A letter from William of Holland (1250, May 19)

Translated letter:

William by God’s grace ever venerable king of the Romans, count of Holland, we wish to make known to all that, since the noble lady Margaret, countess of Flanders and of Hainaut, has required of us that we should immediately pay homage to her concerning the land of Zeeland which we and our ancestors held in fealty from her ancestors the counts of Flanders, at the requests of the venerable lord father P., by God’s grace bishop of Alban, legate of the apostolic see, it has pleased the countess herself to delay and defer at her will and her pleasure, concerning the above-said homage that must be sought and demanded from us. But we acknowledge to the said countess that we are bound to pay homage to her concerning the aforesaid and that delay of this sort should not cause any injustice to her or to her successors, the counts of Flanders, but rather we wish and even declare that it should happen that however much the aforesaid countess delays concerning the homage itself to be demanded from us, nonetheless our successors, whoever after us will have held the court of Holland, whether they be heirs from our line or other successors, will be bound to pay homage to the same (countess) and to her successors, the counts of Flanders, concerning the land of Zeeland and to acknowledge and protect for them their other rights, as is expressed more fully in the charter, which we also renewed, of the noblemen Philip, formerly count of Flanders and Floris formerly count of Holland, our great grandfathers. We wish and profess that on account of this deferral or delay of the homage that must be exacted from us, nothing can be lost or hindered to the aforesaid countess, but that the homage should remain in the same state of needing to be exacted from us, in which it exists at present and in which it existed before this, and that she should hold the same right of exacting from us the homage itself which she held before this, and we recognize this same thing regarding her successors, the counts of Flanders, after her death. In testimony of this deed we have caused the present letters to be composed and strengthened by the royal seal. Completed at Brussels in the year of the Lord 1250, 14 June, eighth indiction, in the second year of our reign.(1)

Original letter:

Willelmus Dei gratia Romanorum rex semper augustus, comes Hollandie, notum fieri volumus universis quod, cum nobilis domina Margareta Flandrie et Hainonie comitissa instanter exegisset a nobis quod ei faceremus homagium de terra Zelandie quam nos et nostri predecessores de suis antecessoribus, comitibus Flandrie, tenuimus in feodum, ad preces venerabilis patris domini P. Dei gratia episcopi Albanensis, apostolice sedis legati, placuit ipsi comitisse quod sustineret et differret ad voluntatem suam et placitum suum de exigendo seu requirendo a nobis homagio supradicto. Nos vero dicte recognoscimus comitisse quod ei tenemur homagium facere de predictis et quod huiusmodi sustinentia aliquod preiudicium ei non faciat aut suis successoribus, comitibus Flandrie, quin potius volumus et etiam declaramus quod quantumcumque predictam comitissam continget sustinere de ipso homagio exigendo a nobis, successores tamen nostri, quicumque post nos comitatum Hollandie tenuerint, sive sint heredes de came nostra sive alii successores, tenebuntur eidem et eius successoribus, comitibus Flandrie, facere homagium de terra Zelandie et alia iura sua eis recognoscere et servare, sicut in carta virorum nobilium Philippi quondam comitis Flandrie et Florentii quondam comitis Hollandie, proavi nostri, et in nostra quam innovavimus, plenius est expressum. Volumus autem et profitemur quod propter istam sustinentiam seu dilationem homagii exigendi a nobis nichil obstare vel deperire possit predicte comitisse, quin sit in eodem statu exigendi homagium a nobis in quo ad presens existit et in quo ante hoc erat, et idem ius habeat exigendi a nobis ipsum homagium quod ante hoc habebat, et idem recognoscimus de eius successoribus, comitibus Flandrie, post decessum ipsius. In cuius rei testimonium presentes litteras conscribi fecimus et sigillo regio communiri. Actum Bruxcelle anno Domini millesimo ducentesimo quinquagesimo, quartodecimo kl. iunii, indictione octava, regni nostri anno secundo.

Historical context:

William again puts off the homage the countess is demanding of him, though he acknowledges her right to it and insists the deferral in no way interferes with that right in the present or the future.

Scholarly notes:

1 This translation was provided by Ashleigh Imus.

Printed source:

Oorkondenboek van Holland en Zeeland tot 1299, ed. A.C.F.Koch (Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoo, 1970), 2.515-16 ep.851.

Date:

1250, May 19