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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


A charter issued by Agerad, bishop of Chartres (northern Gaul), records his grant of privileges to a monastery on the Loire river, founded by Sadreberctana (the mother of Agerad's predecessor), dedicated to *Mary (mother of Christ, S00033) and other saints. Written in Latin in Gaul, 6 March 696.

Evidence ID

E08403

Type of Evidence

Documentary texts - Charter or diploma

Late antique original manuscripts - Parchment sheet

ChLA XIV, 580 (excerpts)

]cum consenso filio domno Deodato, condam antecessori nostro, ipsius urbis episcopo, et plurimorum ponteficium uel sacerdotum, afflante s(an)c(t)o spiritu, sacro monastirio in rem proprietatis suae, in loco nuncup[anti ] [in]fra ipso muro super fluuium Legeris, in honore s(an)c(t)ae Mariae semper uirginis uel citerorum s(an)c(t)orum, suo opere aedificauit et de rebus ditauit, et ipsum uener(abili) uiro Chrotchario diacono per suam e[pistolam ]s firmauit, ut ibidem monachus, qui sub s(an)c(t)o ordine uita theorica sub ordine caenubitale degentis conuersare diberent, ibidem intromittere diberit, et ipsi ispo monastirio in onus abb[atis] [ ]uit cui ipsum se uiuentem sub se aut post suum dicessum instituerit. Et, dum nos ipsum deuotissimum in hoc opus d(omi)no famulare perpseximus, ideo uoluntat(e) plenissima hoc sacros(an)c(tu)m priuilegium [un]a cum consensum fratrum nostrorum et conciulum seniorum, indulsomu[s t]aliter ut liciat s(an)c(t)a congregacion(i) seruorum d(e)i in ipso monastirio constitutum, quieto ordine, sine oppression(e) cuiuslibet [pon]teficium uel Carnoteno urbis ep(iscop)p seu et clericorum, sine insolencia iuuenum saeculariu(m), quieti uiuere [...] Illud eis pre[terea a]uctoritatis nostra ponteficalis concessit, ut null(us) de successoribus nostris, nec archidiaconus, nec uicem domini, nec missi clerici uel laici discurrentis, in ipsius monastirii [ ]esens, ex conlacion(e) praedicta Sadreberctan(e), tenire uel dominae uidentur [...] Annum II, secundo, regnum dom(n)i no(str)i Childeberctji, glorr' regis, Captonaco, publicae. [Datum quod] fec(it) mens(is) marcius, dies sex [...]

'<
First line of parchment missing> with the consent of her son, the Lord Deodatus, formerly bishop of this city, our predecessor, and many bishops and priests, moved by the Holy Spirit, she built by her own work a sacred monastery on her property, in the place which is called <words missing>, within the walls, over the Loire river, in honour of the holy perpetual virgin Mary, and other saints, and she enriched it with her properties, and she confirmed this to that venerable man, the deacon Chrotcharius through her document <words missing>, so that he might plant in that same place monks, who ought to dwell according to the spiritual life, under a coenobitic order, and in that monastery the burden of abbot <words missing> established there while she was living, and after her death. And since we have contemplated serving this great act of devotion in the Lord, we have, for this reason, most willingly granted this sacrosanct privilege, with the consent of our brothers and counsel of our elders, so that this holy congregation of servants of God established in this monastery should live peacefully, without any oppression from the bishop of the city of Chartres, or the clerics, and without the insolence of worldly young men... And this our pontifical authority moreover grants to them: that none of our successors, nor any archdeacon, deputy, lay or clerical emissary, should, in this monastery, be seen to hold or exercise lordship over <words missing> from what was granted by the aforesaid Sadreberctana... Given in the second year of the reign of our lord, the most glorious King Childebert (III), publicly at Captonaco, on the sixth day of March...'


Text: Atsma and Vezin 1982, 26-31.
Translation: B. Savill.

Cult Places

Cult building - monastic

Non Liturgical Activity

Construction of cult buildings
Awarding privileges to cult centres

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Women
Family
Ecclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Ecclesiastics - abbots
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Aristocrats

Source

This charter survives as an original parchment manuscript (605 x 360 mm), now Paris, Archives nationales, K 3 n. 11.

Discussion

This is the only pre-700 Gallic episcopal privilege still extant as an original manuscript, although we have a number of comparable documents in later copies (see E06246). The text is not intact, meaning the loss of some key pieces of information, including the location of the monastery concerned. If - as it at least appears from this manuscript, whose Latin is frequently imperfect - Sadreberctana's foundation was not primarily for women monastics, then it is relatively unusual for Gaul at this time that the site was principally dedicated to Mary.

Bibliography

Editions
H. Atsma and J. Vezin, Chartae Latinae Antiquiores XIV. France II (Zurich, 1982), no. 580.

Chartes originales antérieures à 1121 conservées en France, no. 4475, online at http://telma.irht.cnrs.fr/outils/originaux/charte4475/


Record Created By

Benjamin Savill

Date of Entry

21/02/2023

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00033Mary, Mother of ChristMariaCertain
S00518Saints, unnamedciteri sanctiCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Benjamin Savill, Cult of Saints, E08403 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E08403