A letter from Cecilia and Bernard Ato

Translated letter:

In the name of the Lord.  I Bernard-Ato and my wife Cecilia, viscountess, and our sons Roger and Raymond Trecavel and Bernard, we give and restore to you Peter of Laurano and your brother Arnald and his wife for the castellancy, that honor which you had pledged in Herminis (in Aude) and its boundaries and we give you that house and that property which was Peter of Vitraco’s with that land, etc.  Thus we give [you] and your children, etc., by such agreement that each year you stay with your men and your family/household for four months in Carcassonne from the feast of all Saints to the beginning of Lent, and guard that tower and keep watch and protect that city, etc.  This charter was made on the nones of April, in the reign of king Louis.  Sign of Bernard-Ato viscount and his wife and their sons, and of Peter of Laurano and his brother Arnald and his wife and signed this charter.  Sign of Bernard of Canet.  Sign of Bernard of Tresmals.  Sign of Count William.  Sign of Bernard Pons.  Sign of William Calvet.  Sign of Arnald Pelapol and his brother Bernard. William wrote this, as asked, in the year 1125 [sic].

Original letter:

In nomine Domini. Ego Bernardus-Ato & uxor mea Caecilia vicecomitissa & filii nostri Rogerius & Raymundus Trencavellus & Bernardus donamus & reddimus vobis Petro de Laurano & fratri tuo Arnaldo & uxori ejus propter castellaniam, ipsum honorem quem vos habetis missum in pignora in Herminiis & in suis terminiis, & donamus vobis ipsam stagam & ipsum mansum qui fuit Petri de Vitraco cum ipsa terra, &c. Sic donamus & infantibus vestris, &c. in tali convenientia, ut per quemque annum faciatis stationem in Carcassona cum vestris hominibus de vestra familia per iv/or menses, de festivitate omnium Sanctorum scilicet usque ad Quadragesimam intrantem, & ipsam turrem & ipsam urbem gaitare & custodire facia­tis, &c. Facta carta ista nonas aprilis, regnante Ludovico rege. S. Bernardi-Atonis vicecomitis & uxoris ejus & filiorum eorum, & Petri de Laurano & fratris sui Arnaldi & uxoris ejus qui sic istam cartam firmaverunt. S. Bernardi de Caneto. S. Bernardi de Tresmals. S. Guillelmi Comitis. S. Bernardi Pontii. S. Guillelmi Calveti. S. Arnaldi Pelapol & Bernardi fra­tris ejus. Willelmus rogatus scripsit 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.   In this case, a mortgaged property is restored along with the new one.  The gift included responsibilities to inhabit and guard the city of Carcassonne for a specified period

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, 5. 925, #489.12, CCCXCVIII. 

Date: