconus mea manu subscripsi.
Petrus diaconus mea manu subscripsi.
Ioannes diaconus mea manu subscripsi.
Arigus diaconus mea manu subscripsi.
Ego Benedictus Razo subdiaconus mea manu subscripsi.
Ioannes subdiaconus mea manu subscripsi.
Albertus subdiaconus mea manu subscripsi.
Ingiza subdiaconus mea manu subscripsi.
(S) Signum manus Azonis sancte Aquilegiensis ecclesie advocatus testis.
(S) Signum manus Albini testis.
(S) Signum manus Valperti testis.
(S) Signum manus Gausonis testis.
(S) Signum manus Audocti scavini testis.
Ioannes presbyter de Civitate manu mea subscripsi.
Gisilarius presbyter manu mea subscripsi.
Petrus presbyter manu mea subscripsi.
Ioannes presbyter manu mea subscripsi.
Amalfredus presbyter manu mea subscripsi.
Teophilus subdiaconus mea manu subscripsi.
Reginzo sancte Aquilegiensis ecclesie cancellarius et diaconus hoc privilegium ab omnibus promulgatum subscripsi et corroboravi.
The charter is undoubtedly a forgery that was based upon an unknown authentic charter from which the names of the bishops were drawn.
The elements that betray the charter as a forgery are the following:
1) The arenga does not fit the style of patriarchal charters of the era; it is by far the most elaborate and pretentious by naming the Istrian bishops as "subiectos," a syntagm that is not featured in any other patriarchal charter of the period.
2) The completio features two anachronistic elements: first, the syntagm "sancta Aquilegiensis ecclesia" is not used in authentic patriarchal documents of the age; second, a "cancellarius" of the Church of Aquileia appears only in the 13th century, thus it cannot be the case that one existed in the age of Rodoald ("Reginzo sancte Aquileiensis ecclesie cancellarius"); even in papal documents the chancellor does not appear until 1005.
3) The story of the destructions caused by "the abominable Slavs" is anachronistic to the 10th century and it seems to have been taken from John the Deacon who wrote his account at the end of the 10th/beginning of the 11th century ("Tunc Sclavorum pessime gentes et Dalmacianorum Ystriensem provinciam depredare ceperunt. Quattuor videlicet urbes ibidem devastaverunt, id est Umacus, Civitas Nova, Sipiares atque Ruinius." John the Deacon, Istoria Veneticorum, lib. 3, c. 14, ed. Luigi Andrea Berto, Fonti per la Storia dell’Italia medievale: Storici italiani dal Cinquecento al Millecinquecento ad uso delle scuole 2 (Bologna, Zanichelli 1999). p. 136);
4) The dating anno Domini does not concur with the dating by indiction (the least of all problems).
The document presents an episode in the struggle between the bishops of Poreč and the patriarchs of Aquileia over the territory extending from Rovinj to Dvigrad and Bale.
The struggle for this territory had begun in the 10th century, but numerous forgeries created by both the bishops of Poreč and the patriarchs of Aquileia make fixing the exact chronology of the fateful conflict almost impossible to ascertain. See the editor's comments section in doc. 983_OP for more details.
This Rodoald's donation was forged by the chancellery of the bishops of Poreč most probably in the 13th century when the bishops were relentlessly trying to (re)assert their secular dominion over the territories of their diocese. Namely, it seems highly improbable that the document was forged earlier, in the 10th of 11th centuries, not only because of the mention of a patriarchal "cancellarius", but because of two additional reasons: first, the document is not mentioned in Sergius IV's papal confirmation (doc. 1010_PP); second, the bishops of Poreč originally claimed dominion over Rovinj, Dvigrad and Bale on the basis of Otto II imperial confirmation charter from 983 (doc. 983_OP).