Bene valete

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With Bene valete ( Latin bene valete , literally "farewell") is the final wish of a medieval document refers back to the ancient to the example letters. The Bene valete was used by the Merovingian and the first Carolingian kings - in some cases up to 775 - in their documents. The monogram was most frequently used as part of medieval papal documents .

The literal content of the final wish was given by Pope Leo IX. (1049–1054) adopted unchanged in the new monogram , which was added to all papal documents from the end of April 1049 of the Rota . The earlier papal documents contained individual ligatures NE , VA or TE , which could serve as the origin for the Benevalete. In addition, the monogram, based on a capital N, found its parallels in coins and papal lead seals . The new sign did not have a standardized size and experienced many changes in its representation. It found its permanent place to the right of the Rota. Together they legitimized the law set out in the document. Originally the monogram appeared as a subscription by the exhibitor, over time it was performed by the scribes of the papal chancellery and supplemented with papal and cardinal signatures.

Since the benevalete was not tied to any particular person or title, it is considered an institutional mark. Its appearance in the documents thus indicates a new stage in the development of the papal chancellery.

Bene valete on a document issued by Pope Innocent II in 1134

research

The Benevalete was first mentioned in 1773 in the monograph by Johann Carl Conrad Oelrich's "De siglo pontificali Bene Valete" . The author placed 67 illustrations of the sign in chronological order, not recognizing it as a monogram.

At the end of the 19th century, the first attempts were made to follow the development of the monogram. The Austrian historian Ferdinand Kaltenbrunner showed in 1880 a sketch of the changes in the representation of characters up to the time of Pope Paschal II (1099–1118).

The edition “Acta Pontificum Romanorum inedita” by Julius von Pflugk-Harttung has been published since 1881 . The document researcher described and numbered the variations of Benevalete known at that time. Pflugk-Harttung developed this typology in his later work "The Bulls of the Popes up to the End of the Twelfth Century", in which he considered the monogram along with other features of the papal documents such as rota, initials, lead bulls and font. Some researchers criticized this work because, in their opinion, the author did not pay enough attention to the illustrations and the more precise explanation of the typological principle.

The interpretation of the papal monogram as BENE VALETE remains a reason for scientific discussion to this day. Peter Rück , who mainly dealt with imperial and royal documents, criticized the traditional content of the monogram. He claimed that it was supposed to be a puzzle that could not prove so easily readable. In making this claim, the researcher relied on the " Etymologiae " of Isidore of Seville . Rück proposed his own tender for the papal sign. The monogram of Pope Leo IX. was read by him as IUBILATE .

The supporters of the "Bene valete" dissolution of the monogram accused Peter Rück of ignoring the letter "N", the framework that remained uniform for the characters from different times. They pointed out that the monogram was more often reproduced as BENE VALETE literally or in ligatures in some medieval sources ( Alberich von Montecassino , Johannes Anglicus ) and in the traces of copyists and forgers.

Development of the monogram

From 1049 to 1077

Statue of Pope Leo IX. in Dagsburg

In 1049, Pope Leo IX. a new monogram. The large N served as its scaffolding . The B was placed at the upper end of the left monogram shaft. Immediately below it sat the diagonal of the N, which ended at the foot of the right monogram shaft. An A was formed between the left N- shaft and the sloping beam , with the horizontal line directed from the left representing the transverse beam of the last one. At the lower left end of the shaft by a further horizontal bar either as part of was E or foot bars of L could see. The right shaft bore two letters E and T , which were merged into a ligature: the upper end of the shaft was formed by the crossbar of the T, in the middle and below two horizontal lines branched off, the latter of which also turned out to be the lower shaft of the L. could. There was no separate V or U . This letter was placed in the angle from the sloping beam and the second shaft.

The basic form described remained mostly unchanged during this time, but different scribes had their own typical characteristics in the form of the Benevalete. Under Pope Leo IX. the monogram had an upright rectangular design with the pronounced B, whose lower arch obviously protruded. The individual bars were drawn with irregular condensation, which corresponded to the places where several letters met. The benevalete in the documents of Alexander II (1061-1073), which was represented in Capitalis rustica instead of Capitalis quadrata , tilted to the left. The B only hung with the upper bow on the left shaft. The end of its lower arch merged into the sloping beam from the N without touching the first N shaft.

The first stage in the development of Benevalete was characterized by the fact that the use of the monogram in the papal documents was relatively modest. Under Alexander II and Gregory VII (1073-1085) the Rota played the role of a papal sign. Starting in 1077, the Benevalete went out of use for a decade.

From 1088 to 1198

The Benevalete appeared again in the documents of Urban II. (1088-1099). Under this Pope, the monogram was distinguished by the diversity of its shape. This was shown in the use of multiple fonts. The urban Roman scribes used curials in their work , the scribes outside the city of Rome attached greater importance to minuscules .

The breadth of variation of the Benevalete also depended on the people involved who influenced its design. In the first years of the pontificate of Urban II, the form of Benevalete prevailed, which came from the hand of the papal prosignator and chancellor John of Gaeta . The difference to the original monogram of Leo IX. was that two other letters were placed on the right shaft. Under the upper T-bar, to the left of the shaft, there is a curved A and a small spur-like line. The last one could be interpreted as a U or a V. The letter E appeared with three separate crossbars on both N-shafts. It cannot be overlooked that he was in a dominant position compared to B. This was formed in the upper half of the E. The diagonal shifted to the upper end of the left shaft and passed through the B, at the same time it hit the second main shaft over its foot. Over time, the tradition of John of Gaeta experienced a different development that prevailed in the 12th century. The A was placed in the center under the sloping beam.

The clerk Lanfranc belonged to the chancellery of Paschal II (1099–1118) . He took over the type of monogram from Johannes von Gaeta, but moved the A under the diagonal next to the left shaft. The crossbar from A had a V-shaped angle. The monogram was characterized by strong vertical and thinner horizontal lines and was decorated with dots and dash-dot patterns.

The monograms of Skriniar Petrus come from the years 1094–1100 . Their framework was provided with the widely spaced parallel lines, excluding the top and foot beams of the shafts. According to the trend shown by Lanfranc, the B continued to recede. The VA ligature was formed by an additional horizontal line as a crossbar from the A below the diagonal .

Since the year 1102 the diversity of the Benevalete increased. The changes concerned the size and shape of the frame, the representation of individual letters and decorative motifs. The broad spectrum was offered by several employees of the papal chancellery.

The period after 1111 was marked by the greater unity. The reason for this was the dissolution of the papal chancellery from the vicinity of Rome. The fewer scribes were involved in the work, which can also be inferred from the smaller number of different monograms that were used under a pope. Under Pope Honorius II (1124–1130), the Benevalete got a narrower and higher design, a double-line structure and tooth-like decoration. In the documents of Innocent II (1130–1143) the monograms can be seen with a curved A-leg and knot as connecting elements at the connection points of the shafts. The Benevalete under Eugene III. (1145–1153) had many floral motifs and a straight crossbar from the A.

For the next four decades there are few examples of the type of monogram used. Julius von Pflugk-Harttung believed that he would not find any new types of Benevalete during this time. The successors of Eugen III. followed on from the earlier tradition. The monogram of Pope Lucius III. (1181–1185) corresponds to the basis that comes back to John of Gaeta and reflects the innovations of Innocent II and Eugene III. The floral motif was only expanded here.

Development after 1198

At the end of the 12th century there was a tendency to put the Benevalete out of use. The preparation of the papal charter required a great deal of effort and high costs. For this reason, the bull soon received recognition in the church administration. This new type of papal charter, which did not contain complicated signatures and elaborate signs, replaced the traditional form of papal privilege from the 13th century.

The few examples that come from the period presented show, however, a further development of the Benevalete. In the later monograms, the A moves to the second shaft.

The benevalete in the documents of the archbishops and bishops

Around the middle of the 12th century, when most of the solemn privileges were issued by the papal chancellery, the archbishops and bishops included the Benevalete in their deeds. The episcopal monogram was characterized by a graphic approximation, in some cases direct adoption of the papal form. Since 1130 the monogram was used together with the rota, which emphasized the proximity to the papacy. In the late 12th century, some local traditions arose regarding the design of the Benevalete. A characteristic of these signs was that individual letters were represented more variably than in the papal documents. In some monograms the N-framework has been abandoned.

The monogram as a means of dating and its importance for recognizing forgeries

Thanks to its development over time, the Benevalete is used to date individual documents. Identifying the changes in the monogram with the pontificate of one or the other Pope makes the task of the document researcher easier. The diverse design of the Benevalete also helps identify counterfeits . The deviations from the original form as well as special decorations of the monogram cannot be evidence of inauthenticity. The renouncement of the N-framework or the inclusion of other letters, the size of individual components or the position in relation to the rota and the cardinal signatures play a larger role. Copies represent a special case: when a copy was made, no proportions with regard to the size and position of the Benevalete that appeared in the original were transferred. Many innovations made by the Pope or his scribes often remained unknown to a forger, and he stayed with the old model, which was no longer in use. This fact can also be considered a feature of a fake.

See also

literature

  • Otfried Krafft: Bene Valete. Development and typology of the monogram in documents of the Popes and other exhibitors since 1049 . Leipzig: Eudora-Verl., 2010, ISBN 978-3-938533-26-0 .
  • Otto Meyer, Renate Klauser (eds.): Clavis mediaevalis. Small dictionary of medieval research . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1962.
  • Johannes Carolus Conradus Oehlrichs: De siglo pontificali Bene Valete. Periculum novum diplomaticum cum LXVII figuris… , Stettin 1773.
  • Julius von Pflugk-Harttung (Ed.): Acta Pontificum Romanorum inedita. Documents of the Popes from 748 to 1198 , 1881–1886.
  • Gottfried von Bülow:  Oelrichs, Johann Karl Konrad . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 24, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, p. 318 f.
  • Julius von Pflugk-Harttung: The bulls of the popes up to the end of the 12th century , 1901.
  • Peter Rück: The high medieval papal document as a medium of contemporary aesthetics , in: Erika Eisenlohr; Peter Worm, work from the Marburg auxiliary science institute, 2000 (Elementa diplomatica, 8).
  • Peter Rück (Ed.): Graphic symbols in medieval documents , 1996 (historical auxiliary sciences, 3).
  • Victor Gardthausen: The old monogram , 1924.
  • Irmgard Fees, Andreas Hedwig et al. (Ed.), Papal documents of the early and high Middle Ages. External features. Preservation. Restoration , Leipzig 2011, ISBN 978-3-938533-27-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Krafft, Otfried: Bene Valete: Development and typology of the monogram in documents of the popes and other exhibitors since 1049 , Leipzig 2010, p. 157f.
  2. ↑ Note 2 in: Krafft, Otfried, The monogrammatic final greeting (Bene Valete). About methodical problems to gain historical-diplomatic knowledge , in: Fees, Irmgard, Hedwig, Andreas et al. (Eds.), Papal documents of the early and high Middle Ages. External features. Preservation. Restoration , Leipzig 2011, p. 210.
  3. ^ Stefan Weiss:  Pflugk-Harttung, Julius Albert Georg von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 20, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-00201-6 , p. 358 f. ( Digitized version ).
  4. ↑ Krafft, Bene Valete , p. 14.
  5. ↑ Krafft, final greeting , p. 213.
  6. ↑ Krafft, Bene Valete , p 21; See also the digitized image in the photo archive of older original documents from the Philipps University of Marburg .
  7. ↑ Digitization of the image in the photo archive of older original documents of the Philipps University of Marburg ; see. Krafft, Bene valete , p. 23.
  8. ↑ Digitization of the image in the photo archive of older original documents of the Philipps University of Marburg ; see. Krafft, Bene valete , p. 26.
  9. ↑ Krafft, Bene valete , p. 28.
  10. ^ S. Digitized image in the photo archive of older original documents of the Philipps University of Marburg .
  11. ↑ Digitization of the image in the photo archive of older original documents of the Philipps University of Marburg ; see. Krafft, Bene valete , p. 39.
  12. ↑ Krafft, Bene valete , p. 45.
  13. ↑ Digitization of the image in the photo archive of older original documents of the Philipps University of Marburg .
  14. ↑ For an example see the monogram by the scribe Johannes (1100-1112), which only showed the ligatures BN and TE . ( Digitization of the image in the photo archive of older original documents from the Philipps University of Marburg ); see. Krafft, Bene valete , p. 48.
  15. ↑ Krafft, final greeting , p. 243f.
  16. ↑ Digitization of the image in the photo archive of older original documents of the Philipps University of Marburg ; see. Krafft, Benevalete , pp. 68ff.
  17. ↑ Digitization of the image in the photo archive of older original documents of the Philipps University of Marburg ; see. Krafft, Bene valete , p. 82f.
  18. ↑ Digitization of the image in the photo archive of older original documents of the Philipps University of Marburg .
  19. ↑ Krafft, Bene valete , p. 98.
  20. ↑ Krafft, Bene valete , p. 151.
  21. ↑ Krafft, Bene valete , p. 150.
  22. ↑ Krafft, final greeting , p. 245.

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