Patriarch Peregrine I donates the monastery of St. Peter in Vižinada by Buje to the Venetian monastery of St. Nicholas of Lido.
<Donatio sancti Petri de Carso sancto Nicholao>a
In nomine Deyb eternic.
Anno Dominice incarnationis millesimo centesimo trigesimo tertiod, indictione decimae.
Noverit tanf presentium quam futurorum posteritas qualiter ego Pelegrinusg Dey gratia Aquilegensish patriarchai, considerans fraternam caritatemj ac dilectionem quam antecessor meus pie memorie Huldoricusk habuit cum abbate et fratribus sancty Nicholail de Venetia, necnon discerne[n]sm Aquilegenssemn eccllesiamo ipsorum bonorum et Deum timentium confratrum sancty Nicholai indigere sedullap apud Deum oratione [et] deprecationeq, proposuitr predicti monasterii religiossos et venerabili abbati V[itali] suisque confratribus inibit militantibus, caritatis proventu subvenire et debitores orationis beneficii colationeu Aquilegensi eccllesie nostrisquev successoribus facere.
Comunicatow igitur consilio archidiaconox Udolriciy et ceterorum confratrum clericorum meorum et advocati Meinardyz, monasterium quoddam sancty Petri de Carssoa', sine dampnob' Aquilegenssis eccllesie meorumque successorum, cenobio sancty Nicholai amore et caritate venerabilis abbatis Vitalis atquec' orationed' confratrum eiusdem cenobii, pro statu eccllesie Aquilegensis et salutee' anime mee meorumque successorum facienda, trado, dono et cum omni pertinentia sua et eyus confines et Pinguentof' cong' pascuis, pratis, campis araticiis, silvish', piscationibus eti' venationibus et cum atiacenciisj' cultis et incultis iuri et potestati cenobii sancti Nicholai posidendumk', habendum perpetuoque tenendum mancipio, salvo iure et reverentia Aquilegenssis eccllesie.
Adl' recordationem quoque future posteritatis et stabilitatem seu firmitatem huius nostre donationis vel contractationis, statuimus dompnumm' abbatem Vitalem ex comuni sententia, tan nostran' siliceto' quam abbatis, omni anno in Asumptionep' Sancte Marie Virginis duas libras incenssiq' super altare eiusdem gloriose Virginis dare.
Atvocatusr' vero noster Meinardus, preces' religiosi abbatis Vitalis, quicquid iuris advocatie sue in predicto monasterio sancty Petri de Carso videbatur optineret' per manus ipsius abbatis, refutavit,u' quatinusv' fratribus sancti Nicholai cenobio servientibus pro temporis qualitate [et]w' discretione rerum habundantiusx' ipse abbas suyque successores posinty' ministrare.
Hanc itaque nostre donationis seu contractationis cartamz' firmam et stabillema'' volentes permanere, nostri sigilib'' inpressionec'' insigniri iussimus, humiliter deprecantes nostros sucesoresd'' firmarie'' et stabilire que facimusf''.
Si quis autem nostrorum successorum huic operi caritatis contraire, quod non credimus, temptaverit aut violare non timuerit, Deus omnia continens, omnia providens, ipse diiudicet.
Ego Uldericus arcidiaconusg'' laudavih'' et subscripsi (SC)i''.
Ego Weçelinusj'' decanus laudavi et subscripsi.
Ego Weçelinusk'' presbiter subscripsi.
Ego Arhemanus subscripsi.
Ego Beçelinusl'' subscripsi.
Ego Marqardusm'' diaconus subscripsi.
Ego Laçarus indignus presbiter et custos subscripsi.
Ego Bonefaciusn'' manu mea subscripsi.
Ego Adam subdiaconus subscripsi.o'' (SC)
Ego Pelegrinus patriarcha confirmavi et propria manu subscripsi.
Ego Meinardus advocatus consensi et subscripsi.
Ego Wariendus testis subscripsi.
Ego Cono testis subscripsi.
Ego Iohannes magister rogatusp'' hanc cartam donationis scripsi et scriptam tradidi.
Ego Petrus scriptor sacri palacii notarius hoc exemplum sumpsi et exemplavi, nil adens vel minuens quod sententiam mutet, nissi ut comperii, signoque meo corroboravi, currente anno Domini millesimo ducentessimo trigessimo octavo, indictione undecima, mensis ianuarii.
a) add. in marg. sin. C. b) sic C et saepe -y loco -i; Dei ed. Carli et Cornaro. c) aeterni ed. Carli et saepe -ae loco -e; seq. amen add. Carli. d) millesimo centesimo trigesimo tertio] MCXXXIII ed. Cornaro; millesimo CXXXIII ed. Carli. e) X ed. Carli et Cornaro. f) sic C; tam ed. Carli et Cornaro. g) Pellegrinus ed. Carli. h) Aquilejensis ed. Carli et saepe sic; Aquilegiensis ed. Cornaro. i) patriarca ed. Carli. j) charitatem ed. Carli. k) Udalricus ed. Carli; Udolricus ed. Cornaro. l) Nicolai ed. Carli et Cornaro et saepe sic. m) sic discernes C: pro discernens, sicut ed. Carli et Cornaro. n) sic C; Aquilejensem ed. Carli; Aquilegiensem ed. Cornaro. o) sic C; ecclesiam ed. Carli et Cornaro. p) sic C; sedula ed. Carli et Cornaro. q) oratione [et] deprecatione] oratione deprecatione C; oratione et deprecatione ed. Carli; orationis deprecatione ed. Cornaro. r) sic C et ed. Cornaro: pro proposui, sicut ed. Carli. s) sic C; religioso ed. Carli et Cornaro. t) ibidem ed. Carli. u) collatione ed. Carli et Cornaro. v) meisque ed. Carli. w) communicato ed. Cornaro. x) sic C: pro archidiaconi. y) ex Uldorici corr. C; om. et puncta possuit Carli. z) Mainardi ed. Carli et Cornaro. a') sic C; Carso ed. Carli et Cornaro. b') damno ed. Carli et Cornaro. c') adque ed. Cornaro. d') omnium ed. Carli; orationem ed. Cornaro. e') salutis ed. Carli; salutem ed. Cornaro. f') confines et Pinguento] sic C; confines de Pinguento ed. Carli; …no et Pinguento ed. Cornaro; profecto pro molendino de Pinguento. g') sic C; cum ed. Carli et Cornaro. h') sylvis ed. Carli. i') om. Carli et Cornaro. j') sic C; adjacentis ed. Carli; adjacentiis ed. Cornaro. k') possidendum ed. Carli et Cornaro. l') ac ed. Cornaro. m') sic C; dominum ed. Carli et Cornaro. n') sic C et ed. Cornaro: pro nostrae, sicut ed. Carli. o') scilicet ed. Carli et Cornaro. p') assumptione ed. Carli et Cornaro. q') sic C; incensi ed. Carli et Cornaro. r') advocatus ed. Carli et Cornaro. s') precetavit ed. Cornaro. t') sic C; obtinere ed. Carli. u') religiosi abbatis Vitalis—ipsius abbatis refutavit] om. Cornaro. v') quatenus ed. Cornaro. w') om. C; em. Banic. x') abundantius ed. Cornaro. y') sic C; possent ed. Carli; possint ed. Cornaro. z') chartam ed. Carli. a'') sic C; stabilem ed. Carli et Cornaro. b'') sigilli ed. Carli et Cornaro. c'') impressione ed. Carli et Cornaro. d'') sic C; successores ed. Carli et Cornaro. e'') firmare ed. Carli. f'') fecimus ed. Carli. g'') archidiaconus ed. Carli et Cornaro; seq. praesbiter add. Carli. h'') laudavit ed. Cornaro. i'') laudavi—(SC)] om. Carli. j'') Wehelinus ed. Cornaro. k'') Ego Wecelinus—Ego Wecelinus] om. Carli. l'') Hezelinus ed. Carli; Benhelinus ed. Cornaro. m'') Marquardus ed. Carli. n'') Bonifacius ed. Carli et Cornaro. o'') des. ed. Carli. p'') add. C cum sign. additionis.
Patriarch Wolfger's 1205 confirmation charter - edited here.
The charter presents some interpretative difficulties.
First, the charter is nowadays preserved only as a late 15th-century copy which is in turn a copy of another copy made in 1238 by a notary Peter. The fact that the language of the original charter was most probably far from perfect, and that every subsequent transcription only further deteriorated the original imperfect Latin, resulted in the text that requires a number of conjectural emendations in order to make sense.
Two previous editions, by Carli and by Cornaro, are based on different manuscripts. While it cannot be inferred which precise manuscript Carli relied upon for his edition, Cornaro claims to have consulted “an autograph” in the monastery’s archive, thus most probably the 12th-century original or at least a copy much closer to the original than the 15th-century Catasticum Histrie. Be that as it may, Cornaro’s “autograph” can no longer be found in San Nicolo’s archive that is nowadays in the State Archive in Venice. Thus, the present edition reports both Carli’s and Cornaro’s different readings, since they may be closer to the nowadays lost original, but one must bear in mind that both editors are known for their very liberal “corrections” of medieval Latin.
As far as the text is concerned, the first problem is the fact that the dating elements do not concur with each other: the tenth indiction conforms to 1132 and not 1133 as the anno Domini dating states. The apparent discrepancy may be solved by presupposing the employment of Pisan calculation and the issuing of the document between the 25th of March and 31st of December, but this is highly unlikely as calculus Pisanus was used neither in medieval Istria nor in the Patriarchate of Aquileia. It is much more probable that the discrepant dating elements arise from a simple lapsus calami: the document may thus be dated either to 1132 or to 1133. Since it is traditionally dated to 1133 in Friulian and Istrian historiography, the editor has decided to keep that dating and presuppose a scribal error in the writing of the indiction, but the readers ought to bear in mind that the document could very well be dated to 1132.
The second problem concerns the pertinence clause which features the line “cum omni pertinentia sua et eyus confines et Pinguento con pascuis, pratis” etc. The “eius confines et Pinguento” makes no sense grammatically and semantically as that would mean that St. Peter’s monastery possessed the entire town of Buzet together with its dependencies. This is not the case as St. Peter’s monastery only had the possession of a mill in Buzet, as read from the 1125 donation charter (see it edited here) and as confirmed by Wolfger’s 1205 confirmation charter (see it edited here). Cornaro, who possibly consulted the original, could not decipher this part and only put dots followed by “no et Pinguento.” Carli transcribed it “confines et Pinguento” but then corrected the transcription (p. 283) to “de Pinguento.” Taking all the possible variants into consideration, and especially the wording of the 1205 confirmation charter, it seems most likely that the original line went “cum omni pertinentia sua et eius molendino de Pinguento, cum pascuis, pratis” etc. This is the emendation proposed by the editor, making the text completely consonant to both the 1125 and to the 1205 charters. Finally, it may very well be that the subsequent scribes employed by San Nicolò di Lido’s monastery intentionally “emended” the original charter in this precise part to claim greater jurisdiction over Buzet and its dependencies, resulting in this clumsy clause. It seems more likely, however, that the contamination is simply a product of copying and of the original parchment fading in this precise spot (which would explain Cornaro’s dots).
Finally, there is the clause on Advocate Maynard I of Gorizia’s precept or renunciation to Abbot Vitalus. According to the surviving text and to Carli’s edition, the clause referred to Maynard’s renunciation of his rights of advocacy over this monastery, a renunciation that he made after having been asked to do so by the very abbot (prece religiosi abbatis Vitalis) who had originally bestowed the right of advocacy to him (quicquid iuris advocatie sue in predicto monasterio sancti Petri de Carso videbatur optinere per manus ipsius abbatis, refutavit), so that the institution could be better managed. This version of the text is hereby edited. However, according to Cornaro’s edition, Advocate Maynard I issued a precept (preceptavit instead of prece religiosi abbatis Vitalis) to the abbot, granting him and his successors the right to govern their brethren for the same reason as above so that the institution could be better managed. Cornaro’s version omits an entire clause “quicquid iuris advocatie sue in predicto monasterio sancti Petri de Carso videbatur optinere per manus ipsius abbatis, refutavit”. There are two explanations for this discrepancy: either Cornaro simply missed a line when transcribing the manuscript and subsequently interpreted “prece” as “preceptavit”, or the line was originally written as Cornaro transcribed it, but was only later “emended” in order to show that the House of Gorizia maintains absolutely no rights of advocacy over this institution as these rights, bestowed by the very abbots, were wholly and unequivocally relinquished. Again, both options are possible, but it seems more likely that the discrepancy resulted from Cornaro simply missing a line when transcribing the document rather than from San Nicolò’s putative dispute over advocacy with the members of House Gorizia and their subsequent interpolation of the charter.
Be that as it may, the Venetian monastery of San Nicolò di Lido further expanded onto Istria with this donation, becoming one of the richest monastical institutions on the Peninsula.
The publication of the facsimile of C (Venice, Archivio di Stato di Venezia, San Nicolò di Lido, Atti, busta 1: Catasticum Histrie, pp. 12-13, doc. 18) 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).
Photos by the editor.
The digital facsimile remains under the exclusive copyright of Archivio di Stato di Venezia.