King Henry IV donates to Patriarch Sigehard and the Church of Aquileia the County of Friuli, the village Lucinico, and all the rights and properties that Count Ludwig had in the said county.
In nomine sancte et individue Trinitatis.
Henricus divina favente clementiaa rex.
Patrum nostrorum ortodoxorumb exempla secuti, qui rebus suis ecclesias Dei edificaveruntc, edificatas nond tam propriis hereditatibus quame rebus ad fiscum regium pertinentibus ditaverunt, salubre et honestum duximus dies iuventutis nostre huiuscemodi studiis transigere, ut et vita nostra longeviorf sit in tempore et tempora iocundiora in tranquilla pace.
Quapropter omnibus Christi nostrique fidelibus, tam futuris quam presentibus, notum esse volumus qualiter nos, ob remedium anime nostre et interventu excellentissime matrisg nostreh Agnetis imperatricis et dilectissime coniugis nostre Berte regine ceterumque fidelium nostrorum, scilicet archiepiscoporum Theodaldii Mediolanensis, Wiperti Ravennatisj, instinctu quoquek carissimi cancellarii nostri Gregoriil Vercellensis episcopi, Burchardi Losanensism episcopi, Epponisn Ciçenensiso episcopi, Bennonis Ǒsenburgensisp episcopi etq ducis etiam Liutoldi, marchionum quoque Wilielmir, Açonis, Adalberti necnon ob fidele servicium Sigehardis patriarche, Comitatumt Foriiulii et villam unam Lunçanigamu dictam omneque beneficium quod Ludowicusv comes habebat in eodem Comitatu situm, cum omnibus ad regalia et ad Ducatum pertinentibus – hoc est placitis, collectis, fodro, districtionibus universis, omnique utilitate que iuste ullo modow inde poterit provenire – sancte Aquilegensi ecclesie et predicto fideli nostro Sigehardo patriarche suisque successoribus per precepti huius traditionem in proprium dedimus atque tradidimus.
Ea videlicet ratione, ut nullus dux, marchio, comes, vicecomes vel aliquax maior vel minor persona nostri Regni predictam ecclesiam vel predictum fidelem nostrum Sigehardum patriarcham suosque successores de omnibus predictis rebus disvestire, molestare aut ullo modo presumat inquietare.
Quod si presumpserit, sciat se compositurum centum libras auri, medietatem camere nostre et medietatem antedicte ecclesie.
Et ut hec nostra regalisy traditio stabilis et inconvulsa omni permaneat evo, hanc cartam inde conscribi manuque propria corroborantes sigilli nostri impressione iussimus insigniri.
Signum domni Henrici quarti regis invictissimi. (SM)z
Gregorius Vercellensis episcopus ac cancellarius vice domni Hiltolfia' Coloniensis archiepiscopi etb' archicancellarii recognovi.
Data anno ab incarnatione domini nostri Iesu Christi millesimo LXXVIIo, indictione XVa, anno autem ordinationis quidem domni Henrici quarti XXVI, regni vero eiusdem XXIIIIo c'.
Actum Papie.
Feliciter.
a) seq. Romanorum add. C. b) orthodoxorum em. MGH. c) edificaverunt—hereditatibus] lac. B. d) om. B et MGH. e) quod C. f) longevior—iocundiora] lac. B. g) matris—dilectissime] lac. B. h) om. C. i) Teodaldi C. j) Ravenatis C. k) instinctu quoque] instinctuque C. l) Gregorii—Burchardi] lac. B. m) Lasanensis C. n) om. et puncta posuit C. o) Ciçenesis B; Cizenensis C et MGH. p) sic B; Desemburgensis C; Osnaburgensis em. MGH. q) om. B. r) Vilielmi C. s) Sygeardi C et saepe sive sic sive Sigeardi. t) Comitatum Foriiulii] lac. B. u) sic B; Lunçignigam C; Lunzanicham em. MGH. v) sic B; Ludoicus C; Ludovicus em. MGH. w) ullo modo] ullomodo B et undique sic. x) sic B; alia C et MGH. y) regla cum sign. abbr. C. z) om. C. a') Hyltolfi C. b') om. C. c') vigesimo tercio C.
“In XIo [scrineo] sunt privilegia et iura imperialia et regalia de [...] Comitatu ac Ducatu Foriiulii cum omnibus regalibus sive placitis, collectis, districtionibus, fodro et omni utilitate que iuste exinde quomodolibet pervenire posset.” [om.]
In XIII [sunt] privilegia imperialia et regalia de de concessionibus, donationibus et confirmationibus Comitatus et Ducatus Foriiulii, et de Lucimcho , et de castris Treven et Attens cum districtionibus , placitis, collectis ac de sanguinolento denario sive de homicidiis, furtis, vulneribus et cetera.” [om.]
“In XIIIIo [sunt] privilegia imperialia et regalia super iuribus et iurisdictionibus quibuscunque domino patriarche et Aquilegensi Ecclesie concessis et confirmatis in toto Patriarchatu, et potissime in Ducatu Foroiulii; et de confirmatione ipsius Ducatus et ville Lucinici cum regalibus, Episcopatuum et abba-tiarum et sanguinolento denario.” – Thesauri claritas, opus saec. XIV, ed. Giuseppe Bianchi, Thesaurus ecclesiae Aquileiensis (Udine 1847), pp. 14-17.
“De Ducatu Foriiulii sunt plura et diversa antiqua instrumenta et auctentica privilegia imperatorum Romanorumqu regum a me visa et lecta qualiter ipsa patria sive Ducatus cum terris, locis, iuribus et iurisdictionibus quibuscunque extitit perpetuo traditus, donatus et concessus sancte Aquilegensi ecclesie eiusque patriarche et presuli tunc presidenti et successoribus suis.” – Lucifer Aquileiensis, opus anni 1386, ed. Arnold Luschin von Ebengreuth, Archeografo triestino 16, ser. 2 (1890): p. LXIX.
Confirmations:
- Emperor Frederick I’s confirmation charter of 1180 to Patriarch Ulrich II (MGH DD F I doc. 791, soon to be edited here as well);
- Emperor Henry VI’s confirmation charter of 1193 to Patriarch Gottfried (MGH DD H VI, doc. BB 272, soon to be edited here as well);
- King Otto IV’s confirmation charter of 1209 to Patriarch Wolfger (FIM, doc. 1209_W1);
- Emperor Frederick II’s confirmation charter of 1214 to Patriarch Wolfger (MGH DD F II, doc. 220, soon to be edited here as well);
- Emperor Frederick II’s confirmation of 1220 to Patriarch Berthold (MGH DD F II, doc. 738, soon to be edited here as well).
Henry IV’s donation charter of the County of Friuli to Patriarch Sigehard officially concludes the period of the growth of the Patriarchate of Aquileia’s temporal jurisdictions in Friuli, a process that started all the way back during the age of Charlemagne (see docs. 792_CM1 and 792_CM2).
Between 792 and 1077, the Patriarchate of Aquileia was gifted various territories and rights in Friuli (cf. Schmidinger’s and Cammarosano’s 1988 account cited above) that this donation charter of Henry IV simply rounded up and brought to the next logical level. From this point on one can truly speak of the official beginning of the “state” (in the medieval sense of the word) of the patriarchs of Aquileia.
The context surrounding the donation is well known: Sigehard’s father died in the Battle of Menfö fighting against the Magyars on the side of Emperor Henry III; Sigehard subsequently worked as the royal chancellor to young King Henry IV (from 1064 to 1067) and then, following the death of the incumbent patriarch of Aquileia Ravenger († 18 February 1068), he was appointed as the head of the Church of Aquileia by royal nomination; after Gregory VII’s first excommunication of King Henry IV in February of 1076, Patriarch Sigehard allied first with the reform papacy and, as an appointed papal legate, took part in the fateful Diet of Tribur in October of 1076; however, following Henry IV’s trip to Italy and the famous Canossa reconcilement of 1077, Patriarch Sigehard officially returned to pro-imperial camp and remained the supporter of Henry IV.
It was for his “loyal service” during these trying times that King Henry IV decided to reward his new-old faithful supporter: first, between late March and early April, when he the king was in Pavia on his way back to Germany, he donated the entire County of Friuli, the village Lucinico by Gorizia, and all the associated comital rights (this charter herein edited); second, after having reached Bavaria and all the time traveling in the company of Patriarch Sigehard, King Henry IV issued two donation charters to the Church of Aquileia from Nuremberg on the 11th of June: the first donating the March of Carniola (doc. 1077_HCA), the second the County of Istria (doc. 1077_HIV).
With these three donations, the Patriarchate of Aquileia became one of the most important political powers in the northeast of Regnum Italicum, controlling the important eastern highways that led from German lands into Italy. Sigehard’s Patriarchate of Aquileia, moreover, reminded of the old Carolingian March of Friuli.
Patriarch Sigehard did not manage to bask in the newfound glory of his ecclesiastical principality as he died soon thereafter, on August 12, 1077, in Regensburg on his way back from Germany.
In conclusion, as correctly noted by Štih (cited above), “The donation of 1077 was therefore of crucial importance for the affirmation of the power of the patriarchs of Aquileia in Friuli and therefore for the establishment of Friuli as the state of the patriarchs of Aquileia, the so-called ‘Patria’.”
The publication of the facsimile of B (Venice, Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Miscellanea ducali e atti diplomatici, busta 2, document number C/1) 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 copyright of Archivio di Stato di Venezia.
The digital facsimile of C will be available in the near future as part of the integral edition of doc. 333 of the collection Miscellanea atti diplomatici e privati.