HANDELINGEN VAN DE KONINKLIJKE COMMISSIE VOOR GESCHIEDENIS/BULLETINS, VOL. 188, 2022
Georges Declercq, « Un fragment inédit du Compte Général de Flandre de 1187, connu sous le nom de ‘Gros Brief’ » (p. 5-22).
Abstract – The article contains the edition of un unknown fragment of the oldest general account of the domains of the counts of Flanders, the so-called ‘Gros Brief’ from 1187. Discovered in 1990 at the Archives Départementales de Meurthe-et-Moselle in Nancy by Michel Parisse, this fragment was still unedited. The recto carries part of the account of the ‘lardarium’ of Bruges, the verso gives the settlement of the account of the ‘spicarium’ of Diksmuide and the almost complete text of the account of the rent-collecting center of Loker.
Mike Richartz, « Étude critique de la charte d’inféodation plaçant le duc Henri III de Limbourg dans la vassalité du duc Henri Ier de Brabant en 1191 » (p. 23-54).
Abstract –Very often used in Brabant and Limburg historiography, the charter of 1191 concerning the enfeoffment of the property of Henry III, Duke of Limburg, to Henry I, Duke of Brabant, presents many contradictions and uncertainties which lead us to believe that we are dealing with a forged document made at the end of the 13th century.
Thomas Brunner, Emilie Mineo, Jean-François Nieus & Bart Verroken, « L’apparition du chirographe échevinal dans le nord de la France. Autour du plus ancien original tournaisien conservé (1218) » (p. 55-110).
Abstract –
The reassignment of a chirograph issued between December 1217 and April 1218 (Lille, Archives départementales du Nord, J 362) to the City aldermen (“échevinage de la Cité”) in Tournai sheds new light on the earliest urban chirographs from this town, whose archive was burnt down in 1940. This chirograph appears to be the oldest preserved in original for this jurisdiction, and the first written in French. It records a debt contracted by Mathieu ii, lord of Ère in the Tournai area, to two citizens of Douai for the purchase of 80 modii of wheat, which exemplifies the vitality of regional grain trade in the early 13th century. It also offers an opportunity to investigate the dawn of this documentary form distinctive of Northern French and Belgian towns, still a poorly studied issue. The dating of Tournai’s early chirographs needs revision. They show up in Latin shortly before 1200, and switch to French in the second decade of the 13th century. Among other pioneer towns in the use of chirographs, only Saint-Omer also experienced a Latin phase, attested in 1209-1210. In Saint-Quentin and Arras, only vernacular acts are preserved, from 1218 and 1221 onwards. The same is true for Douai, whose inhabitants, as shown by Mathieu of Ère’s debt, were familiar with chirographs before they turned to them in 1224. Urban chirographs appeared in a dynamic, highly urbanized region, with close ties to England, yet also affected by conflicts between the king and the counts of Flanders, which may have fostered the need for written guarantees.
Hannah Serneels, « Een middeleeuws repertoire van verzet. Het onderzoek naar de opstand in Aardenburg in 1311 » (p. 111-140).
Abstract: This publication sketches the characteristics of the repertoire of resistance that late medieval city dwellers had at their disposal during revolts. Based on two letters and two research reports written during and after a revolt in Aardenburg in 1311, this article examines what tactics city dwellers used for their resistance in the early fourteenth century and how urban and princely administration tried to curb that resistance. While research into revolts in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries is often based on charters of the count or narrative chronicles, the documents published here offer a unique and rare insight into the practical workings of the Aardenburg revolt. Their study shows that the rebels used well thought-out and well-known tactics for their resistance, trying to undermine the existing city government and appointing an alternative administration. Moreover, the repertoire of resistance bears great resemblance to revolts from later centuries. In short, the article shows that late medieval city dwellers had an extensive arsenal of strategies at their disposal to carry out their revolts and that some of these strategies, contrary to what is often assumed, have roots in older periods prior to the corporative period.
