Bull of Pope Eugene, 1146
Transcription
206r (select folio number to open facsimile)
P R I U I L E G I U M E V G E N I I PAPE.
Eugenius episcopus seruus seruorum Dei, dilectis filiis brieno pri-
ori ecclesie beati Andree Rofensis, eiusque fratribus tam presenti-
bus quam futuris regularem uitam professis. Inperpetuum.
Ad hoc2 uniuersalis ecclesie cura nobis a prouisore omnium
bonorum Deo commissa est, ut religiosas diligamus personas,
et beneplacentem Deo religionem studeamus modis
omnibus propagare. Neque enim Deo gratus aliquando famu-
latus impenditur, nisi ex karitatis radice procedens,
a puritate religionis fuerit conseruatus. Oportet igitur
omnes Christiane fidei amatores religionem diligere, et loca
( )3 uenerabilia cum ipsis personis diuino seruicio
mancipatis attentius confouere, vt nullis prauorum
hominum inquietentur molestiis, vel inportunis
angariis fatigentur. Quapropter dilecti in Domino
filii uestris iustis postulationibus clementer annui-
mus, et prefatam beati Andree apostoli ecclesiam, in qua
diuino mancipati estis obsequio, sub beati Petri
et nostra protectione suscipimus, et presentis
scripti priuilegio communimus. Statuentes ut
quascunque possessiones, quecunque bona, tam ex
dono et concessione bone memorie Lanfranci, Anselmi,4 Radulfi, Teodbaldi, Cantuariensium
archiepiscoporum, et Gundulfi Rofensis episcopi, Willelmi et Henrici Anglorum regum, quam aliorum Dei fide-
lium, inpresentiarum iuste et canonice possidetis,
aut in futurum concessione pontificum, liberali-
tate regum, largitione principum, oblatione fide-
lium, seu aliis iustis modis prestante Domino poteri-
tis adipisci, firma uobis uestrisque successoribus et illi-
bata permaneant. Concessionem autem uobis
rationabiliter factam ab Ernulfo bone memorie
episcopo uestro de sinodalibus denariis, et scripti eius
pagina confirmatam, ratam esse censemus. Preterea
concordiam que inter uos et uenerabilem fratrem
nostrum Ascelinum episcopum uestrum, per prefatum Teodbaldum Can-
tuariensem archiepiscopum de Lamheđa,5 Cudintu-
na, et quibusdam aliis possessionibus iuste et cano-
nice facta est, ratam et firmam esse decernimus. Preposi-
turam quoque ipsius ciuitatis sicut actenus super homi-
nes uestros et episcopi et prepositure regis quartam partem racio-
nabiliter habuistis, Socam etiam et Sacam, tol et tem,
et infangenetheof, ceteras quoque consuetudines
et libertates uestras racionabiliter hactenus habitas, ni-
chilominus uobis confirmamus. Decernimus ergo ut nulli
omnino hominum liceat prefatum locum temere perturbare,
aut eius possessiones auferre, vel ablatas retinere, mi-
nuere, seu quibuslibet uexationibus fatigare. Sed
omnia integra conseruentur, eorum quorum guberna-
tione et sustentacione concessa sunt, vsibus omni-
modis profutura. Salua sedis apostolice auctoritate, et
diocesanorum episcoporum canonica iusticia et reue-
rentia. Si qua igitur in futurum ecclesiastica secularisue per-
sona huius nostre constitutionis paginam sciens, contra eam
temere uenire temptauerit, secundo tertioue com-
monita, si non reatum suum congrua satisfactione
correxerit, potestatis honorisque sui dignitate ca-
reat, reamque se diuino iudicio existere de perpetrata
iniquitate cognoscat, et a sacratissimo corpore
et sanguine Dei et Domini redemptoris nostri Iesu Christi alie-
na fiat, atque in extremo examine districte ultioni subia-
ceat. Cunctis autem eidem loco sua iura seruantibus, sit
pax domini nostri Iesu Christi. Quatinus et hic fructum bone ac-
tionis percipiant, et apud districtum iudicem premia ęterne
pacis inueniant Amen Amen. Datus transtiberim per manum Rodberti sancte Romane ecclesie pres-
biteri cardinalis et cancellarii v kalendas Martii, indictione viiii.a, Inca[r]nationis dominice anno mcxlv pontificatus uero
domni Eugenii pape iii anno secundo.
+ Ego Eugenius catholice ecclesie episcopus subscripsi.7
+ Ego Conradus8 Sabinensis episcopus subscripsi et,
+ Ego Albericus Hostiensis episcopus subscripsi.
+ Ego Ymarus Tusculanus episcopus subscripsi.
+ Ego Odo diaconus cardinalis sancti Georgii ad Velum Aureum subscripsi.
+ Ego Guido diaconus cardinalis sanctorum Cosme et Damiani, subscripsi.
+ Ego Octauianus diaconus cardinalis sancti Nicolai in Carcere
Tulliano subscripsi.
+ Ego Gregorius diaconus cardinalis sancti Angeli subscripsi.
+ Ego Berardus diaconus cardinalis sancte Romane ecclesie subscripsi.
+ Ego Guido diaconus cardinalis sancte Marie in Porticu subscripsi.
+ Ego Gregorius presbiter cardinalis tituli Calixti subscripsi.
+ Ego Guido presbiter cardinalis tituli sancti Grisogoni subscripsi.
+ Ego Gilbertus indignus sacerdos sancte Romane ecclesie subscripsi.
+ Ego Guido presbiter cardinalis tituli sanctorum Laurentii et Damasi subscripsi.9
+ Ego Bernardus presbiter cardinalis tituli sancti Clementis subscripsi.
+ Ego Iordanus presbiter cardinalis tituli sancte ( )10 Susanne subscripsi.
Papal rota:11
Outer circle:
Inner circle, upper left quadrant:
Inner circle, upper right quadrant:
Lower quadrants:
EVGENIVS PAPA III
Monogram:12
BENE VALETE subscripsi13
Translation
The Privilegium14 of Pope Eugene15
Bishop Eugene, servant of God’s servants, to beloved sons, namely the holy prior of the church of Saint Andrew of Rochester and his brothers, both present and future, professed to the regular life. Eternal blessings.
As is necessary, the care of the universal church was entrusted to us by God, the Overseer of all good men, in order that we may esteem religious persons,16 and may by all means increase the religion pleasing to God.17 And, indeed, not at any time is grateful service being rendered to God unless it is proceeding from the root of charity and has been preserved by the purity of religion. 18 It is right therefore that all friends of the Christian faith esteem religion,19 and diligently care for venerable places along with the very persons surrendered for divine service, so that they are not being disturbed by trouble from any crooked person, or with importunity being wearied by duress. Wherefore, O beloved sons in the Lord, we mercifully nod our assent to your lawful petitions; and the aforementioned church of the blessed apostle Andrew, to whom you are surrendered in divine obedience, we receive under the protection of ourselves and St Peter, and we reinforce the claim of privilege of the present communication.
It is established by means of the gift and grant, from good memory,20 of Lanfranc, Anselm, Ralph, Theobald, archbishops of Canterbury,21 and of bishop Gundulf of Rochester,22 and of William and Henry, kings of the English,23 and of other faithful ones of God, that you will now presently hold whatever possessions and whatever good things both justly and canonically, and will do so also in the future, whether by pontifical grant, the generosity of kings, the largess of leaders, the offerings of the faithful, or by other lawful means furnished by the Lord; and thus you will be able to firmly secure such things for you and your successors, and they shall remain undiminished.
Moreover, we recommend to be ratified the grant of synodal pennies, reasonably made to you, from good memory, by Ernulf your bishop and confirmed by a sheet of his writing.24 In addition, we ratify and validate the mutual agreement between you and our venerable brother Ascelin,25 your bishop, concerning Lambeth and Cuddington,26 along with certain other possessions, an agreement which was made justly and canonically through the aforementioned Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury.27 And likewise, in the same way, through the head of this very community,28 hitherto above your men, we no less to you confirm that you reasonably hold a quarter from the bishop and the king’s reeve,29 including soke and sake,30 toll and team,31 and infangen-theof,32 as well as other customs and liberties of yours reasonably held thus far.
We determine therefore that is it not permitted for anyone at all to recklessly trouble the aforementioned place, or carry off its possessions, or accept what has been stolen from there, or diminish or harass by disturbances of any kind. But everything should be preserved intact for those for whom they were granted, with governance and maintenance, for all beneficial uses. By the reliable authority of the apostolic see, and by the canonical rights and reverence of the diocesan bishops.
If therefore in the future any person, ecclesiastical or secular, knowing this documentation of our decree, is tempted to rashly go against it, despite being warned a second and a third time, he should know that if he will not correct his guilt with suitable penance – should he be devoid of the dignity of power and honour – that he is liable by divine justice to be proved a perpetrator of iniquity, and alienated from the most sacred body and blood of God and of our Lord Redeemer Jesus Christ,33 and moreover subject to severe retribution at the Last Judgement. But may the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all those maintaining his justice at that very place. 34 May they be well served here and now with the fruit of activity, and may they find the reward of eternal peace before the stern judge. Amen. Amen.
Dated across the Tiber by the hand of Robert, cardinal priest and Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church,35 on the fifth day before the kalends of March [25th February], in the ninth year of the indiction [1146],36 [following] the year 1145 of the Lord’s incarnation, in the second year of the papacy of the lord Pope Eugene III.37
I Eugene, bishop of the catholic church,38 assented.
I Corrado, bishop of Sabina,39 assented and
I Alberic, bishop of Ostia,40 assented.
I Imar, bishop of Tusculum,41 assented.
I Odo, cardinal deacon of San Georgio ad Velum Aureum,42 assented.
I Guido, cardinal deacon of Santi Cosma e Damiano,43 assented.
I Octavian, cardinal deacon of San Nicola in Carcere Tulliano,44 assented.
I Gregorio, cardinal deacon of San Angelo,45 assented.
I Berardus, cardinal deacon of the holy Roman Church,46 assented.
I Guido, cardinal deacon of Santa Maria in Portico,47 assented.
I Gregorio, cardinal priest of the titular [church] of [San] Callisto,48 assented.
I Guido, cardinal priest of the titular [church] of San Crisogono, assented.
I Gilberto, unworthy priest of the holy Roman Church, assented.
I Guido, cardinal priest of the titular [church] of Santi Lorenzo e Damasi, assented.
I Bernardo, cardinal priest of the titular [church] of San Clemente, assented.
I Johannes, cardinal priest of the titular [church] of Santa Susanna, assented.
[Papal rota]49
Show me, O Lord, a token for good.50
Saint Peter. Saint Paul. Pope Eugene III.
[Monogram]51
Be of good health.
I assented.
Footnotes
1 See notes 24 and 25, below. This text was added to Textus Roffensis later in the twelfth century by a scribe other than the principal scribe, who completed his work around 1123.
2 ‘Ad hoc…’.
3 Scribal erasure.
4 ‘Anselmi’.
5 Or ‘Lamheða’.
6 Much of the first section of folio 207v is difficult to read due to both water damage and ink from the other side of the folio showing through. I used Colin Flight’s transcript as an aid to reconstructing the text: online here [accessed 13.04.2018].
7 The abbreviation for subscripsi (‘I assented’, literally, ‘I wrote below’), usually referred to as a ‘subscription’, appears at the end of each witness name and title; it looks like a tramlined ‘X’. The cross symbols (+) in the left margin may be taken to represent the crosses written by each individual witness in the original document, which the witness would have placed before his name. The ones in this charter are replicas by the Textus Roffensis scribe.
8 ‘Conradus’, possibly an error for ‘Corradus’. See n. 27, above.
9 Here, the Latin refers to two saints, Lawrence and ‘D’, which I have taken as Damasus. The basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso is the church in question but it was formerly known as Titulus Damasi, the titular church of Saint Damasus. A useful article on this is online here [accessed 09.05.2018]
10 Scribal erasure.
11 The papal rota appears after the list of witnesses to authenticate the document. It is a cross within two concentric circles. The inner circle is divided into quadrants.
12 The monogram consists of letters of different sizes forming a composition similar to a modern-day logo.
13 The monogram is followed by the subscription abbreviation.
14 A document containing a special right, privilege or prerogative, usually conveyed by a bull, charter or letter.
15 Eugene (Eugenius) III, pope from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153.
16 ‘religious persons’: the sense, here, is people devoted to a religious order. The pope is alluding to the monks of St Andrew’s priory.
17 ‘religion’: the sense, here, is the spiritual life of those in a religious order, such as the monks of St Andrew’s.
18 Latin ‘conseruatus’, ‘preserved’; if ‘consecratus’ was meant, then ‘sanctified’ would be the meaning, which may seem more apt.
19 Again, the implication for ‘religion’ in the context of this bull is the spiritual life of those in a religious order.
20 The Latin phrase (de) bone memorie, ‘from/of good memory’ is used in legal documents, apparently with the sense of ‘it is well recalled’.
21 Archbishops of Canterbury: Lanfranc, 1070–89; Anselm, 1093–1109; Ralph d’Escures, 1114–22, formerly bishop of Rochester, 1108–14; Theobald of Bec, 1139–61.
22 Gundulf, bishop of Rochester and prior of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, 1077–1108.
23 William II (‘Rufus’), r. 1087–1100; Henry I, r. 1100–35.
24 Ernulf, bishop of Rochester and prior of St Andrew’s priory, Rochester, 1114–24. Ernulf’s document is recorded in Textus Roffensis at folio 197r. The money refers to that due from the priests of the parish to the bishop on the occasion of a synod or, as in this particular case, when the priests receive chrism (holy anointing oil). For a translation of Ernulf’s document, see Christopher Monk, ‘Bishop Ernulf grants funds for the building and maintenance of St Andrew’s Priory: Textus Roffensis, f. 197r’: online here.
25 Ascelin, bishop of Rochester, 1142–48.
26 Cuddington was the village appended to the manor of Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, owned by the monks of St Andrew’s priory, Rochester. The ‘mutual agreement’, which in reality saw bishop Ascelin being rebuked by a papal legate, Imar of Tusculum, is recorded in Textus Roffensis, folios 203v–204r, for which see Christopher Monk, ‘Judgment of Imar of Tusculum in favour of the monks of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, Textus Roffensis, ff. 203v–204r’: online here [accessed 08.05.2018].
27 Theobald’s confirmation of the grants of Lambeth and Cuddington, along with various other manors, is found in Textus Roffensis, folios 204v–205r.
28 ‘head of this very community’, translating ‘Preposituram […] ipsius ciuitatis’, could conceivably mean ‘reeve of the very city’, but the context suggests the pope is confirming land and privileges through the prior of St Andrew’s.
29 The meaning of ‘quarter’ or ‘fourth part’ (Latin, ‘quartam partem’) is not entirely clear to me, but the allusion must be to land formerly granted by both the bishop and king’s reeve to St Andrew’s priory.
30 Christopher Corèdon and Ann Williams, A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases (2004): ‘Sake, and sokE. Grants of sake and soke allowed the granter to intercept the fines and other profits of justice relating to his own estate which would otherwise have gone to the king; the rights of sake and soke are particularly associated with bocland’, i.e. ‘bookland’, land granted by the book, by royal charter.
31 A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases: ‘Toll and team. Term describing wide-ranging rights of a lord. In A[nglo-]S[axon] law, “toll” indicated the lords’ right to take payment, i.e. commission on the sale of cattle or goods within his estate. “Team” indicated the lord’s right to take fines from those accused of stealing cattle; also it indicated the power to oversee the presentation of evidence of the right to sell presented goods. When new town charters were granted, “toll and team” was usually included from the beginning.’
32 An Old English term signifying the legal right to judge and punish a thief who commits the crime within one’s own jurisdiction, and to receive any fines related to the crime of said thief. Compare A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases: ‘Infangen-theof. The right of a lord to pursue and hang a thief caught in possession of stolen goods, i.e. red handed.’
33 ‘alienated from the most sacred body and blood, etc’: this is the threat of excommunication.
34 That is, at St Andrew’s Priory.
35 Robert Pullen, d. in or after 1146, was an English theologian and the archdeacon of Rochester from before 1134 to c. 1144, when he resigned. He became cardinal priest of San Martino ai Monte in 1144 and was appointed as Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church by Pope Lucius II in 1145. He is often considered one of the founders of Oxford University. A useful entry on Robert Pullen, along with relevant bibliography, is online here [accessed 08.05.2018].
36 The indiction refers to 15-year cycles originally related to the Roman fiscal year. The ninth year of the indiction referred to here is the ninth year from the indiction year of 1137. Indiction years run from September to September, making February 25, 1146 the date the bull was signed. More information on indiction years online here [accessed 30.04.2018].
37 The sense must be following the 1,145th full year of Christ’s incarnation (which falls on the 25 December, 1145), and therefore corresponding to the year 1146, as the bull is dated to 25 February which is said to be in the second year of Eugene’s papacy, which we know began 15 February, 1145.
38 i.e. Pope Eugene III.
39 Corrado Demetri della Suburra, bishop of Sabina from 1127/8; he succeeded Eugene III as pope (1153–54).
40 Albéric of Ostia b. France in 1080, d. 1148, a Benedictine monk and cardinal bishop of Ostia 1138–48.
41 Imar of Tusculum (d. 1161), cardinal-bishop from 1142, and served as papal legate to England during the pontificate of Lucius II, 1144–45.
42 Odo (Odone) Fattiboni, b. Italy, d. 1165, created cardinal deacon in 1130; the church is also known as San Giorgio in Velabro. I have kept the Italian names of the churches throughout.
43 Guido da Vico, b. Italy, d. 1150, created cardinal deacon in 1130.
44 Octavian (Ottaviano) of Monticelli, cardinal deacon 1138–51.
45 Possibly Gregorio Papareschi, b. Italy, created cardinal deacon 1134.
46 Cardinal deacon without title. Very little is known about him. His earliest subscription is for a bull in 1144.
47 Guido de Crema, created cardinal deacon in 1145; later Antipope Paschal III (1164–68).
48 I have not attempted to provide any biographical details for those of the lower rank of cardinal priest. The meaning of ‘titular’ is simply to indicate the church has been assigned to a cardinal priest.
49 See n. 47, below.
50 Based on Psalm 85:17 in the Vulgate.
51 See n. 48, below.