A Forger’s Knowledge of the Original. Forging a Papal Privilege in St Gall at the Beginning of the Tenth Century

Among the papal privileges that were forged during the early Middle Ages, a document preserved in the Stiftsarchiv of St. Gall (ms. A1 B2) stands out in particular: attributed to Pope John X and dated 22 February 919, this charter confirms the privileges of the monastery of St Gall, notably its right to freely elect its abbot. Remarkably, the document claims that, thanks to an exceptional papal dispensation, it was drawn up on a sheet of parchment and was furthermore authenticated by a seal. However, these practices diverge significantly from those of the early medieval papal chancery. Until the eleventh century, papal privileges were issued exclusively on rolls of papyrus. As for the seal—certainly a reference to the lead bull attached to papal privileges—while its existence is attested from the seventh century onwards, its corroborative function appears only to have been introduced towards the end of the eleventh, or even the twelfth century. Since the studies of Albert Brackmann, it has been established that the privilege of John X in favour of St Gall is a forgery. It was likely composed in the early 920s, shortly after it was supposedly issued, during a politically uncertain period for the monastery, marked by the death of their abbot Solomon (919), preceded shortly by that of King Conrad I (918)—a key supporter of Solomon and his monastery—and by the rise of Duke Burchard of Swabia, whose growing power threatened the monastery’s independence. The St. Gall forgery contains valuable information about the extent of Frankish knowledge about original papal privileges. In my paper, I want to examine how the forgery came into being, particularly the strategies employed by the forger to give it an appearance of authenticity and originality, supposedly in line with Roman tradition. As already noted, two elements played a central role: the use of parchment instead of papyrus and the mention of a seal, alluding to the lead bull. However, before analysing the document in more detail, the main characteristics of papal privileges in the ninth and tenth centuries must first be briefly outlined.