parchemin

English translation: parchment document

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:parchemin
English translation:parchment document
Entered by: Barbara Cochran, MFA

00:20 Feb 5, 2008
French to English translations [PRO]
History / History Book On Charlemagne
French term or phrase: parchemin
Contexte:

"En février 801, Charlemagne émet un document à Aquisgranum pour l'abbé de Farfa, en SAbine; puis les Annales Regni Francorum, le journal officiel de la cour, nous disent qu'à Pâques il était à Rome puis en avril à Spolète puis tout de suite après à Ravenne et Pavie. Comment peut-on imaginer qu'il ait franchi les Alpes en plein hiver pour aller faire écrire son **parchemin** Aix-la-Chapelle/Aachen (pour l'abbé de Farfa en Sabine) et puis soit rentré en Italie pou reprendre son tour avec son armée?

I know that it refers to some sort of documentation that confers certain capacities for one to carry out some duties (in this case, an abbot).

I have been unable to think of anything other than "credentials" but I'm not to happy with that.

Merci!

femme
Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 21:41
capitulary/document
Explanation:
Depends what the document was about. If it was of a legislative nature, then "capitulary", otherwise, just "document". What it was written on is not that important and it couldn't really have been anything other than parchment or vellum.

"The Capitularies are the laws or legislative measures of

the Frankish kings, Merovingian as well as Carlovingian. Those of the

Merovingians are few in number, and of slight importance, and among those of

the Carlovingians, which amount to 152, 65 only are due to Charlemagne. When

an attempt is made to classify these last according to their object, it is

impossible not to be struck with their incoherent variety; and several of

them are such as we should nowadays be surprised to meet with in a code or in

a special law. Among Charlemagne's 65 Capitularies, which contain 1,151

articles, may be counted 87 of moral, 293 of political, 130 of penal, 110 of

civil, 85 of religious, 305 of canonical, 73 of domestic, and 12 of

incidental legislation. And it must not be supposed that all these articles

are really acts of legislation, laws properly so called; we find among them

the texts of ancient national laws revised and promulgated afresh; extracts

from and additions to these same ancient laws, Salic, Lombard, and Bavarian;

extracts from acts of councils; instructions given by Charlemagne to his

envoys in the provinces; questions that he proposed to put to the bishops or

counts when they came to the national assembly; answers given by Charlemagne

to questions addressed to him by the bishops, counts, or commissioners (missi

dominici); judgments, decrees, royal pardons, and simple notes that

Charlemagne seems to have had written down for himself alone, to remind him

of what he proposed to do; in a word, nearly all the various acts which could

possibly have to be framed by an earnest, far-sighted, and active government."
http://history-world.org/charlemagne.htm





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Note added at 9 hrs (2008-02-05 09:57:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"This study examines the relationship between judicial courts and the societies in which they operated as revealed by the documents of the abbey of Farfa in the duchy of Spoleto. In a series of case studies it is shown that disputants and judges could draw on a wide range of norms that enabled them to manipulate the settlement process and to tailor it to their own social advantage. "
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-0254...
Selected response from:

B D Finch
France
Local time: 02:41
Grading comment

Merci.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3parchment
Bourth (X)
5 +2charter
Christopher Crockett
5a title (of nobility)
emiledgar
4capitulary/document
B D Finch


  

Answers


14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
a title (of nobility)


Explanation:
parchemin can mean parchment, or as in this case a title (of nobility).

emiledgar
Belgium
Local time: 02:41
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  B D Finch: Charlemagne gave the Abbey land and power, but are you sure that the Abbé was ennobled?
9 hrs

neutral  Christopher Crockett: Non, it's not a question of "nobility." See my last addition to my answer.
13 hrs
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16 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
parchment


Explanation:
Why could it be nothing more than "write his parchment", in exactly the same way as today we might "write a paper", "present a paper", "read a paper" (in the sense not of a newspaper but of an article or a learnèd paper)?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 20 mins (2008-02-05 00:41:26 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

SOED says that in addition to the material itself (the skin), a parchment is "A skin, piece, scroll, or roll of parchment; a manuscript or document on parchment"

Bourth (X)
Local time: 02:41
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 154

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ingeborg Gowans (X): my first thought exactly
45 mins

agree  Victoria Porter-Burns:
8 hrs

agree  Force Majeure: Absolutely
8 hrs

neutral  Christopher Crockett: Used figurative, yes, but for clarity I'd use the term "charter," either here or for "document" (or both).
13 hrs
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
capitulary/document


Explanation:
Depends what the document was about. If it was of a legislative nature, then "capitulary", otherwise, just "document". What it was written on is not that important and it couldn't really have been anything other than parchment or vellum.

"The Capitularies are the laws or legislative measures of

the Frankish kings, Merovingian as well as Carlovingian. Those of the

Merovingians are few in number, and of slight importance, and among those of

the Carlovingians, which amount to 152, 65 only are due to Charlemagne. When

an attempt is made to classify these last according to their object, it is

impossible not to be struck with their incoherent variety; and several of

them are such as we should nowadays be surprised to meet with in a code or in

a special law. Among Charlemagne's 65 Capitularies, which contain 1,151

articles, may be counted 87 of moral, 293 of political, 130 of penal, 110 of

civil, 85 of religious, 305 of canonical, 73 of domestic, and 12 of

incidental legislation. And it must not be supposed that all these articles

are really acts of legislation, laws properly so called; we find among them

the texts of ancient national laws revised and promulgated afresh; extracts

from and additions to these same ancient laws, Salic, Lombard, and Bavarian;

extracts from acts of councils; instructions given by Charlemagne to his

envoys in the provinces; questions that he proposed to put to the bishops or

counts when they came to the national assembly; answers given by Charlemagne

to questions addressed to him by the bishops, counts, or commissioners (missi

dominici); judgments, decrees, royal pardons, and simple notes that

Charlemagne seems to have had written down for himself alone, to remind him

of what he proposed to do; in a word, nearly all the various acts which could

possibly have to be framed by an earnest, far-sighted, and active government."
http://history-world.org/charlemagne.htm





--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2008-02-05 09:57:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"This study examines the relationship between judicial courts and the societies in which they operated as revealed by the documents of the abbey of Farfa in the duchy of Spoleto. In a series of case studies it is shown that disputants and judges could draw on a wide range of norms that enabled them to manipulate the settlement process and to tailor it to their own social advantage. "
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-0254...


B D Finch
France
Local time: 02:41
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 35
Grading comment

Merci.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Bourth (X): Always good to learn something! Very possibly correct, but I'd reserve that for use where the writer uses "capitulaire", assuming the reader will know what it means.
51 mins
  -> Thanks Bourth. I find "document" perfectly adequate, even if the document is one of the 65 capitularies.

disagree  Christopher Crockett: The document in question is definitely a "charter," **NOT** a "capitulary."
4 hrs
  -> My first source above holds that a capitulary was not necessarily legislative but included a fairly wide range. But I do prefer to use "document" here.
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
charter


Explanation:
The technical term for the sort of document issued for Farfa is "charter" (French: "charte").

Typically, it's not a "capitulary," which is, as B D notes a "law or legislative measure," but rather a declaration by Big Chuck that the very, very important abbey of Farfa possessed certain property and rights which were confirmed and taken under Imperial protection by the charter.

It is not uncommon for a specific gift of property made by the issuer to be included as well, as we see in this one by Charlemagne's grandson, Charles the Bald, issued for the royal abbey of St. Denis:

http://elec.enc.sorbonne.fr/cartulaireblanc/rueil/acte56/

In medieval times, the charters of French Kings (and Emperors) for any given ecclesiastical institution were collected together, along with Papal bulls, Bishops and charters by other aristocratic personages, in manuscript books, called "cartularies" (Fr. "cartulaires").

Many of these royal "acts" (_acta_ in Latin) have been collectively published in modern times in books titled "Recueil des Actes de NN" (see the reference to the Recueil for Bald Chuck in the abvove publication, under "b. Recueil des actes de Charles le Chauve..."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 hrs (2008-02-05 14:22:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The term "diploma" (Latin _diplomata_, "Diplome" in French) is also sometimes used, but I would avoid it in this instance because --particularly for U.S. audiences-- it has connotations of High School/University graduations.

In this text I would use "charter" for one or both terms, "document" and "parchement" (which is used figuratively here).

Within the historical discipline "charter" (like "capitulary") has a specific, technical (and juridical) meaning.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 hrs (2008-02-05 17:57:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The Germans count Big Chuck as the founder of their ("Holy Roman") Empire, so they beat the French to the publication of his _acta_ (and capitularies):

Die Urkunden Pippins, Karlmanns und Karls des Grossen / unter Mitwirkung von Alfons Dopsch, Johann Lechner, Michael Tangl ; bearbeitet von Engelbert Mühlbacher.
Hannover : Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1906.
Description: xi, 581 p. ; 30 cm.
Series: Monumenta Germaniae Historica inde ab anno Christi quingentesimo usque ad annum millesimum et quingentesimum. Diplomatum Karolinorum = Die Urkunden der Karolinger ; t. 1.

There is no charter for Farfa published in this "definitive edition" which was issued in 800 (or 801, since years normally began at Easter, "February, 801" might be "Feb., 800", New Style).

There is, however, a charter for Farfa dated from Aix, 803, No. 199 on pp. 267-8.

This is available on-line(!) at the MGH's site:

http://www.dmgh.de/

Expand the "Diplomata (Urkunden) link in the upper left corner, click on the forth title down, "Pippin, Karlmann und Karl der Große (DD Kar. 1)" and put "267" in the "Gehe zu Zeite" box.

It looks like a pretty straightforward charter, to me: Karolus, most serene Augustus, crowed _Magnus_ by God, peaceful Emperor of the Romans and by the grace of God King of the Franks and the Lombards, makes known that, at the request of Abbot Benedict, he takes the monastery of the Holy and Eternally Virgin Mary situated at Farfa under his protection, now and forever.

It is dated "moderno tempore, id est anno ab incarnatione Domine nostri Iesu Christi DCCCIII [803]" *twice*, and "anno III...imperii nostri" (the third year of his reign as Emperor) *three* times.

So, I'm not sure what the argument your author is trying to make here really is --he's either in error himself, or the charter in question is one which has been discovered since the MGH edition of Chuck's charters was done.

In any event, though the charter might be said to have been done "pour l'abbé de Farfa," it (as was surely the 801 one, if it indeed exsits) was done *at the request of the abbot*, not *for* him.

This is quite standard practice --an abbot or bishop or whatever requests a charter (for his abbey, diocese, etc.) from the Prince and is mentioned in the charter as doing so. There is no question of a grant "of a title of nobility" here.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day13 hrs (2008-02-06 14:05:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I detect a note of irony or even sarcasm in the use of "parchemin" in this text, so I think that I would use "charter" for the "document" in the text, and a kind of contemptuous "piece of parchment" for "parchemin":

In February, 801, Charlemage issued a charter from Aix for the abbot of Farfa in northern Lazio [no one knows where "Sabina" is] ; however [makes more sense to me than "then"], the A.R.F., the official record of the Imperial court, tells us that he was at Rome on Easter [of 801], then at Spoleto in April, then at Ravenna and Pavia. Are we to believe that he crossed the Alps in the middle of winter just to issue this piece of parchment for Farfa from Aix and then went back to Italy to rejoin his army?

N.b. The whole issue your author raises is moot, if he has mistaken the date of the charter (and I believe that he has).

But, the job is to translate, mistakes an all, not to critique.

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Note added at 1 day15 hrs (2008-02-06 15:28:48 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"...in the depths of winter..." might be more forceful.

As would "and then went all the way back to Italy..."

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Note added at 1 day15 hrs (2008-02-06 15:51:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The author's point being that this trivial matter of a "parchment" would hardly justify the round trip over the alps in the snow.

A more cogent argument might be, since he was in Italy in 801 why didn't he issue the charter for this important Italian abbey while he was there?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day15 hrs (2008-02-06 16:08:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

FWIW, this 1999 scholarly study, "Charlemagne's involvment in Central and Southern Italy: Power and the Limits of Authority"

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1468-0254.0... [a .pdf file]

discusses Chuck's relationship to Farfa throughout his reign in considerable detail ("from 775 onwards he issued an eventual totlal of eight *charters [N.b.]* for Farfa, more than for any other Italian recipient," p. 345 and n. 17) , and knows nothing about any "Feb., 801" Imperial charter in its favor.

And that's good enough for me.

Your author has constructed a "mare's nest," based on some unsubstantiatable source --which should, nonetheless, be styled a "charter."

Christopher Crockett
Local time: 21:41
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 100

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Paul Cohen: excellent explanation!
1 hr
  -> Sometimes, I just happen to know what I'm talking about. Thanks, Paul.

agree  Euqinimod (X)
19 hrs
  -> Thanks, Euqinimod.
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