Parchment scroll. - Lot 239

Parchment scroll. List of land declarations and royalties owed by the population of the village of Fontarèches (Gard) in the diocese of Uzès, to Bertrand Eliziarum, son of Pierre Eliziarum, knight, on lands located mainly in Fontarèches but also in the neighboring commune of Verfeuil. The document is dated November 13th (October 19th) 1340, during the reign of Philippe VI de Valois. A large, spectacular parchment scroll on nine sheepskins sewn or glued together (currently in three pieces), written in Latin in a beautiful, regular script, appropriately abbreviated and mixing numerous Occitan terms such as mazagium (mazage, inhabited place, hamlet), ponhadias (handfuls), vestizon (agrarian measure), roviera (rouvraie, chesnaie), saumata (load of beast of burden), devezium, (wasteland), cassale (tenant farm), and so on. In all, 29 declarations follow one another, all written on the same model. The declarant names himself, stipulates whether he is acting on his own behalf or on behalf of other contracting parties, states that he is of good faith and of sound mind, and confesses to holding in emphitheosis from his predecessors and for his successors the lands or rights then described. The declaration is made in the hands of Guillaume Tournois, clerk, attorney for Bertrand Eliziarum, son of Pierre Eliziarum. The lands declared are then listed, along with their owners and occupants, giving a true geography of the parish of Fontarèches. Finally, the amount of the annual royalty, generally in kind, payable on Saint Michael's Day each year, is specified. The deed is guaranteed by the oath made by each declarant on the gospels, by the presence of witnesses and by the sign of the royal notary Guillaume Vinoti, who affixed not his signature but his "logo" at the bottom of each declaration. It is interesting to see five women (probably including a widow) making the declaration in their own name or in the name of their children, of whom they were sometimes guardians, which shows the relative autonomy of women in the 14th century, despite the indispensable authorization of their husbands. Also noteworthy is the scarcity of different surnames: Ebrard and de Tous, (9 times), Macip, Sardanicus and Constancy (2 times), i.e. only five surnames for 24 declarants, surnames that recur numerous times not only in the list of declarants but also in the ins and outs of the declared territories. Royalties were mainly in kind, mainly in meteil wheat (quantities ranged from handfuls to packets), more rarely in rye, and six times in pepper (piperi) for the largest tenants. But for these same large tenants, cash royalties were added, up to 15 sols tournois, all payable on the feast of Saint Michael (September 29). A comparison of the places cited in the text with the toponyms shown on the cadastral map of the Fontarèche commune reveals a number of places that still exist today, but whose names have often only been Frenchized: Fonteerecto/Fontareches, Boussayrolis/Bousseyroles, Amilhiacum/Hamilliac, Vallis salve /Valsauve, Malacolongas/Malcombe, Roveria plana/ Rouvière plane. Other places, such as the Tous mazage that recurs frequently in the text, have not been located or identified. We have included the full transcription of the second declaration, as the first was difficult to read due to wear and tear on the parchment, which was not found again later, as the parchment was on the whole very fresh. List of land declarations and royalties owed by the population of the village of Fontarèches (Gard) in the diocese of Uzès, to Bertrand Eliziarum, son of Pierre Eliziarum, knight, on lands located mainly in Fontarèches but also in the neighboring commune of Verfeuil. The document is dated November 13th (October 19th) 1340, during the reign of Philippe VI de Valois. (dimensions 585 x 22 cm)