Patriarch Rodoald donates Rovinj, a land that was destroyed by the "abominable Slavs", to the Bishopric of Poreč. Forged charter.
In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.
Rodoaldus superno munere fretus sancte Aquileiensis 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, scilicet 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 nostraeque 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 omnio 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 vigesima mensis Ianuarii, indictione vero octava, anno autem incarnatione Domini nostri nongentesimo sexagesimo sexto.
Feliciter.
Rodoaldus sancte Aquileiensis 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 Ecclesie Petenensis humilis episcopus mea manu subscripsi.
Albericus sanctae Aquileiensis 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 Aquileiensis 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 Aquileiensis 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 Aquileiensis Ecclesie cancellarius et diaconus hoc privilegium ab omnibus promulgatum subscripsi, et corroboravi.
Auscultata fuerunt per me Ioannem Evangelistam Mengolum vivem et notarium Ravenne ex vetustissimo Papiro etc.
The charter is undoubtedly a forgery that was based upon an unknown authentic charter from which the names of the bishops were drawn upon.
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 in the 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, 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 Rodoald to the bishop of Poreč from 965 (forgery made by the bishops of Poreč);
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 (authentic papal charter – see the document here);
6) King Henry III's highly dubious confirmation charter of 1077(?) to the Bishopric of Poreč, confirming Otto II' 983 charter (problematic charter, possibly a forgery – see the document here);
7) Alexander III's papal confirmation of 1177 issued in favor of the bishops of Poreč (authentic papal charter – see the document here).
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. Telling of this are the words written by Boniface, the bishop of Poreč (1282-1305), who wrote to Pope Boniface VIII in 1301 lamenting the state of his diocese and the loss of his secular jurisdictions at the hands of the Venetians, the counts of Gorizia and, most importantly for this context, the patriarchs of Aquileia: "Castrum Ursarie, quod solum remanserat episcopo pleno iure subiectum, et in quo habebat quasi totam stipem vitae sue, pro eo quod ausus est dicere in defensionem iurium Ecclesie Parentine, quod Aquileiensis patriarcha nullam temporalem iurisdictionem habet in Parentio, Rubino, vel Montona, spoliari iussit" (see the document here).
It is most probably in this context that Rodoald's donation charter was originally drawn up, one of numerous forgeries drafted by Bishop Boniface.
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; second, the bishops of Poreč originally claimed dominion over Rovinj, Dvigrad and Bale on the basis of Otto II imperial confirmation and donation charter from 983.