École des chartes » ELEC » La diplomatique urbaine en Europe au Moyen Âge » Urban Diplomatics in the Northern Low Countries
[p. 522]

[p. 523] Urban Diplomatics in the Northern Low Countries

Introduction

Urban diplomatics in the Northern Low Countries is a very ambitious title. The picture I shall present you with is by sheer necessity incomplete due to the current level of research, certainly when I go on to examine it in relation to the framework proposed for today’s discussion. In order to give you a thorough introduction I have divided my presentation into two sections : I first provide you with a general outline and with a status questionis ; I than explore different aspects of the framework for discussion using the results of my own research for my thesis on the town of ’s-Hertogenbosch and on the charters that will be published in the second volume of the cartulary of North Brabant1.

General outline

As far as completed research on urban diplomatics is concerned, a number of older studies already exist concerning Leiden2, Utrecht3, Nijmegen4 and Kampen5. More recently, however, research has been carried out by J. Kruisheer and E. Dijkhof. Kruisheer conducted pioneering work with his ground breaking studies on the existence of the thirteenth-century by-laws (keuren) of the towns of Holland and Zeeland, in which he revealed that town privileges were given on the initiative of the town citizens and with their cooperation6. [p. 524] Dijkhof, who last year completed his dissertation on the urban diplomatics of several towns and religious institutions in Holland and Zeeland, focussed his research on the period up to and including the first quarter of the fourteenth century. Closely linked to these studies is the thesis of Burgers7. It concentrates on one aspect in particular, namely the palaeography of documentary sources from the thirteenth century in Holland and Zeeland. Recently attention has focussed on different aspects of the urban diplomatics of Holland/Zeeland, Gelderland and North Brabant in the three regional cartularies, published in the Northern Netherlands8. Concomitant with this completed research there are at least three theses currently in preparation on mediaeval urban diplomatics, namely on Leiden, Deventer and Zutphen, and ’s-Hertogenbosch. This research, respectively carried out by Van der Vlist9, Benders10, and myself, spans in broad terms the twelfth century up to and including the fifteenth century.

[p. 525] All in all, we in the Northern Netherlands do not have at our disposal a great deal of published research results which might cast some light on urban diplomatics in the second quarter of the fourteenth and the whole of the fifteenth century. For the time being at least, as Burgers recently pointed out, we still lack any systematic examination of the earliest appearance of town scribes in the Netherlands11. Broadly speaking, one can say that charter production in the towns of the Northern Low Countries really only took off in the last quarter of the thirteenth century12. The first town scribes were reported in Nijmegen from 1263, in Utrecht from 1330 — although it is possible that as early as 1299-1308 a canon held a more or less permanent official position in relation to the cities’ governing body — and in the region Holland and Zeeland they can be traced from 1260 onwards13. In the last quarter of the thirteenth century every important town in the shire of Holland and Zeeland had its own local scribe. It was only in the town of Dordrecht between 1280-1290 that several scribes were active at the same time14.

The city of ’s-Hertogenbosch

Origin of the town secretariat

Let us focus now on the city of ’s-Hertogenbosch, a town in the province of North Brabant with a population of 10.000 in 1300 and fifteen thousand people in the fourteenth and fifteenth century15. The earliest evidence of urban diplomatics is the so-called “privilege of the city”, granted by the Duke of Brabant at the end of the twelfth century16. This right possibly came into existence with cooperation from, and in close agreement with, the town representatives and the Duke, and consolidated a system of rights which had existed earlier. This charter is the oldest product to be passed on from the town [p. 526] charter practices and remains for at least four decades the only charter in the urban context. In the second quarter of the thirteenth century (more specifically the period 1230-22 November 1245) the town concentrated in all probability on updating “the city privilege” from the end of the twelfth century17. Although this was passed on as a deperditum, the contribution of the town has been indirectly established by Kruisheer. He proved that the so-called keure of Haarlem was based on the — now lost — charter of ’s-Hertogenbosch, and that there must have circulated annotated written versions in the city18.

The first town charter in the name of the bailiff, the aldermen — named scabini — the jurats and the citizens of ’s-Hertogenbosch only surfaces in 124219. From that moment onwards a steady stream of charters is set in motion. First charters by the bailiff, aldermen, jurats and the citizens and later by two aldermen. The first charter to be passed on — decreed by the aldermen of ’s-Hertogenbosch — dates from 125820. Alongside this the town also validated with the town seal two charters, emanating from its citizens21. From 1260 onwards we witness in every successive decade from the thirteenth century at least a 100 % increase in the number of charters decreed, up to almost 50 charters between 1290 and 129922. For the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries we can talk in numbers of thousands of original charters which were passed on, not counting the charters which were only passed on as transcripts or known as deperdita. In the thirteenth century, town production only comprised of charters, specifically charters on voluntary jurisdiction. No trace of town accountability, such as that which was, for example, passed down from the town of Dordrecht in the thirteenth century23, can be found in this period for ’s-Hertogenbosch. Although town charter practices began just before the middle of the thirteenth century, the employment of the first permanent town scribe can only be determined with 100 % certainty approximately hundred years after the founding of the town24. This scribe was practically solely responsible for the entire charter production for the town in the period 1281-1311. He also took upon [p. 527] himself the task of writing charters for other individuals and institutions, meant for the town, such as among others the Duke of Brabant25, the Lord of Boxtel26, the Deans of Woensel27, as well as an agreement between the abbey of Echternach and a local lord28. This research into the initial phase of the town secretariat and the urban diplomatics has been exclusively carried out using the palaeographic-diplomatic method of research. Insights into the organization and structure of the town secretariat can only be obtained by this method. The source material itself from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries does not contain obvious data about the towns’ administrative organization29. The first steps to create a town administrative secretariat are only visible fifty years after the first urban charters were drawn up. A similar pattern is evident in the towns of Holland and Zeeland. In the fourteenth century the structure of the secretariat in ’s-Hertogenbosch was expanded with a permanent body of scribes, who wrote all the charters for the aldermen according to rigid and well-balanced guidelines30.

Nature of the production

When we want to determine the nature of the production of the town secretariat we have to make a distinction again between the thirteenth and the first half of the fourteenth century and the second half of the fourteenth and fifteenth century. In the first phase the activities of the town secretariat were limited to granting and updating town privileges, conceptualising and writing charters, with a comparative proclivity towards charters on voluntary jurisdiction, the provision for external correspondence of the town’s governing body with towns in the Low Countries and with more distant locations, the preparation of certificates for the guilds, bonds and obligations for citizens from ’s-Hertogenbosch as well as for others, economic rules and by-laws, and affairs concerning water management (polder letters), etc. Whether or not there was also a possibility of any form of transcribed accounts within the town secretariat at this time is still a tricky question. There are neither direct nor indirect indications of the [p. 528] existence of such sources31. Also the codification of ordinances in any form is lacking, in contrast to Tournai and Flemish towns such as Saint-Omer and Lille, where records of town ordinances were kept from as early as the thirteenth century32. During the second stage, the second half of the fourteenth and the fifteenth century, we see the emergence of several new typological sources such as accounts, records of voluntary jurisdiction, records of legal verdicts, cartularies, civil registers etc. It is possible that a number of these sources have their roots in the first phase, but there is no obvious proof of this33.

Development and expansion

The development and expansion of the town secretariat in ’s-Hertogenbosch took place relatively unhindered. Neither within the city walls nor in the direct vicinity were there, in fact, any great potentially competitive offices which possessed an extensive writing centre. There was no chancery of the bishop nor official’s chancery, such as the one present in Utrecht34. Another potentially dominant factor, the chancery of the duchy of Brabant, was still in its initial [p. 529] stage of development and, therefore, could not be viewed as a serious competitor35. During the thirteenth and fourteenth century the town secretariat even took on part of the production of some of the charters issued by the duchy36. The office of the notary also did not have the power to curb the expansion of the town secretariat. The transfer and encumbrance of property in the district ‘de Meierij’ of ’s-Hertogenbosch had to be done before the aldermen of the city of ’s-Hertogenbosch or in the place where the property was situated37. Indeed, the presence of the first notaries dates from 131738, the point at which the town secretariat was already firmly established. There is really no question of two clearly separated bodies within the town, because a large number of notaries also carried out the function of town scribe39. In the period 1383-1531 sixteen of the twenty-six town clerks were also notaries40. We can even speak of a peaceful coexistence of aldermen and notaries in the area of charter production41. Failing the presence of any other office for the production of charters, the town secretariat could flourish unfettered. Other centres of production which could have severely inhibited the developmental process in its early phase, such as the presence of an abbey or a religious chapter where the production of charters was carried out, were not present in the newly founded town. We see examples of such a state of affairs in Utrecht and Middelburg, where respectively the canons from the local chapters and the scribes from the abbey transcribed the charters at the request of the towns’ governing bodies42. The town secretariat of ’s-Hertogenbosch, therefore, enjoyed a high level of [p. 530] expansion which was not only due to factors such as economic development, a strong increase in the population, its role as an administrative and judicial centre of the district “de Meierij”, but also to its enormous pulling-power as a writing centre which it exercised on the surrounding area. The recording and expedition of deeds of transfer was indeed not restricted to transactions in the town, but also included property transactions from all over its district. For example, with regard to the charters governing real estate which were recorded in the town register during the period 1397-1399, the town-country ratio is as follows : 80 % of the transactions have to do with goods from outside the town and its jurisdiction, while only 16 % concern goods from within the town itself43. The main reason behind the fact that people from all over the district chose to have these transactions recorded and authenticated in ’s-Hertogenbosch was the prevailing right of the ‘ingebod44. This implied that on the basis of the charters issued, creditors could summon debtors who lived outside the city and who did not fulfil their obligations, to stand before the bailiff’s courtroom and demand satisfaction, up to and including the confiscation of goods and public auction45. The legal security that this compulsory procedure gave to the parties involved increased the number of charters recorded in ’s-Hertogenbosch and reduced the number of charters produced by some of the smaller local offices in the region. The development and success of the town writing centre in ’s-Hertogenbosch is therefore largely due to the absence of competitive writing centres and the appeal which it had to the surrounding area as a professional producer of charters.

Sealing, form of dating and language of the charters

The form in which the town production increased can be, broadly speaking, divided typologically, into three categories : firstly, the large group of charters, secondly the records, and thirdly the documentary scrolls. I will focus on the charters. The charters from ’s-Hertogenbosch have seals, as do most of the charters from towns in the Low Countries. Exceptions to this are the charters from the aldermen’s chest of Arnhem46 and the records of Middelburg47 and [p. 531] Kampen48. In Arnhem the charters were not given to the recipient, but rather stored in the aldermen’s chest, the locus credibilis. In Middelburg and Kampen, charters on voluntary jurisdiction were kept in registers. The chirograph, as known from cities as for example Nivelles49 and Tournai50, does not occur in the region of the Northern Low Countries. During the first phase, the town charters from ’s-Hertogenbosch, including the charters concerning property transactions and those where only the bailiff was involved, were given the town’s seal51. This practice changed completely from the seventies of the thirteenth century, with the unique exception of the aldermen’s seals in 126152. Peculiar to ’s-Hertogenbosch is also the fact that in exceptional circumstances the usual aldermen’s seal in the fourteenth century was replaced by a small (town) seal ad legata53. The aldermen’s charters moreover, had no longer the town seal, but the personal official seals of the aldermen. The use of personal official seals in ’s-Hertogenbosch is remarkable. It is comparable to the practice in Maastricht54 but differs from the practice in the region of Holland and Zeeland, Utrecht and South-West Brabant. The aldermen in ’s-Hertogenbosch [p. 532] have seals with their names on them and a description of their position ‘scabinus in Busco/Busco-ducis55. On the seals used in Utrecht, Aardenburg, Bergen op Zoom56, Breda57, Roosendaal58, Nijmegen, Dordrecht, Delft and Middelburg, a description of the aldermen’s function is not given59. In the region of West Brabant a number of aldermen in the thirteenth and fourteenth century did not yet have their own seals, but asked for the seal to be issued by other groups of aldermen, local dignitaries or the clergy60.

As far as the form of dating is concerned, ’s-Hertogenbosch adhered to the Easter style which was maintained in Brabant61, with a day reference to the church calendar. In the middle of the fifteenth century the Easter style is also recognized by others as the official year style of the town of ’s-Hertogenbosch. In a charter from Vught, a small village nearby, the system of dating reads as follows : “Dit is uytgesproecken ende gesciet opten XVIIIsten dach van februario in den iair ons Heren dusent vierhondert ende tsestich, na gewoenten van scriven [p. 533] der stat van den Busch62. Also in a charter of the hereditary Field Marshall of Brabant, the date is explicitly referred to as follows : “Ghegheven ende gedaen opten neghensten dach in februario int jaer ons Heren dusent vierhondert ende neghen ende veertich na costume van scrivenen in der stadt van den Bossche63.

The last aspect I will mention is the use of the language, the choice between Latin or the vernacular. As far as the type of language used in the town secretariat is concerned, one has to distinguish between the charters issued by the town’s governing body, and the charters of voluntary jurisdiction : with regard to the first category, the move from Latin to Dutch took place in the first half of the fourteenth century. With regard to the second category, the scribes rigidly stuck to Latin until the middle of the sixteenth century. It was on 12 October 1552 that the governing body of ’s-Hertogenbosch finally decided that henceforth Dutch had to be the official language of the aldermen’s charters of ’s-Hertogenbosch, despite protests from the cities’ secretaries. The act could only be drawn up in Latin upon the specific request of the parties concerned64.

In the whole eastern part of the province of North Brabant charters in the vernacular surface in the last decades of the thirteenth century65. Broadly speaking, one can say that around the middle of the fourteenth century the vernacular was used in a large number of places66. In the western region of the [p. 534] province we have to wait until the beginning of the fourteenth century to see the first vernacular in the charters of the city. In Breda charters in the vernacular date from 1307 and 130867, but afterwards, Latin continued to be predominantly chosen until the middle of the fourteenth century68. In Bergen op Zoom the aldermen issued their first Dutch charter in 130469, in Steenbergen in 130570 and in Wouw in 131071. The move from Latin to the vernacular occurred much earlier in Holland and Zeeland : here it showed up in the second half of the thirteenth century and had completely replaced Latin in the fourteenth-century charters72.

The late surfacing of the vernacular in the province of North Brabant, compared to Holland and Zeeland is thus remarkable.


1 The second volume of the cartulary of North Brabant until 1312 with 669 charters of the area Breda and Bergen op Zoom will be published by M. Dillo, G.A.M. Van Synghel in 1999 (edition of the Institute of the Netherlands History, Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën, Den Haag).

2 F.W.N. Hugenholtz, Clerk (secretaris) en pensionaris van de stad Leiden. Bijdrage tot de kennis van de stedelijke ambtenaren in de late Middeleeuwen, in : Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, 66, 1953, p. 220-234.

3 F. Ketner, De Tolnaers als stadsklerken van Utrecht, in : Stichtse Studiën, Utrecht, 1974, p. 52-62 (published earlier in : Dancwerc. Opstellen aangeboden aan prof. Dr. D.Th. Enklaar ter gelegenheid van zijn vijfenzestigste verjaardag, Groningen, 1959, p. 152-161).

4 F. Ketner, De oudste stedelijke oorkonden van Nijmegen 1233-1291, in : Miscellanea mediaevalia in memoriam Jan Frederik Niermeyer, Groningen, 1967, p. 279-282.

5 J.A. Kossmann-Putto, Kamper schepenakten 1316-1354, Zwolle, 1955.

6 J.[G.] Kruisheer, Het ontstaan van de oudste Zeeuwse stadsrechtoorkonden, in : C.M. Cappon, P.C. Van der Eerden, e.a. (red.), Ad fontes. Opstellen aangeboden aan prof. dr. C. van de Kieft ter gelegenheid van zijn afscheid als hoogleraar in de middeleeuwse geschiedenis aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1984, p. 275-304. Idem, Het ontstaan van de stadsrechtoorkonden van Haarlem, Delft en Alkmaar. Mit Zusammenfassung in deutscher Sprache, [Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afdeling Letterkunde, new serie 130], Amsterdam/Oxford/New York, 1985. Idem, Het ontstaan van de oudste Leidse stadsrechtoorkonden (waarschijnlijk einde twaalfde eeuw-1266), in : J.B. Berns, P.A. Henderikx, e.a. (red.), Feestbundel aangeboden aan prof. dr. D.P. Blok ter gelegenheid van zijn 65ste verjaardag en zijn afscheid als hoogleraar in de nederzettingsgeschiedenis in verband met de plaatsnaamkunde aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam, Hilversum, 1990, p. 182-203. Idem, Het ontstaan van de dertiende-eeuwse Zeeuwse landkeuren. Met een teksteditie van de keur van Floris de Voogd (1256) en van de keur van graaf Floris V (1290), Hilversum, 1998.

7 J.W.J. Burgers, De paleografie van de documentaire bronnen in Holland en Zeeland in de dertiende eeuw, [Schrift en schriftdragers in de Nederlanden in de Middeleeuwen. Paleografie, codicologie, diplomatiek, 1], Leuven, 1995.

8 A.C.F. Koch, J.G. Kruisheer (eds.), Oorkondenboek van Holland en Zeeland tot 1299, 4 vols., ’s-Gravenhage/Assen/Maastricht, 1970-1998. E.J. Harenberg, M.S. Polak, E.C. Dijkhof (eds.), Oorkondenboek van Gelre en Zutphen tot 1326, 7 vols., [Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën], ’s-Gravenhage, 1980-1996. H.P.H. Camps (ed.), Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, I, De Meierij van ’s-Hertogenbosch (met de heerlijkheid Gemert), [Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën], ’s-Gravenhage, 1979. See for example for Gelderland : E.J. Harenberg, Oorkondenboek van Gelre en Zutphen tot 1326, II, ’s-Gravenhage, 1984, n° 1280.09.08 and E.C. Dijkhof, Oorkondenboek van Gelre en Zutphen tot 1326, V, ’s-Gravenhage, 1993, nos 1278.01.06, 1284.10.15, 1286.04.09, 1287.05.25, 1291.01.16 and 1295.07.23. In relation to the region Holland and Zeeland see also J.W.J. Burgers, E.C. Dijkhof, J.G. Kruisheer, De doordringing van het schrift in de samenleving in Holland en Zeeland tijdens graaf Floris V, in : D.E.H. De Boer, E.H.P. Cordfunke, H. Sarfatij (eds.), Wi Florens… De Hollandse graaf Floris V in de samenleving van de 13de eeuw, Utrecht, 1996, p. 191-211.

9 E.T. Van der Vlist, De secretarie en de verschriftelijking van bestuur en rechtspraak in de stad Leiden 1260-1450, in preparation. Also his unpublished thesis De oudste oorkonden van de stad Leiden ; een paleografisch-diplomatische studie, Leiden, 1988.

10 J.F. Benders, Van klerken en hun werken. Verschriftelijking van de bestuurscultuur in de laat-middeleeuwse steden Deventer en Zutphen, in preparation.

11 Burgers, o.c., I, p. 476.

12 Burgers, o.c., I, p. 440.

13 Burgers, o.c., I, p. 442.

14 Burgers, o.c., I, p. 482. The scribes even developped their own city-style of writing, Burgers, o.c., I, p. 308-310.

15 J. Baerten, De omvang van de Brabantse hoofdsteden in de 14de en 15de eeuw. Een kritische bijdrage tot de historische demografie, in : Bijdragen tot de Geschiedenis, 64, 1981, p. 9-14 ; W.P. Blockmans, G. Pieters, W. Prevenier, R.W.M. Van Schaïk, Tussen crisis en welvaart : sociale veranderingen 1300-1500, in : AGN, 4, 1980, p. 51 ; they mention a population of 14.526 in the year 1374 and 15.552 in 1496.

16 Camps, o.c., I-1, n° 77, ad datum ca. 1185. This town privilege was most certainly renewed in the period 1230 to 22 November 1245. The text has, however, not been handed down, see ibidem, I-1, n° 214.

17 Edition in Camps, o.c., I-1, n° 214.

18 J. Kruisheer, Het ontstaan van de stadsrechtoorkonden van Haarlem, Delft en Alkmaar, p. 59.

19 Camps, o.c., I-1, n° 197.

20 Camps, o.c., I-1, n° 270.

21 Camps, o.c., I-1, nos 231 and 270.

22 Aldermen’s charters that have been handed down : four from 1259 up to and including 1269, nine from 1270 up to and including 1279, eighteen from 1280 up to and including 1289 and forty-nine from 1290 up to and including 1299.

23 J.W.J. Burgers, E.C. Dijkhof, De oudste stadsrekeningen van Dordrecht, 1283-1287, [Apparaat voor de geschiedenis van Holland 11], Hilversum, 1995.

24 See n° 57 in the (unpublished) database of my thesis.

25 See n° 1306 in ididem.

26 See n° 1757 in ibidem.

27 See n° 1304 in ibidem.

28 See n° 1755 in ibidem.

29 This is only an exceptional case, J. Gilissen, Les villes en Belgique. Histoire des institutions administratives et judiciaires des villes belges, in : Recueils de la société Jean Bodin, VI, I, Brussel, 1954, p. 531-604, especially p. 554.

30 See M.H.M. Spierings, Het schepenprotocol van ’s-Hertogenbosch 1367-1400, Tilburg, 1984 and G. Van Synghel, Het Bosch’ Protocol. Een praktische handleiding, [Werken met Brabantse Bronnen 2], Meppel, 1993.

31 It is so that as early as the thirteenth century there were town functionaries who looked after financial matters, as revealed in the will and testament of Willem of Gent, who in 1274 transferred the care for the payment of his yields upon the so-called “purse carriers” or “rerum communitatis nostre provisores seu burse ipsius communitatis latores” (Camps, o.c., I-1, p. 431-433, n° 343 and A.C.M. Kappelhof, Een Moergestelse cijnsrol uit 1359, in : De Kleine Meijerij, 19884, p. 75-85 and 19891, p. 12-18. During the fourteenth century this task was transferred to the “Tafel van de Heilige Geest” (the Poor Table), who kept accounts by means of a tax-roll. Although it is a matter for speculation, we cannot rule out the possibility that the town administrators contributed documents for this type of administration too.

32 Gilissen, o.c., p. 578.

33 I have in mind here the accounts (they were only kept from 1399-1406, after which there is a huge gap for the whole of the fifteenth century, only in 1496 does the series resume), the town records of voluntary jurisprudence, kept without interruption since 1367, the book of verdicts or protocols of legal processes regarding property sales, kept since 1366, and the fifteenth-century town cartularies. For a beautiful general overview of the registration, see W. Prevenier, La conservation de la mémoire par l’enregistrement dans les chancelleries princières et dans les villes des anciens Pays-Bas du moyen âge, in : K. Borchardt, E. Bünz (eds.), Forschungen zur Reichs-, Papst- und Landesgeschichte Peter Herde zum 65. Geburtstag von Freunden, Schülern und Kollegen dargebracht, vol. 1, Stuttgart, 1998, p. 551-564.

34 J.W. Berkelbach van der Sprenkel, De kanselarij van bisschop Gui van Avesnes, in : Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, 49, 1934, p. 416-423 en 51, 1936, p. 64-74. Ketner, De Tolnaers als stadsklerken van Utrecht, in : Stichtse Studiën, Utrecht, 1974, p. 52. For the official’s chancery see C.C. De Glopper-Zuijderland, De officiaal van Utrecht als beoorkonder van vrijwillige rechtshandelingen ten behoeve van de vijf Utrechtse kapittels in de 14de eeuw, in : Stichting tot uitgaaf der bronnen van het oud-vaderlandse recht, verslagen en mededelingen, n.s., 3, 1982, p. 87-159.

35 E. Reusens, Les chancelleries inférieures en Belgique depuis leur origine jusqu’au commencement du XIII siècle, in : Analectes pour servir à l’histoire ecclésiastique de la Belgique, second series, 1896, p. 20-206. H. Nélis, Y-a-t-il eu des chanceliers de Brabant au XIV siècle ?, in : Annales de la société d’archéologie de Bruxelles, 20, 1906, p. 487-494. G. Smets, Henri I duc de Brabant (1190-1235), Brussel, 1908, p. 260-267. P. De Ridder, Een paleografische en diplomatische studie van de oorkonden verleend door hertog Jan II van Brabant (1294-1312) aan Antwerpen en Zoutleeuw, in : Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis, LVI, 1973, p. 135-156.

36 See nos 210, 1367, 1368, 1369 and 1758 in the (unpublished) database of my thesis.

37 F.F.X. Cerutti, De schepenbank in de Brabantse stad en de overdracht en bezwaring van onroerende goederen, in : Varia historica Brabantica, 3, 1969, p. 61-68.

38 A.H.P. Van den Bichelaer, Het Bossche notariaat in de middeleeuwen (1317-1531), (unpublished thesis), Nijmegen, 1989, p. 27 and Idem, Het notariaat in Stad en Meierij van ’s-Hertogenbosch tijdens de Late Middeleeuwen (1306-1531), Amsterdam, 1998. The public notaries have become established in ’s-Hertogenbosch about 1327, Van den Bichelaer, o.c., p. 50.

39 Van den Bichelaer, Het notariaat in Stad en Meierij van ’s-Hertogenbosch tijdens de Late Middeleeuwen (1306-1531), p. 145-150.

40 Van den Bichelaer, o.c., p. 145.

41 Van den Bichelaer, o.c., p. 348.

42 See for Utrecht Ketner, De Tolnaers als stadsklerken van Utrecht, in : Stichtse Studiën, Utrecht, 1974, p. 52-53 and for Middelburg E.C. Dijkhof, Het oorkondenwezen van enige kloosters en steden in Holland en Zeeland 1299-1325, unpublished thesis, Amsterdam, 1997, I, p. 115.

43 Spierings, o.c., p. 168.

44 J.P.A. Coopmans, Het Bossche recht van ingebod, in : Vriendenboek stadsarchivaris Kuyer, ’s-Hertogenbosch, 1980, p. 42-63.

45 B.C.M. Jacobs, Justitie en politie in ’s-Hertogenbosch voor 1629. De bestuursorganisatie van een Brabantse stad, [Brabantse Rechtshistorische Reeks 1], Assen/Maastricht, 1986, p. 81-82 and p. 118-119. For a description of this procedure see M.J.H.A. Lijten, Het burgerlijk proces in stad en Meierij van ’s-Hertogenbosch 1530-1811, [Brabantse Rechtshistorische Reeks 2], Assen/Maastricht, 1988, p. 69-106.

46 D.P.M. Graswinckel, Schepenkist-oorkonden, in : Nederlands Archievenblad, 37, 1929-1930, p. 53-63 ; reprinted in R.A.D. Renting, Regestenlijst van de schepenkistoorkonden uit het rechterlijk archief van Arnhem, ’s-Gravenhage, 1952.

47 E.C. Dijkhof, Zegelen in Middelburg. Beoorkondiging, bezegeling en institutionele ontwikkeling in Middelburg in de dertiende en het eerste kwart van de viertiende eeuw, in : Archief van het Koninklijke Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen, 1992, p. 57-87 and Idem, Het oorkondenwezen van enige kloosters en steden in Holland en Zeeland 1299-1325, unpublished thesis, Amsterdam, 1997, I, p. 95-96 and p. 116-117.

48 J.A. Kossmann-Putto, Kamper schepenacten 1316-1354, Zwolle, 1955.

49 L. Bril, Les chirographes de Nivelles, in : Archives, bibliothèques et musées, 13, 1936, p. 109-118.

50 P. Ruelle, Trente et un chirographes tournaisiens (1282-1366), in : Bulletin de la Commission Royale d’Histoire, 128, 1962, p. 1-67. See also O. Guyotjeannin, J. Pycke, B.-M. Tock, Diplomatique médiévale, [L’atelier du médiéviste 92], Turnhout, 1993, examples p. 188-193 and p. 202-205. Prevenier, o.c., p. 561-562.

51 See for example Camps, o.c., I-1, p. 358, n° 277, p. 368-369, n° 285 and p. 400, n° 315.

52 Charter ad datum 11 juni 1261, edition in G. Van Synghel, Editie van de schepenoorkonden van ’s-Hertogenbosch : dertien oorkonden als supplement op het eerste deel van het Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant (1261-1311), in : Datum et actum. Opstellen aangeboden aan Jaap Kruisheer ter gelegenheid van zijn vijfenzestigste verjaardag, [Publicaties van het Meertens Instituut 29], Amsterdam, 1998, p. 403-404, n° 1. See on this subject also G.H.A. Venner, Schepenakten en schepenen in Zuid-Oost Nederland in de dertiende eeuw. Onderzoek naar het optreden van stedelijke schepenen bij de overdracht van onroerend goed, in : A.M.J.A. Berkvens, A.Fl. Gehlen, G.H.A. Venner (eds.), Flittich erforscht und gecolligeert… Opstellen over Limburgse rechtsgeschiedenis, Maastricht, 1995, p. 77-104.

53 J. Mosmans, Het zegelen van Bossche schepenakten, in : Taxandria, 1940, p. 218-222.

54 See Venner, o.c. ; Idem, Maastrichtse schepenzegels uit de dertiende eeuw, in : R. De la Haye (ed.), Achter de Minderbroeders. Opstellen over bijzondere stukken en voorwerpen van het Rijksarchief in Limburg, Maastricht, 1996, p. 158-159 and Idem, De oudste schepenzegels van Sint-Pieter (1294), in : De Maasgouw. Tijdschrift voor Limburgse geschiedenis en oudheidkunde, 117, 19982, p. 98-102.

55 One exception to this is the seal of the alderman of ’s-Hertogenbosch, Arnold Rover, from the late thirteenth century, who used his own personal seal which did not bear a description of his function.

56 Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312. De heerlijkheden Breda en Bergen op Zoom, II, nos 1236, 1239, 1240, 1243 and 1252.

57 Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, nos 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1517.

58 Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, n° 1309.

59 E.C. Dijkhof, Zegelen in Middelburg. Beoorkondiging, bezegeling en institutionele ontwikkeling in Middelburg in de dertiende en het eerste kwart van de veertiende eeuw, in : Archief van het Koninklijke Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen, 1992, p. 57-87, especially p. 68.

60 This concerns the aldermen of Essen, Etten, de Hoeven van Etten, Noordland near Bergen op Zoom, Woensdrecht and Wouw. The aldermen of Essen call upon the aldermen of Bergen op Zoom, see Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, n° 1362 ; the aldermen of Etten request the curate and chaplin of Etten for seals, see Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, nos 1341, 1353, 1354, 1359, 1387, 1398, 1420 and 1421, and also call upon the lord of Etten and Antonius of Okel, see Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant, II, n° 1454 ; the aldermen of de Hoeven van Etten call upon the curate and chaplin of Etten, see Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, n° 1388, as well as the lord of Etten, see Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, n° 1450, and the pastors of Etten and Bovendonk, see Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, n° 1516 ; the aldermen of Etten and de Hoeven van Etten both call upon the lord of Etten and a vassal, see Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, n° 1469 ; the aldermen of Noordland call upon an alderman and the schoolmaster of Bergen op Zoom to place a seal on the charter, see Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, n° 1241 ; the aldermen of Woensdrecht ask for a seal from the curate of Woensdrecht, the lord of Woensdrecht and the bailiff of Bergen op Zoom, see Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, n° 1318 and the aldermen of Wouw have their charter sealed by the chaplin of Wouw, see Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, n° 1244 (three years later, in 1290, Rodolf Faber, an alderman from Wouw, has a seal of his own, see Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, n° 1271).

61 E.I. Strubbe, L. Voet, De chronologie van de middeleeuwen en de moderne tijden in de Nederlanden, Antwerpen/Amsterdam, 1960, p. 53-59.

62This is pronounced and done on the 18th day of February in the year of Our Lord thousand four hundred and sixty, after the custom of the scribes of the city of den Bossche”, ’s-Hertogenbosch, Rijksarchief in Noord-Brabant, archief van de Kommanderij van de Duitse orde te Vught, inv. n° 427 : charter ad datum 1460.

63Given and done on the ninth day of February in the year of Our Lord thousand four hundred and forty-nine after the custom of the scribes in the city of den Bossche”, Maastricht, Rijksarchief Limburg, archief familie Van de Bergh, inv. n° 432, regest n° 24 : charter ad datum 1450.

64 Tilburg, Universiteitsbibliotheek, Brabantica-collectie, hs. n° D 110, f° 63 r°.

65 See Camps, o.c., I-1, n° 461, dated [2 April] 1290-[21 April 1291].

66 In Eindhoven Dutch was most certainly used in the aldermen’s charters from 1342 (’s-Hertogenbosch, Stadsarchief, archief van de Tafel van de Heilige Geest, regest n° 256 ad datum 24 August 1342, regest n° 352 ad datum 29 May 1352, regest n° 369 ad datum 20 October 1353) ; in Herpen from 1326 (ibidem, archief van de Tafel van de Heilige Geest, regest n° 159 ad datum 17 October 1326, regest n° 337 ad datum 1 October 1350, regest n° 375 ad datum 17 August 1354, regest n° 426a ad datum 1358, regest n° 443 ad datum 30 September 1358 and regest n° 448 ad datum 3 February 1359) ; in Heeze from 1333 (ibidem, archief van de Tafel van de Heilige Geest, regest n° 200 ad datum 13 November 1333) ; in Nuenen from 1346 (ibidem, archief van de Tafel van de Heilige Geest, regest n° 288 ad datum 25 June 1346, regest n° 314 ad datum 6 November 1348) ; in Oirschot from 1343 (’s-Hertogenbosch, Rijksarchief, archief van het kapittel van Oirschot, inv. n° 226 ad datum 19 May 1343, inv. n° 140 ad datum 18 January 1349, inv. n° 140 ad datum 24 January 1350, inv. n° 427 ad datum 2 May 1350) ; in Oisterwijk from 1350 (’s-Hertogenbosch, Stadsarchief, archief van de Tafel van de Heilige Geest, regest n° 319 ad datum 1 February 1349 a.s.) ; in Oyen from 1336 (ibidem, archief van de Tafel van de Heilige Geest, regest n° 206 ad datum 4 June 1336) ; in Sint-Michielsgestel from 1354 (ibidem, archief van de Tafel van de Heilige Geest, regest n° 370 ad datum 12 January 1354) and in Sint-Oedenrode from 1334 (’s-Hertogenbosch, Stadsarchief, archief van de Duitse Orde te Gemert, inv. n° 865, reg. n° 23 ad datum 17 September 1334).

67 Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, nos 1473, 1485 and 1486.

68 F.F.X. Cerutti (ed.), Middeleeuwse rechtsbronnen van stad en heerlijkheid Breda, I, Utrecht, 1956, n° 143 (Latin aldermen’s charter from 1331) and n° 196 (Dutch aldermen’s charter from 1350).

69 Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, n° 1451 ; followed up in 1306 and 1307 (respectively Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, nos 1461, 1482).

70 Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, n° 1459.

71 Oorkondenboek van Noord-Brabant tot 1312, II, n° 1522.

72 J.W.J. Burgers, De invoering van het Nederlands in de dertiende-eeuwse documentaire bronnen in Holland en Zeeland, in : Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde, 112, 1996, p. 129-150, especially p. 144-146.