In the name of their city, the consuls of Poreč renew their oath of fealty to Venice, promising to observe their oath pledged to Doge Domenico Morosini in 1150 to the letter (doc. 1150_FV), and to give the fifteen pounds of oil for the illumination of St. Mark’s church in Venice to the clergy of that church every year on Candlemas (February 2).
Ina nomine domini Dei et salvatoris nostri Iesu Christi.
Anno Domini millesimo ducentesimo quinto, mense madii die undecimo exeunte, indictioneb octava, Parencio, in eorum presencia quorum nomina inferius scripta videntur.
Cathusc, Homodeus, Bonaventura, Roçius consules Parentine civitatis de comuni consensu populi iuraverunt supra sancta Dei evangelia Petro Pino nuncio domini Rayneriid filii domini nostri Henrici Danduloe Dei gratia incliti Venec(iarum) ducis, cuius vice fungitur dignitatis, dare et persolvere viginti arietes a Pasca usque ad festum Sancti Petri domino duci suisque successoribus, et insuper iuraverunt manuteneref ei fidelitatem suisqueg successoribus, et iuraverunth dare libras olei pro luminaria XVi primicereoj et clericis ecclesie sancti Marci, secundum quod in antiquok pacto continetur, cuius tenor talis est:
“Nos quidem omnes de Parencio, silicetl ego archipresbiter et Roçus castaldus et Martinus de Natali et I(ohannes) de Papo, Iacobus et Iohannes de Melenda, D(ominicus) de Anto, per comunem consensum et conlaudationemm omnium vicinorum nostrorum, maiorum silicet atque minorum, in presencia D(ominici) Mauroceni filii ducis Venetie et M(arini) Gradonici capitaneorum stoli Venecien et multorum sapientum et nobilium Veneticorum in ipso stoloo, supra sancta Dei quatuor evangelia iuravimus fidelitatem domino nostro D(ominico) Mauroceno Dei gratia gloriosissimo duci Veneciep, Dalmacie atque Chroacie et totius Istrieq inclito dominatori, et eius successoribus usque in perpetuumr fidelitatem similiter facere et observare promittimus.
Beato vero Marco apostolo et evangeliste per unumquemque annum XV libras olei pros luminaria dabimus.
Et omnes Veneticost salvos et securos sine omni datione in omnibus partibus nostris sicut nostros concives habere et manutenere debemus.
Domino vero duci in omni anno XXu arietes dare promittimus et eius successoribus similiter.
Et insuper, si Venecia per comune stolum fecerit ad Iadram vel Anconamv, nos vobiscum stolum facere promittimus, nisi per vos remanserit.
Et a duodecim annis et supra omnes fidelitatem domino duci et eius successoribus facere debemus, et sacramentum singulis ducibus renovando usque in perpetuumw observare et adimplere promittimus.”
Preterea, plusquam in iamx dicto pacto contineatur, iuraverunt dare et persolvere omni anno in Purificatione Sancte Marie predictum oleum clericis ecclesie sancti Marci.
Actum est hoc sub porticu maioris ecclesie.
Presentes fuerunt Matheus Bonus, Aureus Venerius, Matheus Steno.
a) spatium vacuum pro capitali littera initiali rel. P2. b) P2; inditione P1M. c) Catus P2. d) P2M; Rainerii P1. e) Dandoli P1P2. f) iurare P1P2. g) M; et suisque P1; et suis P2. h) seq. ei exp. et canc. M. i) M; quindecim P1P2. j) sic P1P2: pro primicerio; primocereo M. k) antico P2. l) scilicet P2. m) conlaudatione P1. n) et Marini—stoli Venecie] om. M. o) stollo et saepe sic M. p) seq. et add. M. q) Ystrie P2. r) in perpetuum] M; imperpetuum P1P2. s) P2; om. P1M. t) Venetos P2. u) viginti M. v) Anchonam M. w) in perpetuum] M; P1P2. x) seq. in add. P2.
“Idem iste natus ducis [Raynerius Dandulo] Parentinos aliquantum recalcitrantes ad suam revocavit fidelitatem et in MoCCVo, mense madii, cum eis aliqua pacta de novo stabilivit cum honore maximo Venetorum.” – Venetiarum historia vulgo Petro Iustiniano Iustiniani filio adiudicata, ed. Roberto Cessi and Fanny Bennato (Venice 1964), p. 143.
By this charter, the city of Poreč renewed the oath pledged to Venice and Doge Domenico Morosini in 1150. The exact reason for this re-pledging of oath that was originally given to all Venetian doges in perpetuity remains shrouded in mystery. Benussi (cited above), argued that the citizens of Poreč repledged their oath on their own volition, as the civic commune sought an ally in Venice to combat the jurisdictional prerogatives of the bishops of Poreč who claimed dominion over the entire city by way of imperial donations. This interpretation is steeped in Benussi’s imagination and has no support in the contemporary primary sources.
The “official” Venetian chronicles fail to mention this event. It is only the Venetiarum historia (passage quoted above) that interprets the event as resulting from the citizens of Poreč disobedience, a defiance that caught the attention of Reniero Dandolo, son of incumbent doge who was left to govern Venice while his father joined the Fourth Crusade. Faced with the might of the Venetian armada, the citizens of Poreč were quickly put back in line as they repledged their oath of fealty to Venice. This is the interpretation that was subsequently taken over by De Vergottini (cited above).
It is unknown on what source the author of the Venetiarum historia based this interpretation: it could very well be that it was the product of the chronicler’s imagination. Nonetheless, Reniero Dandolo was indeed patrolling the Adriatic with “a skeleton fleet” as Madden dubbed it (cf. his Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice (Baltimore–London 2003), p. 155). It could very well be the case that for some reasons the citizens of Poreč needed to be reminded of the oath they had pledged back in 1150, and this is the result of this “reminding”.
The document is notable for being the very first mention of consuls in Poreč. For Benussi, this was enough to proclaim the commune fully formed. It was only recently that Jenko Kovačič (cited above) reinterpreted the surviving evidence, convincingly arguing that the commune in Poreč was at this point in its nascent stages, slowly forming throughout the first half of the 13th century, at times in opposition to the local bishops.
The publication of the facsimiles of M (Venice, Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Miscellanea atti diplomatici e privati, busta 2, doc. 56, fol. 7r–v) 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.
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