Medieval Sourcebook:
Frederick I Barbarossa:
Grant of Two Fairs at Aachen, 1166
In the name of the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, Frederick, by favor of divine
clemency, Emperor Augustus of the Romans.
Since the royal palace of Aachen excels all provinces and cities in dignity and honor,
both for the praise given there to the body of the most blessed Emperor Charlemagne, which
that city alone is known to have, and because it is a royal seat at which the Emperors of
the Romans were first crowned, it is fitting and reasonable that we, following the example
of the holy lord Charlemagne and of other predecessors of ours, should fortify that same
place, which is a pillar of support to the empire, with lavish gifts of liberty and
privileges, as if with walls and towers. We have therefore decreed that there should be
held twice a year the solemn and universal fairs of Aachen. And this we have done on the
advice of the merchants. Moreover, we have preserved the rights of neighboring cities, so
that these fairs may not only not be a hindrance to their fairs but may rather increase
their profits. And so, on the advice of our nobles, we have given, out of respect for the
most holy lord, the Emperor Charlemagne, this liberty to all merchants-that they may be
quit and free of all toll throughout the year at these fairs in this royal place, and they
may buy and sell goods freely just as they wish.
No merchant, nor any other person, may take a merchant to court for the payment of any
debt during these fairs, nor take him there for any business that was conducted before the
fairs began; but if anything be done amiss during the fairs, let it be made good according
to justice during the fairs. Moreover, the first fair shall begin on Quadragesima Sunday,
which is six weeks before Easter, and it shall last for fifteen days. The second fair
shall begin eight days before the feast of St. Michael and shall continue for eight days
after that feast. And all people coming to, staying at, or going from the fairs shall have
peace for their persons and goods. And lest the frequent changing of coins, which are
sometimes light and sometimes heavy, should redound to the hurt of so glorious a place at
any time in the future, on the advice of our court, we have ordered money to be struck
there of the same purity, weight, and form, and in the same quantity, and to be kept to
the same standard. Twenty-four solidi shall be struck from a mark, always having the value
of twelve solidi of Cologne, so that twelve Cologne solidi may always be made from
twenty-four of these solidi, just as twenty-four solidi may always be struck from twelve
solidi of Cologne. The form of the coins will be such that on one side will be the image
of St. Charles the Great and his superscription, and on the obverse our own image with the
superscription of our own name.
And a certain abuse has prevailed for a long time in the courts of Aachen so that if
he, who was impleaded for calumny or for any other thing, could not offer satisfaction by
compensation for his offense, except he flee from the country at once, he incurred the
full penalty of composition; therefore, we, condemning this bad law forever, have decreed
that any one may offer in this our royal town of Aachen, for any cause for which he has
been impleaded, compensation by whatever small thing he is able to take off with his hands
while standing upright, without bending his body, such thing as a cloak, tunic, hat,
shirt, or other garment. And because the taking and exchanging of money, other than the
money of Aachen, has been condemned by an unjust law, we have decreed to the contrary,
that all money shall be current in our city according to its quality, and it shall be
accepted by everyone according to what it has been declared to be worth. Moreover, we
grant and confirm to the merchants of that city that they may have a mint and a house for
exchanging their silver and money whenever they decide to go away on business. Whoever out
of boldness decides to oppose our decree, or by temerity to break it, shall be in our
mercy and will pay a hundred pounds of gold to our court. And in order that all the things
we have decreed may be accepted as genuine and be faithfully observed we have ordered this
charter to be written and to be sealed by the impression of our seal.
Source.
From: J. Menadier, ed., Die Aachener Münzen, (Berlin: W. Pormetter, 1913), p.
58, reprinted in Roy C. Cave & Hebert H. Coulson, eds., A Source Book for Medieval
Economic History, (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Co., 1936; reprint ed., New York:
Biblo & Tannen, 1965), pp. 120-122.
Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Cal. State Fullerton. The text has been modernized by
Prof. Arkenberg.
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© Paul Halsall, October 1998
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