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Anonymous: Electio Widonis Regis

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This document records the election of Guy (Wido) of Spoleto as king of Italy by the bishops assembled at Pavia. It consists of the chapters of the election and the decree itself. The bishops explain that after terrible wars and disasters brought on the province by their sins, King Guy, their lord, having subdued his enemies, now governed the kingdom in peace. Meeting in the palace at Pavia with his consent, they resolved to impose penance on those guilty of murders, sacrileges and plunder, and to restrain such crimes in future by pastoral provision and royal help. The first chapter prays that the holy Roman Church may keep its status and honour.

Further chapters regulate the conduct of the king’s followers: those in royal service are to serve peacefully without plunder, those who come to assemblies are to buy what they need at a fair price, and those who harbour foreign raiders are to bring them to justice or make amends for them. The decree shows the attempt of a new king and the Italian episcopate to restore order after the struggles that followed the end of Carolingian rule in Italy, in which Guy contended with Berengar for the crown. It is a valuable source for royal legislation and church-state cooperation in late ninth-century Italy.

About this edition. The Latin text comes from Corpus Corporum, the Latin text repository of the University of Zurich (edition: Jacques-Paul Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 138, Parisiis 1853), reused with attribution for non-commercial purposes (CC BY-NC-SA). Every word has been analyzed with LatinCy, a neural language model for Latin — click or tap any word for its dictionary form, part of speech, and complete morphology, together with the full entry from Lewis & Short’s A Latin Dictionary.

Latin · Law
Electio Widonis Regis
Anonymous · Electionis Capitula · every word parsed
1
Post bella horribilia cladesque nefandissimas, que meritis facinorum nostrorum acciderunt huic prouincie, disponente iura regni huius cum tranquillitate, sopitis hostibus suis, insigni rege et seniore nostro Widone, in aula Ticinensi nos humiles episcopos ex diuersis partibus Papiae conuenientibus, pro ecclesiarum nostrarum ereptione et omnis christianitatis saluatione quae pene iam ad interitum desolationis inclinata erat, annuente nobis eodem principe in uno congregati sumus collegio, ea uidelicet ratione, ut his per quos homicidia, sacrilegia, rapine, et cetera facinora perpetrata erant, dignam penitentiam ad capiendam salutem, subtractis eis a male cepto negotio, per ueram confessionem Deo adiuuante imponeremus; ac ne ulterius tantum nefas excrescere aut uires sumere ualeret, pastorali prouisione et auxilio regio compescendum decreuimus.
1·2
In primis oramus, optamus operamque damus, ut mater nostra sancta Romana ecclesia in statu et honore suo cum omnibus priuilegiis et auctoritatibus, sicut ab antiquis et modernis imperatoribus atque regibus sublimata est, ita habeatur, teneatur, et perhenniter custodiatur illesa. Nefas est enim, ut hec quae totius corporis ecclesiae caput est, et confugium atque releuatio infirmantium, a quoquam temere propulsari uexariue permittatur, presertim cum sanitas ipsius nostrorum omnium sit salubritas. Ipse quoque summus pontifex a cunctis principibus et christiani nominis cultoribus digno semper ueneretur honore, debitaque precellat reuerentia.
Singulorum episcoporum ecclesiae cum suis priuilegiis et possessionibus tam interioribus quam exterioribus inconuulse et incorrupte, absque aliqua sui deminoratione uel quorumlibet prauorum hominum iniusta uexatione permaneant, sicut praecepta regum et imperatorum sibi collata continent. Rectoresque earum libere pontificalem exerceant potestatem, tam in disponendis ecclesiasticis negotiis, quam in comprimendis legis Dei transgressoribus uniuersis.
Sancimus etiam, ut neque in episcopatibus neque in abbatiis uel in senedochiis aut ullis Deo sacratis locis, ulla uiolentia aut nouae conditionis grauamina imponantur, sed secundum antiquam consuetudinem omnes in suo statu suoque priuilegio perpetuo maneant.
Ut sacerdotum omnium et ministrorum Christi unusquisque in suo ordine condigno ueneretur honore et reuerentia, et cum omnibus rebus ecclesiasticis ac familiis ad se pertinentibus sub potestate proprii episcopi quietus et inconcussus permaneat, salua ecclesiastica disciplina.
5
Plebei homines et uniuersi ecclesiae filii libere suis utantur legibus. Ex parte publica, ultra quam legibus sancitum est, ab eis non exigatur, nec uiolenter opprimantur; quod si factum fuerit, legaliter per comitem ipsius loci emendetur, si suo uoluerit deinceps potiri honore; si uero ipse neglexerit, uel fecerit, aut facienti prebuerit assensum, a loci episcopo usque ad dignam satisfactionem excommunicatus habeatur.
Palatini qui in regio morantur obsequio, pacifice sine depredatione regi deseruiant, suis contenti stipendiis.
Hi uero qui tempore placiti diuersis ex partibus conueniunt, nullam pertranseuntes in uillis seu ciuitatibus rapinam exerceant, sibi necessaria antiqua consuetudine digno pretio ementes.
Quicumque ab exteris prouinciis aduentantes, depredationes atque rapinas infra regnum hoc exercere presumunt, hi cum quibus morantur, aut ad audientiam eos adducant aut pro eis emendent, neque eos ulterius in talibus ausis sua potestate defendere audeant; quod si fecerint, inter excommunicatos habeantur quousque resipiscant.
Preterea quia gloriosus rex Wido dignatus est nobis promittere, conseruaturus se prescripta capitula necessitate non minima confecta et quae in eis continentur, curam habens, Deo inspirante, suae nostraeque salutis, sicut apertis inditiis iam demonstrat; ideo nobis omnibus complacuit, eligere illum in regem et seniorem atque defensorem, quatinus amodo et deinceps, illo nos secundum regale ministerium gubernante, singuli nostrum in suo ordine oboedientes et adiutores pro posse existamus illi ad suam regnique sui saluationem.
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Text: Perseus Digital Library, licensed CC BY-SA. Dictionary: Lewis & Short (Perseus, CC BY-SA). Morphology: LatinCy — machine parsing, corrected against the AGDT & PROIEL treebanks and Morpheus.
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