A letter from the countess of Vienne and Mâcon

Translated letter:

To her excellent lady Blanche, countess palatine of Troye, and her dearest nephew Thibaut, count of Champagne, Scolastica, countess of Vienne and Mâcon [sends] greeting and prompt will to service.  Your distinction should know that I, with the consent and will of count William and my sons Gerard and Henry, have chosen to be buried in the abbey Miroir, and have assigned to that same abbey with the will and consent of my husband count William and my sons, Gerard and Henry, the revenue which I have from your fairs, namely one hundred fifty pounds as long as I live.  From that revenue, however, I have conferred to said church twenty pounds annually and in perpetuity, with the will and approval of count William and my said sons Gerard and Henry in perpetual alms.  After my death, however, said revenue will revert to the count or my sons without opposition, except for the said twenty pounds which will remain to said church in perpetuity.  Moreover we have granted, namely I Scolastic and count William and my sons Gerard and Henry that said church in the first two years for the remedy of my soul and of my ancestros’, will receive said revenue in its entirety whatever happens to me.  And so that this be held firm in perpetuity, we ask you that you have this sent in writing, fortified with your seal, to the lord abbot of Miroir and invest him with it on our part.  Enacted in the year of the Lord, 1218, on the 17th kalends of January.

Original letter:

Excellenti domine sue B(lanche) comitisse Trecensis palatine, et karissimo nepoti suo Th(eobaldo) comiti Campanie, Scolastica comitissa Vihennis et Masticonensis, salutem et promptam ad obsequia voluntatem. Noverit discretio vestra, quod ego de assensu et voluntate comitis Will(elmi) et filiorum meorum Gir(ardi) et Henrici, in abbatia Miratorii mihi sepulturam elegi, et eidem abbati tam de mea quam mariti mei comitis W(illelmi) et filiorum meorum G(irardi) et H(enrici) voluntate et assensu, redditus quos in nundinis vestris habeo, videlicet centum quinquaginta libras quamdiu vixero assignavi. De illis autem redditibus viginti libras annui et perpetui redditus volentibus et laudantibus comite W(illelmi) et filiis meis supradictis G(irardi) et H(enrici) in perpetuam elemosinam contuli ecclesie supradicte. Post decessum autem meum prefati redditus ad comitem vel ad filios meos sine contradictione revertentur, exceptis predicti viginti libris que predicte ecclesie in perpetuum remanebunt. Pretera concessimus ego videlicet, Sco(lastica) et comes W(illelmus) et filii mei G(irardus) et H(enricus) quod ecclesia predicta in primis duobus annis pro remedio anime mee et antecessorum meorum, prefatos redditus percipiat in integrum quicquid de me contigerit. Et ut in perpetuum ratum habeatur, rogamus vos ut hoc ipsum mandari scripto faciatis, et sigillo vestro munitum dominum abbatem de Miratorio ex parte nostra investiatis. Actum anno Domini M CC XVIII, XVII kalendas januarii.

Historical context:

The countess of Vienne and Mâcon asks her sister-in-law Blanche to agree to the gift she wishes to make to the monastery where she will be buried.  Cf. her husband's letter to Blanche, #388 (Epistolae 25864.html). 

Printed source:

The Cartulary of Countess Blanche of Champagne, edited by Theodore Evergates, © The Medieval Academy of America 2010 (University of Toronto Press, 2009), 343-44, #389.  Reprinted with permission of the press.

Date: