Domnolus, bishop of Le Mans, grants property to a basilica of *Vincent (deacon and martyr of Zaragoza and Valencia, S00290) in Le Mans (north-west Gaul), and tells how he had brought relics of the saint to the city. Charter written in Latin in Le Mans, dated 6 March 572.
E08327
Documentary texts - Donation document
Documentary texts - Charter or diploma
Charter of Domnolus of Le Mans, 572:
Domnolus, bishop of Le Mans, records how he had brought relics of saint Vincent to Le Mans, and now wishes to make a gift in honour of the same saint:
Cum pro salute populi vel custodiam civitatis reliquias d[omin]i ac venerabilis sancti Vincenti martiris intercedente presumptione ausi fuerimus deferre cum Dei audjutorio ... Dono ergo in ipsius domni Vincentii honorem donatum esse volumus ...
'Since, for the safety of the people and the protection of the city, we were bold enough with God's help to bring here relics of the venerable saint Vincent the martyr ... Therefore I give, and wish to be given, in honour of the same Lord Vincent ... '
There follows a list of the rural properties and named slaves that Domnolus gives, and an injunction that no-one, whether bishop or anyone else, should ever 'seek to take them away from the control of that same church' (de dominationem basilice ipsius abstrahere voluerit), with the threat of incurring the ill-will of Jesus Christ and 'of all the holy martyrs' (omnium sanctorum martirum).
Text: Havet 1896, 417-20.
Summary and translation: Bryan Ward-Perkins.
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivitySaint as patron - of a community
RelicsUnspecified relic
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Transfer/presence of relics from distant countries
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
The text of this charter (as well as that of Domnolus' second charter, E08328) is known only through it being reproduced in two ninth-century histories written in Le Mans, the Deeds of the bishops of Le Mans (Actus pontificum Cenomannis in urbe degentium) and the Gesta Aldrici. The Actus and Gesta were compiled to justify the claims of the ninth-century bishops of Le Mans to extensive properties and rights. They quote in full 86 royal, episcopal or private charters, including this one. Many of these documents are obvious forgeries, while others, almost certainly containing a genuine core, have clearly been altered and interpolated to favour the ninth-century bishops' claims. The charters relating to Domnolus' foundation dedicated to saint Vincent are, however, accepted by modern scholarship as substantially authentic.For a full introduction to the Actus and the texts it purports to quote, see Goffart 1966; and for a detailed argument in favour of the authenticity of Domnolus' charters, see Havet 1896, 307-17.
Discussion
For the career of Domnolus, to whom Gregory of Tours in his Histories attributed the power to effect miracles (E02183), see Pietri and Heijmans 2013, 588-90, 'Domnolus 2'. In his later grant to this church (E08328), we learn that the church was also dedicated to a second deacon and martyr, Laurentius of Rome, though this appellation does not seem to have stuck. There is no indication of what the relics of Vincent consisted.Bibliography
Edition and discussion:Havet, J., 'Les actes des évêques du Mans', in J. Havet, Oeuvres de Julien Havet (1853-1893), I Questions Mérovingiennes, Paris 1896, 271-445; Latin text at 416-20 (Appendice I).
Further reading:
Pietri, L. and Heijmans, M., Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 4 Prosopographie de la Gaule chrétienne (314-614), 2 vols. (Paris 2013).
Bryan Ward-Perkins
02/09/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00290 | Vincentius/Vincent, deacon and martyr of Zaragoza and Valencia | Vincentius | Certain |
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Bryan Ward-Perkins, Cult of Saints, E08327 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E08327