Era
Vol. 3: A 1077 usque ad 1209
Date
March 4, 1199
Place
Regestum

In the name of the community of Prnjani, Stepizus subjects his village to the podestà and the Commune of Pula under the same conditions and promising the same oath as the villagers of Barban.

Source
The original is lost; the text survives in the following manuscript tradition:
B = Venice, Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Ducali e atti diplomatici, busta 6, doc. C/10; a vidimus based on the original, made by Venerius of late Matthew and copied together with doc. 1199_BP; both copies are authenticated by three notaries on October 3, 1339; the copy has the following heading: Hoc est exemplum quorumdam publicorum instrumentorum quorum tenor per omnia talis est. The vidimus has the following certifications:
(SN) Ego Venecianus de Valencia Polensis imperiali auctoritate notarius hoc exemplum transsumptum et transcriptum unacum infrascriptis Pincio et Venerio notariis cum suis originalibus auctenticis scriptis manu dicti Richerii notarii coram egregio et sapienti viro domino Damiano Natale honorabili Pole comite et ser Andrea quondam domini Petri et ser Bartolameo quondam domini Nicolay suis consulibus et de ipsorum mandato diligenter et ordinate et fideliter perlegi et auscultavi, et quia utrumque – et originale et exemplum predictum – concordare per omnia inveni ut decetero fides et plena probatio adhibeatur eisdem, me in testem subscripsi signumque meum apposui consuetum,
sub anno a nativitate Domini millesimo tricentesimo trigesimo nono, septima indictione, die tercio mensis octubris, sub palatio Communis Pole, presentibus testibus adhibitis ser Nicolao Ferario et Georgio notario Polensi et aliis pluribus.
(SN) Ego Pincius filius Tateri imperiali auctoritate notarius hec exempla suprascripta unacum supradicto Veneciano notario et infrascripto Venerio notario notario cum suis originalibus et veris auctenticis suis scriptis manu predicti Rikerii notarii coram prenominato domino Damiano Natale honorabili comite Pole et dictis suis consulibus et de ipsorum mandato diligenter, ordinate et fideliter abscultavi, et quia utrumque eorum concordare per omnia inveni et ut dictis exemplis decetero fides plenaria adhibeatur tanquam veris auctenticis suis predictis, me in testem subscripsi signumque meum et notam apposui consuetas in supradictis millesimo, indictione et die, loco ac presentibus testibus supradictis.
(SN) Ego Venerius quondam domini Mathei imperiali auctoritate notarius Polensis hoc exemplum sumptum ex auctentico Rikerii notarii auctoritate nobilis et sapientis viri domini Damiani Natalis honorabilis comitis civitatis Pole scripsi et exemplavi prout in eo inveni, nil addens vel minuens quod sententiam mutet seu sensum variet, nisi fore in punctis, silabis vel composicionibus litterarum, currente anno Domini millesimo trecentesimo trigesimo nono, indictione septima, die tercio mensis octubris, Pole sub palacio Communis, presentibus supradictis Viniciano de Valencia et Pincio notariis Polensis qui se huic instrumento subscripserunt.
Previous Editions
Pietro Kandler, Notizie storiche di Pola (Poreč 1876), pp. 280–281, erroneously adding the datatio topica that does not pertain to this document (= Luka Kirac, Crtice iz istarske povijesti (Zagreb 1946), pp. 303–305 with the translation of the document into Croatian).
FIM Edition
Diplomatic edition based on B.
Transcription

In nomine domini nostri Iesu Christi.

Anno Eiusdem nativitatis millesimo C nonagesimo VIIII, indictione secunda, die IIII intrante marcii, Pole in palatio domini episcopi, coram domino Ubaldo episcopo et multorum Polensium civium, clericorum et laicorum.

Stepizus de Plagna promisit per se et tocius hominibus Plagne et vadiam dedit in manu domini Giroldi et suorum sociorum, recipientibus pro se et universo populo Polensi, sub pena XX marcharum argenti, quod ipsi, scilicet hominibusa Plagne, attendere[nt]b et observarent in omnibus et per omnia sicuti Barbanenses, tam de racione et terminibus quam de sacramento et omnibus aliis statutis factis per Barbanenses, excepto quod de quarte et herbaticum de preteritis annis nichil dare debent.

De qua vadia fideiussores fuerunt: Bernardus vicecomes Barbane, Pribisclaus gastaldus Barbane, Mirosclaus et Pridizius.

(SN) Ego Rikerius sacri palatii tabellio rogatus in omnibus interfui et eorum iussu hoc scripsi.

Apparato critico

asic B: pro homines.  b) attendere B; em. Banić.

Selected Bibliography
Bernardo Benussi, Nel Medio Evo: Pagine di storia istriana (Poreč 1897), pp. 680–681, 708–709.
Bernardo Benussi, Povijest Pule: u svijetlu municipalnih ustanova do 1918. godine, trans. Tatjana Peruško (Pula 2002), pp. 145–147.
Giovanni de Vergottini, Lineamenti storici della costituzione politica dell’Istria durante il Medio Evo, 2nd ed. (Trieste 1974), p. 71.
Stjepan Antoljak, “Pribislav je bio samo gastald Barbana (1199),” Jadranski zbornik 2 (1957): pp. 113–120.
Lujo Margetić, “Položaj Barbana i Planje 1199. godine,” Vjesnik istarskog arhiva (1992–1993): pp. 41–48.
Editor's Notes

The document ought to be viewed together with the subjection of Barban, explicitly mentioned in this charter as well, edited here as doc. 1199_BP. For the context, the quartese and the herbaticum, see the “Editor’s Comments” for doc. 1199_BP.
The most recent analysis of this charter was the one published by Lujo Margetić (cited above), which, however, features many errors.

First, Margetić errs when he reads the date as “VIIII” instead of “IIII” as read by Kandler and Antoljak. Thus, Kandler made no mistake when he dated the charter to March 4, 1199.

Second, Margetić interpreted the document as if the people of Prnjani subjected their village not to the Commune of Pula, but to Giroldus and his companions. Thus, reasons Margetić, the incomes of Prnjani, the quartese and the herbaticum, were to be paid to Giroldus, not to the Commune of Pula. Margetić explains this subjection as fueled by “the latent, and often acute enmity between the commune and the bishopric” typical for Istria during the period. This entire interpretation is absolutely incorrect.

First, the people of Prnjani subjected they village to the Commune of Pula, just as the people of Barban did in February of the same year (doc. 1199_BP). Giroldus was here merely as the representative of the Commune of Pula, as explicitly states in the charter: “recipientibus [Giroldus and his associates] pro se et universo populo Polensi.” The incomes from the quarter of the tithe and the grazing tax were thus to go to the Commune of Pula, just as in the case of Barban. Finally, just as in the case of Barban, the villagers of Prnjani promised to henceforth receive justice only from the podestà and the magistrates of Pula.

The Giroldus who acts as the representative of the Commune of Pula is a notable lord. He enjoyed the possession of Gradina (Ital. Calisedo) by Lim Bay from the Bishopric of Trieste (Kandler, Codice diplomatico istriano, 2nd ed. (Trieste 1986), doc. 176, p. 334; document soon to be edited here as well), bestowing upon the entire possession the name “Geroldia”.

The Bernardus vicecomes Barbane remains a mysterious character. Antoljak (cited above) equated him with the eponymous gastald in Sveti Lovreč mentioned in 1183 (Kandler, Codice diplomatico istriano, 2nd ed. (Trieste 1986), doc. 170, p. 323; document soon to be edited here as well) and the viscount of Pula in 1199. This interpretation is highly unlikely, especially bearing in mind that he is mentioned as “vicecomes Barbane” and that gastalds were usually appointed from among the local population.

Margetić (cited above) interpreted the viscount as “the representative of the count of Gorizia in the Barban area.” This must also be judged as erroneous because the counts of Gorizia received Barban from Patriarch Raymond della Torre only in 1277 (see Peter Štih, I conti di Gorizia e l’Istria nel Medioevo (Rovinj 2013), pp. 127–129).

Since the viscount in Barban is mentioned after the subjection of Barban to the Commune of Pula, it is possible that this Bernard was, in fact, the representative of the superior jurisdiction in Barban, that is, the Commune of Pula.

How to Cite
First citation: Josip Banić (ed.), Fontes Istrie medievalis, vol. 3: A 1077 usque ad 1209, doc. 1199_PP, fontesistrie.eu/1199_PP (last access: date).
Subsequent citations: FIM, 3: doc. 1199_PP.
Facsimile
Image Source and Info

The publication of the facsimile of B (Venice, Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Ducali e atti diplomatici, busta 6, doc. C/10) 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 exclusive copyright of Archivio di Stato di Venezia.