An oath of fidelity

Translated letter:

From this hour forward I William Borell, son of the woman Adelaide, shall be faithful to you Ramon, count of Barcelona, my lord, and to Elizabeth his spouse, without fraud and evil contrivance and without any trickery and without deception.  And I, said William, from this hour forward shall not despoil Ramon or said Elisabeth in their lives or in the members they hold in their bodies, nor the city they call Barcelona, nor the county Barcelona, nor the city Girona, nor the county Girona, nor the city Manresa, nor the county Osona, nor the city they call Olèrdola, nor the county they call Penedès, nor their cities or counties, castris or castles, cliffs or hills, cultivated lands or deserts, land and holding (honor), allods or fiefs, which they have today or will have acquired in the future, nor that fief (honor) which they have from Spain.  I said William shall not despoil said Ramon or Elisabeth in any of the above mentioned, and shall be faithful to them and an aid to them to hold and have all the above and defend them against all men or any man, women or woman, who might want to take the above or anything from the above away from Ramon and Elisabeth, and shall aid them in this without deception.  And I said William shall not separate that village which they call St. Vincent from said Ramon nor from said Elizabeth, not I or any man or woman by my counsel nor by my contrivance  as far as I can.  And, if my lord said Ramon should die and I survive, within the first forty days that I shall learn that he is dead, I shall commit myself to his hands (do hommage) to the son to whom he will have left Barcelona and take that comital fief that I shall have at that date from his hand, and swear such an oath as [I swore] to said Ramon and Elizabeth and their aforesaid son.  So help me God and these holy relics.

Original letter:

De ista ora in antea fidelis ero ego Guillelmus Borrelli, filius qui sum Adalaidis, femina, ad Raimundum, comitem Barchinone[n]sem, seniorem meum, et ad Elisabet, comitissa, coniux sua, sine fraude et malo ingenio et sine ulla decepcione et sine engan.  Et ego Guillelmus suprascriptus de ista ora in antea non dezebre Raimundum nec Elisabet iam dictam de illorum vitas nec de illorum membris que in corpore illorum se tenent, neque de ipsa civitate que dicunt Barchinona, neque de comitatu Barchinonense, nec de civitate Ierunda, neque de comitatu Ierundense, nec de civitate Ieruna, neque de comitatu Ierundense, nec de civitate Minorisa, neque de comitatu Ausona, neque de civitate que dicunt Olerdula, neque de ipso comitatu que dicunt Penitense, neque de ipsorum civitates aut comitatibus, neque de illorum castris aut castellis, neque de illorum rochas aut puios, condirectos aut eremos, terram et honorem, alodes vel fevos, quod hodie abent vel in antea adquisituri erunt, neque de ipsa honore que abent de Ispania.  Ego Guillelmus suprascriptus de ista omnia suprascripta non dezebre Raimundum nec Elisabet iam dictos, et fidelis lur en sere et adiutor illis ero ista omnia suprascripta ad tenere et ad abere et ad defendere contra cunctos homines vel hominem, feminas vel feminam, qui ad Raimundum et ad Elisabet tollere voluerint aut voluerit ista omnia suprascripta aut de ista omnia suprascripta, et ipso adiutorio sine engan lo lur fare.  Et ego Guillelmus prescriptus ipsum castrum que dicunt Sanctum Vincencium no l devedare ad Raimundum prescriptum neque ad Elisabet suprascripta, nec ego nec homo nec femina, per meum consilium nec per meum ingenium nec in <quantum> possim.  Et, si Raimundus, senior meus iam dictus, mortuus fuerit et ego vivus fuero, infra primos quadraginta dies quod ego sciero quod ipse mortuus sit, ad filium suum, cui Barchinona laxaverit, manibus ad ipsum me comanare, et ipsam honorem comitalem, quem ad ipsum diem abuero, per sua manu la prenre, et talem sacramentum le iurare, qualem ad Reimundum et ad Elisabet iam dictos et ad filium illorum suprascriptum.  Sic me adiuvet Deus et istarum sanctarum reliquiarum.

Historical context:

William Borell makes an oath of fidelity to the count and countess and their son and future heir.  A castrum is an administrative unit with a castle at the center.

Printed source:

Liber Feudorum Maior (LFM), ed. Francisco Miquel Rosell, (Barcelona, 1945), 1.254-55, #241.  

Date: