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ER 2337

Gaudiosus, a monk, is granting to his monastery in Asan (Iberian Peninsula) and to the presbyter Victorianus (probably the abbot) the land estates in the territories of Tierrantona, Barbastro, Lerida, Osicerda, Orrit, Aneu, Guisona, Osona and Aquense (Iberian Peninsula). The document dated to 23 December 522 from the archives of the monastery of San Victorian of Asán (northern Iberian peninsula).

Dominis sanctis et omni a me cultu reuerentie preferendis patribus uel fratribus ac meo specialiter domno Victoriano presbytero, uel uniuerse uenerande congregationi in monasterio Asaniensi consistentibus, ubi et me Dominus uocare dignatus est, Gaudiosus humilis.

The granter refers to the passages in the Gospel and the Acts of Apostles which exhort Christians to sell everything they have and live in the community which shares property.

Hanc igitur sentenciam secutus, id mihi obtandum sequendumque omni intentione cum omni gaudii deliberatione uisum est ut, quicquid ex bonis parentum meorum ad ius meum dominiumque pertinent, uobis, beatissime pater, uel huic sanctę congregationi in supradicto monasterio constitutis, quo et me Dominus uocare dignatus est, conferre deberem. Quod ut libenti animo suscipere et pro mea pusillitate indesinenter orare dignemini, supplici prece deposco, excepto id quod his, qui mihi pro fide et seruicio suo meruere, iure donationis uolui esse concessum. Itaque do, dono tradoque spontanea uoluntate ac libero arbitrio prefato monaste- rio et omni congregationi ibidem constitute uillam Banasto in Terrantonensi territorio constitutam cum colonicis, tributariis seu seruis uel omni iure suo. Necnon et cassellas Veraniano uel Atasorri sitas in territorio Barbotano cum mancipiis et omni iure suo. Similiter et domum Oruasso in Osocerdensi territorio constitutam cum mancipiis et omni iure suo. Pariter et fundum Veteris in Hilerdensi territorio constitutum cum mancipiis et omni iure suo. Atque casellam, id est, Adsignatorium, sitam in territorio Gersonensi cum mancipiis, colonicis et omni iure suo. Similiter et colonica Automata sitam in territorio Ausonensi cum mancipiis et omni iure suo. Pari modo et domum Sabarinsse in Orritensi territorio constitutam cum mancipiis et omni iure suo. Casam idemque Sterri sitam in territorio Anauitano cum mancipiis et omni iure suo. Simulque et casam Celsiasi in Aquensi territorio constitutam cum mancipiis et omni iure suo. Simulque et domum Scitto in Ausonensi territorio constitutam cum mancipiis et omni iure suo. Has ergo omnes casas superius memoratas iuris nostri cum edificiis, uineis, oleis, terris cultis atque incultis, pratis, pascuis, aquis aquarumue ductibus, aditibus et accessibus, uiis et itineribus, et cum colonicis atque colonis, mancipiis, tributariis atque seruilibus omnique peculio eorum supradicto monasterio uel uniuerse fraternitati inibi consistentibus predicta, ut dixi, ac spontanea confero largitate, ita ut de memoratis prediis, uel si quid iuris nostri esse potuerit, quod ad presens in hac scriptura non memorauimus, habendi, uendendi, transfundendi transigendique uel quicquid uobis libitum fuerit, liberam habeatis in omnibus potestatem neque cuiusquam inquietudinem in aliquo formidetis [...].

He forbids anyone to undermine or annul his will expressed in the document. He curses those who would attempt that: they should be removed from the church and share fate of Judas Iscariot and the Pharao who drowned in the the Red Sea.

Et ut hec uoluntatis meę scriptura sorciatur integram firmitatem, ad ordines uiros prędictorum territoriorum scripta direxi ut hanc cartam, quam manu holograffa scripssi atque subscrisi, sua etiam dignentur subscripcione firmare, quatenus, quę pro animę meę remedium in supradicto monasterio contuli, debeat in perpetuo, Deo propicio, possidere. Amen.

Ffacta cartula donationis sub die .Xo. kalendas ianuarii, Symmacho et Boetio, uiris clarissimis, consulibus.

To the holy lords, fathers whom I admire with all respect over anyone else and brother, and especially my lord, presbyter Victorianus as well as to all those belonging to the venerable congregation in the monastery of Asán, where I myself, humble Gaudiosus, was deemed worthy to receive a calling from the Lord.

The granter refers to the passages in the Gospel and the Acts of Apostles which exhort Christians to sell everything they have and live in the community which shares property.

Following this sentence I decided to wish and obey with all intention and joyful deliberation to grant everything that belongs to my estate from the wealth of my parents to you, o blessed father, and to the congregation gathered in the abovementioned monastery in which I was deemed worthy to receive a calling from the Lord. I beg you with humble plea that you receive willingly [everything] execept that what I wanted to concede to those who deserve it for their loyalty and service, and pray incessantly for my humble self. Thus, I give, donate and transfer voluntarily and with free will to the aforementioned monastery and to the whole congregation of this monastery the villa Banasto in the territory of Tierrantona with colons, tributaries, serfs and all what belongs to it. Also, the casellae Veraniano and Atasorri in the territory of Barbastro with its tenants and all what belongs to them. As well, the house Oruasso in the territory of Osicerda with its tenants and everything that belongs to it. Similarly, the estate Veteris in the territory of Lerida with its tenants and all that belongs to it. And casella Adsignatorium in the territory of Guisona with tenants, colons and all that belongs to it. Similarly, the colony Automata in the territory of Osona with the tenants and all that belongs to it. In the same way, the house Sabarinsse in the territory of Orrit with the tenants and all that belongs to it. Also a cottage Sterri in the territory of Aneu with the tenants and all that belongs to it. Also the cottage Celsiasi in the territory of Aquense with the tenants and all that belongs to it. Also the house Scitto in the territory of Osona with the tenants and all that belongs to it. All those cottages of our estate that I have just mentioned with their buildings, vineyards, olive orchards, lands cultivated and uncultivated, meadows, grazing lands, waters and aqueducts, entrances and gates, roads and routes, with all colons, tenants, tributaries, servants with all their cattle I confer, as I said, with voluntary generosity to the abovementioned monastery and all the brethern living in there, so that in regard to all those things I have granted and all those which could belong to my property and which I did not expressly mentioned in this document, you have a free right to have, sell, transfer, transact and to do whatever you want and not to be afraid of any disturbance from anyone [...]

And so that the whole firmness of my will be this script ..., I have sent letters to the ruling masters (ordines viros) of those territories so that they too sign this document, which I have signed with my own signature so that the grant I made as a remedy of my soul to the aforementioned monastery, they could have, with God's favour, for ever. Amen.

The charter of donation made on the tenth day before the Kalends of January in the consulship of the viri clarissimi Symmachius and Boethius [23 December 522].

(trans. M. Szada)

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula

City

Asán

About the source:

Origin: Asán (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The document survived in the sixteenth-century copy made by the Spanish Renaissance historian Jerónimo Zurita y Castro, whose papers are now kept in the Colección Salazar y Castro in the Real Academia de la Historia in Madrid. Zurita made the copy during his stay in the monastery of San Victorian de Asan from the texts he has see in the archives and which did not survive to our times. This document is one of the four recently published by by Guillermo Tomás-Faci and José Carlos Martin-Iglesias (three are known from Zurita's transcripts, one from the 13th-century copy). Despite the late date of the textual witnesses, the scholars provided convincing arguments for the authenticity of the documents and their sixth-century origin: their transmission is similar to that of the donation and testament of Bishop Vincent of Huesca which are considered authentic, there is no good reason for which the monastery would have wanted to falsify exactly those documents in the later centuries (like the territorial claims), there are elements which would be very difficult for a medieval falsifier to know (e.g one of the documents uses the term Osocerdensis, of Osicerda, the locality south to Saragossa, which was well known in Antiquity but almost completely forgotten in the Middle Ages, document 3 is signed by Bishops Fronimus and Sedatus, known to be bishops of Agde and Beziers in the time of the document`s composition (from Gregory of Tours and the councils of Toledo), while usually the falsifiers were clumsy in reconstructing such details, also the form of the documents is consistent with what we known about the Visigothic diplomas and document-making (from the Formulae Visigothicae from the times of Sisebut, Lex Theudis, Vicent of Huesca's donation and testament), finally, Latinity of the text is consistent with the sixth-century dating.

According to the medieval monastic tradition, the monastery was founded by King Gesalic (507-511) in honor of Martin of Tours. That Martin was in fact venerated as the patron of the community is confirmed by two other documents from San Victorian (see ...). Victorianus who is the first known abbot and whose name eventually stuck to the monastery ruled between 522 and 557 (Kampers 1979: 61-62).

Edition:

G. Tomás-Faci, J.C. Martín-Iglesias, "Cuatro documentos inéditos del monasterio visigodo de San Martín de Asán (522–586) = Four unpublished Documents from Visigothic Monastery of San Martín de Asán (522–586)”, Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch 52 (2017), 261–85.

Bibliography:

G. Kampers, Personengeschichtliche Studien zum Westgotenreich in Spanien, Münster 1979.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

PR1053.

Economic status and activity - Ownership or possession of land

PR1053.

Relation with - Monk/Nun

PR1053.

Legal practice

PR1053.

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2337, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2337