Guardianship of Thorn Abbey

‍Royalinvolvement in the abbey

The story of the foundation of Thorn Abbey by Count Ansfried (see theme 1) shows the involvement of Roman King Otto I. Ansfried was present in 962 as "sword bearer" at the coronation of Otto as Roman Emperor by the Pope . Otto I granted territory rights to Ansfried around 950 (charter no. 1). Ansfried subsequently donated them to the abbey. Roman King Adolf confirmed the abbey in these rights more than 300 years later (charter no. 61). We do encounter Roman kings more often where (legal) acts are concerned. For example, in 985 Roman King Otto III, the grandson of Otto I, granted Count Ansfried toll, coin, excise (tax) rights and other rights in the north of the country (charter no. 2). In June 1007, still during Ansfried's lifetime as bishop of Utrecht, Roman king and later emperor Hendrik II granted, among other things, market rights, toll rights and "districtio": jurisdiction over the areato the abbey of Thorn. Thereby Hendrik confirmed the donations made by Bishop Notger of Liege to the abbey of some churches in other areas (charter no. 4). Roman King Adolf approved these donations on 15 September 1292 (charter no. 62). On the same day Adolf confirmed and renewed the territorial rights of the abbey of Thorn received by Ansfried from Hendrik II over some churches (charter no. 62) (see also theme 3).

No Royal fiefdom

Although the foregoing shows a clear relationship of the Roman kings with the abbey, the abbey was not a fiefdom. The territory of Thorn was to be regarded as so-called "allodial," free property, and had no feudal lord in the person of king or emperor. Much more, in the situation of the abbey of Thorn, there was a (unilateral) grant (or rather, recognition) of rights of the abbey without any quid pro quo in the form of military support to the feudal lord, requests for money or levies. 

Guardianship of the abbey

Although no feudal once-only loyalty payment can be found in the documents, a charter of 1102 shows that there was actually some dependence of the abbey on neighbouring territorial lords. In it, Anselm, as a freeman, "by the hand of Gerard, Count of Gelre," transferred his daughter Mechteld "to the altar of the abbey of Thorn" (charter no. 5). From this, a form of "altar guardianship," that is, secular protection of an ecclesiastical institution, could be inferred from the count.

By a charter of 1263 (charter no. 20), the convent of Thorn declare that some named members and many others belonging to the church family owe an annual head duty (= tax) to the church and that they "shall have no other guardian than the church of Thorn." This is not to say that there is no guardianship of the abbey as an institution, but it does show the need of the abbess and convent not to depend on territorial lords or anyone outside the abbey.

One charter dealing with an issue (see theme 6) is that of 12 December 1282, in which Count Reinoud I of Gelre and Duke of Limburg charters that Willem II, lord of Horne and Altena, relinquishes all levies and stipends as guardian of the Land of Thorn (charter no. 47). 

From this it can be concluded that a certain guardianship did exist, exercised by the lords of Horne. Their territory bordered on that of the abbey of Thorn. However, it also shows the abbey's desire to be relieved of the financial burdens of that guardianship. The next topic (no. 5) shows that this buying off of the levies and requests for money led to great problems and conflicts with guardian Gerard of Horne, a struggle that was only settled in 1320. 

The relationship between the Counts of Gelre and the Lords of Horne is unclear, as far as the guardianship of Thorn is concerned. We may assume that the renunciation of the requests for money of subordinates by the lords of Horne weakened their rule over the abbey, which may have worked to the advantage of the counts of Gelre.

In addition, we know of guardians for the property of the abbey outside Thorn (area guardians). We find an example of this in a charter of June 1244 which mentions a division of goods between abbess Hildegonde and the convent. It concerns not only goods in Thorn and the region, but also goods in Gilze, Baarle, Bergeijk and Kerk-Avezaath, Bocholt, Ubach and Rode. Therefore, this charter was not only sealed by the duke of Gelre, for the goods in southern Limburg, but also by the duke of Limburg (charter no. 12). Both are thus (also) to be regarded as area guardians.

Authority relationship with the Diocese of Liege

Under Count Ansfried, the abbey and church of Thorn was founded as the "own church" of Bishop Notger of Liege. This meant that the bishop exercised authority over the abbey at the end of the tenth century. This was still the case around 1100. Reference can be made to a charter from 1268 in which Hendrik, bishop of Chiemsee and acting bishop of Liege, declares that he has consecrated five altars in the abbey of Thorn (charter no. 27). Various documents show that the bishop and the cathedral chapter of St. Lambert in Liege exercised more than just spiritual powers over the abbey of Thorn during this period. By modern standards, there were actually also administrative and "judicial" powers. Regarding the former, reference can be made to the permission in 1243 by the Bishop of Liege, together with the Duke of Brabant, to abbess Hildegonde and the convent of Thorn to sell certain rights to the courts at Baarle and Gilze to the lord of Breda (charter no. 11). Also in 1265 the abbess and convent ask the Liege chapter for approval of the distribution of certain monastic estates (charters nos. 22 and 23). In May and June 1299 abbess Guda of Rennenberg and the convent of Thorn on the one hand and the parish priests of Thorn, Oeteren, Beek, Eisden, Gilze and Baarle on the other hand ask the bishop of Liege or the pope to approve the agreements concerning the tithes and other rights within their parishes. The Liege chapter seals those rights at the request of all parties (charter no. 71).

In 1266 the Chapter of Liege issued a verdict in which the claim of the priest of 'Beke' (Beek near Bree), Willem van Buggenum, to all the large tithes there was rejected in favour of the convent of Thorn. Thus the Liege chapter acts as judge, although we should not associate it with modern notions of an independent magistrate, but rather with the idea of an involved authoritative decision-maker (charter no. 25). By a charter of 25 May 1299 (so 33 years later!), the chapter confirms a modified arrangement for the distribution of tithes at Beek (charter no. 69). In the same year the chapter seals an agreement on tithes between the abbey and the priest of Thorn, Jan van Baexem (charter no. 70). 

We draw attention here to the fact that there was often an "extrajudicial" dispute resolution as well, in a form we now call "mediation". We will deal with this topic in Theme 7.

While at that time there was still a clear relationship of authority between the chapter of Liege and the abbey of Thorn, later documents show that this bond gradually weakened.