The communes of Piran and Rovinj sign a peace treaty under specific terms, including war reparations of twenty silver marks paid by Piran to Rovinj, mutual protection of persons and goods, prohibition of military cooperation with Koper against Rovinj, and binding oaths from all household heads to maintain the agreement under penalty of one hundred marks.
(SC) In Dei nomine.
Anno Eiusdem nativitatis millesimo CC VIIII, indictione XII, actum Rubinii, quarto die intrante ianuario.
Cum lis et controversia et mortalis discordia inter habitatores Rubinii ex una parte et habitatores Pirani ex alia parte, humani generis inimico suggerente, verteretur, ab illo tempore vel paulo amplius quo homines de Capite Histrie una secum predictum Rubinium invaserunt, nullo interveniente ad pristine amicicie statum pervenire potuerunt, nisi tempore quo dominus Leonardus de Tricano, qui prelibati Pirani regimen pre manibus habebat, qui in propria persona una cum domino Dominico Piranensi notario, qui tunc gastaldionis officio fungebatur in eodem loco, de voluntate sui Comunis ad predictos Rubinienses causa componende pacis venerunt.
Inde est quod, Spiritu Sancto cooperante, Rubinienses cum Piranensibus pacem perpetuo statuerunt tali modo:
[1] Quod homines de Pirano pro restauratione sue destructionis hominibus de Rubinio XX marcas de argento ad Carniprivium proximo venturum medietatem, aliam medietatem ad medium Quadragesime solvere per sacramentum tenentur.
[2] Et pax firma durare debet inter eos sub pena C marcarum.
[3] Et homines de Rubinio sani et salvi in bonis et in personis in Pirano et sub omni districtione sua fieri debent, et homines de Pirano in Rubinio et sub omni districtu suo simili modo sani et salvi in bonis et in personis fieri debent sub predicta pena.
[4] Si forte tempore aliquo homines de Capite Histrie pro hac discordia exercitum adversus Rubinienses commoverint, Piranenses cum eis nullo modo venire debeant. Si autem hoc facere presumpserint, predictam penam predictis componere debeant.
[5] Item si aliquo tempore vel comune vel divisio prelibatis Rubiniensibus, vel Rubinienses simili modo Piranensibus, nocere temptaverint, iam dictam penam subiaceant.
[6] Item qui filii sunt mortuorum donec venerint ad prefectam etatem, Rubinienses eos eandem pacem firmam per sacramentum sub eadem pena illibatam servare cogant.
[7] Et hanc pacem per sacramentum iurare tenentur ex utroque loco se firmam illibatamque servare quilibet massarius.
Testes ab utraque parte rogati: dominus Leonardus de Tricano, qui tunc potestatis Pirani regimen habebat, Henricus de Ernusto, Albertus Sepa, Venerius de Carlo, Rapotus de Parentia, Bertoldus gastaldio de Rubinio, Dominicus de Galioto, Bernardus de Sibilia.
Ego Papo tabelio manu mea corroboravi.
The peace treaty between the communes of Piran and Rovinj from 1209 illuminates several important aspects of early 13th-century Istria.
First, during the war that pitted Koper and Piran against Rovinj – for reasons that remain fully enshrouded in mystery –, the Margraviate of Istria was formally under the authority of the incumbent duke of Bavaria, Ludwig I Kelheimer (see doc. 1208_OL). However, as the duke of Bavaria became the new margrave of Istria only in November of 1208, neither he nor his representatives interceded to pacify the conflict. Instead, it was the patriarch of Aquileia, the future margrave of Istria (see doc. 1209_W5), who interceded, albeit indirectly.
Namely, the podestà of Piran who entered peace negotiations with Rovinj was none other than Leonard of Tricano (the future house d’Arcano), who hailed from the family of notable ministerials of the patriarchs of Aquileia. It was Leonard of Tricano who governed Piran away from the alliance with Koper and into peace with Rovinj. Koper, on the other hand, remained inimical towards Rovinj, as explicitly stated in the hereby edited document.
This peace treaty offers valuable insights into the evolving communal structures of Istrian towns during the early thirteenth century. The contrast between the two communities is particularly striking: Rovinj maintained its traditional governance under a single gastald, Berthold, reflecting the persistence of older administrative forms. Piran, however, presents a more complex institutional picture. While the town had embraced the communal model by electing a foreign podestà, it simultaneously preserved the office of gastald –originally the margrave's representative –, demonstrating how emerging communal institutions coexisted with, and gradually transformed, pre-existing administrative structures. This dual system reveals the pragmatic nature of early communal development, where new political forms did not simply replace old ones but rather evolved alongside them, creating hybrid governmental arrangements that reflected both innovation and continuity.