medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
a minor point, perhaps, but i would be interested to hear the opinions of list
members less Latiniacally-Challenged than myself regarding the meaning of an
expression in a 12th c. charter i'm interested in.
in 1149 (n.s.) Count Theobald IV of Blois(/Chartres) confirmed certain justice
rights exercised by the (newly reformed) canons of the abbey of St. Mary
Magdalen of Chateaudun, which had been granted (or so he claimed) by
_antecessores mei ab antiquo_, back in the time when it was (just?) their
chapel (_capelle eorum_).
he uses this expression three times in a rather short charter.
my question is: does he mean to say his "ancestors" or his "predecessors" did
this?
in this case it might be argued that it is a distinction without a difference,
since Teddy4 was a direct descendant of the earliest known Counts of Blois,
going back a century and a half, well before the foundation of St. MMCD (which
appears to have been c. 1060).
but i'm wondering whether or not there might have been some subtle nuance of
meaning intended here, since the thrust of the charter is to attempt to
establish (at least in principle, in the face of the new, bishop-driven reform
of the place) that, institutionally, the abbey owed its existence --and its
rights-- to the the counts.
any off-the-top-of-the-head thoughts would be appreciated.
i include the text of the body of the charter below, with the relevent
expressions axterixéd.
c
------------
L. Merlet and L. Jarry, Cartulaire de l'abbaye de la Madeleine de Châteaudun.
(Châteaudun, 1896), no. 11:
Quoniam Deus veritas est et qui veritatem impugnant Deum quoque constat
impugnare, que vera scimus, ne posteros lateant, stilo memorie mandando
posteritati transmittere curavimus. Quamobrem ego Theobaldus, Blesensis comes,
existencium presentie et futurorum posteritati notum fieri volo quod
**antecessores mei ab antiquo dederant*** ecclesie Beate-Marie-Magdalene
Castridunensis, sicut capelle eorum, ne alieni liceret exibere sancta ad
sacramenta juranda, in villa Castriduni, preterquam ministris predicte
ecclesie, omnibus duellis vel sacramentis que in curia eorum seu in manu
prepositorum ipsorum, in prefata villa, insumpta vel arramissa fuissent, que
videlicet ipsi per se possent accipere vel dimittere.
Judicia vero, que tunc temporis de ferro esse solebant, in curia eorum seu
prepositorum ipsorum insumpta, in prenominata ecclesia ferentur.
Ego autem Theobaldus comes hoc donum et hanc institutionem ***antecessorum
meorum*** prefate ecclesie Beate-Marie concedo et in perpetuum confirmo.
Et quoniam judicia ferri, que in temporibus ***antecessorum meorum*** esse
solebant, prevaricata erant, addo insuper et confirmo ut omnia judicia, seu de
ferro sive de aqua, in curia mea seu prepositi mei apud Castridunum insumpta,
vel aliunde per justiciam nostram adducta; sacramenta vero de duellis et aliis
rebus, sicut superius dicta sunt, ita teneri precipio, exceptis sacramentis
que unus homo fecerit alteri si fuerint adramissi ante me vel ante prepositum
meum, in parochiis illis in quibus insumpta fuerint expectabuntur et agentur.
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