The Bishopric of Poreč, represented by Bishop Adalpero and the local Chapter, and the Commune of Poreč, represented by the gastald, the meriga, and three consuls, conjointly elect eight honorable citizens of Poreč to define the borders of the city’s district from which the bishops had the right to quartese, that is, a quarter of the tithe.
(SC)a In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, amen.
Nos quidem Adalperus Dei gratia Parentinus episcopus unacum Capitulo meo, scilicetb I(ohanne)c archipresbitero, archidiacono Ticlino, Mauro et Walneriod presbiteris et aliis canonicis omnibus, pro me et ecclesia mea et Episcopatu et etiam causa habendi pactume et concordiam cum omnibus civibus Parentinis; et dominus gastaldio unacum Urso mericof civitatis Parentine, domino Artengo, domino Petro de Rolando et domino Engaldeo consulibus dicte civitatis Parentineg, et etiam cum voluntate domini Artuichih, et totius Comunis, congregati solito more sub voltis iuxta ecclesiam sancti Mauri, etiam pro bono pacis et habendi concordiam et amorem cum dicto domino A(dalpero)i episcopo, eligerunt concorditer viros ydoneos et bonos qui deberent dicere et designare bona fide [et sine]j fraude totum territorium quod reddit domino episcopo antedicto, scilicet dominum Matheum, dominum Bertaldum, dominum Venturam, Walneriumk Bigulie, dominum Ottonelluml de Bertoldo, Iohannem Andrigne, Leonardum de Albinom, et Albinum Leonardin cives Parentinos, qui corporaliter, tactis sacris evangeliio libris, iuraveruntp.
Et habito inter se consilio, dixerunt per suum sacramentumq omnes concorditer, quod omnes terre aratorie et herbaticum et [nemus]r as via Sclavonica, que vadit Pisinum iuxta Antignanam, usque Lemum et usque ad terminum domine Eliche, qui est iuxta ecclesiam sancte Margaretet castri Sancti Laurencii, reddit dicto domino episcopo quartas, excepto territorio Sancti Georgii quod reddit Artuicho, quod habet a dicto episcopo.
Item dixerunt per suum sacramentum, quod totum territorium quod est ab ecclesia sancti Eleuterii, eundo per viam que vadit ad villam de Turri ad manum sinistram versus mare usque ad Terminum Libertatis, debet quartizare domino Artuicho pro sancto Mauro, excepto illo quod habet pro sancto Pellagiou, et totum illud quod est a dextera, eundov per dictam viam versus Sanctum Quirinum usque ad Terminum Libertatis, reddit etiam dicto domino episcopo antedicto.
Et omnia supradicta dixerunt dicti iuratores per suum sacramentum, sicut superius legitur.
Et de omnibus supradictis dictus dominus A(dalperus) episcopus pro se et ecclesia sua, et dicta communitasw prox se et civitate sua, sub pena CCCC boni et puri argenti marcharumy, tali modo soluta et divisa, quod CC marche dentur parti illi pro qua omnia supradicta, que superius lectaz sunt, non frangentur, alie CC marche solvantur domino marchioni Ystriea'; et pena soluta, omnia supradicta perpetuo firma sint et rata.
Lata fuit hec sententia a predictis iuratis sub voltis, presentibus domino abbate sancti Michaelis de Subterra, presbitero Piligrinob', Antonio Ystrigo de Veneciis, Marcho Troyec' et aliis pluribus testibus rogatis, anno a nativitate Domini M CC XXV, indictione XIII, die VII mensis novembris introeuntis, imperanted' domino Fredricoe' secundo Romanorum imperatoref'.
‡Ego‡ Romanus imperialig' auctoritate notarius huic sententie interfui et, ut superius legitur, ex voluntate et mandato sepedicti domini episcopi atque dicte communitatis atque domini Artuichi scripsi et publicavi et utrique parti simile instrumentum dedi.
a) om. C. b) silicet et undique sic C. c) I. BC; Iohanne em. Banić; Ioanne ed. Kandler. d) Varnerio C. e) pacem C. f) marico C. g) om. C. h) Artuici et undique sic C. i) A. BC. j) C; evanuit B. k) Varnerium C. l) Otonellum C. m) Leonardum de Albino] subsignavit B. n) Albinum Leonardi] subsignavit B. o) subsignavit B; evalgelii C. p) subsignavit B. q) subsignavit B. r) C; evanuit B. s) i C. t) Margarite C. u) Pelagio C. v) eunde C. w) comunitas et saepe sic C. x) per C. y) boni et puri argenti marcharum] marcharum boni et puri argenti inv. C. z) scripta C. a') Istrie C. b') Pelegrino C. c') Troie C. d') inperante C. e') Fr. C. f') inperatore C. g') inperiali aule C.
Letter of Bishop Boniface directed to the Holy See, written between 1295 and January 1296 – doc. 1295_BP2.
This is the oldest surviving demarcation of the territories of the diocese of Poreč that the bishops leased to the citizens of Poreč and from which they would receive the quartese, that is, the fourth of the tithe. This district was divided into two parts: the lower, or southern part, bordered by the so-called “Slavic road” that led from Poreč to Pazin, curving opposite Tinjan towards Lim Bay and bordering the church of St. Margaret in Sveti Lovreč, including the territories of Eliza; the upper, or northern part, ran from the church of St. Eleuterius on the road to Tar and along the road to St. Quirin’s, that is, nowadays Kukci.
This Eliza remains a mysterious character and subsequent charters will dub her “countess”. Most probably, this name refers to Heliza, a 12th-century noblewoman but not a countess, who in 1118 donated together with her husband Siegfried her possessions in the diocese of Poreč to St. Michael’s monastery in Pula (doc. 1118_SH). This territory, from which the bishops of Poreč were to receive the quartese, was subsequently dubbed “the territory of Lady Eliza” and later even “the territory of Countess Eliza” (Jenko Kovačič, cited above, p. 92–93).
The charter also illuminates the organizational makeup of the Commune of Poreč, represented at this early point by three consuls, a meriga, and an unnamed gastald, most probably the very Hartwig (Artuichus) mentioned in the document.
Regarding the micro-location of this fateful meeting between the bishop and the representatives of the Commune, Canzian (cited above), interpreted the sub voltis iuxta ecclesiam sancti Mauri as referring to a part of the communal palace. Jenko Kovačič (cited above, p. 239) rightly refutes this interpretation and argues that the microtoponym refers to a part of the episcopal basilica, the atrium with the arches, which would correspond to the “sub voltis” mentioned in the charter.
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