Asquin the dean and the chapter of Aquileia together with Hartwig of Castellerio the deputy, all acting on behalf of the Patriarchate of Aquileia during the sede vacante period, accord a privilege to the Commune of Buzet as a reward for their loyalty and steadfastness during the past war, exempting them from an annual tax in money that they had customarily paid to the Church of Aquileia.
Asquinus decanus et capitulum et Artuicus de Casteliro canonicus et vicedominus Aquilegensis ecclesiea, castaldioni, consilio, et Comuni de Pinguento, ecclesie Aquilegensis eiusdem fidelibus dilectis, sibi salutem cum plenitudine omnis boni.
Qumb diligenter advertimus gratissimam servitiorum multitudinem, que tamquamc in petra fundati fidei nuncd et alias ecclesie Aquilegensi ac totie terre Foriiulii multiformiter impendistis çelo fidelitatis accensi, et principaliter in rebellium ipsius ecclesie offensione die noctuque studiosivef vigilantes, ac personarum aut rerum periculis et laboribus non parcentes animorum vestrorum ilariterg exercere curastis, per que in libro memorie dicte Aquilegensis ecclesie ac nostri descripta, nobis et eidem ecclesie reddidistis de satis, [in primo predilectos debitum]h quodam[modo]i reparamusj, ut vosk debeamus gratie plenitudine confovere.
Cum igitur nobilis vir Senisius miles Paduanus, dicte Aquilegensis ecclesie tunc in Istria ritharius, et postmodum Siwridus de Topl, eiusdem ecclesie ministarialism fidelissimus et devotus in eadem provincia Istrie nunc fungens eodem officio ritharie, dignum habentes ad predicta obsequia vestran respectum, vos a collecta denariorum quam patriarche, qui erat pro tempore, tenebamini solvere annuatimo nomine sepefacte Aquilegensis ecclesie in perpetuum duxerint absolvendos, sicut idem Siwridusp ritharius in nostraq et consiliariorum terre Foriiulii proposuit presentia constitutus.
Nos quod factum est per dictos ritharios vel eorum alterum in hac parte ratum et gratum habentes, id de voluntate predictorum consiliariorum et eorum consilio de certa scientia confirmamus et presentis scripti nostri patrocinio conmunimusr, dum tamen in fide et devotione prefacte Aquilegensis ecclesie [perpetuis tem]poribus firmi, et inmobiless persistatis, et solvatis predicto patriarche, qui fuerit pro tempore, [vel eius rithariist] [nomine]u [Aquile]gensis ecclesie fictumv, decimas et quelibet aliu[m redditum et]w collectam prediorum, [que transactis te]mporibus solvere ac redderex consuevistis.
In cuius rei testimonium et robur perpetuo valiturum presens privilegium vobis inde concessimus sigillorum nostrorum pendentium munimine roboratum.
Datum Civitatisy, quinto exeunte octubrez, anno Domini millesimo ducentesimo sexagesimo nono, duodecime indictionis.
(SI D)
a) Aquilegensis ecclesie] Aquilejensis Ecclesiae ed. Kandler et saepe sic -e in -ae em. b) Quum ed. Kandler. c) tanquam ed. Kandler. d) fidei nunc] fide rara ed. Kandler. e) sic A; tote ed. Kandler. f) studiosus ed. Kandler. g) sic A: pro hilariter; illariter ed. Kandler. h) in primo predilectos debitum] om. Kandler et puncta posuit. i) lac. A; lect. dub. et e coniectura; quidem ed. Kandler. j) reputamus ed. Kandler. k) nos ed. Kandler. l) Siwridus de Top] Silbridus de Foff ed. Kandler. m) sic A; ministerialis ed. Kandler. n) nostra ed. Kandler. o) anuatim ed. Kandler. p) Silbridus ed. Kandler. q) terra ed. Kandler. r) sic A; communimur ed. Kandler. s) sic A; imobiles ed. Kandler. t) sic A, cum lumine ultraviolacea perlegitur; marchioni ed. Kandler. u) lac. A; sic coni. Kandler. v) fictus ed. Kandler. w) alium et redditum et] lect. dub. et e coniectura; alia ....... ed. Kandler. x) redere ed. Kandler. y) om. Kandler. z) sic A; octobre ed. Kandler.
The privilege officially accorded to Buzet was originally informally bequeathed by the two richtarii of Istria, Senisio (or Genisio) de Bernardis of Padua and his successor Silwrid of Topp. This original, informal exemption of a tax paid in money must have taken place during the war between Patriarch Gregory of Montelongo and his supporters against Count Albert I of Gorizia and his (1267–1268), a reward for Buzet’s steadfast support of the former against the latter and a gift meant to secure future loyalty as well (for the wider context and the meaning of this privilege for the Commune of Buzet, see Banić, cited above).
The charter is also important for another reason. Namely, according to Kandler’s edition of the document (who merely copied the one sent to him by Alberto Clarici), the Commune of Buzet was asked to persist in their loyalty and to continue to pay all the other taxes “to the aforesaid patriarch, whomever he may be at the time, or to his margrave.” (praedicto patriarchae, qui fuerit pro tempore, vel eius marchioni). This line was noted by De Vergottini (cited above) who concluded that this marks the very first mention of an Aquileian margrave of Istria as a delegated official. Before this charter, argued De Vergottini, there were the richtarii (mentioned in this charter as well) and general gastalds, but the title of marchio had been reserved to the patriarchs and it had not been conferred onto their officials delegated to administer Istria. From this point on, the practice of delegating an official with the title of marchio officially begins and De Vergottini sought reasons behind such a development. According to De Vergottini, this new official was originally meant to be provisionary, invented during Patriarch Gregory of Montelongo’s confinement and/or the subsequent sede vacante period after his death (8th of July, 1269) to administer Istria until the arrival of a new canonically appointment head of the Church of Aquileia. After 1291, that is after the Treaty of Treviso and the official recognition of Venetian jurisdiction over a considerable part of Istria, the title of marchio Istriae continued to be regularly conferred onto officials delegated by the patriarch to administer what remained of the Istrian margraviate.
This interpretation must be revisited. Namely, the main piece of evidence, that the office of the delegated margrave appears for the first time in 1269, in fact, does not exist. The charter exists in the original but the part supposedly mentioning “vel eius marchioni” is extremely faded. However, with the aid of ultraviolet light and the help of the staff of the Croatian State Archive in Pazin, the faded part could be deciphered and the entire line reads “vel eius rithariis”. This new reading even makes more sense because the ritharii are mentioned throughout the text, Senisio being the former and Silwrid the current ritharius of Istria.
The new reading of the charter does not completely invalidate De Vergottini’s thesis. Namely, there truly were new provisionary officials created during the sede vacante period before the canonical appointment of Raymond della Torre in December of 1273, an example being the general captain of Friuli. It is indeed very probable that the title of a delegated margrave of Istria stems from the same period and the same context, just as De Vergottini argued, but this interpretation remains without explicit support in surviving primary sources.
Be that as it may, the very first appearance of a marchio Istriae as an appointed Aquileian official stems from 1275 and the age of Raymond della Torre who accorded this title to his relative, Gottfired della Torre (see the document here).
The facsimile of A is available online on monasterium.net webpages.
Photo by Državni arhiv u Pazinu.
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