A letter from Cunegund of Swabia, Queen of Bohemia (1234, October 14)

Translated letter:

In the name of the holy and individual trinity, Cunegund by the grace of God queen of Bohemia, to all those in the future and present who see this charter, grace of the holy spirit with salvation. When the royal highness of our splendid progenitors first flowed from a certain fount of piety and those ancestors of happy memory presented this monastery to the poor of Christ in abundant munificence, they hoped by their pious intervention to make god propitious to them whom we desire to imitate, if not fully, yet following their traces, as in the course of generation so in the zeal of holy devotion and devout operation, as god gives, so that we may draw out our longevity through this to better and pursue more fully the gifts of eternal life. Indeed it is written: "Just as a branch cannot give fruit, unless it remains on the vine" [John 15.4], much less could the perfect contemplation of the cloisters be consummated if it were not supported by the help of the powerful and strengthened by the generosity of the rich. Since therefore eternal things are purchased fitly with temporal transitory things, let all present and future know that I, queen Cunegund, with the assent of our most beloved lord and consort, king Wenceslas, with the counsel and consent of our children, for the remedy of our souls and those of our relatives, have conferred on the Cistercian order at the monastery that is called St. Marienthal, and the nuns who serve the lord god there in the habit and discipline of that order, the town called Seifersdorf with all its appurtenances, cultivated and uncultivated lands, roads and non-roads (invias), fields, meadows, groves, waters, mills and watercourses, fisheries and all the proceeds of uses/rights to use, which exist now and might occur in the future by right of purchase or generosity of good men. That this our gift may remain unshaken by any sinister persecution, we have had this our charter written on it and validated by the protection of our seal. Witness of this are: Stephen monk of Celle St. Marie, Conrad our notary, Volcmar our chamberlain, Henry of Baruth, Wolfram lawyer, Arnold his son, Bohus, Florin villager of Gorliz and many others. These were enacted in the year of the Lord's incarnation 1233, 7th indiction. Dated in Prague the day before the ides of October, happily, amen.

Original letter:

In nomine sancte et individue trinitatis. Cvnegundis, dei gratia regina Boemie, universis futuris et presentibus hanc cartam intuentibus spiritus sancti gratiam cum salute. Cum divum progenitorum nostrorum regalis sublimitas de fonte quodammodo pietatis primum emanaverit et ipsi felicis memorie antecessores hanc ad pauperes Christi cenobitas eo uberiore munificentia porrexerint, quo pio eorum interventu sperabant sic sibi deum mereri propicium, quos si non ad plenum, ipsorum tamen vestigia, sicut generationis cursu ita et sancte devotionis et devote operationis studio, prout deus dat, imitari cupimus, quatinus et per hoc longevitatem nostram protrahamus in melius et eterne vite dona copiosius consequamur. Scriptum quippe est: Sicut palmes non potest fructum facere, nisi in vite manserit, multo minus claustralium perfecta contemplatio consummari poterit, si non fuerit potentum suffulta solatio et largitate divitum roborata. Quia igitur caducis temporalibus eterna mercantur habiliter, noscant universi presentes et posteri, quod ego Cunegundis regina, communicato dilectissimi domini et consortis nostri, regis Watizlai, consilio et liberorum nostrorum consensu, pro remedio animarum nostrarum parentumque nostrorum ordini Cisterciensi ad monasterium, quod Vallis sancte Marie dicitur, et sacrosanctis monialibus sub habitu et disciplina ordinis eiusdem ibidem domino deo famulantibus contulimus villam Syfridistorph dictam cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, terris cultis et incultis, viis et inviis, agris, pratis, nemoribus, aquis, molendinis et aquarum decursibus, piscationibus et cum omnibus utilitatum proventibus, que exinde nunc et in posterum iure emptionis aut bonorum hominum largitione poterunt provenire. Ut autem hec nostra donatio ab omni sinistra infestatione inconvulsa permaneat, hanc nostram cartam super hoc conscribi fecimus et sigilli nostri munimine roborari. Huius rei testes sunt: Stephanus monachus Celle sancte Marie, Cvnradvs notarius noster, Volcmarvs camerarius noster, Heinricus de Barut, Wiferammus advocatus, Arnoldvs filius eius, Bohuse, Florinus villicus in Gorlez et alii quam plures. Acta sunt hec anno incarnationis Domini MCCXXXIIII, indictione VII. Datum in Pragis pridie idus octobris, feliciter amen.

Historical context:

The queen gives the town of Seifersdorf to the monastery of St. Marienthal, which she had founded.

Printed source:

Codex Diplomaticus et Epistolarius Regni Bohemiae, ed. Gustavus Friederich (Prague: 1942), 3.1.93-94, ep.86.

Date:

1234, October 14