bavarikon4UDescription
By the second half of the 12th century, the Aschaffenburg collegiate monastery of St. Peter and Alexander had developed into the spiritual and economic centre in the area of what is now the Bavarian Lower Main and the neighbouring region. One important source, where the monastery’s outstanding position is impressively reflected, is a document issued on 21 December 1184 in Verona by Pope Lucius III (ruled 1181-1185). In it he takes Provost Wortwin and the canons of Aschaffenburg into apostolic protection, decrees the inviolability of the property mentioned by name as well as all other present and future property and confirms the old customs and rights. According to its internal and external characteristics, the parchment document sealed with a lead bull is a so-called "solemn privilege", the most elaborate and important type of papal document at that time. According to today’s knowledge, it is the oldest preserved compilation of the monastery’s property and includes both the chapter property and the provost’s refectory property as a complete list. However, not all of the associated places are also listed by name, since the terms curtis (demesne) and parochia (parish) also include the properties in neighbouring places or branches. Also unmentioned in the document are the goods and rights to properties which the monastery could not possess directly because they had been granted as fiefs.