A letter from Ermengarde

Translated letter:

To the sacrosanct church of God which is constructed outside the southern gate of the city of Vienne, in honor of the holy apostles Peter and Paul and other saints, where the lord abbot Guitger is known to preside with the rule of monks, I Ermengarde widow, queen, the wife of former king Rudolph, render certain vineyards that were once in the heredity of that monastery; they are situated below the walls of the city of Vienne, in the Ortense valley, and they have boundaries or ends in the east on the public road which is called Mediana (Middle?), on the west Rhone, in the north, that is from the church of St. Peter, the brook Fuscino(Foigny?)  by name, in the south the land of St. Peter from that heredity; besides that enclosed within these is a certain vineyard within the dominion of the bishop and in another place, namely at St. John, and in that valley is another small vineyard (vineola), and it is bounded on all sides by the land of St. Peter.  All these above named I render and give to God and St. Peter and the other apostles and saints who rest there and the monks serving God there, for the soul of my lord king Rudolph and my own.  If there should be anyone who would disturb this my alms, let him be cursed by the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and let come upon him all the curses of God which are written in the Old Testament, and let St. Peter who has the keys of the kingdom of the heavens close the gates of Paradise to him unless he repent.  This rendition and donation was made in Vienne, in the presence of lord Leodegar archbishop and provost Artald and deacon Wigo and the abbot of St. Andrew and other good men, in the 1057th year of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the first year after the death of the emperor Henry II,  Thursday (feria v), moon  (luna) xvii, 12th kalends of October, the Lord ruling, and awaiting a king.

Original letter:

Sacrosancte Dei ecclesie que est constructa extra portam meridianam urbis Vienne, in honore sanctorum apostolorum Petri & Pauli & ceterorum sanctorum, ubi domnus Guitgerius abbas preesse videtur cum norma monachorum, Ego Ermingarda vidua regina, uxor quondam Rodulfi regis, reddo quasdam vineas que olim fuerant de ejusdem monasterii hereditate; sunt autem site secus ejusdem urbis Vienne menia, in Ortensi valle, & habent fines vel terminationes a mane via publica que dicitur mediana, a vespere Rodanum, ab aquilonali vero parte, id est ab ecclesia Sancti Petri, rivulum Fuscinum nomine, a meridie terram Sancti Petri de ipsa hereditate:  preter quod infra istas concluditur, quedam vinea de episcopii dominicatura & in alio loco, videlicet apud Sanctum Johannem, & in eadem valle est alia vineola, & terminatur ex omnibus partibus terra Sancti Petri.  Hec omnia supradicta reddo & dono Deo & Sancto Petro & ceteris apostolis & sanctis qui ibidem requiescunt & monachis ibidem Deo servientibus, pro anima domini mei Rodulfi regis & mea.  Si quis autem extiterit qui hanc heleemosinam meam inquietaverit, sit maledictus a Patre & Filio & Spiritu sancto, & veniant super eum omnes maledictiones Dei que in Veteri Testamento scripte habentur, & sanctus Petrus qui habet claves regni celorum claudat illi portas Paradisi nisi resipuerit.  Facta est hec redditio ac donatio Vienne, in presentia domni Leodegarii archiepiscopi & prepositi Artaldi & Wigonis decani & abbatis Sancti Andree & ceterorum bonorum, anno MLVII Incarnationis Domini nostri Jesu Christi, post mortem Henrici imperatoris secundi  anno primo, feria v, luna xviii, xii kalendas octobris, Domino regnante & regem expectante.

Historical context:

The queen renders to the church of St. Peter vineyards which had been part of its inheritance.

Printed source:

Chartularium monasterii St. Andreae inferior Viennae Ordinis Sancti Benedicti, ed. C.U.J. Chevalier (Lyon:  N. Savigné, 1869), 267, Appendix #56.   Summarized in Regesta Comitum Sabaudiae, ed. Dominico Carutti (Turin:  Fratres Bocca, 1889), 53-54, #152.

Date: