A letter of donation

Translated letter:

This  act was transcribed well and faithfully on the 4th kalends of April in the year 1245 in this form.

Since in the law written about donations given to the church it is found that whatever things are discovered  to be donations conferred potentially either by a prince or by whatever faithful devotedly should be confirmed for eternity by the greatest right in an irrevocable manner.  Therefore I, Arnau, son of Miro, and I his most faithful spouse Arsenda, fearing the coming of death, for the remedy of our souls, ought to bestow earthly things  on divine labors/cultures and confirm them with the affixed solidity of law, so that that we might deserve to have him propitious and to rejoice with the saints in eternal happiness without end.  And since, according to the apostle, every best gift is from above, it is true enough that all we have we have received from him.  Therefore it is worthy to pay up what came thence.  For which reason, we are the said donors to the Lord God and St. Peter, his disciple, whose church is located within the castrum that is called Ager, so by this document of our donation we give it the church of St. Vincent which is in the town of said castrum with all the other churches that are now and will be in the future not only in that named town but also in all the places pertaining to that castrum and with all the allods, lands and vineyards, and the trees that they have today and will be acquired in the future by the faithful, together with all the first-fruits and offerings and the cemeteries with their furnishings and all payments.  And we give it by name the churches which are and will be in the castrum which is called Aspremont and within its boundaries and similarly we give him the churches that are and will be in the castrum of St. Lawrence and within its boundaries.  We also give him those churches which are and will be in the castle of Bellmunt and those which are and will be under Espluga de Fet  and within their boundaries.  And we also add and give to our said St. Peter the church of St. Mary which is above the castrum called Ager in the plain beside the road which leads the traveler from Ager to the river Noguerola and to the castrum Bellmunt with its lands and vineyards and fonts/sources and meadows and trees of every kind.  Similarly we give it two equal pieces of land joined together beyond the hill of Agulio.  All these aforenamed have come to us through the mercy of almighty God who conferred such grace on us that he bestowed them on us from the hands of Saracens.  And this church of St. Mary which we set here beside with its allods and vineyards and meadows and all trees, namely that domain which we have there together with said church, abuts in the east the district which is called Asper, and in the south it connects to the wood which is before the said church on the foot-path (pedeger) toward Spain, in the west another part ends in the hill which is called Agullio, in the north the part ends on the road that leads travelers to the church of St. Columba.  Whatever we have today and hold in our domain within these boundaries, that whole we give to the Lord God and to said St. Peter entirely.  We give all the abovenamed churches, as we said, to said St. Peter with all their first fruits and universal offerings and with their furnishing and with allods and vineyards, as much as they have today and will have in the future, and with all the tithes which said churches have and will have from said allods, [what] they produce and ought to produce, similarly the tithes which come from the allods of St. Vincent with their exits and entries and all the appurtenances, so that said church will have eternally this gift which is given spontaneously from us, solid and free, so that we may deserve to receive mercy for our sins from the distributor of all goods and after death we may deserve to be participants in the kingdom of heaven.  We promise all with full heart and we give spontaneously those things which we do not yet have but, with God giving and helping, we hope to have, so that if from the parts of Spain by the prayers of St. Peter, we might receive more and if God should give us the castles and lands from the Saracen hands, we will give and we give the churches that will be there with their first fruits and tithes and with all the offerings, namely those tithes which come from their allods and from our domains to the Lord God and St. Peter.  And from all the lands and castris which we shall have acquired, with God giving, from the parts of Spain, namely from the river Noguera to the trough of Cinche, we promise and give it the tenth part.  And so by our right we hand over this gift to the said church of St. Peter as its own.  And if anyone wished to break this document or otherwise change it or take any part away from this gift, he could not prevail in any way but would remain excommunicated according to canononical institutions until he repented and satisfied the church he had offended and afterwards paid all the above triply, and then this document would have fullest force eternally.

Which was enacted on the 12th kalends of April in the 17th year of king Henry.  Sign+ of Arnau.  Sign+ of Arsenda, we are the givers of this thing and ordered this document to be written and afterwards it was read to our ears and we signed it with our own hands and gave it to witnesses to sign it.  Sign+ of Raymond, deacon and head of school. Sign+ of Guitard Arnald.  Sign+ of William Conlac.  Sign+ of Berengar Isarn.  Sign+ of Galzerand Erimann.  Sign+ of Guifred Sanlan. Sign+ of Escofet. + William, judge, who read it before the hearers and those instructing and afterwards signed it +on the day and year above.  Vitalis, priest, wrote it.  I, Balagar Aymeric, priest (sacerdos), subscribe myself as witness of this transaction and place my +. I Bartolomew, priest (presbiter), subscribe myself as witness of this transaction and place my +.  R, chaplain, who wrote the transcription and placed his +.

Original letter:

Hoc est translatum bene et fideliter actum IIII kalendas aprilis anno Domini MCCXLV sub hac forma. Quum in lege que scripta est de donacionibus datis ecclesiae invenitur ut quecumque res sanctis Dei basilicis aut per principum aut per corumlibet fidelium donaciones collate reperiuntur votive hac potencialiter, maiorum iure irrevocabili modo legum eternitate firmentur. Idcirco ego Arnallus, Mironis filius, et ego Arsendis fidissima eius coniux, timentes euentum mortis, pro animarum nostrarum remediis et terena debemus impendere cultibus divinis et impensa legum soliditate firmare, ut mereamur eum propicium abere et cum sanctis in eterna leticia sine fine gaudere. Et quia, secundum apostolum, omne da­tum obtimum est de sursum, satis est verum quod omne quod habemus, ab eo accipimus. Ideoque dignum est ire sursum quod inde venit. Qua propter nos prelibati donatores sumus Domino Deo et Sancto Petro, eius alumno, cuius Ecclesia sita est intra in kastro quod dicitur Ager, sic per hanc quidem nostre donacionis scripturam donamus ei Ecclesiam Sancti Vincencii que est in villa prefati kastri cum omnibus ecclesiis aliis que sunt modo et erunt in tempore futuro tam in villa iam nominata quam in omnibus locis ad eundem kastrum pertinentibus et cum omnibus alodiis, terris et vineisque et arboribus cunctis que habent odie et in antea a fldelibus erunt adquisiture, simul cum primiciis et oblacionibus omnibus atque cimiteriis cum funcionibus sive cunctis redibicionibus. Et nominatis (nominatim) damus ei ecclesias que sunt et erunt in castro quod dicitur Asper Mons et infra terminos eius, et simili modo damus ei ecclesias que sunt et erunt in kastro Sancti Laurencii et infra terminos eius. Illas eciam ecclesias damus ei que sunt et erunt in kastro quod dicitur Clarimontis et infra terminos eius. Insuper damus ei ecclesias que sunt et erunt in castello de Belmonte et eas que sunt et erunt sub Spelunca de Fezet et infra terminos eorum. Adhuc eciam addimus de nostro et nominatim damus Sancto Petro prelibato ecclesiam Sancte Marie que est su­per kastrum iam dictur Ager in piano iuxta viam que ducit viatorem ab Ager ad flumen Noguerola et ad kastrum Bellum Montem cum terris et vineis fontibusque et pratis et arboribus universi generis. Itidem ultra collum de Agulio damus ei duas pariliatas terre sibi invicem coniuncte. Advenerunt quidem nobis hec omnia iam dicta per Dei omnipotentis misericordiam, qui tantam nobis contulit graciam ut de manibus sarracenorum nobis tribuit ea. Et hec ecclesiam Sancte Marie quam hic iuxta posuimus cum alodiis vineisque et pratis et arboribus cunctis, illa, vide­licet, dominicatura que ibi habemus simul cum prefata ecclesia, habet affrontacionem ab oriente in podio quod dicitur Asper, et ab australi parte collaterat sibi silvam que est ante dictam ecclesiam versus Hipaniam (sic) in pedeger, occiduana iterum pars desinit in collo quod dicitur Agullio, circ(e)a itidem pars desinit in via que ducit viatores ad ecclesiam Sancte Columbe. Quantum odie habemus et tenemus in dominico infra istos terminos, totum damus Domino Deo et Sancto Petro iam dicto ab integrum. Omnes ecclesias supranominatas damus, sicut diximus, Sancto Petro iam dicto cum suis omnibus primiciis et oblacionibus universis et cum funcionibus cunctis et cum alodiis et vineis, quantum hodie habent et in futuris temporibus abebunt, et cum decimis omnibus que ex supradictis alodiis que iam dicte ecclesie habent et habebunt, exierint et exire debuerint, similiter decimis que ex alodiis Sancti Vincencii exierint cum exitibus et ingressionibus et pertinenciis omnibus, ut prefata Ecclesia eternaliter habeat hoc donum quod a nobis est sponte datum, solidum et liberum, et ut nos mereamur accipere nostrorum veniam peccatorum a retributore omnium bonorum et post mortem mereamur esse participes regni celorum. Promitimus eciam ex toto corde et damus sponte ea que nondum habemus, sed, dante et auxiliante Deo, habere speramus, ut, si ex Hispanie partibus Sancti Petri precibus adhuc amplius accipere potuerimus (et) si dederit nobis castellos et terras Deus de sarracenorum manibus, ecclesias que ibi erunt cum primiciis et decimis et cum obla­cionibus cunctis, cum illis, videlicet, decimis que exierint suis alodiis et de nostris dominicaturis Domino Deo et Sancto Petro dabimus et damus. Et ex omnibus terris et kastris quas et que adquisituri sumus, Deo dante, ex partibus Hispanie, videlicet, de flumine Nogere usque ad alveum Cinche decimam partem ei promitimus et damus. Et sic de nostro iure tradimus hoc donum Ecclesie Sancti Petri prelibate ad proprium. Et siquis hanc scripturam voluerit disrumpere aut aliter mutare au(t) ex hoc dono partem aliquam tollere, vendicare nullo modo valeat, sed secundum instituta canonum excomunicatus maneat, donec resipiscat, et ecclesie in quam deliquit, satisfaciat, et postea in triplo prefata omnia componat, et sic demum hec scriptura plenissimum robur eternaliter obtineat.

Que est acta XII kalendas aprilii XVII anno regis Henrici. Sig+num Arnalli. Sig+num Arsendis, nos donatores huius rei sumus et hanc scripturam scribere iussimus, et postquam lecta fuit in nostris auribus, manibus propriis eam firmavimus et testibus ad firmandum tradimus. Sig+num Raimundus, levita et caput scole. Sig+num Guitardi Arnaldi. Sig+num Guilelmi Conlaci. Sig+num Berengarii Isarni. Sig+num Galzerandi Erimanni. Sig+num Guifredii Sanlani. Sig+num Escofet.+ Guilelmus, iudex, qui hoc coram auditoribus ipsisque precipientibus dictavit et postea firmavit+die et annoque prefixo. Vitalis, sacerdos, scripsit. Ego Balagarius Aymeric, sacerdos, me pro teste huius translati subscribo et + meum pono. Ego Bartolomeus, presbiter, me pro teste huius translati subscribo et + meum pono. R. capellanus, que hanc translatum scripsit et suum+ posuit.

Historical context:

This document is a transcription of the original letter of donation from the viscounts to God and the church of St. Peter in Ager of all the churches that are and will be in that city and its castrum, with their lands and appurtenances, all of which they seized from the Saracens, and whatever they might yet take, for the salvation of their souls. Castrum is an administrative unit including a fortified castle. 

Printed source:

Pedro Sanahuja, Historia de la Villa de Ager (Barcelona:  Editorial Seráfica, 1961), 325-27, #14.

Date: