A letter from Bernard of Belera

Translated letter:

I, Mir Bernard of Belera, swear to you, count Raymond and countess Valencia, that from this hour forwards, I shal be faithful to you and bear you in good faith, as a man should to his higher lords to whom he is solid.*  And I will not deceive/deprive you, nor cause you to be deprived of your lives nor your members nor your honor, nor your men whom you have today or will take on in the future;  and against you I shall not have any lord or lords, nor make nor retain; and I shall be your aid against all men or women.  And for that honor which you have commended to me and will commend in the future, I shall be your faithful man and give you power over it, to you and your sons to whom you will pass on your honor.  As is written above, so I will hold and keep you in faith without deception.  By God and his saints.

Original letter:

Iuro ego Mironi Bernard de Belera ad te, Raimundo comite, et Va­lencia comitissa que de ista hora in ante fidels vos sere et bona fide vos portare, sicut homo debet facere ad suos meliores seniores cui solidus est. Et non vos decebre, ni decebre non vos fare, de vestras vitas, neque de vestris membris, neque de vestra honore, neque de vestros homines que hodie habetis nec in ante accaptare poteritis; et contra vos non habeam nullum seniorem nec seniores, nec faciam nec retineam; et adiutor vos sere contra cunctos homines vel feminas. Et de illa honore que mihi habetis comendata et in ante comendaretis michi, fideles vos en sere et potestate vos en dare ad vos et ad filios vestros cui vos dimiseritis vestra honore. Sicut superius scriptum est, si vos o tenre et si vos atendre per fide, sine enganno. Per Deum et sanctis suis.

Historical context:

Oath that Bernard of Bellera made to the count and countess.

Scholarly notes:

* Solid homage is the equivalent of liege homage, the principal obligation in a system of multiple homage, Adam Kosto, Making Agreements in Medieval Catalonia: Power, Order, and the Written Word, 1000-1200 (Cambridge UP, 2001), 82, n.13. 

Printed source:

Liber Feudorum Maior, 1.106, #99.  

Date: