Bruno I of Cologne, Saint: Diploma pro Monasterio Stabulensi

This charter was issued by Bruno, archbishop of Cologne (953–965), brother of the emperor Otto I, not by the later founder of the Carthusians whose name it shares in the catalogue. Bruno records that Werinfrid, abbot of the twin monasteries of Stavelot and Malmedy, which were under the archbishop’s protection, asked him to confirm an exchange of property he had made with Count Werner. A villa called Baldau near Stavelot, belonging to the count, was being sought by another count, Siegfried, whose supporters were pressing the archbishop, and the abbot sought to prevent this by arranging the exchange.

The document shows the archbishop’s role as protector of the great monasteries of Lotharingia, a role Bruno exercised as both churchman and duke under his brother the emperor. It also illustrates the competition of local nobles for monastic lands and the way abbots used exchanges and episcopal confirmation to secure their estates. Though short, it is a useful source for the history of Stavelot-Malmedy and for the Ottonian church in the mid-tenth century.