A letter to the Public

Translated letter:

In the name of the hoIy and individual Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen.

I, Clementia, by the hand of God couness of Flanders, to all the faithful in Christ, greetings and perpetual peace.  At the time in which the indignation of Christians burned against the perfidy of the Persians who with the arrogance of their pride invaded the church of Jerusalem (the Jerusalemites) and destroyed the Christian religion all around, far and wide, the grace of the holy spirit enflamed the heart of my lord and husband Robert, count of Flanders, to start an expedition to restrain the perfidy of the Persians, copiously armed. On his journey, when he entered the territory of Apulia, the Duke of Apulia,  who had married his sister, formerly queen of the Danes, hastened to him, asking him to accept gold, silver, precious ornaments.  But he, wealthy himself and not lacking such things, asked only that he confer most precious relics on him, which he intended to send to me.  So he conferred on him hairs of the most blessed mother of God, always Virgin Mary, which he venerated with worthy honor.

Moreover from the bodies of saints, Matthew the apostle and evangelist, and the most precious confessor of Christ, Nicholas, whose bodies are without doubt kept in Apulia.  He sent these most previous relics to me through faithful messengers, instructing and entreating me to enclose them in the church at Watten with worthy honor and have that church consecrated in the name and honor of the most blessed Virgin.

But since at that time, the church of Thérouanne was  vacant of pastoral care, I asked the lord Manasses, archbishop of Reims through messengers to direct Lambert, the lord bishop of Arras, a religious man, to consecrate that church; which he did not delay in doing, but benignly commissioned him to do it in his place.

I indeed took care to fulfill everything according to the instruction of my lord and had that church consecrated in honor of the most blessed Virgin Mary with great honor on the 8th Ides of October.

I also conferred on that church in the name of [my] dower in the town which is called “santinis” the whole land which in the vulgate is called “Vluodes hernesse” (Predembourg)* with the salt sands pertaining to it up to the sea with everything that can pertain to those lands, so they may freely possess them as the counts of Flanders did from the beginning.  This gift of ours was made in the presence of the magnates of our land; lord Lambert, bishop of Arras, in the presence of the holy confessors Audomar, Maxim, Folquin, whose bodies were gathered there, confirmed it at my request, and invoked the sword of anathema in perpetuity against violators not only of this gift of ours but also of all benefices of that church.

This was done in the 1097th year of the incarnation of the lord, fifth indiction.

Present as witnesses:  sign of the lord bishop Lambert; of his archdeacons John and Clarbald; of the provost Odo; John, abbot of Mount Saint Eligius, with several others expressly named.

Original letter:

"Ego Clementia, per manum Dei Flandrensium Comitissa, omnibus in Christo fidelibus, salutem et perpetuam pacem. Tempore quo indignatio christianorum exarsit contra perfidiam Persarum qui fastu superbie sue Hierosolimorum invaserant ecclesiam, et circum circa Ionge lateque Christianam demoliti sunt religionem, inflamavit gratia spiritus sancti cor domini et sponsi mei Roberti Flandrensium Comitis, ut copiosa manu armata ad reprimendam Persarum perfidiam, expeditionem arriperet. Cum vero agens iter fines Apulie intraret, accurrit ei Dux Apulie qui sororem ejus, quodam Danorum reginam, sibi duxeat uxorem, postulans ut ab eo aurum, argentum, ornamenta preciosa acciperet. Ipse vero, utpote dives, et harum rerum non egens, hoc solum ab eo exegit ut ei quam preciosissimas conferret reliquias, quas michi transmittere disposuerat. Contulit itaque ei de capillis beatissime Dei genitricis et semper Virginis Marie, quos apud se digno venerabatur honore.

Preterea de corporibus sanctorum Mathei apostoli et evangeliste et preciosissimi confessoris Christi, Nicolai, quorum corpora non dubium est in Apulia contineri. Hasdemque michi preciosissimas reliquias per fideles nuncios delegavit, precipiens et obtestans ut eas in ecclesia Watinensi reconderem digno honore et eamdem ecclesiam in honore et nomine ejusdem beatissime Virginis facere consecrare.

  Sed quia eodem tempore Terruanensis ecclesia pastorali cura erat desolata, dominum Manassem, Remensem archiepiscopum per nuncios conveni ut ad consecrationem ejusdem ecclesie dominum Lambertum Attrebatentem episcopum, virum religiosum, dirigeret; quod ipse implere non distulit, sed ei vices suas benigne commisit.

Ego vero omnia secundum preceptum domini mei adimplere curavi et eamdem ecclesiam cum magna gloria VIII Id. octobris in honore beatissime Marie Virginis consecrare feci.

Contuli eciam eidem ecclesie sub nomine dotis in villa que dicitur santinis totam terram que vulgo dicitur Vluodes hernesse* cum arenariis salinarum usque ad ipsum mare pertingentium cum omnibus que ad easdem terras pertinere possint, ita libere sicut ab inicio Comites Flandrie eas possederunt. Hanc itaque nostram largitionem in optimatum terre nostre pressentia factam, dominus Lambertus, Atrebatensis episcopus, in presentia sanctorum confessorum Audomari, Maximi, Folquini, quorum corpora ibidem collata fuerant, me postulante, confirmavit, et inviolatores non solum hujus nostre dationis verum et jam omnium beneficiorum ejusdem ecclesie gladium anathematis in perpetuum exeruit.  

Factum est hoc anno incarnacionis dominice millesimo XCVII, indictione quinta.

Presentibus ydoneis testibus:  signum domini Lamberti episcopi; archidiaconorum ejus Johannis et Clarbaldi; S. Odonis Prepositi; Johannis, abbatis de Monte sancti Eligii, cum pluribus aliis expresse nominatis.

Historical context:

The countess records the gift of relics obtained by her husband en route to the crusade from his brother-in-law, the duke of Apulia, married to his sister Adela, whose first husband was the king of Denmark, her arrangements to have them housed at Watten, to have the church consecrated as Robert wishes and her own gifts of land and salt flats to the church from her dower lands.

Scholarly notes:

• The editor records a note in the margin of Annales ecclesiae watinensi for Vluodes hernesse “quod Predembourg hodie vocatur” which is now called Predembourg, in Grande-Synthe. 

Printed source:

E. de Coussemaker, "Documents relatifs a Ia Flandre maritime: Extraits du cartulaire de l'abbaye de Watten," Annales du comite flamand de France (Paris, 1859-60) 5: 359-60; also cited in Adair, 90-91.

Date: