GRANT OF IMMUNITY TO A MONASTERY, 673.

M. G. DD. folio, 1, pp. 30 f; Altmann and Bernheim, no. 112.

Childeric, king of the Franks, illustrious man. . . .We have commanded it to be made known to all that the venerable and pious abbot Berchar came to us and asked us to grant him a certain place in the forest of Vervo in Gas­cony, in which he might build a monastery, and to give him material and resources by which he might construct a mon­astery there and establish a congregation of monks. Now the request of this great man pleased us and we granted him what he asked. Then having built his monastery in the honor of Sts. Peter and Paul and the other saints, he besought us, in order to make secure the whole undertaking, to bestow complete immunity upon the monastery. Therefore, we, moved to this by the kindness which Heaven has shown to us, have hearkened to the prayer of this man . . . and with the consent of our bishops and nobles do now concede entire immunity over the whole possessions of this monastery . . . for the peace of our kingdom and for the reverence which we have for this religious place. We command that no public official of any authority shall presume to enter the lands of this monastery . . . for the purpose of hearing cases, of seizing securities, of collecting taxes, of demanding entertainment, or of extorting tolls from cities or markets; nor shall he presume to exact any taxes or payments whatever, but the monks shall rule and possess, both in our time and in the future, all the property of this monastery in all places and lands, where they have possessions, as aforesaid, without being subject to the entrance of officials or to exactions on the part of the royal treasury. . .

(Thatcher, p.351)