Roman King Conrad IV issued a privilege to the Commune of Poreč, granting it the right of free election of their podestas, recognizing the city’s regalian rights and the jurisdictions over its district, allowing the imperial notaries to freely exercise their trade in the city and its district, granting it the right to retain the incomes from tolls levied on commercial goods entering the city by land, and giving it the permission to lawfully and securely trade with the Kingdom of Sicily.
Conradus Dei gratia Romanorum in regem electus semper augustus, Ierusalem et Sycilie rex.
Tanto favorabiliter sacri moderator Imperii iustis debet fidelium supplicationibus assentire, quanto ad sua beneplacita et mandata et promotionem Imperii promptos eos habere vult et paratos.
Per presens igitur privilegium notum fieri volumus universis presentibus et futuris quod nos, adtendentes fidem puram et devoctionema sinceram Communis Parencie nostrorum fidelium necnon et grata servicia que divo genitori nostro felicis memorie ac nobis exhibieruntb hactenus et exhibere poterunt in futurum, ad eorum supplicationemc ipsis benigne concedimus et favorabiliter assentimus,
[1] ut quandocunque et undecunque voluerint sibi possint eligere sicut alii fideles Imperii et libere facere potestatem;
[2] et quod sub nostro dominio ita libere teneant et quiete possideant terrenumd, iurisdictiones, honores, proprietates et regalia omnia dicte civitatis Parencie, sicut unquam melius et plenius tenuerunt felicium antecessorum nostrorum temporibus rectroactise.
[3] Idem quod imperiales notarii in ipsa civitate et in suo districtu libere possint et debeant suum officium exercere.
[4] Placet insuper excellentie nostre et favorabiliter eisdem annuimus ut competens pedagium sive mutam liceat eis percipere deincepsf de rebus venalibus ad civitatem ipsam, set dumtaxat per terram, delatis.
[5] Concesso ipsis preterea ut mercatores eorum sicut alii fideles Imperii cum mercibus suis vendendis vel pro mercibus cumparandisg in Regnum nostrum Sycilie licite veniant et secure.
Ita tamen quod concessionibus et libertatibus supradictis, salvo honore et fidelitate nostra et Imperii, tam ipsi quam sui posteri gaudeant et utantur.
Ad huius autem concessionis et gratie nostre memoriam et perpetuam firmitatem presens privilegiuni exinde fieri per manus magistri Iohannis de Brundusio curie nostre notarii et sigillo magestatis nostre iussimus communiri.
Presentibus Bertoldo marchione de Hoemburgh, Henrico comite de Spicinbergh, Philippo Chenardo, Ugone de Abdemar(io)h, magistro Gualtero de Hocra Regni Sycilie cancellario, Fulco Rufo de Calabria et quam pluribus aliis fidelibus nostris.
Data apud Polam, anno Dominice incarnationis millesimo ducentesimo quinquagesimo primo, mense decembris, decima indictione, regni vero nostri anno primo.
Feliciter, amen.
a) sic B; devotionem ed. Böhmer. b) sic B: pro exhiberunt, sicut ed. Böhmer. c) ex suplicationem corr. B. d) terronum ed. Böhmer. e) sic B; retroactis ed. Böhmer. f) ex deincepsis corr. B. g) sic B; comparandis ed. Böhmer. h) Abdemar cum sign. abbr. B; Abdemar ed. Böhmer.
The third and last charter issued to an Istrian commune by the young Roman King Conrad IV (see the first one issued to Koper here, and the second one to Koper here).
Similarly to Koper, King Conrad IV granted to the Commune of Poreč the free election of their podestàs, but he also included some other privileges that Koper did not get: the official recognition of the city’s district and regalian rights, the right of imperial notaries to freely exercise their trade in the city and its district; the right for the city to retain the incomes from tolls levied on commercial goods entering the city by land; and the permission to lawfully and securely trade with the Kingdom of Sicily. For the Commune of Poreč, this privilege presents the utmost height of its administrative autonomy.
Similarly to the case of Koper, the aim of the privilege was to foster mutually supportive relationship between the Empire (the Ghibelline party and House Hohenstaufen) and the Commune of Poreč, an alliance that would appose the authority of the newly appointed Guelph patriarch of Aquileia, Gregory of Montelongo. The plan ultimately failed as Patriarch Gregory managed to impose his margravial authority on all Istrian communes and King Conrad IV died of malaria just a few years later, in 1254.
The publication of the facsimile of B (Venice, Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Miscellanea atti diplomatici e privati, busta 4, doc. 139) is granted free of charge by Archivio di Stato di Venezia by way of the “simplified procedure” of publishing archival facsimiles (La circolare della Direzione generale archivi n. 39 del 29 settembre 2017: procedura semplificata: pubblicazioni online che perseguano finalità scientifiche o pedagogiche, non beneficino di inserzioni pubblicitarie o commerciali e non siano soggette ad accesso a pagamento).
Photo by the editor.
The facsimile remains under the exclusive copyright of Archivio di Stato di Venezia.