an order from Sigerus: Officium ut res ecclesiarum ampliare

Dentelinus

New Member

Officium ut res ecclesiarum ampliare studeamus et fratrum deo deuote famulantium opes pro salute anime nostre augeamus.

"Dilecti nostri Sigeri reuerendi abbatis sancti Petri Blandin ecclesie dignis peticionibus acquiescentes altare de D. liberum et sine persona ecclesie sancti Petri concedimus eo quidem tenore ut obitus mei dies in kalendaria fratrum adnotetur et anniuersarius singulis annis diligenter obseruetur saluo in omnibus iure Cameracensis ecclesie."

Ne quis uero hanc nostram donationem infringere presumbat sub anathemate prohibemus. Huius rei testimonium corrobamus et subsignatorum testium astipulatione confirmamus.
 

Iynx

Consularis

  • Consularis

Location:
T2R6WELS, Maine, USA
Officium ut res ecclesiarum ampliare studeamus et fratrum deo deuote famulantium opes pro salute anime nostre augeamus.

"Dilecti nostri Sigeri reuerendi abbatis sancti Petri Blandin ecclesie dignis peticionibus acquiescentes altare de D. liberum et sine persona ecclesie sancti Petri concedimus eo quidem tenore ut obitus mei dies in kalendaria fratrum adnotetur et anniuersarius singulis annis diligenter obseruetur saluo in omnibus iure Cameracensis ecclesie."

Ne quis uero hanc nostram donationem infringere presumbat sub anathemate prohibemus. Huius rei testimonium corrobamus et subsignatorum testium astipulatione confirmamus.

No other answer? Once again, I’ll give it an non-expert shot:

An act: that we may devote ourselves to the augmentation of the affairs of the churches, and that we may enlarge the powers of the brothers in devout service to God, for the health of our soul.

[???Acceding to the worthy petition of our beloved Reverend Abbot Siger, of the Church of St. Peter Blandin???], we grant [??? the altar of D., free and without a role for the Church of St. Peter???], on condition that the date of my death be recorded in the records of the brothers, and that the anniversary be each year surely observed in all the territory of the church of Cambrai.

Yea, anyone who presumeth to invalidate or diminish this our gift we will lay under an anathema. The attestation of this thing we do corroborate, and by the agreement of the undersigned witnesses we do confirm.

My identification of Cameracensis with Cambrai is likely, but not certainly correct. And I’m REALLY not sure about the parts I’ve enclosed in triple question marks and brackets.

Are there really quotation marks in this manuscript? May I ask what they look like? I’m no expert, but I would not expect to find them in a 12th-century manuscript. What is D? Could it be Deo? Or is it a longer word? This does seem to be some sort of ecclesiastical benefice, but I’m not sure who is granting what to whom. The thread title implies that you think this to be a grant BY Siger. If so, he seems to be referring to himself in the third person. My first reading of the doubtful section was “Of our beloved Reverend Abbot Siger (genitive)-- the worthy tall(i)age (dative or ablative)—of the church of St. Peter Blandin (genitive)— pertaining to the free altar of God and without a role for the church of St. Peter”. I initially suspected that peticionibus = petitionibus and refers to a sort of feudal duty often in English called a tallage or tailiage. But the word could also signify the thing called in English a “memorial petition”. Another problem is that as far as I can find there is not now and never has been a “St. Peter Blandin”; neither can I identify a place called Blandin, near Cambrai or anywhere else. It may be that I’m putting the breaks in the wrong places in the initial string of genitives. Or somehow muddling the cases, or missing some legal idiom. You've got me hooked now though-- can you please tell me more?

And: is there any chance that this Abbot Sigerus could be Sigebert of Gembloux?
 

Dentelinus

New Member

Iynx,

You are a genius!

To answer your questions;
- No, the original text has no quotes, I merely added them in order for translaters to have more oversight.
- You are completely right about Cambrai.
- D. is a place name
- the feudal duty you suspect is correct (too complex to explain here, also I don't know the correct terms in English)
- Blandin is in Gent - Belgium (Flanders). Keep in mind that abbies like Cambrai were powerful institues who held a wealth of posessions in various regions. By no means were clerical posessions always to be found right near the abbey, that was only so after french revolution when the clerical posessions went to the state.
- The thing with Sigerus is really difficult. He was involved and as you remarked, he seems to be referring to himself. My guess is that he actually had this document made in his name and then signed it?
- I think Sigbert was attached to the abbey at Gent, Gembloux (though also in Belgium) has nothing to do with it.

Still, stunning and very insightful remarks! If possible, could you have a look at the text from the pope I posted? There doesn't really need to be a 100% translation, just a general idea would be alright. I need to make sure I understand and interpret the text correctly so any of your comments would help me.

Best wishes,
Dentelinus
 
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