Document inscription of the Speyer Cathedral

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The document inscription of the Speyer Cathedral contains the oldest imperial liberty privilege of the city of Speyer . It dates from August 7th and 14th, 1111. Henry V granted the townspeople financial and legal privileges.

background

After Pope Paschal II had lifted the excommunication of Heinrich IV , his body was buried on August 7, 1111 in the choir of the Speyer Cathedral. On this occasion, Heinrich's son, Heinrich V, granted the Speyer citizens a privilege. The process was completed seven days later, on August 14, 1111. The assumption that there were two documents is erroneous.

content

The first part of the privilege freed the citizens of the city of Speyer from the so-called Budeil and granted them free inheritance and right of disposal over their property. In return, they were ordered to meet at the annual memorial of Henry IV for the vigil and mass and to give bread for each house as alms for the poor.

The second part of the certificate exempted the inhabitants from every duty that had previously been paid in the city, such as ban pfennig , lap pfennig and pepper duty. In addition, no customs duties should be paid within the diocese and no charges should be levied on goods that were transported by ship. In order to change the alloying of the coins , the consent of the citizens was required from now on. The burgrave was forbidden to touch the property of the population, to sell the banned wine and to confiscate ships of the inhabitants for gentlemen's services without their consent. In addition, no resident of Speyer should have to submit to a court outside the city.

Lore

The inscription on the document has not been preserved. However, the wording can be reconstructed from several copies. It is not known when exactly the inscription was destroyed. In 1137 there was a fire in the city, in 1159 and 1289 the cathedral burned. In 1429 the inscriptions were renewed, but the great city fire destroyed them completely in 1450. Another version was created after 1450, the wording differing from the earlier versions.

The oldest copy comes from the Codex minor Spirensis from the year 1281. The wording of the text corresponds to the Vidimus of the notaries Johannes Pusillus from Basel and Konrad Vischelin from Bruchsal from April 1, 1340, which according to their own statements was taken directly from the inscription . This copy was lost in World War II .

layout

The inscription was in gold letters on the west facade of the cathedral above the portal. Historical research assumes that the first section was positioned on the left, the second on the right, and in the middle Corroboratio and dating . A picture of Henry V, which took on the function of authentication instead of a seal , was attached below or above.

meaning

The document inscription of the Speyer Cathedral formed the basis of the municipal rights and identity of Speyer. The benefits also applied to new residents, which probably led to an increase in the population. Overall, the economic situation of the residents, especially the merchants, improved, as no tax contributions had to be paid. The political importance of the bourgeoisie also grew through the pronounced legal guarantees.

The privilege was confirmed by Friedrich Barbarossa in 1182 with reference to the inscription. Extracts with the extensions of the rights from Frederick's privilege were probably added in 1408 to the original inscription under Heinrich's picture.

Heinrich V, on the other hand, looked after the memory of his father on the one hand, and on the other hand he erected his own memorial monument with his portrait. The granting of liberties was linked to the memory of the Salic dynasty . This underlines the outstanding importance of the citizens for the emperor.

The Speyrer inscription occupies a prominent position among the document inscriptions, as it is the original version. There was no parchment copy.

The decision to grant the privilege in the form of a document inscription ensured that it was publicly available. Although the text of the document was in Latin, some key terms such as Budeil, Bannpfennig, Schoßpfennig and Bannwein were also given in the vernacular. They thus acted as a reminder to keep the content present.

Edition

literature

  • Wolfgang Müller: Document inscriptions of the German Middle Ages . Kallmünz 1975 (Munich Historical Studies. Department of Historical Auxiliary Sciences, edited by PeterAcht, 13) pp. 23–26, 43–48 No. 2.
  • Sebastian Scholz : The document inscriptions in Speyer (1111), Worms (1184) and Mainz (1135). Function and meaning. In: Exhibition catalog Die Salier - Macht im Wandel, Munich 2011, pp. 163–165.
  • Sebastian Scholz: The document inscriptions of Emperor Heinrich V for Speyer from the year 1111. With text edition and translation. In: Exhibition catalog Die Salier - Macht im Wandel, Munich 2011, pp. 167–175.
  • Stefan Weinfurter : Salic understanding of rule in transition. Heinrich V and his privilege for the citizens of Speyer In: Frühmittelalterliche Studien Volume / Volume, No. 36, 2002, pp. 317–335. ISSN  1613-0812

Remarks

  1. ↑ [RIplus] Regg. Heinrich V. n.90 , in: Regesta Imperii Online. (Accessed October 28, 2017).
  2. ↑ Scholz: The document inscriptions of Emperor Heinrich V for Speyer from 1111, p. 166.
  3. ↑ Müller, document inscriptions p. 23ff.
  4. ^ Scholz: The document inscriptions of Emperor Heinrich V for Speyer from the year 1111, pp. 169–171.
  5. ^ Weinfurter: Salic understanding of rule in transition. Heinrich V and his privilege for the citizens of Speyer, p. 317.
  6. ↑ Müller, document inscriptions p. 23
  7. ↑ Scholz: The document inscriptions of Emperor Heinrich V for Speyer from 1111, p. 166.
  8. ^ Weinfurter: Salic understanding of rule in transition. Heinrich V and his privilege for the citizens of Speyer, p. 318.
  9. ^ Scholz: The document inscriptions of Emperor Heinrich V for Speyer from the year 1111, p. 169.
  10. ↑ D FI 827 ; RI IV, 2,4 n.2659 , in: Regesta Imperii Online (accessed October 30, 2017).
  11. ↑ Müller: Document inscriptions p. 67-69 No. 10.
  12. ↑ Scholz: The document inscriptions of Emperor Heinrich V for Speyer from the year 1111, p. 172.