Pope Adrian IV grants to Henry Dandolo, the incumbent patriarch of Grado, primacy over the Archbishopric of Zadar and its suffragan bishoprics, with the right to consecrate the Archbishop of Zadar while reserving the granting of the pallium to the Roman Pontiff.
‡Adrianus episcopus, servus servorum Dei, venerabili fratri Henrico Gradensi patriarche eiusque successoribus canonice substituendis in perpetuum.‡
Ne passim et indiscrete sibi omnes ecclesie omnia vendicarent, consulta satis utilique deliberacione sanctorum patrum sancxit auctoritas, ut alie aliis prerogativa dignitatis excellerent et eis, tam iudicandi auctoritate quam potestate corrigendi, preessent. Super omnes autem ex superni disposicione consilii sacrosancta est Romana ecclesia constituta, ad cuius examen universarum ecclesiarum negocia referrentur, et cuius statuta universa multitudo fidelium sequeretur. Hec nimirum ex indulto sibi a prima fundacione ecclesie in beato Petro apostolorum principe privilegio statum omnium ecclesiarum provida consideracione dis[posu]ita, et quociens expedire cognovit, alias aliis ad ampliorem curam earum habend[arum]a statuit preminere.
Inde est quod nos honestatem ac prudentiam tuam et devocionis sinceritatem, quam erga sacrosanctam Romanam ecclesiam semper habuisse dinosceris, adtendentes, et ne commissa regimini et disposicioni tue Gradensis ecclesia, quę de benignitate Apostolice Sedis prerogativa gaudet honoris, ex brevitate patriarchatus inferius et abiectior valeat apud simpliciores haberi, ad ampliandam dignitatem ipsius primatum ei super Iadertinum archiepiscopatum et episcopatus ipsius apostolica auctoritate concedimus, et tam te quam successores tuos Iadertino archiepiscopo et episcopis eius, qui pro tempore fuerint, dignitate primatus presidere statuimus, et consecracionis munus eidem archiepiscopo impertiri, Romano quidem pontifici traditione pallii reservata.
Ut igitur hec nostra constitutio firma imperpetuum et inconcussa permaneat, eam scripti nostri pagina communimus, et auctoritate apostolica confirmamus.
Decernimus * ut nulli unquam omnino hominum liceat h[anc paginam no]strea constitutionis et confirmacionis infringere vel ei modis quibuslibet contraire, salva * in omnibus Apostolica Sedis auctoritate.
Si quis [autem]a id atepmtareb presumpserit, secundo tertiove commonitus, nisi reatum suum congrua satisfactione correxerit, potestatis honorisque sui dignitate careat, reumque se divino iudicio existere de perpetrata iniquitate cognoscat, * atque in extremo examine districte ulcioni subiaceat.
(R) Ego Adrianus catholicę Ęcclesię episcopus subscripsi. (BV)
(SC) Ego Gregorius Sabinensis episcopus subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Guido presbiter cardinalis tituli Sancti Grisogoni subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Hubaldus presbiter cardinalis tituli Sancti Praxedis subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Manfredus presbiter cardinalis tituli Sancte Savine subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Aribertus presbiter cardinalis tituli Sancte Anastasie subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Iulius presbiter cardinalis tituli Sancti Marcelli subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Guido presbiter cardinalis tituli Pastoris subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Anastaldus presbiter cardinalis tituli Sancte Prisce subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Girardus presbiter cardinalis tituli Sancti Stephani Celio Monte subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Henricus presbiter cardinalis tituli Sanctorum Nerei et Achilei subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Iohannes presbiter cardinalis tituli Sanctorum Silvestri et Martini subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Guido diaconus cardinalis Sancte Marie in Porticu subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Iohannes diaconus cardinalis Sanctorum Sergii et Bachi subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Gerardus diaconus cardinalis Sancte Marie inviolatac subscripsi.
(SC) Ego Oddo diaconus cardininalis Sancti Nicholai in Carcere Tulliano subscripsi.
Datum Rome apud Sanctum Petrum per manum Rolandi sancte Romane ecclesię presbiteri cardinalis et cancellarii, VIII kalendas martii, indictione III, incarnationis Dominice anno MoCoLoIIIo, pontificatus vero domni Adriani pape IIII anno I.
a) lac. A. b) sic A. c) sic A: pro in Via Lata.
“Ducis igitur ortatu, Henricus patriarcha sequenti anno Romam properans aprobacionem patriarchalis sedis in Grado et ius primatis super Iadratinum archiepiscopum et eius sufraganeos sibi, tradicione palei reservata, ab Adriano optinuit, ut sicut populus ab antiquis temporibus Venetorum duci obtemperabat, ita clerus eorum patriarche pariter obediret.” – Andrea Dandolo, Chronica per extensum descripta, ed. Ester Pastorello, RIS, ser. 2, 12/1 (Bolgona 1958), p. 246.
This grant of primacy over the Archbishopric of Zadar will be confirmed in all the subsequent conferrals of the pallium to the patriarchs of Grado:
Pope Adrian IV’s conferral of the pallium to Patriarch Enrico Dandolo – edited here as doc. 1157_PG1.
Pope Alexander III’s conferral of the pallium to Patriarch Enrico Dandolo – edited here as doc. 1161_PG.
Pope Lucius III’s conferral of the pallium to Patriarch Enrico Dandolo – edited here as doc. 1182_PG.
Pope Urban III’s conferral of the pallium to Patriarch Enrico Dandolo – edited here as doc. 1186_PG.
Pope Innocent III’s conferral of the pallium to Patriarch Angelo Barozzi – edited here as doc. 1213_PG.
This papal charter represents a pivotal moment in the ecclesiastical and political reorganization of the Adriatic region during the High Middle Ages. The document grants primacy over the newly established Archbishopric of Zadar to the patriarch of Grado, a decision that has generated extensive historiographical debate regarding its motivations and broader implications (see Majnarić, cited above, for a historiographical overview).
Recent scholarship has emphasized the need to distinguish between papal ecclesiastical administration and political motivations. This approach suggests that the 1155 subjection should be understood primarily as an ecclesiastical reorganization responding to existing political realities rather than as a diplomatic arrangement designed to facilitate Venetian political expansion. The decision reflects the papacy’s broader efforts to maintain effective church governance in a politically fragmented region while asserting papal prerogatives against both imperial and Byzantine influences.
In the context of Istrian history, the Aquileian dimension of this concession ought to be borne in mind. Namely, the patriarchs of Grado de facto lost the dispute over the Istrian bishoprics as Pope Innocent II formally confirmed these metropolitan jurisdictions to the patriarchs of Aquileia (doc. 1132_PI). Thus, the primacy over the newly instituted Archbishopric of Zadar was also – among many other things – a recompense for the de facto definitive loss of metropolitan jurisdiction over Istrian bishoprics.
This charter illuminates the sophisticated nature of twelfth-century papal diplomacy and ecclesiastical administration. Rather than representing a simple accommodation to Venetian interests, the document reflects the papacy’s attempt to maintain ecclesiastical coherence while navigating competing political pressures from the Holy Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and emerging regional powers such as Venice and the Kingdom of Hungary.