A letter from Raymond IV, count of Pallars

Translated letter:

In the name of the Lord.  I Raymond, count of Pallars, am the donor to you, my wife Valencia, countess.  Since it is decreed by law and in the third book of the Law of the Goths, namely, in the first section, it is written that a man having a wife, after a year for love or merit of conjugal service if he wished to give her something, will have license, without delay; otherwise within the circle of the year he could give her nothing that she could have.  Therefore I, said count, since the year has passed, when we reached the end of the second month in the second year after I received you in marriage, by noone compelled nor persuaded, by my own will for the love and delight which I have for you, legally give and grant you this from my things.  I give you, by this document of my donation the castrum of Mur with its boundaries and appurtenances and with all things which pertain to that castrum.  And I give you that half which I now have in the castrum of Arenio, with half of its whole boundary and of all its appurtenances and with half of all things that pertain to that castrum, inclined (pronum) as well as flat, undeveloped and worked, with all the apparatus of the buildings, and with woods and barren areas and lands and vineyards and all the trees and meadows and pastures.  These two castles are in the county of Pallars in those places, as is known by the inhabitants and manifestly seen by observors.  And they came to me by succession of my parents and by all rights.  And they abut:   said castrum of Mur, in the east on the boundary of Llimingana, in the south, of Ager, in the west the hill of Sarga, and then crosses to the boundary of Castell Nou and through the boundary of Erolas, and in the north joins the boundary of Talarn and of Gallinaris.  And the aforementioned town of Arenio abuts in the east the boundaries of the town of St. Eulalia or Speculis, in the south in the boundary of Montaniana, in the west of Cornudella and Petroso, in the north also in the boundary of Betesa or Alaone.  What these boundaries encircle and enclose, I give all to you, as written above, to be completely your own, and to have free will to do whatever you wish with them.  And thus of my right I hand over all this into your free rule without any deception and without any reservation.  And anyone who might wish to disrupt this or take anything away or diminish it, I or whoever, may in no way do it, but for the attempt and unjust request alone, I or he would pay all this doubly to you, and afterwards this document of donation would remain firm.  Which was done on the 7th kalends of November in the 26th year of the reign of king Henry.  Sign+ of count Raymond, who  ordered this document written, in my presence, before my highest-ranking men, and other knights present, and signed with my own hands by my accustomed sign and asked it to be signed.  Sign+ of Mir Mironis.  Sign+ of Bertrand Ato.  Sign+ of  Bernard Ato, viscount. Sign+ of Guitard William.  Sign+ of Ralph Auriol.  Sign+ of William Raymond. Sign+ of Berengar Mir.  Sign+ of Bertrand Borrell. Sign+ of Gauzerand Erimann. Sign+ of Mir Gondebal. Sign+ of Berengar Isarn. Sign+ of Mir Isarn. Sign+ of Arnul Compani. Sign+ of William Raymond. Sign+ of Peter Mir. William, priest and judge, confirms this.  Vitalis, priest, wrote this as asked with letters erased and emended in line 6 and inserted in 16 and emended in various places, and he subscribed  it in said day and year.

Original letter:

In nomine Domini. Ego Raimundus, comes Paliarensis, donator sum tibi uxori mee Valencie comitisse. Quia legibus est decretum et in tercio libro Legis Gotorum, videlicet in primo titulo, est scriptum ut vir iam habens uxorem, transacto, scilicet, anno, pro dileccione vel merito coniugalis obsequii si ei aliquid donare voluerit, licenciam incunctanter habebit, et aliter infra anni circulum nichil ei dare poterit quod ipsa habere possit. Idcirco, ego iam dictus comes, elapso et transacto anno, cum iam pervenimus iuxta finem secundi mensis in secundo anno postquam te accepi in coniugio, a nullo coactus neque suasus, per meam bonam voluntatem propter amorem et dileccionem quam circa te habeo, legaliter de meis rebus hoc tibi dono atque concedo. Dono, namque, tibi per hanc mee donacionis scripturam [[castrum de Muro cum suis terminis et pertinenciis et cum omnibus rebus que pertinent ad eundem castrum. Et dono tibi ipsam medietatem quam nunc abeo in castro de Arenio cum medietate tocius sui termini et suarum omnium pertinencium et cum medietate omnium rerum ad eundem castrum pertinencium, tam pronum quam planum, et tam eremum quam laboratum, cum omnibus edificiorum instrumentis, et cum silvis et garricis et terris et vineis et arboribus universis et cum pratis et pascuariis. Sunt hec duo castella intra comitatum Paliarensem in suis quoque locis, sicut scitur ab incolis, et manifeste videntur ab intuentibus. Et advenerunt mihi per successionem parentum meorum et per omnes voces. Et habe(n)t affrontaciones prefatum castrum de Muro: ab oriente in termino de Limingana, de meridie in terminis de Ager, de occiduo, iterum, in collo de Sarga, et inde transit ad terminum de Castello Novo et vadit per terminum de Erolas, de circio ec(c)iam coniugit sibi terminum de Talarnn et de Gallinariis. Et prelibatum castrum de Arenio habet affrontacionem: a parte orientis in terminis de castro Sancte Eulalie sive de Speculis, de meridie in ter­mino de Montaniana, de occiduo in termino de Cornudella et de Petroso, de circio ec(c)iam in termino de Betesa sive de Alaone. Sicut isti termini ambiunt et includunt, dono tibi hec omnia, sicut superius est scriptum, ad tuum plenissimum proprium, ut qui [d] quid exinde volueris facere, liberum abeas velle; et sic de meo iure trado hoc totum in tuum liberum do­minium sine ullo enganno et absque ulla reservacione. Et qui hoc tibi voluerit disrumpere, aut aliquid inde tollere sive minuere, ego aut quisquis sit, nullo modo possim vel possit facere, sed pro sola pressumpcione et iniusta peticione hoc totum in duplo tibi componat aut componam, et postea hec donacionis scriptura permaneat firma. Que est facta vii kalendas novembris xxvi anno Enrici regis. Sig+num Raimundi comitis, qui hanc scripturam, me presente, coram meis melioribus hominibus, presentibus aliis militibus, scribere iussi, et manibus propriis per meum solitum signum firmavi et firmare rogavi. Sig+num Miro Mironis. Sig+num Bertrandi Atonis. Sig+num Bernardi Atonis vicecomitis. Sig+num Guitardi Guilielmi. Sig+num Radulfi Aurioli. Sig+num Guilielmi Reimundi. Sig+num Berengarii Mironis. Sig+num Bertram di Borrelli. Sig+num Gauzerandi Erimanni. Sig+num Mironis Gondeballi. Sig+num Berengarii Isarni. Sig+num Mironis Isarni. Sig+nun Arnalli Compagni. Sig+num Guilielmi Remundi. Sig+num Petri Mironis. Guilelmus, sacerdos et iudex, qui hec confirmat. Vitalis, sacerdos, rogatus scripsit cum litteris rasis et emendatis in versu vi et intromissis in xvi atque emendatis in diversis locis et subscripsit iam dicto die et anno.

Historical context:

Donation which Raymond made to Valencia of the castrum of Mur and half of Arenio.  A castrum is an administrative district including a castle, a fortification.

Printed source:

Liber Feudorum Maior,   1.75-76, #60.  

Date: