Acts of Gubertinus de Novate, Notary of the Patriarch of Aquileia, 1328-1336

Because of juridical and administrative developments, the Church of the later Middle Ages placed an increasing emphasis on the keeping of records that might preserve ecclesiastical rights and facilitate the enforcement of discipline. In Italy, the solution was found in the widespread use of the notary. This solutions was adopted also in the Patriarchate of Aquileia, whose bishop was the head of the largest diocese in Europe and the ruler of a compact ecclesiastical state. In this volume, the four earliest extant registers of the patriarchal notary, Gubertinus de Novate, are studied. They record the activity of patriarchs of Aquileia and their substitutes in their capacity as ecclesiastical and temporal heads of the Patriarchate during a vacancy of the See. A relatively long introduction (80 pages) survey the history of the Patriarchate, the development of its principal institutions and jurisdictions, and the role and practices of the patriarchal notaries. It is followed by a full calender of all Gubertinus's acts (130 pages), a generous selection of latin originals (80 pages), a bibliography, and indexes of persons, places and subjects.