History Text Analysis

And let no one, through cunning craft, dare to oppose or thwart the written law, as many are wont to do, or the judicial sentence passes upon him; or to do injury to the churches of God, or the poor, or the widows, or the wards, or any Christian.  But all shall live entirely in accordance with God’s precept, justly and under a just rule, and each one shall be admonished to live in harmony with his fellows in his business or profession.  The canonical clergy ought to observe in every respect a canonical life without heeding base gain; nuns ought to keep diligent watch over their lives; laymen and the secular clergy ought rightly to observe their laws without malicious fraud; and all ought to live in mutual charity and perfect peace.

And let the missi themselves make a diligent investigation whenever any man claims that an injustice has been done to him by anyone, just as they desire to deserve the grace of omnipotent God and to keep the fidelity pledged to him, so that in all cases, everywhere, they shall, in accordance with the will and fear of God, administer the law fully and justly in the case of the holy churches of God and of the poor, of wards and widows, and of the whole people.  And if there shall be anything of such a nature that they, together with the provincial counts, are not able of themselves to correct it and to do justice concerning it, they shall, without any reservations, refer this, together with their reports, to the judgment of the emperor.  The straight path of justice shall not be impeded by any one on account of flattery or gifts, or on account of any relationship, or from fear of the powerful. 

Concerning the fidelity to be promised to the lord emperor:  he had commanded that every man in his whole kingdom, whether ecclesiastic or layman, each according to his vow and occupation, shall now pledge to him as emperor the fidelity which he has previously promised him as king; and all of those who have not yet taken any oath shall do likewise, down to those who are twelve years old.

And that it shall be announced to all in public, so that each one may know, how great and how many things are comprehended in that oath; not merely, as many have thought hitherto, fidelity to the lord emperor as regards his life, and not introducing any enemy into his kingdom out of enmity, and not consenting to or concealing another’s faithlessness to him; but that all may know that this oath contains in itself the following meaning:

First, that each one voluntarily shall strive, in accordance with his knowledge and ability, to live entirely in the holy service of God in accordance with the precept of God and in accordance with his own promise, because the lord emperor is unable to give to all individually the necessary care and discipline.

Secondly, that no many, either through perjury or any other wile or fraud, or on account of the flattery or gift of any one, shall refuse to give back or dare to abstract or conceal a serf of the lord emperor, or a district, or land, or anything that belongs to him; and that no one shall presume, through perjury or other wile, to conceal or abstract his fugitive serfs belonging to the fisc, who wrongly and fraudulently claim that they are free.

That no one shall presume to rob or in any way do injury fraudulently to the churches of God, or to widows or orphans or pilgrims; for the lord emperor himself, after God and his saints, has constituted himself their protector and defender.

That no one shall dare to lay waste to a benefice of the lord emperor, or to make it his own property.

That no one shall presume to neglect a summons to war from the lord emperor; and that no one of the counts shall be so presumptuous as to dare to excuse any one of those who owe military service, either on account of relationship, or flattery, or gifts from any one.

That no one shall presume to impede in any way a ban or command of the lord emperor, or to dally with his work, or to impede or to lessen or in any way to act contrary to his will or commands.  And that no one shall dare to neglect to pay his dues or tax.

That no one, for any reason, shall make a practice in court of defending another unjustly, either from any desire of gain when the cause is weak, or by impeding a just judgment by his skill in reasoning, or by a desire of oppressing when the cause is weak . . .

The oath to the emperor should include the observance of all those things mentioned above.

Bishops and priests shall live according to the canons and shall teach others to do the same.

Bishops, abbots, and abbesses, who are in charge of others, shall strive with the greatest devotion to surpass those subject to them in this diligence and shall not oppress those subject to them with a harsh rule of tyranny, but with sincere love shall carefully guard the flock committed to them with mercy and charity and by the examples of good works . . .

The monks shall live sincerely and strictly in accordance with the rule, because we know that anyone whose good will is lukewarm is displeasing to God . . . Let them in no way usurp to themselves secular business.  They shall not have leave to go outside of their monastery at all, unless compelled by a very great necessity; but the bishop in whose diocese they are shall take care in every way that they do not get accustomed to wandering outside of the monastery.  But if it shall be necessary for a monk to go outside in obedience to a command, this shall be done with the counsel and consent of the bishop.  Such persons shall be sent out with a certificate, that there may be no suspicion of evil in them and that no evil report may arise from them.

To manage the property and business outside of the monastery, the abbot, with the permission and counsel of the bishop, shall appoint some person who is not a monk, but another of the faithful.  Let the monks wholly shun secular gain or a desire for worldly affairs; for avarice or a desire for this world ought to be avoided by all Christians, but especially by those who claim to have renounced the world and its lusts.  Let no one presume in any way to incite strife or controversies, either within or without the monastery.  But if anyone shall have presumed to do so, he shall be corrected by the most severe discipline of the rule, and in such a manner that others shall fear to commit such actions.  Let them entirely shun drunkenness and feasting, because it is known to all that these give rise to lust . . .

Let no bishops, abbots, priests, deacons, or other members of the clergy presume to keep dogs for hunting, or hawks, falcons, and sparrow hawks, but each shall observe fully the canons or rule of his order.  If anyone shall presume to violate this order, let him know that he shall lose his office; and in addition he shall suffer such punishment for his offense that the others will be afraid to appropriate such things for themselves . . .

And we command that ono one in our whole kingdom shall are to deny hospitality either to rich or poor, or to pilgrims; that is no one shall deny shelter and fire and water to pilgrims traversing our country in God’s name, or to any one traveling for the love of God or for the safety of his own soul . . . .

Concerning the messengers coming from the lord emperor:  the counts and centenarii shall provide most carefully, as they desire the grace of the lord emperor, for the missi who are sent out, so that they may go through their provinces without any delay.  The emperor commands all, everywhere, to see to it that the missi are not hindered anywhere, but are sent forward with the utmost dispatch and provided with such things as they may require . . .

In our forests no one shall dare to steal our game.  This has already been many times forbidden; we now again strictly forbid it for the future.  If one would keep his fidelity pledged to us, let him take heed to his conduct . . .

Finally, we desire that all our commands should be made known throughout our whole realm by means of the missi now sent forth, whether these commands be directed to those connected with the Church—bishops, abbots, priests, deacons, canons, monks or nuns—with a view of securing the observance of our ban or decrees, or whether we would duly thank the citizens for their good will, or request them to furnish aid, or to correct some matter . . ..