Editor:
In the Middle Ages in Europe, few people wrote history, except for the records of the emperor's private family deeds. However, in early medieval Europe, legal instruments were an important guarantor of political and social order. These instruments set out the rights and duties of people and uphold social justice and the rule of law. In particular, the clergy and priests, who were the only literate priests in the early Middle Ages, accumulated thousands of deeds and legal documents in their monasteries and churches, and they were tireless in all kinds of accounts. Some French abbeys have been preserved for more than 1,000 years, and they are the best historical materials for the study of social and economic history.
The provisions of the law stipulate the legal rights and obligations of the people and ensure the safety and order of the society;
Litigation documents record people's litigation matters and results, and safeguard judicial fairness;The adjudication document records the results and reasons of the judicial decision, which is of great significance to the improvement and development of the legal system
The land deed records the ownership and use rights of the land and maintains the stability and management of the land.
At first glance, land deeds may seem like just obscure, dull legal documents, as tedious in the Middle Ages as they are today. However, a closer look reveals that there is much more to the contract than the stiff, dry medieval record of legal provisions. We can learn much about local history, social history, and broader political intrigues in history from these documents, details that are overlooked in narrative documents such as chronicles and almanacs.
Houses that own land use a charter to confirm their ownership. Source**: Thomas Mucha Adobe Stock
But the most interesting thing about medieval contracts, and perhaps the most surprising, is that a large number of documents that exist are actually forged.
The Middle Ages was known as forgery"Times"Many forged contracts are so professionally made that it is almost impossible to distinguish the authenticity.
The question is, why was forgery of legal documents so prevalent in the Middle Ages and on such a large scale, even throughout Western Europe?Is this related to history?Are they trying to rewrite history?
Deeds are drafted shortly after the recorded donation or confirmation has taken place, and sometimes before if the terms are already known, and then approved by the royal authority (the ruler himself or the ** official acting on their behalf). The person present and the signer who witnessed the transaction are usually recorded at the bottom of the document, and then the royal seal is stamped to authenticate the document.
Magna Carta (British Library, Public Domain).
In the modern Western world, the most famous medieval charter of contract is undoubtedly the Magna Carta (literally translated) from 1215"The Great Charter"）。This great document records the dealings between King John and his barons, and John agreed to grant them certain rights and privileges.
In the original Articles of the Charter, some of the most important rights included the right of heirs of an earl or baron to inherit property without paying excessive taxes;A widow has the right to inherit property after the death of her husband and to choose not to marry if she so wishes;Every free person has the right to an equal and fair trial in accordance with the laws of the land.
While the content of the Magna Carta underwent several revisions after it was signed in 1215, it has since become the constitutional basis for several modern nation-states, including the United States of America. Be bound before the law and God.
Medieval covenants are one of a kind"Performative"Documents, symbolizing verbal transactions, are made binding through public signing ceremonies. The transaction is sealed through the divine authority of the Church and the monarch from being questioned now or in the future.
The contract is also very formulaic in nature, and the text consists of three main parts:Beginning formula or agreement, body and ending formula or"eschatocol"。Many deeds use standard phrases and sentences typical of a particular time and place, such as invoking the Lord's name or expounding on the greatness of the Kingdom and the generosity of the donor.
This is how the Magna Carta began. The opening clause describes the parties involved in the transaction, and the following clause states that these rights are:"Before God, for the health of our souls and those of our ancestors and heirs, for the glory of God, for the exaltation of the Holy Church, and for the better administration of our Kingdom"And granted.
Many forged deeds are mainly in the form of letters, such as those found on monuments. Ancient Greece and the Romans were also known for forging more straightforward and practical documents such as personal wills, some of which were actually written into public codes, such as those of the Roman emperors Theodosius and Justinian.
The form in which contracts are written is very standardized, which makes forgery both easy and difficult to detect in some ways. Even blatant forgeries draw on authentic elements from earlier texts and materials, but any deviation from textual tradition can easily expose traces of forgery. In the process of studying medieval texts to determine their authenticity, a whole industry emerged, ie"Diplomat"。
Fake boom years
Of course, forgery was not a new concept in the Middle Ages, and there was a wealth of evidence of document forgery back in the most primitive forms of documentary record. As early as the second millennium BC in the ancient Eastern civilizations, there were records of forged documents.
The Merovingians were powerful Frankish military rulers (fordmadoxfraud CC BY-SA 30）
The motive of deception was universal throughout human history, but in the Middle Ages it seemed to occur at an unprecedented level to the point of institutionalizing it in the monastic culture of Western Europe.
For example, more than half of the documents we have preserved from the Merovingian-Frankish rulers are forged from the Italian Lombardy region of this periodOne-third of the charters are fakeMore than a third of the pre-conquest British charters were tampered with.
In medieval Europe, the religious class was experts in literacy, able to present and record complex narratives in written form. This made them the most capable of producing convincing fakes, so most of the fakes identified during this period were owned by religious institutions.
Deeds are the most common forged documents and deal primarily with land and legal rights, especially those of religious institutions, which often contain claims of freedom, immunity, or some kind of immunity. Most of these fakes are believed to have been forged by famous rulers such as Charlemagne and Edward the Confessor in order to increase their credibility, and most of the fakes were only produced within a generation or two of the given date of the original document.
As with any forgery produced in the ancient world, medieval document forgers aimed to use the past to support their claims in the present. It is for this reason that religious institutions are often to blame. They are the only entities outside the monarchy that possess a strong enough sense of "corporate identity" to inspire the creation of false narratives to satisfy their needs.
Build history through the Charter Collection.
Most religious institutions across Europe keep charter records related to a particular institution in the form of a "chart directory glossary". A diagram or deed volume is a bound copy of a charter archive, and although it does not necessarily contain the original document, it is most common practice to stitch together a parchment containing a transcript of the contract charter to form a long roll of parchment.
The earliest surviving catalogue of deeds is from the 9th century in Freising, Bavaria. The Frissing Chart of Accounts Deed dates from 820 and contains a transcript of more than 700 documents, some of which date back to the 40s of the 7th century, compiled by a priest named Cozro.
The Freising Compact Atlas also shows how selective records and carefully constructed archives shape and reshape memories of the past. In this way, the story of a community and its allies or enemies can be adapted to suit the needs of the present or the future.
For example, records involving property disputes at Freising abbey may vary greatly depending on the outcome of the initial dispute. If the other party is still hostile, then the nature of the other party's property claim is omitted from the record. But if the dispute ends amicably, then the record will portray the other party as a reasonable person who behaves reasonably.
Charlemagne (Kotomi CC BY-NC 2.)0)
Selective retention of records can also obscure competing histories that threaten religious groups, especially during periods of large-scale political change. Charlemagne's conquest of Bavaria at the end of the 8th century brought about such a change, and the Freising chart reflects the local impact of this change.
The Deeds Catalogue records two important property disputes involving the abbey in 802 and 804, which were resolved at formal judicial hearings presided over by Charlemagne's envoys. However, when comparing the accounts of the two disputes, a striking difference is found – Charlemagne's notary adopts a neutral tone, taking neither sides nor the other, while Freising's transcript is distinctly political.
Medieval lawyers used parchment to prevent fraud and forgery.
Freising's account of these disputes is written in such a way that the newer Carolingian conception of property rights is pitted against the older traditional idea, which is not in the interests of the abbey. In this way, the scribe emphasized the authority of the Carolingian Empire and its monarch Charlemagne.
Norman Conquest and Glastonbury Abbey.
Similarly, after the Norman conquest of England in 1066, many religious institutions chose to confront challenges to their rights and freedoms by constructing narratives about their own histories, and the record of accounts deeds was an important part of this.
The charter legally confirms the property of the abbey and may have added something (Thomas Mucha Adobe Stock).
A particularly striking example is the history of Glastonbury Abbey, De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiae, written by William of Malmesbury. William was employed by Glastonbury Abbey to write about Glastonbury"Antiquity"History, completed around the mid-30s of the 11th century, with the aim of defending the historical rights of the monastery to its land and independence.
Although William Malmsbury was a diligent historian, he uncritically copied the charters from the Glastonbury archives into his narrative to corroborate the abbey's claims, whether the deeds were true or not. The Covenant of St. Patrick is one of the opening chapters of William's writings and is what the monastery claims to have"Twelve Tibetans"Important evidence of the land:
I, Patrick, God's humblest servant. In the name of our Lord Jesus**, I came to the island of Innisvetrin, where I found a sacred and ancient place, chosen by God in honor of the undefiled Virgin Mary. Indicated by the blessed archangel Gabriel;In addition, God dedicated the church in memory of his mother, and the three pagan kings gave twelve plots of land to the twelve for their food"。
This charter does not conform to the typical format of an early medieval charter, and some doubts arise about the authenticity of this particular charter, given the age of the gift it claims to record (presumably the 430s). William attempts to provide further evidence to support this claim in the second half of the article, referring to a charter granted in 601 by the unnamed King of Devon of England.
Glastonbury Abbey (Gerd Eichmann CC BY-SA 40）
This deed claimed that the monastery had acquired more land, and"Recovered"The infidels were taken away before they were converted to the ** religion"Stolen land"。However, since the original charter document is not available, its authenticity cannot be proven or overturned.
William's Glastonbury History also includes a number of other concessions relating to land grants, the authenticity of which seems less dubious. For example, King Iné's charter, although William paraphrased it somewhat, used a more standard formula when granting monasteries the right to exempt from paying taxes to the crown:
I, King Iné, on the decision and advice of our Bishop Oldham. This freedom was granted to the monks of the ancient city of Glastonbury. So that they can serve God without distractions, without being hindered by worldly affairs and without paying financial fees. To strengthen the validity of this charter, we have the prince and chieftain, doomsday messengers and nobles sign it. In 704 AD, this deed was publicly confirmed in a wooden church.
Whether or not King Iné's charter was forged or not, it contained enough truth to convince those who questioned Glastonbury's tax exemption, such as a publicly confirmed statement under the authority of the monarch and bishop.
Writing was a powerful tool, and those who mastered it in the Middle Ages were endowed with valuable abilities. They can tell their version of history, ensuring that their communities are protected and have a positive impact on their present and future.
Because of this, forgery became an important part of medieval documentary culture. Because by crafting records and archives (such as deed charts), these documents can be used to guide and grasp the changing dynamics of power.
Records of deeds, while seemingly the remains of a shriveled legal process, provide valuable insight into how medieval societies responded to conflict and change.
Title image: The landlord family uses a deed to confirm their ownership.
Source**: Thomas Mucha Adobe Stock: Thomas Mucha Adobe Stock.
References: Brown, Warren. Journal of Medieval History, No. 28, No. 3, 2002.
d**is，g.r.c., 1963. Magna Carta, British Museum.
Roach, Levi. 2021.Forgery and memory at the end of the first millennium. Princeton University Press.
William of Malmsbury, Antiques from Glastony Church.