Gregory of Montelongo, patriarch of Aquileia, voices his objections and presents his interpretation of certain articles of the pact signed with the doge and the Commune of Venice in front of the Venetian Great Council.
In nomine Christi, amen.
Anno a nativitate Eius millesimo ducentesimo quinquageismo quarto, duodecima indictione, apud Veneciis in palatio Ducatus in sala Maioris Consilii, ipso Maiori Consilio congregato, die veneris septimo exeunte mense aprilis, presentibus venerabilis fratribus domino fratre Gualterio Dei gratia episcopo Tervixino et domino Rogerino Dei gratia electo Cenetensi, magistro Betegero preposito ecclesie sancti Oldorici *, magistro Nicolao de Lupico notario, magistro Peregrino et Paulucio capellanis domini G. Dei gratia in patriarcham Aquilegensem electi, nobilibus viris dominis Henrico de Vilalta, Henrico de Casteliro, Hermano de Porcis et Iohanne de Cuchanea de Foro Iulio, et nobilibus viris dominis Marco Geno, Andrea Dauro, Nicolao Quirino, Petro Gradonico, Bartholomeo Barocio, Phylipo Storlato, * Iohanne Iustiniano, Andrea Delfino, Thomasino Maureceno, Iohanne Michaelle et Henrico Fuscareno * testibus * et aliis multis.
Cum inter dominum Ranerium Geno * illustrem ducem Venetie, Dalmatie atque Chroacie, dominum quarte partis et dimidie totius Imperii Romanie, et Comune Veneciarum ex una parte et venerabilem patrem dominum Gregorium Dei gratia sancte Aquilegensis sedis * electi * ex altera super diversis et variis capitulis discordia diebus pluribus * extitisset, tandem dictus dominus Aquilegensis electus super discordia ipsa devenit ad pacem et concordiam cum eisdem et amicabiliter * inter dictos dominum ducem et comune Veneciarum et predictum dominum Aquilegensem electum firmatum fuit pactum et concordia, prout per manum Taglamenti de Ugerio sacri palacii notarii et ducalis Venecie screbea et mei Iohannis de Lupico Sacri Imperii publici notarii instrumentis publicis confectis exinde plenius continetur. Sed de infrascriptis capitulis specialiter inter dictos dominum ducem et Comune Veneciarum et dominum patriarcham fuit compositum et firmatum:
[1] “Inter omnes offensseb que facte fuerint in predicto ducatu Aquilegensis Patriarchatus, per dominum vicemdominumc debe[n]td puniri, excepta pena sanguinis, que debet punirie per dictum dominum ducem. Et hoc quod dictum est de offensisf inteligatur de offessionibusg factis per Venectish.” E tunc dominus ellectus patriarcha exprimendo illud capitulum dixit expresse, quod inteligebat de offessionibus que fient per Venetisi in Aquil[eg]iaj tantum, non alibi per districtum Patriarchatus Aquilegensis, et predicti dominus dux et Comune Veneciarum dictum dominum patriarcham suok prebuerunt consensum.
[2] Item ubi dicitur: “Si comunis discordia contingneritl inter dictos dominum ducem et Comune Veneciarum et dominum patriarcham orriri ac esse, tam [per]m preceptum domini imperatoris destinatum ad dictum dominum patriarcham pro danda licentia Venetis exeundi de teran sive iurisdictione domini patriarchaeo, tam per ipsum dominum patriarcham quam eciam per dominum ducem precipientem Venetis exeundi de terra ac iurisditione ducatus Patriarchatus, et dictus dominus patriarcha tenetur dare omnibus Venetis invenetisp in toto * ducatu Patriarchatus Aquilegensis licentiam et securitatem plenam, tam in personis quam in rebus eorum, infra quindecim dies usque ad portum Basiliceq et ad iam dictum portum Primarii,” dominus patriarcha dixit et protestatus est, quod exeunter de predicto et pacto nolebat teneris.
[3] Item ubi dicitur: “Preterea promisit et tenetur dare dominus patriarcha permittere conduci et portari de partibus Foriuliit frumenti et legumina et aliud bladum et alias res et omnem aliud mercatum libere et sine contrarietate Venecias,” dictus dominus patriarcha dixit et protestatus fuitu: “Nos inteligimus sine contraditione datii et etiam, si nos volemus per terram vestram bannum imponerev ut nonw extraereturx bladum de terra nostra vely alliud mercatum, liceat nobis; novum tamen dacium non liceat nobis Venetis inponere, si de voluntate nostraz eidem Veneti portarent bladum vel aliud mercatuma' de terra nostra predicta.”
[4] Item ubi dicitur: “Et robarie facte super homines Veneciarum a tempore * dicti precepti facti per dominum ducem Venetis exeundi de Forouliumb' ucusque coram * dominum patriarcham et per ipsum dominum patriarcham deberent diffiniri [et]c' determinatid', salvis pignoris concessis per dominum ducem et hominibus Veneciarum super hominibus Patriarchatus Aquilegensis ac hominum eiusdem Patriarcatus. E[t] raubarie, si que fiente' de cetero super homines Veneciarum determinari * debent secundum ea[n]demf' formam que in hoc pacto superius continentrurg'”, predictus dominus patriarcha sic respondit: “Et nos dicemus salvis pignoribush' concessis per nosi' hominibus nostrisj', quod predictus dominus dux et Comune Veneciarum accipiaverunt.
(SN)k' Ego Iohannes de Lupico Sacri Imperii plubicusl' notarius supradictis hominibusm' interffui et rogatus scripsi in plubicamn' formam reducendo.
a) sic A. b) sic A. c) sic vicedmn cum duo sign. abbr., unum supra vice, alium supra dmn. d) sic debet A. e) excepta pena sanguinis, que debet puniri] add. cum sign. insertionis A. f) sic A: pro offensionibus. g) sic A. h) sic A. i) sic A: pro Venetos. j) sic Aquilia A. k) sic A. l) sic A: pro contigerit. m) om. A; em. Härtel. n) sic A. o) sic A. p) sic invenet cum sign. abbr. A: pro inventis. q) Basilice cum sign. abbr. supervacaneo. r) lect. dub.: exnt cum sign. abbr. A; exnt ed. Härtel. s) lect. dub. A; puncta posuit Härtel. t) sic A; Foriiulii ed. Härtel. u) seq. est add. A, seu ex errore. v) seq. si de voluntate vestra canc. A. w) ut non] necnon ed. Härtel. x) ex corr. A et sic: pro extraheretur; extra... ed. Härtel. y) ex nobis corr. A. z) add. sup. l. A. a') add. cum sign. insertionis A. b') sic A. c') om. A; ed. Härtel. d') sic A: pro determinari. e') fiet cum sign. abbr. A; fierent ed. Härtel. f') sic A. g') sic A: pro continetur. h') ex pagnoribus corr. A. i') ex vos corr. A. j') ex vestris corr. A. k') eras. A. l') sic A. m') sic A. n') sic A.
The present document remained unedited until Härtel’s 2005 publication (cited above), rendering it unknown to historians working on the medieval Patriarchate of Aquileia until that point. As such, there are no scholarly publications dealing specifically with this unusual document.
First, the document is preserved on a parchment that once featured the notarial sign of notary John of Lupico who wrote and authenticated this writ. The notarial sign was, however, at one unknown point in time and for unknown reasons scraped off the parchment. Moreover, the handwriting changes mid-way through the document, going from a more formal ductus used for instrumenta publica to a less formal, more cursive style characteristic of a simple sketch (minuta). This was keenly noted by Härtel who offered a persuasive interpretation of the parchment: the writing started as an official instrumentum publicum, but halfway through, due to numerous scribal errors and omissions, the notary proceeded to merely sketch the document that would later serve as the basis for the drawing up of the proper, authenticated notarial deed (which, however, does not survive).
In any case, notary John had a particularly bad day when he started writing this document, as shown by the numerous mistakes and omissions he makes throughout the document. Due to these mistakes, which render many clauses agrammatical, it becomes difficult to ascertain the meaning of certain passages. For example, the article hereby dubbed 2 features Gregory’s protest regarding article 7 of the 1254 treaty (edited here as doc. 1254_VG). According to the present document, it would seem that the patriarch refused to acknowledge and uphold this particular article, but this makes little sense as the same article was included in the pact that was signed on the same day, in the same place, in front of the same witnesses. The same goes for article hereby dubbed 3 which stands in opposition to article 15 of the 1254 treaty. Out of four articles that the patriarch voiced his complaints against and offered his own interpretation, Venice explicitly accepted only two: that the Venetian vicedominus may only administer justice to the Venetians for the disputes and processes taking place in the city of Aquileia and not throughout the Patriarchate of Aquileia (article 1); and that the properties in the Patriarchate of Aquileia pledged both by the subjects of the patriarch to the patriarch as well as by the Venetians to the doge may not be impounded (article 4).
On June 6 of the same year, the patriarch officially swore to uphold the pact with Venice signed on April 24 and no mention of these “protestations” and “additions” was made (see doc. 1254_PG).
The publication of the facsimile of A (Venice, Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Miscellanea atti diplomatici e privati, busta 4, doc. 147) 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 digital facsimile remains under the exclusive copyright of Archivio di Stato di Venezia.