Otto IV, King of the Romans, confirms the rights of the Patriarchate of Aquileia over the Duchy of Friuli, including the incomes from the administration of criminal justice, and all documented agreements made between Patriarch Peregrine I and Count Maynard I of Gorizia as well as Patriarch Ulrich II and Count Engelbert II of Gorizia regarding advocacy and other matters.
‡Otto Dei gratia Romanorum rex semper augustus‡
Regie maiestatis ordo requirit ut omnium, et maxime ecclesiarum, iura protectione regia serventur illesa.
Eapropter, adtendentes clarissima merita et obsequia dilecti principis nostri Wolfgeri Aquilegensis patriarche, que persone nostre et Imperio hactenus laudabiliter exhibuit et cottidie circa honorem et profectum Imperii tota virtute noscitur exhibere, Ducatum Foriiuli cum omni iure et pertinenciis suis et sanguinolentum denarium, scilicet feritas, plagas, vulnera, homicidia, furta quoque et omnia maleficia que ad correptionem et bannum principum spectare noscuntur; insuper etiam omnes transactiones et conventiones inter Peregrinum patriarcham et Meinardum comitem, et inter Wolricum patriarcham et Eggelbertuma comitem super advocatia et aliis factas et privilegiis aut aliis autenticis scripturis roboratas sibi et successoribus eius in perpetuum regali auctoritate confirmamus et presenti pagina nostrob sigillo roborata communimus.
Sanctientes quod nulli memorata iudicia, vel aliqua ad ius Ducatus spectancia, nisi per eum aut successores suos liceat pertractare nullaque persona huic nostre confìrmationi audeat contraire.
Si quis vero hanc nostre confirmationis paginam infringere attemptaverit, triginta libras auri purissimi, medietatem camere nostre et medietatem ecclesie Aquilegensi, pro pena componat, confirmationemc robur obtinente, tam nostra quam divi Henrici sexti imperatoris facta in antiquo suo privilegio eidem Aquileiensi ecclesie et super eisdem dato, quod hic de verbo ad verbum est renovatum.
Acta sunt hec in presentia Sifridi Augustensis episcopi, Cunradi Spirensis episcopi regalis aule cancellarii, Hartwici Eistensis episcopi, Cunradi Ratisponensis episcopi, Manegoldi Pataviensis episcopi, Cunradi Brixiensis episcopi, Iohannis Charmacensis episcopi, Engelbardi Cicensis episcopi, Fridrici Tridentini episcopi, Geberardi Tergestini episcopi, Ludewici ducis Bǒwarie, comitis Gebehardi de Tollenstein, Burchardi Megdeburgensis burgraviod, Henrici marscalci, et aliorum quamplurium testium.
(SI D)
Data anno Domini millesimo CCoVIII aput Augustam, indictione XII.
a) sic A: pro Engelbertum. b) ex nostra corr. A. c) sic A: pro confirmatione, prout em. Winkelmann. d) sic A: pro burgravii.
The anno Domini dating to 1208 does not concur with the 12th indiction; thus, the date must be 1209, indeed the year in which the Diet of Augsburg took place.
According to Winkelmann, who based his arguments on paleographical evidence, the charter is a pseudo-original, made by tracing the authentic charter that had become, at some point, faded to the point of illegibility.
Paul Zinsmaier (cited above) went a step further and pronounced the document a forgery, albeit only a harmless, formal one. The evidence supporting Zinsmaier's verdict would be the employment of phrases and stylistic elements that cannot be attributed to any particular scribe employed in Otto IV's chancellery. Zinsmaier, however, failed to note that the document in question is simply a re-edition, based almost completely on Henry VI's privilege issued to Patriarch Gottfried on January 10th, 1193 (edited here).
Even if one decides to brand the charter a formal forgery, its contents remain beyond dispute and should be considered authentic.
This is one of the five charters promulgated in Wolfger's favor by the newly recognized King Otto IV during the imperial Diet of Augsburg, a "reward" for the patriarch's support of the newly crowned Roman king following the death of Philip of Swabia, Otto IV's rival to the throne that Wolfger had originally backed.
See more on that here, including the full list of the five charters.
The image of the manuscript was taken by the editor (who hereby apologizes for the quality of the photo that leaves much to be desired).
The publication of the facsimile of A (Venice, Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Miscellanea atti diplomatici e privati, busta 2, document number 62) 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).
The digital facsimile remains under the exclusive copyright of Archivio di Stato di Venezia.