At the behest of the Venetian ambassador Pietro Quirino and in front of the incumbent Venetian vicedominus in Aquileia, Pietro Foscari, Raymond della Torre, the patriarch of Aquileia, by way of his representative Guido Inglozio, solemnly swears to uphold the treaty that his envoys concluded with Venice [in 1275].
Anno Domini millesimo ducentesimo septuagesimoa septimob, indictione quintac, die nonod intrante iulio, in Civitate Austriae in anticamera domini patriarche, presentibus dominis Petro Fuscarenof vicedomino Veneciarumg in Aquilegia, Ascheroh de Trevisioi, Iacobo dela Turre Mediolanensi, Cinoj Caponik de Florencial, magistro Iohanne de Lupico dominim patriarche notario, Paulo Brulloson, Marino Carano de Venetiis testibus et aliis.
Comparentep viro nobiliq domino Petro Quirino de Veneciis [ambaxiator domini Iacobi Contareni ilustris ducis Comunis Veneciarum]r coram reverendo patre domino Raymundos Dei gratia sancte sedis Aquilegensis patriarcha, petente ab ipso quod pacta olim inita inter bone memoriet dominum G. patriarchamu Aquilegensemv et dominum ducem et Comune Veneciarum, et per ipsum dominum R.w patriarcham innovata postmodum acx etiam confirmata in animam suam secundum antiquam consuetudinem, iurare faceret se inviolabiliter servaturum.
Nobilis vir dominus Guido Inglociusy de Mediolano, habito super hoc parabola a predicto domino R.z patriarcha, in animam ipsius ad sancta Dei evangelia corporaliter iuravit quod ipse dominus patriarcha omnia capitula in dictis pactis contenta bona fide, sine fraude, secundum antiquam consuetudinema' observabit.b'
Egoc' Henricus Civitatensis imperiali auctoritate notarius predictis interfui et rogatus scripsi (SN)d'.
Egoc' Petrus olim magistri Montis imperiali auctoritate notarius et nunc nobilis viri domini Petri Fuscarinie', de mandato domini ducis vicedomini Veneciarum in Aquilegia, hoc exemplum sumptum ex auctentico Henrici notarii domini patriarche, nil addens vel minuens quod sententiam mutet, ut comperii, bona fide scripsi et exemplavi signoque meo corroboravi, currente anno Domini millesimo ducentesimo septuagesimo septimof', indictione quinta, die duodecimo intrante mense iulii, in Aquilegia.g' (SN)h'
a) P1; septugesimo M; olim septingesimo ex errore edidi. b) millesimo ducentesimo septuagesimo septimo] MoCCo septuagesimo septimo P1; MoCCoLXXoVIIo P2P4; millesimo ducentesimo LXXVII F. c) Va P1; V F. d) VIIIIo F. e) Austrie F. f) P1P2P4; Fuschareno M; Foscarino F. g) Venetorum P2. h) P1P2; om. et spatium vacuum rel. M; Ascher P4; Ascherio F. i) Travisio P1P4; Tarvisio P2; Travulso F. j) Çino P1; Zino F. k) Capon cum sign. abbr. MP1P2F: Caponi seu Caponni; Capot cum sign. abbr. P4. l) Florença F. m) om. F. n) P1P2P4F; Brullo ser M et sic olim edidi. o) P1P2P4F; Catan M et sic olim edidi. p) conparente F. q) nobile P2. r) ambaxator—Veneciarum] F; om. MP1P2P4. s) Raimundo P1; Raymondo P4. t) seq. quedam add. F. u) G. patriarcham] patriarcham Gregorium F. v) Aquilegie P2. w) Raymundum F. x) om. F. y) Inedocius cum sign. abbr. supra primam syllabam F. z) Raymundo F. a') om. F. b') des. F. c') in litteris capitalibus M. d') P1; om. MP2P4. e') Fuscharini M. f') CCoLXXoVIIo P2. g') Ego Petrus—Aquilegia] om. P4. h') P1; om. MP2P4.
The patriarch’s solemn confirmation of the pact concluded by his representatives with Venice in February of 1275 (doc. 1275_VR) came two and a half years after the treaty had been signed. The reason behind this delay in the patriarch’s confirmation cannot be deduced, but his preoccupation with the Lombard affairs and his family’s war against the Visconti was probably one of the reasons.
This confirmation of the pact was copied together with the text of the pact on July 12, 1277, by notary Peter and this copy, which does not survive, became the basis for all the other surviving copies, except, perhaps, the ms. hereby dubbed F. Namely, the copy in Pactum Ferrariae registers only half of the entire 1275 pact, and contains neither the notarial completiones nor Peter’s authentication formula, but it does feature the following addition:
"Item super eo quod vicedominus et Veneti conqueruntur, quod potestas Aquilegie non permittit eos extrahere de Aquilegia bladum, legumen, galinas, edos, capones vel aliud mercatum comestibile nisi prius dicti Veneti concordent cum eo, vobis sit respondendo, quod quicumque Venetus mihi monstrare poterit aliquid se dedisse eidem potestati huiusmodi occasione, paratus sum illud quod eis dederunt facere restitui in duplum, et volo ac precipio eidem potestati sub obtentu gracie domini patriarche ac penam quam ab eo exigere voluerit, quod dictos Venetos ad extrahendum bladum, legumina, galinas, edos aut aliud mercatum comestibile contra formam pactorum nullatenus impedire presumant."
Originally, I edited this addition together with Raymond’s 1277 promissio, interpreting it as the words that the Venetian ambassador aimed to put into the mouth of the patriarch’s envoy. However, it seems to me now more logical to conclude that the addition does not form part of the solemn promissio, but that it merely registers an assurance given by the patriarch’s envoy to the Venetians regarding their complaints about the actions of the delegated podestà of Aquileia who demanded bribes. This assurance could have been given at any time between 1277 and the mid-14th century when the Pacta Ferrariae were composed. In any case, my old conclusion remains: “this paragraph clearly demonstrates there were issues and irregularities in the quotidian practice related to the Venetian privileges guaranteed by the pacta.” (Banić, cited above, p. 17).
Raymond’s promise did not last long. Already in August of 1277 he sanctioned reprisals against Venice due to Count John III of Krk, whom he conceptualized as a “Venetian subject”, robbing a deputy of Conrad della Torre, the incumbent margrave of Istria (P.S. Leicht (ed.), Parlamento friulano, vol. 1/1 (Bologna 1917), doc. 15, pp. 18–19). In 1280 the Venetian ambassadors at the patriarch’s court lamented the overall disrespect of the pacts (doc. 1280_CD) and the two parties eventually went to war against each other in 1283 (cf. the Chronicle of Julian of Cividale, ed. Giovanni Tambara, RIS, ser. 2, 24/14 (Città di Castello 1905), p. 15).
The publication of the facsimile of M (Venice, Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Miscellanea atti diplomatici e privati, busta 2, doc. 56, fol. 8v) 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.
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