A letter from Ledgarde, Countess of Blois (2/5/978)

Translated letter:

Wondrously praiseworthy and praiseworthily always wondrous, the provident dispensation of our creator from the first beginning of the world who having redeemed us by the price of his blood and cleansed us from original sin by the washing of sacred baptism, foreseeing and foreknowing that after all this, [we] could not for the space of one day live immune from whatever sin, nor evade the blemish of human corruption, conferred many remedies of salvation on the soul by which not only are the diseases of vices cured but also the joys of blessed immortality acquired. Among which the generosity of alms is particularly valuable, to which not only the authority of many fathers assents, but it is also praised by the blessed voice of that Lord saying: give and it will be given to you and whatever you shall do to one of the least of mine, you shall do for me. About which a certain wise man said: The redemption of the soul of man is his wealth; and give alms and all things pure are yours; and many similar [words] are found particularly exhorting to giving alms, which it would be too long to go through one by one. Instructed by such exhortations, the not-to-be-rejected devotion of earlier fathers, the sons of the church endowed that church with many revenues of their estates and conferred much on it, to supply various necessities, by which it might be adorned through a four-part world, and wealth of things might be spread, rejoice and exult. I Ledgard, following their example, admonished by divine impulse, proposed in the secret place of my heart, that I would make the holy church of God heir by possession of my estates; truly, since the power of loosing and binding was specially conferred on the blessed Peter the apostle by the Lord so that whatever he would loose and bind on earth would be immediately loosed and bound in heaven, I determined that noone better could be advised to me to intercede mercifully with him for my sins, [than one] whom he loved with such love. Therefore, as much to achieve mercy for my crimes/sins as for those of my noble lord and glorious count Thibaud, that the Lord would deign to indulge the remission of all the sins of both, with the consent of my sons most worthy of all honor, that is, the archbishop Hugo and the most excellent count Odo, I grant to the place of Saint Peter of Chartres the church consecrated in honor of the prince of apostles and keybearer of the kingdom of heaven, Peter, in a place which is commonly (in the vulgate) called Gizei, with the town called by that name, Gizei, with 16 dwellings, with cultivated and uncultivated lands, hospices, fields, vineyards, waters and flowings of waters; property also in another place by name Fontenay with the church set in that property and with the enfeoffed dwellings (? masinligiis) and vineyards pertaining to it with all their integrity; and also in another place in another town which is rustically called Limay, with whatever seems to pertain to me. The aforementioned things are in the county of Vexin on the river Seine. All these, as written above, I hand over and wish to be handed over in perpetual eternities. If anyone should (far be it!) attempt to oppose this our donation or break it or bring any challenge to it, may he, unless he swifly repent, incur the wrath of almighty God without recourse, be oppressed eternally by infernal tortures where the worm who never dies devours his flesh and the fire which is never extinguished is fed always by his tortures. That this donation may achieve inviolable force, we have signed it with our own hand and decreed that it be reinforced by the hands of our faithful. At the end of this writing, I have also wished to announce that just as I granted all the aforesaid for my soul to Christ and blessed Peter the apostle for the use of the monks living there, so also for the soul of my father Herbert, count of Troyes, who granted and gave the aforesaid things to me by inheritance. Count Odo. Hugh, archbishop of the holy church of Bourges. Odo, bishop of Chartres. Ledgard, countess who bestowed these. Emma, countess of the city of Poitiers. Landric. Hilgaud. Sugger. Rotroc. Arduin. Ucbert. Fulcher. Teudo. Widger. Erembert. Hugh of Aloia. Gelduin. Avesgaud, Isaac. To this maternal donation, I Hugo, archbishop first among firsts, and Odo, most wealthy count, gave our assent, so that daily, except on feast days, a psalm, "Incline your ear, o Lord," be sung for us by the brothers of the place named and we be remembered assiduously in the matins offices as long as we shall live; after our death, the anniversary day will be duly celebrated with antiphonies and responsaries, interspersed with the customary readings and with solemn masses. The brothers will also furnish food and drink for us on that day. And let this our memorial not be erased from memory while the two brothers live from generation to generation before God and St. Peter, the guardian and continuous protector of that place. Dated on the nones of February, in the 15th year of the reign of king Lothar, with God's kindness.

Original letter:

Mirabiliter laudabilis et laudabiliter semper mirabilis provida dispensatio Conditoris nostri, a primordialis exordio mundi, qui redemptis sui sanguinis precio, et sacri baptismatis ablutione originali mundatis crimine, praevidens et praesciens post ista omnia nec unius die spatio a qualicumque peccato quempiam vivere immunem, nec humanae corruptionis labem posse evadere, contulit multa animae salutis remedia, quibus non solum vitiorum curantur morbida, set etiam beatae inmortalitatis adquiruntur gaudia; inter quae elemosinarum plurimum valet largitas, cui non solum plurimorum patrum astipulatur auctoritas, set etiam ipsius voce Domini laudatur beata dicentis: Dimittite et dimittemini, et, quaecumque feceritis uni ex minimis meis, michi exibebitis. Super his etiam quidam sapiens dixit: Redemptio animae viri, propriae divitiae ejus; et illius: Date elemosinam et omnia munda sunt vobis; et multa his similia inveniuntur in dando elemosinam ad hortationem praecipus, in quibus longum est ire per singula. Talibus instructa exhortationibus, praecedentium patrum non inprobanda devotio, ut pote filii ecclesiae multis praediorum suorum reditibus eandem dotaverunt ecclesiam, et multa ei contulerunt, variis necessitatibus profutura, quibus per quadrifidum decoratur orbem, et rerum opulentia dilatatur, gaudet et exultat. Horum ego Ledgardis exempla secuta, instinctu divino ammonita, proposui in cordis mei secretario, quatinus de praediorum meorum possessionibus haereditariam facerem sanctam Dei ecclesiam; verum, quia beato Petro apostolo specialiter collata est potestas solvendi atque ligandi a Domino, ut quodcumque solverit et ligaverit in terris, solutum et ligatum sit statim in coelis, nullum melius censui michi consulendum, et pro peccatis meis aput eum, quem tanto dilexit amore, misericorditer intercedendum. Ergo tam pro meis criminibus veniam impetrandis, quam pro nobilissimi senioris mei atque gloriosi comitis Tetbaldi, ut utrisque Dominus indulgere dignetur omnium peccatorum remissionem, consentientibus omni honore dignissimis, archipresule scilicet Hugone, et excellentissimo comite Odone, filiis meis, cedo ad locum sancti Petri Carnotensis aecclesiam, in honore apostolorum principis clavigerique regni coelorum Petri consecratam, in loco qui dicitur vulgariter Gizei, cum villa eodem vocabulo dicta Gizei, cum mansis XVI, cum terris cultis et incultis, hospiciis, pratis, vineis, aquis aquarumque decursibus; in alio quoque loco potestatem vocabulo Fontenedum cum ecclesia in eadem potestate posita et cum masinligis et vineis et cum omni integritate ad ipsum pertinente, et item in alio loco in alia villa, quae lingua rustica nominatur Limais, quantumcumque ad me videtur pertinere. Sunt autem praefatae res in pago Velcassino super fluvium Sequanae. Haec omnia, ut praescriptum est, trado et traditum esse volo in perpetuas aeternitates. Si quis vero contra hanc donationem nostram (quod absit!) venire, aut eam infringere temptaverit aut aliquam inferre calumniam, Dei omnipotentis indignationem inrecuperabiliter, nisi cito resipuerit, incurrat, et aeternalitater infernalibus detrudatur cruciatibus, ubi vermis, qui nunquam moritur, ejus conrodat carnes, et ignis qui nunquam extinguitur, ejus semper pascatur cruciatibus. Ut autem haec donatio inviolabilem obtineat firmitatem, manibus propriis eam firmavimus, et fidelium nostrorum manibus roborandam decrevimus. In calce quoque hujus scripturae intimare volui, quia, sicut pro anima mea omnia praefata Christo et beato Petro, apostolo, monachis famulantibus in eorum usus concessi, ita pro anima patris mei Heirberti, Trecassini comitis, qui michi res praefatas in haereditatem dedit atque concessit. Odo, comes. Hugo, sanctae Bituricensis ecclesiae archiepiscopus. Odo, Carnotensis praesul. Ledgardis comitissa, quae haec largita est. Emma, comitissa Pictavae urbis. Landricus. Hilgaudus. Suggerius. Rotrocus. Arduinus. Ucbertus. Fulcherius. Teudo. Widogerius. Erembertus. Hugo de Aloia. Gelduinus. Avesgaudus, Isaac. Huic maternae donationi idcirco ego Hugo, primorum primus archipraesul, et Odo, comes ditissimus, assensum praebuimus, ut cotidie, exceptis feriatis diebus, psalmus nobis a fratribus praenominati loci, "Inclina Domine aurem tuam," decantetur et memoria nostri assiduae fiat in officiis matutinalibus, quandiu superstites vixerimus; post excessum vero nostrum anniversaria dies nostrorum officiosissimae cum antiphonis et responsariis, interpositis lectionibus consuetudinariis, et missarum per sollempniis celebretur. Adsit etiam ita pro nobis laborantibus fratribus copiosus in cibo et potu eadem die apparatus. Et hoc memoriale nostrum nulla oblivione deleatur, dum duo fratres supervixerint in generatione generationum ante Deum et S. Petrum, ejusdem loci custodem et protectorem continuum. Data nonis februarii die, regnante Lothario, rege, anno XXIV, pro[s]piciante Domino.

Historical context:

With a long preamble about the importance of charity, the countess leaves three villages to the abbey of St. Peter, for her soul and the soul of her father who had left them to her. The document is also signed by her three children with small additions.

Manuscript source:

Cartulaire de Saint-Pere de Chartres, I, 63.

Printed source:

Histoire des Ducs et des Comtes de Champagne, depuis le VIe s. jusqu'a la fin du XIe, H. D'arbois de Jubainville (Paris: Aug. Aubry, 1859) 456-58, Pieces justificatives, XXV.

Date:

2/5/978