Acartulary orchartulary (/ˈkɑːrtjʊləri/; Latin:cartularium orchartularium), also calledpancarta orcodex diplomaticus, is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (rotulus) containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the foundation, privileges, andlegal rights of ecclesiastical establishments,municipal corporations, industrial associations, institutions of learning, or families. The term is sometimes also applied to collections of original documents bound in one volume or attached to one another so as to form a roll, as well as to custodians of such collections.^[1]

Michael Clanchy defines a cartulary as "a collection of title deeds copied into a register for greater security".^[2]

A cartulary may take the form of a book or acodex. Documents, chronicles or other kinds of handwritten texts were compiled, transcribed or copied into the cartulary.

In the introduction to the bookLes Cartulaires, it is argued that in the contemporary diplomatic world it was common to provide a strict definition as the organized, selective, or exhaustive transcription of diplomatic records, made by the owner of them or by the producer of the archive where the documents are preserved.^[3]

In theDictionary of Archival Terminology a cartulary is defined as "a register, usually in volume form, of copies of charters, title deeds, grants of privileges and other documents of significance belonging to a person, family or institution".^[4] In 1938, the French historian, Emile Lesne, wrote: "Every Cartulary is the testimony of the statement of the Archives in a Church at the time when it was compiled".^[5]

Related terms in other languages are:cartularium (Latin);Kopiar,Kopialbuch (German),Chartular (Oes.)^{[clarification needed]};cartolario, cartulario, cartario (Italian);cartulario (Spanish).

In medievalNormandy, a type of cartulary was common from the early 11th century that combined a record of gifts to the monastery with a short narrative. These works are known aspancartes.^[6]

The allusion ofGregory of Tours tochartarum tomi in the 6th century is commonly taken to refer to cartularies. The oldest surviving cartularies, however, originated in the10th century.^[7] Those from the 10th to the 13th centuries are very numerous.

Cartularies frequently contain historical texts, known as cartularychronicles, which may focus on the history of the monastery whose legal documents it accompanies, or may be a more general history of the world. This link between legal andhistorical writings has to be understood in the context of the importance of past events for establishinglegal precedence.^[8]

Sometimes thecopyist of the cartulary reproduced the original documents with literal exactness. On the other hand, some copyists took liberties with the text, including modifying the phraseology, modernizing proper names of persons and places, and even changing the substance, so as to extend the scope of the privileges or immunities granted in the document. The value of a cartulary as a historical document depends not only on how faithfully it reproduces the substance of the original, but also, if edited, on the clues it contains to the motivation for those changes. These questions are generally the subject of scrutiny under well-known canons ofhistorical criticism.

Many cartularies ofmedieval monasteries and churches have been published, more or less completely. A listing of all known medieval cartularies of theBritish Isles, edited by Godfrey Davis, was published in 1958, and republished in a heavily revised and extended edition in 2010: the revised edition contains entries for about 2,000 cartularies, including those of both ecclesiastical establishments and secular corporations, dating from the 11th to 16th centuries, with details of dates,provenance, current location, and (where appropriate) publication.^[9] TheCatalogue général des cartulaires des archives départementales (Paris, 1847) and theInventaire des cartulaires etc. (Paris, 1878–9) were the chief sources of information regarding the cartularies of medieval France. There may be more recent developments in cataloguing.

This list isincomplete; you can help byadding missing items.(November 2010)

• Cartularies of Valpuesta, two medieval cartularies from the north of Spain.
• Chartularium Sithiense orAbbey of Saint Bertin's cartulary, written in Latin and whose first part is attributed to Folquin (or Saint Folquin, died 14 December 855 in Esquelbeques)
• Cartulario de Óvila, of the monasterySanta María de Óvila^[10]
• Hemming's Cartulary, two cartularies bound together, theLiber Wigorniensis, made inEngland around the year 1000, and a second compiled byHemming about a hundred years later. It is now in theBritish Library.
• Cartulary of Windsheim, O.E.S.A. made inWindsheim in Germany between 1421 and 1462.^[11]
• The English Register, a summarisedEnglish translation of the Latin charters of theBenedictineGodstow Nunnery, commissioned by abbessAlice Henley^[12]
• Liber feudorum maior, a twelfth-century cartulary of theCrown of Aragon
• Liber feudorum formae minoris, an early thirteenth-century continuation of theLiber feudorum maior
• Liber instrumentorum memorialium, an early thirteenth-century cartulary of theLords of Montpellier
• Liber instrumentorum vicecomitalium, also called theTrencavel Cartulary and theFoix Cartulary, a thirteenth-century French collection
• Liber feudorum Ceritaniae, a thirteenth-century cartulary of theCounty of Cerdanya
• Supetar cartulary, a twelfth-century cartulary of the monastery of St Peter in Poljice, nearSplit inCroatia
• TheTropenell Cartulary, from the west of England estates ofThomas Tropenell, 15th century
• The Register of St Osmund, a 13th-century cartulary belonging toSalisbury Cathedral.
• Textus Roffensis (c. 1123), the first part is a collection of primarily secular documents written inOld English, whilst the second part is the cartulary ofRochester Cathedral written in Latin.

The late Roman/Byzantinechartoularios was an administrative and fiscal official. In theGreek Orthodox Church, the corresponding position was calledchartophylax. This title was also given to an ancient officer in theRoman Church, who had the care of charters and papers relating to public affairs. The chartulary presided in ecclesiastical judgments, in lieu of the Pope.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Chartulary".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences".Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al.
• Davis, G. R. C.;Breay, Claire; Harrison, Julian; Smith, David M., eds. (2010).Medieval Cartularies of Great Britain. London: British Library.ISBN 9780712350389.

• Códices Diplomáticos Hispánicos
• Cartularios Medievales
• Cartulary of Windsheim, O.E.S.A.^{[permanent dead link]}
• Codice diplomatico della Lombardia Medievale (CDLM)

• Ecclesiastical titles
• Medieval charters and cartularies
• Notaries

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