Vermandois

III. (A. 3.) — 974, 6 mars, Angers. — CHARTE PAR LAQUELLE LA COMTESSE ADÈLE FAIT DON A SAINT-AUBIN DE SES DOMAINES HÉRÉDITAIRES ET DE TOUS SES ACQUÊTS. (Original avec croix autographes aux Archives de Maine-et-Loire, H. 100, 73.)
Carta donationis quam fecit Adela, Andegavensis comitissa, Sancto Albino de curte que nominatur Undanis villa, in pago Belvacensi, et de Insula Montis, prope civitatem Andecavam, cum capella Sancti Hilarii et de ecclesia de Regina et de ecclesia Alodos et de quinque arpennis vinee in prospectu civitatis Andecave¹.
Cum pervigiles nos obitus nostri adventum expectare jubeat Dominus tunc potissimum vigilare debemus quando nobis vicinius imminere mortem cognoscimus. Idcirco in Evangelio hortatur et incertam horam sui adventus demonstrat cum dicit: « Videte, vigilate, quoniam nescitis qua hora Dominus veniet ». Precavendum est igitur; et, ut Sapientia dicit: « Quodcumque possumus in Dei servitio et pro ejus amore agendum; quia post mortem nemo in infernum confitebitur Domino, nec locus bona operandi restabit; sed quod quisque ad presens executus fuerit, illic certam recipiet vicissitudinem sive boni sive mali ».
Quapropter ego Adela, nequaquam meorum actuum confidentiam habens, sed in solius Dei misericordia totam spem et confidentiam ponens et sanctorum ejus suffragia deposcens, in extremis circumvallantibus angustiis constituta, ad ipsius Redemptoris Nostri pietatem et ejus dilectissimi antistitis Albini pre ceteris confugiens, res hereditarias mei juris quas vel a parentibus seu a seniore meo Gauzfredo comite adquirere potui, ipsi sancti confessori Albino contrado, sperans et pro certo credens, ut legitur: « Non habentes velamen amplexentur lapides, ipsius juvamine a peccatorum nexibus eripi et æterne vite remunerationem me posse promereri ».
Dono igitur illi curtem a parentibus traditam, sitam in pago Belvacinse, que vocatur Hundanis villa, cum terris cultis et incultis, villulis, mancipiis utriusque sexus, pratis, silvis, aquis aquarumque discursibus, molendinis, et cum duabus ecclesiis, unam in honore sanctae Dei genitricis Mariae constructam, alteram in honore sancti Aniani.
Quicquid ergo in jamdictam curtem habere visa sum quesitum et inquisitum totum pro anime meae remedio Sancto Albino trado atque condono.
Concedo etiam illi insulam, sitam in pago Andegavo, quam in dotalitium mihi senior contulit, venerandus scilicet comes Gauzfredus, que Mons vocatur, cum omnibus que ad eam pertinent, cum terris videlicet cultis et incultis, silvis, pratis, pischariis, mancipiis utriusque sexus, et cum capella in honore sancti Hylarii fabricata.
Condono namque jam sepius dicto confessori item aliam ecclesiam in pago Andegavo cum villula in qua fore conspicitur et cum mercato et vicaria, cum terris cultis et incultis, molendinis, aquis aquarumque discursibus, quae vocatur Peregrina, et cum omnibus que ad eam pertinent.
Simul ergo concedo prefixe Sancto Albino monachisque ibi Deo sedule obsecundantibus arpennos quinque et dimidium de vineis in prospectu Andegave civitatis, et cellarium in suburbio ejusdem, quatinus ejus adjuta precibus caelestis regni beatitudine frui merear cum sanctis omnibus.
Si quis vero fuerit ex parentibus meis val amicis, quod fieri non credo, si filius, vel filia hanc donationem contradicere temptaverit, in primis iram Dei omnipotentis et sancti Albini incurrat; deinde, judiciaria cogente potestate, auri libras centum multat, componat et quod repetit non evindicet; sed hec donatio inconvulsa omni tempore permaneat.
    Signum Gauzfredi comitis.
    Signum Fulconis, filii ejus.
    Signum Gauzfredi, filii ejus.
Ego Gauzfredus, assertor et roborator hujus donationis, notum esse volo omnibus quia in nostra confirmatione et fidelium nostrorum calumpnia ex supradicta ecclesia Peregrina et ea que ad ipsam pertinent orta est a quodam Raynardo, qui ad suum beneficium pertinere testatus est. Unde statuimus ut abbas jamdicti cœnobii Sancti Albini, Albertus nomine, ex suo libras quatuor argenti daret et, tam de ecclesia quam de mansulo quodam, Croiaco nomine, et omnibus que ad ipsam pertinent ut supra jam dictum est, supradictus Raynardus, cum consensu senioris sui, Odonis comitis, prefatam donationem firmam adsentiret.
Et ut haec donatio perhennem obtineat vigorem, statuimus censum annuatim solidos duos illi persolvere vel successoribus ejus, nec a prefato loco amplius requiratur.
Signum Raynardi calumpniatoris.
Signum Raynaldi, episcopi Andegavensis.
Signum Raynaldi vicecomitis, patris ejus.
Signum Sulpitii.
Signum Heriberti comitis.
Signum Gauzfredi vicecomitis.
Signum Harduini, episcopi Turonensis.
♱ Signum Odonis comitis, qui hanc donationem fieri jussit.
Data mense martio, anno vicesimo tertio regnante Lothario rege, in placito publico Andegavis civitatis,
Rotbertus scripsit et subscripsit.
Anno ab incarnatione Domini D CCCC LXXIIII, indictione I, II nonas supradicti mensis.
(1) On trouve des fragments de cette charte à la page 39 des Preuves de l’Histoire de la Maison de Vergy, de Du Chesne, et dans dom Morice (Preuves de l’Histoire de Bretagne, I, 349).

This roughly translates as:
III. (A. 3.) — 974, 6 March, Angers. — CHARTER BY WHICH COUNTESS ADELE DONATED HER INHERITED DOMAINS AND ALL HER ACQUISITIONS TO SAINT-AUBIN. (Original with autograph crosses in the Archives of Maine-et-Loire, H. 100, 73.)
A charter of donation made by Adela, countess of Anjou, to Saint Albinus of the court called Undanis villa, in the village of Belvaux, and of the Island of Monts, near the city of Anjou, with the chapel of Saint Hilary and the church of Regina and the church of Alodos and five acres of vineyard in the prospect of the city of Anjou¹.
When the Lord commands us to be vigilant in awaiting the coming of our death, we must be especially vigilant when we realize that death is approaching us. For this reason, in the Gospel, he exhorts us and shows the uncertain hour of his coming when he says: “Watch, watch, for you do not know at what hour the Lord will come.” We must therefore be careful; and, as Wisdom says: “Whatever we can do in the service of God and for his love, we must do; because after death no one will confess to the Lord in hell, nor will there be a place left for doing good; but whatever each one has done up to the present time, he will receive there a certain reward, whether good or evil.”
Therefore, I, Adela, by no means having confidence in my own actions, but placing all my hope and confidence in the mercy of God alone and asking for the prayers of his saints, placed in extreme surrounding distress, taking refuge above all else in the piety of our Redeemer himself and his most beloved bishop Albinus, I bequeath to the holy confessor Albinus the hereditary things of my right which I was able to acquire either from my parents or from my elder count Gauzfred, hoping and believing for certain, as it is written: "Without a veil let the stones embrace, that with his help I may be rescued from the bonds of sins and merit the reward of eternal life." Therefore, I give him a farmstead handed down by his parents, situated in the village of Belvain, which is called the Hundanis villa, with cultivated and uncultivated lands, hamlets, serfs of both sexes, meadows, forests, waters and watercourses, mills, and with two churches, one built in honor of the holy Mother of God Mary, the other in honor of Saint Anian.
Therefore, whatever I have been seen to have in the aforementioned farmstead, acquired and searched, I give and forgive entirely to Saint Albinus for the healing of my soul.
I also grant him an island, situated in the village of Anjou, which my elder brother, namely the venerable count Gauzfred, who is called the Mountain, gave to me as a dowry, with all that pertains to it, namely cultivated and uncultivated lands, forests, meadows, fisheries, serfs of both sexes, and with a chapel built in honor of Saint Hilary.
For I also grant to the confessor already mentioned another church in the village of Anjou, with a small village in which it is seen to be located, and with a market and a vicarage, with cultivated and uncultivated lands, mills, waters and watercourses, which is called Peregrina, and with all that pertains to it.
At the same time, therefore, I grant to Saint Albinus and the monks there who diligently obey God, five and a half acres of vineyards in the prospect of the city of Anjou, and a cellar in the suburb of the same, of which, with the help of his prayers, I may deserve to enjoy the bliss of the heavenly kingdom with all the saints.
If, however, any of my parents or friends, which I do not believe will happen, if a son or daughter attempts to contradict this donation, let him first incur the wrath of Almighty God and Saint Albinus; then, by the coercive power of the judiciary, let him fine himself one hundred pounds of gold, make amends, and not enforce what he repeats; but let this donation remain unshaken at all times.
    Sign of Count Gauzfred.
    Sign of Fulk, his son.
    Sign of Gausfred, his son.
I Gausfred, assertor and reinforcer of this donation, want it to be known to all that in our confirmation and that of our faithful, the calumny of the aforementioned church of Peregrine and that which pertains to it arose from a certain Raynard, who testified that it pertained to his benefice. Wherefore we decree that the abbot of the aforementioned monastery of Saint Albinus, Albert by name, should give four pounds of silver from his own money and, both for the church and for a certain manse, Croiac by name, and for all that pertains to it as has been said above, the aforementioned Raynard, with the consent of his senior, Count Odo, should assent to the aforementioned donation.
And that this donation may have lasting force, we decree that an annual tax of two solidi be paid to him or his successors, and that no further demand be made from the aforementioned place.
Sign of Raynard the calumniator.
Sign of Raynald, bishop of Anjou.
Sign of viscount Raynald, his father.
Sign of Sulpitius.
Sign of Count Heribert.
Sign of viscount Gauzfred.
Sign of Harduin, bishop of Tours.
♱ Sign of Count Odo, who ordered this donation to be made.
Dated in the month of March, in the twenty-third year of the reign of King Lothair, in a public plea of the city of Anjou,
Robert wrote and subscribed.
In the year of the incarnation of the Lord 974, indiction 1, 2 day before Nones of the aforementioned month [6 March].
(1) Fragments of this charter can be found on page 39 of Du Chesne’s Preuves de l’Histoire de la Maison de Vergy, and in Dom Morice (Preuves de l’Histoire de Bretagne, I, 349).

Vermandois

Adele of Meaux