King Charlemagne confirms the possessions of the Church of Aquileia and grants it immunities.
Exemplum autenticum domini Karoli magni Romanorum imperatoris actum in Aquilegiensis palacio anno Domini millesimo C. LXXXXV, secundo die mensis decembris, indictione XIII.
(SC) ⟨In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.⟩
⟨Karolus serenissimus augustus a Deo coronatus, magnus, pacificus imperator Romanorum gubernans Imperium, qui et per misericordiam Dei rex F[rancor]uma et Longobardorum⟩ omnibus episcopis, abbatibus, ducibus, comitibus, gastaldeis, domesticis, vicariis, centenariisb seu reliquis fidelibus nostris presentibus et futuris.
Maximum Regni nostri in hoc augere credimus munimentum, si peticionibus sacerdotum vel servorum Dei, in quo nostris auribus fuerint prolate, libenti animo obtemperamus et eas in Dei nomine ad effectum perducimus.
Quapropter noverit solercia vestra, eo quod vir venerabilis Paulinus patriarcha Aquilegiensis ecclesie, ⟨que est in honore sancti Petri principis apostolorum vel sancti Hermachore martiris Christi constructa,⟩ serenitati nostrę postulavit ut sub integra emunitate confirmacionem de omnibus rebus vel facultatibus ipsius ecclesie seu monasteria virorum ac puellarum et sinodochia vel parochias ubicumque in nostro Regno Deo propicio consistentes ad ipsam scilicet sanctam Dei ecclesiam pertinentes seu reliquas possessiones, quascumque ex dono regum sive ducum seu reliquorum Deo timencium bonorum hominum inibi conlatas esse noscuntur et presenti tempore ipsas ecclesiasc Dei possidere videntur vel quod inantea divina pietas ibidem augmentare voluerit, ex nostra indulgentia plenissima deliberacione circ[a ipsu]m sanctum locum cedere et confirmare deberemus, ita ut in villas vel curtes seu quibuslibet locis vel rebus ad ipsum sanctum locum pertinentibus vel aspicientibus nullus iudex publicus ad causas audiendum nec freta undique exigendum nec mansiones aut paratas faciendum nec homines vel servientes ipsius ecclesie distringendum nec ullas redibuciones requirendum quoque tempore ingredere aut exactare deberet.
⟨Cuius peticionem venerabilem tribus hisd ex causis nolumuse denegare: una videlicet pro venaracionef tam ipsius sancti loci quamque ipsorum sacerdotum qui ibidem domino Deo famulare videntur, quatenus pro nobis uxoreque ac filiis et filiabus nostris et populo nobis a Deo commisso iugiter domini misericordiam melius implorare delectet; alia, ut in in divinis litteris et in doctrinis spiritalibus amplioreg certamen mittere procurent; tercia eius meritis compellentibus ita prestitisse et in omnibus concessise cognosicte.⟩
Propterea per presentem auctoritatem ⟨atque confirmacionis preceptum concedimus atque confirmamus denominata specialiter loca in ipso sancto et venerabileh loco, id est scenobiumi sancte Marie semper virginis et genitricis domini nostri Iesu Christi quod quidem Ferox abba edificavit in Verona foras muros civitatis loco qui vocatur ad Organum, cum omnibus ad se rebus pertinentibus necnon et ecclesia sancti Laurentii que sita est in Foroiuli loco qui nuncupatur Boga, cum omnibus facultatibus suis; similiter et senodochium quod dux Roduald edificavit in Foroiuli vocabulo Sancti Iohannis, cum omnibus adiacentiis vel pertinenciis suis.⟩
⟨Dei igitur misericordiam considerantes tue sancte peticioni sensum accomodantes cedimus atque confirmamus omnes precepciones, tam regum quam ducum quibuscumque scilicet modis tempore Longobardorum ad ipsum sanctum et venerabilem locum constat divolutumj. Quam ob rem specialiter⟩ decernimus atque iubemus ut nullus quislibet de vobis aut iunioribus vel successoribus vestrisk amodo et deinceps, ut diximus, in villas vel curtes seu quibuslibet locis seu rebus vel monasteria virorum ac puellarum et senodochiasl vel in quibuslibet locis ecclesias ad prefatum locum respicientes ad causas audiendum vel fr[eta] undique exigendum nec homines ipsarum ecclesiarum Deim distringendum nec mansiones aut paratas faciendum nec ullas redibuciones requirendum ullo umquam tempore ingredere aut exactare presumatis, sed ⟨omnia que pretulimus⟩ sub [e]munitatisn nomine valeat memoratus Paulinus patriarcha eiusque successores in omnibus locis et rebus ad se pertinentibus quieto ordine vivere ac resedere eto pro nobis ac prole seu et pro stabilitate Imperii nostri Domini misericordiam iugiter implorare.
Et ut hec auctoritas firmior habeatur et diuturnis temporibus melius conservetur, manu propria subter firmavimus et de annulop nostro sigillari iussimus.
Signum (SM) Karoli gloriosisimiq regis.
Iacob advicem Radoni recognovi.
Data pridie nonas augustas anno XXIIII et XVIIII regni nostri.
Actum Reganesb[u]rg, palacio publico.
In Dei nomine feliciter, amen.
Magister Ubaldus, dominus Renardus et Petrus Aquilegensis canonicus necnon Vicencius sacerdos et Dominicus diaconus ad audiendum dictum autenticum domini Karoli magni regis et hoc eius exemplum interfuerunt et huius rei rogati sunt testes.
Ego Petrus, imperialis notarius, ut vidi in autentico domini Karoli magni ita transcripsi, nil addens vel minu[ens quod sentenciam mutaret]r.
a) lac. B; sic em. Mühlbacher. b) om. Mühlbacher. c) ipsas ecclesias—videntur] sic B: pro ipsa ecclesia—videtur, sicut em. Mühlbacher. d) add. sup. l. B. e) noluimus em. Mühlbacher; cf. doc. 792_CM1. f) sic B: pro veneracione, sicut em. Mühlbacher. g) spiritalibus ampliore] sic B: pro spiritualibus ampliorem, sicut em. Mühlbacher. h) sic B: pro venerabile, sicut em. Mühlbacher. i) sic B: pro cenobium, sicut em. Mühlbacher. j) sic B: pro devolutum, sicut em. Mühlbacher. k) add. sup. l. B. l) sic B; senodochia em. Mühlbacher. m) om. Mühlbacher. n) munitatis B; emunitatis em. Mühlbacher. o) ex ac corr. B. p) sic B; anulo em. Mühlbacher. q) sic B; gloriosissimi em. Mühlbacher. r) pars quae legi non potest, em. secundum Reinhard Härtel, Die älteren Urkunden des Klosters S. Maria zu Aquileia (1036–1250) (Vindobonae 2005), doc. 42, p. 139.
Cf. Charlemagne's charter issued on the same day to the Church of Aquileia (edited here);
Confirmation charter issued by Emperor Lothair I to Patriarch Maxentius on the 30th of November, 832 (to be edited here);
Confirmation charter issued by King Karlmann to Patriarch Valpert on the 8th of May, 879 (to be edited here).
The charter, in the form in which it survives today, is indubitably forged but based on an authentic grant of immunity. The question remains how much of the charter is forged, which precise parts are interpolated, and which parts may be judged to be stemming (more or less) unaltered from the putative lost original.
The present edition follows Carlrichard Brühl who built on Mühlbacher's edition and judged the invocatio, intitulatio, (both of them are taken from the authentic charter issued by Charlemagne to Patriarch Maxentius in 811, to be edited here), confirmatio possessionum and the first formula of the grant of immunity as later, early 11th-century interpolations. Moreover, as Brühl correctly noticed, the part of the narratio mentioning St. Hermagoras as the patron saint of the Church of Aquileia cannot stem from Charlemagne's period as this was the official saint of the Church of Grado at the time; finally, the entire section Cuius venerabilem peticionem—omnibus concessisse cognoscite is, just like in 792_CM1, a later interpolation. According to Cammarosano (cited above), the part Dei igitur misericordiam—quam ab rem specialiter, marked as an interpolation by Mühlbacher and Brühl, would also be authentic, stemming from the lost original.
The confirmatio possessionum is most probably the principal reason for the drawing up of this forgery. This is also the part which betrays the charter as a forgery: the monastery of St. Mary in Organo was bestowed to Aquileia only in 996 by Otto III (the charter will be edited here).
The authentic parts of the charter remain the inscriptio, the arenga, the narratio and dispositio (minus the parts marked as interpolations) and the entire eschatocol.
Based on diplomatic analysis masterfully done by Brühl, it is even possible to reconstruct the original charter that was divided into two forgeries in the 11th century. See this tentative edition in the "Editor's comments" of the edition of 792_CM1.
However one decides to judge the text of the surviving text of the charter, the consensus in historiography remains that Chralemagne indeed bestowed to the Patriarchate of Aquileia the right to canonical election of its patriarchs, fiscal privileges (charter 792_CM1), and immunities (this charter).
The facsimile is of ms. hereby dubbed B, located in Udine, Biblioteca Civica "Vincenzo Joppi", ms. 1231: Pergamene friulane, doc. 1; it was made by the staff of Biblioteca Civica "Vincenzo Joppi" and generously given to the editor completely free of charge.
Published with the permission of Biblioteca Civica "Vincenzo Joppi" of Udine.
We wholeheartedly thank our dear friends and colleagues, the staff of Biblioteca Civica "Vincenzo Joppi", for their generosity and their support of freely accessible scholarship. We hope that their example will be followed by other archival institutions as well.