A letter from Cecilia and Bernard Ato

Translated letter:

In the name of the Lord.  I Bernard-Ato viscount and my wife Cecilia, viscountess and our sons Roger and Raymond and Bernard give you, Bernard of Tresmals, as fief and for the castellancy, that  house and that property which was Bernard the traitor and his brother’s in Carcassonne with its tower and with its profits and rents; and we give you that whole honor which they had and ought to have in all placed in allod, in fief, or in tenancy, except for the townsmen of Carcassonne and their pledges.  And we give you the whole honor which Guilherm Arnald held and had or his men or women for him in Palaiano and in Palaianello and within their boundaries by allod or pledge.  And we give you that whole honor which was Amelio’s, namely men and women and the whole honor he had in Casilaco and Palaiano and within all their boundaries.  And we give you income from the pledges of eight Ugonian pennies. As written above we give you as fief and for the castellancy by this agreement that each year you stay with your men and your family/household for eight months in Carcassonne and guard that city and take good care of it and keep watch, and you cannot give or sell or mortgage/pledge anything from that honor except with our advice.  And what we retain from that honor we shall not give or sell to any man or woman without your counsel, but if we should wish to mortgage, we would mortgage it to you if you wished, and if you did not, we would have licence to mortgage it to whom we will.  This forenamed honor which came to us from our traitors because of that betrayal they committed namely at Carcassonne which they took from us in treachery, we give you, said Bernard and your children and their posterity because of that fidelity which you, Bernard, bore us, and you and your posterity should bear in perpetuity.  If indeed you, Bernard, should die without issue, your brother might have whatever you wish. 

The aforenamed honor, which you my lord Bernard-Ato and you my lady Cecilia viscountess and your named sons gave to me and my posterity in fief and for the castellancy, I swear to you life and members and fidelity, and I swear to you Carcassonne and its fortifications and suburbs without deception; and let my heir who will hold and have that said honor after me swear similarly to you and do that fealty to you and your posterity by that above-written agreement in perpetuity.  If indeed those pledges which you have given me should be redeemed by me, I would give that to have for that honor the equivalent to your acknowledgment. Which if I did not do, you would have restoration in the whole of my honor which came to me from my father and my mother.

This charter was made on the 4th nones of March, in the reign of king Louis.  Sign of lord Bernard-Ato viscount and of Cecilia viscountess and of their sons Roger and Raymond and Bernard, who thus signed this charter.  Sign of Bernard of Canet.  Sign of Bernard of Pelapol and his brother Arnald.  Sign of Count William.  Sign of William of Calvet. Sign of Nicholas.  Sign of Amoroso and his son William.  Willerm wrote this as asked in the year 1125.

Original letter:

In nomine Domini. Ego Bernardus-Ato vicecomes & uxor mea Caecilia vicecomitissa & filii nostri Rogerius & Raimundus &Bernardus, donamus tibi Ber­nardo de Tresmals ad fevum & propter castellaniam, ipsam estagam & ipsum mansum qui fuit Bernardi traditoris & fratrum ejus in Carcassona cum ipsa turre & cum exitibus & redditibus suis; & do­namus tibi totum ipsum honorem quem ipsi habuerunt & habere debuerunt in omnibus locis sive per alodium sive per fevum sive per tenentiam, exceptis burgis de Carcassone & exceptis pignoribus illorum. Et donamus vobis totum ipsum honorem quem Guilhermus Arnaldi tenuit & habuit aut homines illius vel foeminae per eum in Palaiano & in Palaianello & in terminiis illorum sive per alodium sive per pignoras. Et donamus tibi totum ipsum honorem qui fuit Amelii, homines scilicet & foeminas & totum alium hono­rem quem habuit in Casilaco & Palaiano & in omnibus terminiis illorum. Et donamus tibi solidatas de pignoribus de denariis Ugonencis octenis. Sicut superius scriptum est, sic donamus tibi ad fevum & propter castellaniam, in tali convenientia ut per quemque annum facias stationem cum tuis hominibus & cum tua familia per octo menses in Carcassona & ipsam urbem custodias & bene custodire facias & gaitare, & praedictum honorem vel aliquid de ipso honore non possis dare vel vendere aut impignorare nisi cum nostro consilio. Et hoc quod nos retinemus de ipso honore non dabimus neque vendemus alicui homini vel foeminae sine tuo consilio, sed si impignorare voluerimus, tibi faciamus si tu impignorare volueris, & si facere nolueris, habeamus licentiam impignorandi cui velimus. Istum praenominatum honorem qui nobis advenit & accessit de traditoribus nostris propter illam traditionem quam fecerunt, scilicet propter Carcassonam quam in traditione nobis abstulerunt, donamus tibi praedicto Bernardo & infantibus tuis & posteritati illorum propter illam fidelitatem quam tu Bernardus portasti nobis, & tu & posteritas tua portare debetis in perpetuum. Si vero tu Bernardus obieris sine infante, ipse tuus frater qualem magis volueris habeat.

—Praenominatum ho­norem, quem tu senior meus Bernardus-Ato vicecomes & tu domina mea Caecilia vicecomitissa & praenominati filii vestri donatis mihi & posteritati meae ad fe­vum & propter castellaniam, juro vobis vitam & membra ac fidelitatem, & juro vobis Carcassonam & forcias ipsius atque suburbios sine vestro inganno; & ut ipse meus haeres qui post me ipsum praedic­tum honorem tenuerit & habuerit simi­liter juret vobis & eamdem fidelitatem faciat vobis & posteritati vestrae per eam­dem suprascriptam convenientiam in per­petuum. Si vero ipsae pignorae quas mihi donatas habetis fuerint de me redemptae, donem ipsum avere propter ipsum hono­rem bene tantumdem valentem ad vestram recognitionem. Quod si non fecero, habeatis retornum in toto ipso meo honore qui mihi accidit ex parte patris mei & matris meae.

Facta carta ista IV nonas martii, regnante Ludovico rege. S. domini Bernardi-Atonis vicecomitis & Caeciliae vice-comitissae filiorumque illorum Rogerii & Raimundi & Bernardi, qui sic istam cartam firmaverunt.  S. Bernardi de Caneto. S. Bernardi de Pelapol & fratris sui Arnaldi.  S. Willelmi Comitis.  S. Guillelmi Calveti.  S. Nichola. Sig. Amorosi & filii ejus Guillelmi, Willermus scripsit rogatus anno MCXXV.

Historical context:

After they had recovered Carcassonne in 1124, from which they had been expelled in 1120, probably with the connivance of the count of Barcelona,* Bernard and Cecilia gave properties of the traitors to those who had remained faithful.  The gift included responsibilities to inhabit and guard the city of Carcassonne for eight months and a commitment not to give or sell or mortgage the property without consultation.  The document, one of several of very similar content, includes Bernard's oath of fidelity to the count and countess.  

Scholarly notes:

*  See Fredric L. Cheyette, Ermengard of Narbonne and the World of the Troubadours (Cornell University, 2001), 197.

Printed source:

Histoire Générale de Languedoc  HGL5.921-923, #489.4, CCCXCVIII.

Date: