Lullo, Archbishop of Mainz:
On Traffic in Ecclesiastical Serfs, c. 755
Even a wayward priest could descend to the traffic in serfs, as Lullo, Archbishop of
Mainz, complained to the Pope. Those who were sent eastward were possibly used for
colonization, but those who were sold across the sea certainly went into slavery.
But let your Holiness judge what is right and just about these things and not only
of these but of all which he did perversely during his life and which are here made clear.
For he took the goods and serfs of the church committed to his care, Faegenolph our serf,
and his two sons Raegenolph and Amanolph, and his wife Leobthruthe, and her daughter
Amalthruthe, and he took them to Saxony and exchanged them there against a horse belonging
to a man named Huelp. But Willefrid sent Raegenolph beyond the sea with Enred and gave him
together with his mother into slavery. But the serf and the girl, whom Aotrich gave to our
church for the soul of his son, the said Willefrid took away and secretly carried them
off. The name of this serf was Theodo and the name of his wife Aotlind; the priest Enred
exchanged our serf Liudo against a horse with the man of Aldberchtes de Effernace, Upbit
by name. And he took away secretly by night our serf Erpwine and ninety-four pigs which
Hredun had given to our church; on another occasion he took our two serfs Zeitolf and
Zeizhelm and at one time four of our oxen; later he took three more and recently he took
eight cows and seven bulls. Seven of our best mares, four years old, he stole and gave to
Wenilo near the church and he took many other horses being reared at that time and drove
them to Hamburg. Of the gold and silver which Regenthryth, daughter of Athuolph, gave to
our church, Enred took two gold bracelets and five gold ornaments worth 300 solidi....
Source:
J. P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae Cursus Completus, (Paris, 1862), Vol. XCVI, p.
827; reprinted in Roy C. Cave & Herbert H. Coulson, A Source Book for Medieval
Economic History, (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Co., 1936; reprint ed., New York:
Biblo & Tannen, 1965), pp. 293-294.
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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