Pope Sergius IV confirms the jurisdictions of the bishops of Poreč over Rovinj, Dvigrad, and Bale that were disputed by the Aquileian patriarch John.
Sergius Episcopus, servus servorum Dei.
Venerabili fratri Andree episcopo sancte Parentine Ecclesie, pro te et tuis successoribus in perpetuum.
Congruum valde namque est, ut ea que a praedecessoribus nostris secundum sanctorum instituta canonum seu legum concessa sive confirmata sunt a nobis corroborentur, et firmiter corrigantur, ne post longa annorum curricula instigante diabolo aliquis contra sanctam matrem Ecclesiam insurgere et contra hanc nostram confirmationem conetur.
Quapropter quod notum nobis pluries fecisti quod Ioannes Aquileiensis patriarcha olim invasisset Ruvinii parochiam, ubi quondam episcopatus dicitur fuisse, necnon Duo Castella cum quadam Valle tempore predecessoris nostri Sylvestri, atque privilegium, quod ab ipso acceperas, ostendere curasti nobis in etiam quo, quomodo ter vocatus fuisset, et qualiter ipsam trinam citationem et vocationem pro nichilo duxisset, reperitur, atque quomodo ipse Sylvester pie memorie Romane Ecclesie presul deprecasset Henricum, qui eo tempore ducatum tenebat Baiuvariorum, ut supradictum patriarcham moneret, ut ab infestatione sancte Parentine Ecclesie recederet, quod memoratus Henricus facere non sprevit, eumque ad se vocare fecit, sed ipse venire distulit.
Unde ipse Sylvester papa pie memorie protestatus est canonum libros atque legum, in quibus presentes capitulos repperit, hoc est in octuagesimo septimo titulo Affricani concilii: “Placet, ut quicumque episcopi plebes, quas ad suam cathedram existimant pertinere, non ita repetant, ut causas suas iudicantibus episcopis agant, sed alio retinente irruerint, sive volentibus sive non volentibus plebibus detrimentum patiantur.”
Ex mondana etiam lege hoc recte facere posse cognovit, namque de hoc Iustinianus imperator in octavo libro Institutionum: “Si quis ausus propriam rem occupavit, si sua est amittat et si aliena ipsam estimationem rei reddat.”
Idcirco tanta auctoritate sanctorum Patrum atque legum suffultus privilegium tibi facere precepit, et eum in eternum valere commendavit.
Hoc ego cognoscens supradicta loca, id est Ruvinii parroęchia et Duo Castella et Vallis, privilegii paginam tibi, et sicut Sylvester predecessor noster confirmavit, confirmo atque in eternum valere precipio.
Quod si aliquis patriarcha aut episcopus vel quelibet magna parvaque persona contra te vel tuos successores ultra de supradictis locis aliquam inquietudinem facere presumpserit, sit fossus gladio mei anathematis et, nisi cito resipuerit, cum Iuda Domini nostri traditore perpetualiter gemat.
Scriptum per manus Benedicti Dei gratia notarii regionarii et scrinarii sancte Romane Ecclesie, mense martio, indictione octava.
Bene valete!
The papal 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, an area that once belonged to the Bishopric of Pula (see the document here).
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.
The documents that form part of this story arc are the following:
1) Charlemagne's donation charter to the patriarch's of Aquileia from 803 (forgery made by the patriarchs of Aquileia – see the document here);
2) Donation charter of Patriarch Radoald to the bishop of Poreč from 965 (forgery made by the bishops of Poreč – see the document here);
3) Confirmation and donation charter of Emperor Otto II to the bishop of Poreč from 983 (authentic document, but interpolated by the bishops of Poreč – see the document here);
4) Confirmation of Charlemagne's 803 charter by Emperor Otto III to the patriarch of Aquileia from 996 (authentic charter, but confirming a forgery – see the document here);
5) Sergius IV's papal confirmation of 1010 issued in favor of the bishops of Poreč (this, authentic charter);
6) Alexander III's papal confirmation of 1177 issued in favor of the bishops of Poreč (authentic charter – see the document here).
In any case, the papal confirmations issued in 1010 (this document) and in 1177 (see the document here) are authentic documents and the Roman pontiffs undoubtedly supported the bishops of Poreč who, in the end, extended their spiritual jurisdictions over the entire disputed territory, including Rovinj, Dvigrad and Bale.
The patriarchs of Aquileia, however, became the secular lords of Dvigrad as is attested in a document from 1093 (see the document here). It cannot be ascertained, due to the lack of primary sources, whether the patriarchs of Aquileia had any temporal jurisdictions in Bale during the 11th and 12th centuries as well.
The question whether the line "ubi quondam episcopatus dicitur fuisse" for Rovinj is still open; according to Benussi, for example, the line was interpolated by the bishops of Poreč; if the line is not seen as a later interpolation, it can be used in support of the argument that the mysterious Bishopric of Cissa was indeed adjacent to Rovinj.