"tolfre et tacfre" et aliae locutiones obscurae
Saluete,
In anno proximo, in classe diplomaticae Latinae, chartam Anglicam ex libris Thomae Fisher studui quae pars assignationis ultimae meae erat. Secundum testimonium palaeographiae diplomaticaeque, ex termino saeculi tertii decimi seu inceptione quarti decimi, illam esse credo. Cum bibliotheca illam adeptus est, cogitaverunt illam esse ex saeculo quinto decimo, sed in opinione mea scriptum est Anglicana cursiva ex termino saeculi tertii seu inceptione quarti.
si meliorem picturam videre vis, ite hic
!
quod ita me excitat, est locutio quae in inceptione non cogitaui. Definite in lingua Latina, non est. Quid est? Lingua Anglica Media, fortasse? Non sciui.
Aliquid in Google inuenire temptaui, nihil inueni. Alias chartas in lingua Anglia studui, nihil inueni. Collectionem magnam chartae in bibliotheca Robertarum (in lingua Anglica, Deeds Database, tamen nihil! Tunc, Proffesorem Gervers rogaui et dixit illam esse in lingua Anglica Media, "tac-free and toll-free", scilicet immunis ex vectigalibus. "Tac" in Anglia vectigalis terrae fuerat. Dixit autem, illum non scire quid vectigalis re vera fuisset, ut ego de hac vectigale scribat. ergo, hac aestate, haec scripta erat mea labor. Adhuc, explicationes non scio sed me sciturum spero. In presente tempore, plus sollicitor ab examinatione linguae Latinae in schola quae in Septembre contiget, quam
"tacfre et tolfre."
Si meam scriptam de charta videre vis, ite hic!
Ualete,
Christian
English Translation
"Tolfre and Tacfre" and other obscure sayings..
Last year, in my Diplomatics class, I studied an English charter from the Thomas Fisher library, which formed part of our final assignment. Based on palaeographical and diplomatic evidence, I believe that it dates from the last quarter of the 13th century or the first quarter of the 14th. When the Thomas Fisher Library aquired it, they thought that it dated from the fifteenth century, however, in my opinion the script is an Anglicana cursive and definately is from an earlier period.
If you would like to see a better picture of it, click here.
What had me really excited is was a passage within it, which at first I did not understand. (This passage read in Latin: that he might have the right to sell the land, except to Jews or clergy, and may hold the land freely and quietly, tacfre and tolfre) It was definately not in Latin. What was it? Maybe Middle English? I didn't know. I tried to find something using Google to no avail. I looked at other charter written in England during the same time period and still could find nothing. I even checked the massive database of English charters (the DEEDS database housed at Robarts library) and still found nothing. Then I asked Prof. Michael Gervers, who heads the DEEDS database and he recognized it as Middle English as Tac-free and Toll-free. The Tac was a medieval English tax. However, he didn't know what these taxes or tolls might have been or how much they might have amounted to, and suggested that this would be a good project for a first paper. So during this summer, I have been working on answering this question. I still don't know the answer, but I hope I will soon. Right now I'm more concerned about the PhD Latin exam in September, than "tacfre and tolfre."
If you would like to see the original paper I wrote about these charters, click here.
Cheers,
Christian
