An oath of fidelity

Translated letter:

I Oliba Mir swear that from this hour forward I shall be faithful to Ramon, count of Barcelona, my lord, and to countess Elizabeth, his spouse, without fraud and evil contrivance and without any deception.  And I, said Oliba, from this hour forward shall not prohibit nor refuse that castrum of Barcelona which they call Novo, to said count or said countess, not I nor any man or woman or women by my counsel or my contrivance.  And if there were any man or woman, any men or women, who wished to take away or refuse you, said count or said countess, I Oliba shall not have any association with him or her or with them (male or female), until you have recovered said castrum.  And I shall be your aid against all men or against all women who might wish to take away from us or refuse it; and from this aforesaid oath I shall not deceive you nor do harm to you.  And I said Oliba shall hold this and keep it to you said count and said countess, as is written above, by God and these relics, except insofar as said Ramon and Elizabeth should absolve me by grace without force.

Original letter:

Iuro ego Oliva Mirone quia de ista hora in antea fidelis ero ad Raimundum, comitem Barchinonensem, seniorem meum, et ad Elisabeth, comitissam, coniugem suam, sine fraude et malo ingenio et sine ulla decepcione et sine enganno.  Et ego predictus Oliba de ista hora in antea non devedare ne vedare ipsum castrum de Barchinona, que vocant Novo, ad iam dictum comitem vel predictam comitissam nec ego nec ullusque homo nec femina nec femine per meum consilium vel per meum ingenium.  Et, si ullus homo vel femina, necnon homines vel femine, fuerint qui velint tollere vel vetare ad te, iam dicto comite, vel predicta comitissa, ego Oliba non habeam ullam societatem cum illo vel cum illis, nec non et cum illa vel cum illas, donec recuperatum habeatis predictum castrum.  Et ego adiutor ero vobis contra omnes homines vel contra cuncte femine qui velint tollere vel vetare a nobis; et de isto sacramento suprascripto ne vos enganare ne mal ne vos enmenare.  Et ego iam dictus Oliba si o tenere et o atendre a te, iam dicto comite, vel predicta comitissa, sicut superius scriptum est, per Deum et istarum reliquiarum, exceptus quantum Raimundus et Elisabeth iam dicti me n absolvera per grad, sine forcia.

Historical context:

Oliba Mir swears fidelity to the count and countess for Novo, a town in the county of Barcelona.  It is not clear how this oath relates to the one taken by Amat son of Ermengard for the same town, to the countess alone; presumably one succeeds and supercedes the other.  A castrum is an administrative unit with a castle at the center.

Printed source:

Liber Feudorum Maior (LFM), ed. Francisco Miquel Rosell, (Barcelona, 1945), 1.439 #417.

Date: