Carta and
Notitia.

ment may take the form of a letter. It is the effect of the paper which determines its character.

Another distinction which is important for the exact limitation of diplomatics lies between the document which actually creates a new legal relation and the notification which announces that such an act has taken place. An example of the first is a direct deed of land to a monastery or to a private citizen. "I the king grant to N..

prior of the abbey of M....

the lands

and tenements hereinafter described." Such a
deed creates the new ownership and until the paper
is signed and properly attested no legal act has
taken place. This is the "carta," in the strictly
technical sense. On the other hand the king may
issue a document to this effect: "Know all men
by these presents that we have granted to the
monastery of ...
the lands herein-
after described." This is the "notitia" or writ.
This document furnishes as good title to the prop-
erty as the former, but is not the act itself. It is a
confirmation of a deed already performed.

To the legal historian it is interesting to follow out these distinctions because they throw light on the processes of law, but also to the student of more general affairs it is important to know the nature of the transaction, because the time and place of the document may depend on its nature. The writ or confirmation may not instantly follow the carta, and the side lights and minor inferences to be drawn from the instrument may be decidedly modified by the nearness or remoteness of the transaction.

So also the method of preparation of the document may vary with its character and thus give different data for proof of genuineness. The words carta and notitia became somewhat confused in the usages of the later middle ages, but the actual distinctions remained in practice, so that the investigator is called upon throughout to reflect on the character of his instruments, and the diplomatist finds in these distinctions the key to many difficulties of identification and interpretation.

The documents with which diplomatics is con- Subdivision of cerned differ widely in purport and contents. The Documents. forms used are manifold in respect to their minor details, but throughout the whole body there appear usages in arrangement and expression which are capable of classification. Writers in this field of learning differ somewhat in their terms, but certain typical parts of documents are commonly identified. These may not all be found in the same paper and a different order may be pursued at various times and places, but the distinctive features must be kept in mind if the instrument is to be interpreted with profit.

In every legal document there are two grand Protocol. divisions. One consists of the "text" or main body of the instrument which contains the substance, or statement of what is transacted. The other part contains the details which introduce the dramatis personæ and identify the time and place of the action. This latter division is the "protocol," and as part of it comes at the beginning and part at the end it is sometimes further classified as the

Invocation.

"protocol and eschatocol," or the initial protocol and final protocol. The initial protocol is subdivided as follows:

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1. The Invocation. This is an expression of the name of God either by a symbol or by words, or by both at the same time. The earliest form of the symbol was a cross and this usage was followed consistently by the papal chancery. The initials, or the labarum, were also used, hence the name Chrismon, used in German diplomatics. This monogram in the Merovingian and Carolingian documents becomes a fanciful twisting of lines based on a motive of C, the origin of which had apparently been forgotten, but which was still regarded as an act of reverSo much individual ingenuity was displayed that the Chrismon becomes a very useful factor in the identification of particular scribes.

Chrismon

ence.

There was also considerable variety Anno, 815. in the verbal invocation, of which the following are examples:

In nomine domini et sanctæ trinitatis.

In nomine domini Jesu Christi dei æterni.
In nomine sanctæ et individuæ trinitatis.

Usage was, however, so persistent in different
chanceries that the slow changes from period to
period can be noted and the formulæ made to assist
in the identification of documents.

2. The Title, Intitulatio, contains the name and Title. style of the grantor, possibly with a formula of devotion, such as:

Carolus gratia Dei rex Francorum et Langobardorum; Fredericus divina favente clementia Romanorum imperator et semper augustus; Ego Cnud, per Dei misericordiam basileus; Ego Edwardus, Dei indulgente clementia, Augulsaxonum rex.

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In nomine sanctæ et individuæ trinitatis Arnolfus divina favente gratia rex.

Invocation in a charter of Arnolfus, anno 889. duced from fac-simile in Leist, Urkundenwesen.

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3. The Address, Inscriptio, giving name and titles Address. of the person or persons for whom the instrument is intended.

4. The Greeting, Salutatio. In a charter granted Greeting. by Pope Paschal II to the Emperor Henry V

address and greeting read:

Karissimo in Christo filio H. glorioso Teutonicorum. regi, et per Dei omnipotentis gratiam Romanorum. imperatori augusto, salutem et apostolicam benedictionem.

The foregoing divisions when present are usually The Text. found at the beginning of a document, so that if one follows the order of the reading the main body of text is the next topic to be considered before proceeding to the other external features. The text itself

Arenga.

contains important sections which must be regarded separately. Not all are found at the same time in every document. Sometimes one or more are omitted and occasionally two are so blended as to make one sentence, yet if a document were to be written for the purpose of showing all the forms which might be encountered the following subdivisions would be found in the text:

1. The Proem, or Arenga, gives some general motive for the issue of the document. It is usually an expression of piety or an obvious statement of some well-known truth, as in the following selections:

"Since we perceive not with deaf ear the gospel: blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the sons of God." "It is becoming to the imperial dignity not only to preserve inviolate the pious deeds of his predecessors, but also by the exercise of his authority with all haste and solemnity to commend into perpetual remembrance, lest that which was graciously granted and irrefragibly established by sainted emperors to the praise of God for the necessities of the church and the welfare of the provinces, by the passage of time or any other cause should become doubtful or uncertain." (Frederic I, 1168.) "We hope that felicity in the present life and blessedness in eternity will attain unto us if we do not neglect to defend and maintain in liberty the churches constructed by our ancestors." "Since the flight of time causes forgetfulness in men." lomata, p. 104.)

(Breslau, Centum Dip

Ab humana facilius labuntur memoria, que nec scripto nec voce testium consignantur.

Quoniam gesta mortalium labuntur cum tempore. (Basel, Urkundenbuch, 1244.)