Glossary

Arenga

Religiously charged justification for the issuance of the charter, part of the context

Sometimes artistically elongated, extra-long letters with a line-joining and great solemn effect, found predominantly in the so-called diplomatic minuscule, a special solemn script for charters, which served as an authenticating feature especially in the early and high Middle Ages.

Bailiwick

Multiple meanings: 1) Right of the bailiff as judicial representative of an ecclesiastical institution, 2) Term for a lower jurisdiction district, 3) Imperial estates in Franconia, Swabia and Alsace combined and reorganised into bailiwicks by King Rudolf of Habsburg (born 1218, ruled 1273-1291) and presided over by a bailiff

Bull

Term for both a seal made of metal, usually lead or gold, and the charter to which such a seal is or was attached

Chrismon

Graphic invocation to God in the form of a capital "C" or a cross at the beginning of the protocol, especially common in the early and high Middle Ages

Coat of arms letter

Document by which a person or institution receives or is assigned its own coat of arms

Consolatory letter

Deed issued by the debtor to the creditor for the money borrowed

Context

Main part of a charter

Corroboration

A notice of the means by which the charter was authenticated at the end of the context, usually the affixing of one or more seals to the charter

Diploma

Synonym for charter

Eschatocol

Closing of the charter, including the corroboration, the date and, where appropriate, signatures, graphic symbols and a monogram

Feud

Legitimate means of enforcing one’s own law by force, limited and structured by sets of rules, in the late Middle Ages increasingly countered and legally delegitimised by alliances and public peace orders; controversially discussed in research

Fiefdom

Rights, offices or estates granted by the feudal lord to a vassal for use for an unlimited period of time and burdened with duties, which could be inherited and sold by the feudal lord for an unlimited period of time and only reverted to the lord after relinquishment or in the case of no heirs; controversially discussed in research as a system

Illumination

Artistic paintings in manuscripts and documents

Imperial estate

Material goods, lands and possessions such as buildings, land and towns originally belonging to the ruler alone by virtue of his office to cover financial expenses, transferred to ecclesiastical and secular rulers in the course of the Middle Ages, pledged or raised to the status of imperial cities

Imperial city

An autonomous city directly subordinate to the empire alone

Interdict

Punishment imposed by an ecclesiastical dignitary, prohibiting any ecclesiastical activity, including receiving and administering the sacraments, in a certain area or in the presence of a certain person (from Latin interdictio: "prohibition, ban")

Intitulatio

The title and name of the ruler issuing the charter

littera elongata

Specially elongated script, also called Gothic script, used especially in the early and high Middle Ages to emphasise the invocatio (invocation of God) and intitulatio as well as the recognition and signum line, serves as an authenticating feature

Mandate (littera)

Written order by the issuer of the document to the recipient(s)

Monogram

Graphic symbol consisting of the individual letters of the name (and, if applicable, the title) of the issuer of the charter, part of the eschatocol in use above all in the early and high Middle Ages, serves as an authenticating feature

Oath of truce

Written oath, from the late Middle Ages onwards usually in the form of a document, which includes the renunciation of a feud and is usually taken at the end of a conflict or after release from prison

Patrician

Upper-class families resident in the city and often endowed with special rights, who have aspired to a noble lifestyle since the late Middle Ages

Prince-Bishopric

Secular domain of bishops in the Middle Ages and early modern period

Protocol

Introductory part of the charter, includes an invocation to God where appropriate and always the intitulatio and usually the naming of the recipient(s)

Recognition line

Line usually written in "littera elongata" with the authentication (Latin recognitio) of the charter by the (arch)chaplain or (arch)chancellor of the usually royal/imperial issuer, common part of the eschatocol, especially in the Early and High Middle Ages, serves as an authenticating feature

Royal prerogative/Sovereign rights

Intangible rights originally belonging to the ruler alone, such as mining and the protection of Jews, transferred or pledged to ecclesiastical and secular rulers in the course of the Middle Ages

Secret seal

Originally used as a secret, closure, back or control seal and from the late Middle Ages sometimes used independently for authentications of legal transactions of lesser importance

Serfdom

People in a personal dependent relationship with a lord, villeins, bound to a court in the royal prerogative and obliged to drudgery and duties

Servitude to the chamber

In the High Middle Ages, the legal status of the Jews in the empire was formulated as "servi camerae imperatoris" (German: Kammerknechtschaft), through which they were guaranteed freedoms, property and life in return for high taxes, also lent or sold as a royal prerogative to ecclesiastical and secular rulers and cities

Signum line

Line usually written in "littera elongata" with the sign (Latin signum) in the form of the issuer’s monogram, usually royal/imperial, a common part of the eschatocol, especially in the early and high Middle Ages, serves as an authenticating feature

Throne dispute (1314-1322/25)

Conflict over the crown of the Holy Roman Empire following the double election of the Wittelsbach Ludwig and the Habsburg Friedrich the Fair, from which Ludwig emerged victorious after the Battle of Mühldorf in 1322; from 1325 (only superficially) joint rule in a dual kingship

Vidimus

A copy of an earlier charter issued mainly by ecclesiastical dignitaries and institutions, inserted into a frame text, derived from the Latin conjugated verb vidimus ("we have seen"), which is only replaced as the sole and determining form of issuing authenticated copies when the notary’s office becomes common during the course of the 14th/15th century