Where There’s A Will There’s A Way 6: Archdeacon Ingelbert of Cahors

This is another in our series of Carolingian and post-Carolingian wills. It’s also likely to be the last one for a while. It’s unlikely to be the last one ever, because I’ve got about five or six scratch translations cluttering up the blog’s drafts folder. However, writing commentaries for these things is increasingly tricky, it’s pretty clear that I’m not going to get anything further out of these right now and I need to concentrate on doing things with more immediate results; and, frankly, given the geographical bias towards the Midi it’s becoming less interesting to work on them.

This will is, admittedly, also from the south of France; but a) a bit further north than we’ve been dealing with; and b) it has the novelty of being from a slightly different social class than the people we’ve seen thus far. This isn’t to say we’re looking at the peasantry or anything, today’s figure is still at the very top of society, he’s just not an archbishop or a count. Today’s testator is Archdeacon Ingelbert of the church of Cahors, who flourished in the early tenth century, and whose will goes as follows:

Testament d’Ingelbert, c. 925

I, Archdeacon Ingelbert, 

1. Donate to Berald my nephew and godson, to the son of Rainard, my dominical house which is in the palace of Lemmar, which is in the territory of Pommeyriol; for borders, it has:
   1. on one side the land and vineyard which goes to the vineyard which he bought from Hildebert and goes up to Macefonte then goes up to Birdo and to Montebedisso and then goes to the land of Aunarius and to the land which he was seen to buy from Christian, and that goes to the public road which is called Roca and then goes to the land which he was seen to acquire from Leutar and then goes to the land of Saint-Caprais [de Mechmont] and goes to the land of Benjamin and Hildegard and their heirs, except another vineyard which is called […] 
2. and my manses in Pommeyriol with lands and vineyards; for borders, it has:
   1. through the street which comes from Ussel and goes to Terre Rouge and the vineyard which […] was seen to buy with the farmland which goes to the estate which goes from the road which comes from Ussel and through the stream and through the valley and through this border until it comes to the land of Calsanus of Mechmont and his heirs and through Longavollo which goes to that border and comes to the fount of Boissoles; 
   2. I cede to you as much as is contained within these limits in lands or vineyards, lands, meadows, pastures, woods, garricks, waters and watercourses, everything entirely, what has been sought and what should be sought after, wholly and entirely, as it is my possession or judgement,
   3. On the condition that while Ingelbert lives he might hold it and after his death they should go to the aforesaid Berald and his father Rainald along with the rent, and after their deaths it should go to the church of Saint-Étienne the martyr [of Cahors]; and on the feast of St Stephen they should pay two shillings for the stipends of the brothers.
3. And to Imbert, one mill and it is at Albospino.
4. And I donate to my nephew Theocharis in the territory of that estate which is called La Roque lands and vineyards; which have as their borders:
   1. on two sides, the land of Berald, on on the other place Blandin’s land to which the street goes; on the fourth side, land of Saint-Étienne and of Berald;
   2. I cede and donate to you as much as I am seen to have and possess within these limits wholly and entirely, so that you may hold them as long as you live and after your death let them go to Saint-Étienne along with the rent; and let them pay on the feast of St Stephen twelve pennies into the stipends of the brothers;
   3. And I donate to Elias the priest a manse with vineyard in that estate; this manse and this vineyard which I am seen to have bought from Wirard, which has land of the donor on three sides and on the fourth side the public road;
   4. I cede to you as much as is contained within these limits wholly and entirely, along with the rent; let them pay twelve pennies on the feast of St Stephen into the stipends of the brothers; and after his death let it go to Saint-Étienne;
5. And I donate to my godson Winard my manse where he dwells, that half and another vineyard which is in Garonis and another vineyard which is called La Garnède, this vineyard is that which is below that which he bought from Dirard. You may hold these lands and said vineyards as long as you live along with a rent; he should pay six pennies on the feast of St Stephen and after his death let it go to Saint-Étienne for the stipends of the brothers;
6. And I donate to Winard the priest my relative my vineyard which he holds from Aradeus the priest and I ceded it to you and his heirs totally and entirely along with a rent; let him pay twelve pennies on the feast of St Stephen and after his death let it go to Saint-Étienne;
7. And I donate to Benjamin and I donate to Stephen my manses which I was seen to buy off Vinscammus, the whole, which is called Illas Bordas; and I cede to you my vineyard which is in the territory of Cassonolas. It has borders on two parts of Berald’s land, on the third side of land of Benjamin himself; and on the fourth side the public road; and that whilst one of them lives it should remain with him, as long as they live they may hold it with a rent; let them pay on the feast of St Stephen (twelve) fifteen pennies into the stipends of the brothers; and after their death let it go to Saint-Étienne. 
8. And I donate to Amalgar and his son Ragenfred the lands and vineyards which are in Bellonaco and in Campo Labedio and in Ventaillac and in Camp Mèges per illo rivvo curte, as much as ais beholden or seen to be beholden in these named places I cede entirely to you; may you hold it as long as you live along with a rent: he should pay twelve pennies on the feast of St Stephen and after their death let it go to Saint-Étienne in the stipends of the brothers.
9. And I donate to that Amalgar my allod which he bought from Rainald in Mediano entirely, which he bought from Blandin; and I cede in that named place in Daucio until it goes to the vineyard of Archembald the priest. You may hold it as long as you live along with a rent: they should pay on the feast of St Stephen twelve pennies into the stipends of the brothers; and after your death let it go to Saint-Étienne.
10. And I donate to Archembald the priest whatever I was seen to buy from Fortbacana his mother and the inheritance which he had from him [sic] I donate to you; may you hold it as long as you live along with a rent: you should pay twelve pennies on the feast of St Stephen and similarly let it go to Saint-Étienne.
11. And I donate to Ansfred my son my manse which is in the estate of Montamel, with lands and vineyards,
    1. Which have borders on one side of Ismo’s land and that of Ingelald and Erdrubald, and the donor;
    2. And I cede to you one dinnirada of vines which he had from Guimard, and the vineyard which he bought from Amalgar;
    3. I cede these lands and the said vineyards entirely to you with a rent: they should pay twelve pennies on the feast of St Stephen.
12. Similarly I donate to my cantor Dodo (Dieudonne) my manse which is in Montamel, the lands and vineyards which he bought from Grimald and Quodbald entirely, with a rent: let them pay twelve pennies on the feast of St Stephen. Similarly let it go to Saint-Étienne.
13. And I donate to Armenrad the priest half of Gornaco except that vineyard which was Blandin’s; as much as is beholden or seen to be beholden to that estate, what has been found and what should be sought, I cede to you; you may hold it as long as you live with a rent on the feast of St Charity: you should pay twelve pennies into the stipends of the brothers; and after his death let it go to Saint-Charité [du Vigan].
14. And to my godson Archdeacon Guimard I cede to you the other half of that estate similarly;
15. And to my son Bonus I cede the vineyard at Orniac which I bought from Blandin, and the vineyard which is in Avita. Let him hold these vineyards entirely whilst he lives, and let him pay twelve pennies into the stipends of the brothers on the feast of St Charity; and after his death let it go to Saint-Charité.
16. And I similarly donate to my son Erchambald the deacon my estate which is called Mas d’Apriac, half above and below; let him hold it whilst he lives, with a rent: let him pay twelve pennies on the feast of St Charity and after his death let it go to Saint-Charité.
17. And I donate to Ramon, to the son of Allo, similarly the other half.
18. And I donate to the venerable Archdeacon Benedict, which has limits on one side of land of Saint-Étienne, on the other side… and of Saint-Avit, on the third side, the stream called Déganhac, on the fourth side, the land of Saint-Vincent; whatever I am seen to have and possess within these limits I cede wholly and entirely to you with a rent: he should pay twelve pennies on the feast of St Stephen and after his death let it go to Saint-Étienne into the stipends of the brothers.
19. And I donate to Viscount Frothard of [of Cahors] and his wife Adalberga my church which is founded in honour of St Amantius, as much as I am seen to have by my right and in… and Curbito as much as is in that named place with my manses with lands, with vineyards, with woods, with garricks, with waters and watercourses, with all their appendages which have been found and should be sought after; let them hold it as long as they live, with a rent: let them pay two shillings on the feast of St Stephen; and after their deaths let it go to Saint-Étienne into the stipends of the brothers. 
20. And I donate to my son Guimard Calvignac and Courbous and Roche de Liauzu, as much as I am seen to have and possess in these named places, I cede entirely to you with a rent: let him pay twelve pennies on the feast of St Stephen and after his death let it go to Saint-Étienne into the stipends of the brothers;
21. And I donate to Archdeacon Alcuin and my nephew Gauzfred the lands and vineyards which are in Cras and in the territory of Cras, as much as I am seen to have and possess therein in the estate and in its territory of that estate, what is sought and should be sought after, such that when one of them outlives the other it should go to that one, with a rent: let them pay twelve pennies on the feast of St Stephen, and after their death let it go to Saint-Étienne in the stipend of the brothers.
22. And I donate to Adrald the priest the church which is founded in honour of St Peter, as much as I held from his uncle Adrald I cede to you entirely with a rent of eight pennies on the feast of St Stephen;
    1. Similarly let the mill of Dégagnac with Combe de Saint-Vincent go to him, and the lands of Parnac de Saint-Charité to him.

Sign of Archdeacon Ingelbert and Leotard and Theocar and Rainard and Guimard and Wifred.

24. And I cede to Everard and Elias my nephews the lands and vineyards which are from Golmar and Berald; I cede their inheritances to you to have;

25. And I donate to my follower Adalrand two estate centres in Arpiac with lands, with vineyards, and in Puy-l’Évêque and in Albas much as I am seen to have, I donate to you on the condition that as long as you live you should hold them; and he should pay six pennies on the feast of St Charity; after his death, let it go to Saint-Charité.  

The first thing to say here is that if this seems oddly stilted and badly written: yep, that’s accurate. This testament is written in very poor Latin: cases are used incorrectly, the document switches at random between first, second and third person; verbs sometimes aren’t declined correctly, making plural people out of single people; et (‘and’) is often replaced by est (‘it is’), and so on. It’s hard to tell where the problem lies here. This charter was recorded in the cartulary of the cathedral of Cahors, but is only known from an eighteenth-century copy, and so it’s unclear whether it was written badly or copied badly…

Anyway, the main thing to note here is just how small-scale all of this is. When medieval historians talk about ‘local elites’, this is the kind of person we’re thinking of. Ingelbert may actually be on the larger-scope side of these things due to his association with the cathedral, but it’s still not very big. (This is, of course, a relative statement: it’s not big in a West Frankish context but these properties are still scattered over an area only a little smaller than Bedfordshire.) I presume that Ingelbert’s properties reflect his office and his geographical powerbase, because as you can see from the map they’re pretty much all of the river Lot.

Finally, rather like in Gersindis’ will, we seem to have a relatively flat society, at least as far as lay power goes. There’s a reasonable amount of Church officeholders here, presumably Ingelbert’s colleagues/allies, but otherwise the main connections are family ties. This includes no fewer than four of Ingelbert’s sons, although the poor quality of the Latin does make me wonder here if we could be dealing with ‘godsons’ or similar instead of actual biological children. Either way, we have four sons and several nephews, suggesting Ingelbert was at the head of some kind of family network, which may also indicate how he was able to exercise local power…