The Fulda Donation

In a deed from the year 824 issued at Fulda we have the following interesting language testifying to the presence of Slavs on the River Main at that time (consistent with other reports from the area):

“I, in the name of God, Nidgoz, deliver to Saint Boniface, whose body rests in the sacred Fulda monastery where the venerable man Hrabanus is abbot and presides over a community of monks, given that I want to forever, for the remedy of the soul of Huswart, to deliver whatever property I have in the village which is called Thurpfilin, which lies on the bank of the river Main, in the country of the Slavs, on the condition that, from the present day the aforesaid abbot and then his successors, thanks to the charity of Huswart, and for all their uses, should own, hold and possess – [and Huswart’s] descendants relinquish perpetual possession – without any impediment or hindrance from others.”

“Done in the monastery of Fulda, on the 11th year of the reign of the Emperor Louis [the Pious], in the month of February, on the 16th of that month, in front of these witnesses: Nidgoz, who asked for this document to be produced, Abolt, Bernolf, Erming, Masso, Herirat, Nandgis, Gerperaht, Nordpraht, Gadumar, Hruodolf, the unworthy deacon who wrote down this document.”

Ego, in Dei nomine Nidgoz, trado ad sanctum Bonifatium, qui in monasterio Fulda sacro requiescit corpore, ubi vir venerabilis, Hrabanus abbas, multitudini praeest monachorum, traditum que in perpetuum esse volo, ob remedium animae Huswarti, quicquid proprietatis habeo in villa, quae vocatur Thurpfilin [aka Thurphilun/Thurpfilun], iuxta ripam fluminis Moin, in regione Sclavorum, ea conditione, ut à die praesente tam praedictus abbas, quàm successores eius, in eleemosynam Huswartes, & in ipsorum utilitatem, habeant, teneant, atque possideant, suisque posteris perpetuo possidendum relinquant, absque ulla contradictione vel impedimento aliorum. Actum in monasterio Fulda, anno XI. regni Hludouici Imperatoris mense Februario, die XVI. eiusdem mensis, eoram istis testibus, signum Nidgozi, qui hanc traditionis chartulam fieri rogavit, signum Albolti, signum Bernolfi , Ermingi, signum Massonis, Herirati, signum Nandgisi, Gerperahti, signum Nordprahti, Gadumari. Hruodolf, indignus subdiaconus, iussus scripsit.

The language seems to indicate that Huswart had died and that his soul needed some help on the way to Heaven. So, in order to help this Huswart, his some/all of his possessions in the form of the village of Thurpfilin “in the land of the Slavs” were donated to the Fulda monastery by a certain Nidgoz. Huswart’s heirs were thereby deprived of their inheritance but, hey, it was a good cause. What the relationship of Nidgoz was to Huswart is, of course, unclear but, at least in the optimistic version, Nidgoz was a relative of Huswart’s.  Interestingly, Nidgoz as well as several of the other names listed above such as Masso, Gadumar could have been Suavic. Were the Suavs trying to turn their village to the Fulda Abbey, perhaps because they did not get along with Huswart or with his progeny? Or was this simply intra-Frankish business?

In any event, this is found in the Corpus Traditionum Fuldensium (number 343) under the name Traditio bonorum in villa Thurphilun as well as in Book II (number 126) of the earlier Pistorius publication Rerum germanicarum scriptores in the subpart Traditiones Quae Continentur in Libris III Fuldensium under the name Traditio bonorum in villa Turphfilin. The same was also in the Codex diplomaticus Fuldensis published by Dronke.

Thurphilun or Turphfilin is probably the same as Dörfleins northwest of Bamberg. You can see other Slavic names on the map below Drasen, Schesslitz (Sieslice), Lesau?

This map is from the Atlas nouveau portatif à l’usage des militaires, collèges et du voyageur…. Tome 2 by monsieur Georges-Louis Le Rouge.

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