Truce of God - Bishopric of Terouanne, 1063
Drogo, bishop of Terouanne, and count Baldwin [of Hainault] have established this peace with the cooperation of the clergy and people of the land.
Dearest brothers in the Lord, these are the conditions which you must observe during the time of the peace which is commonly called the truce of God, and which begins with sunset on Wednesday and lasts until sunrise on Monday.
1. During those four days and five nights no man or woman
shall assault, wound, or slay another, or attack, seize, or destroy a castle,
burg, or villa, by craft or by violence.
2. If anyone violates this peace and disobeys these commands of ours, he shall
be exiled for thirty years as a penance, and before he leaves the bishopric
he shall make compensation for the injury which he committed. Otherwise he shall
be excommunicated by the Lord God and excluded from all Christian fellowship.
3. All who associate with him in any way, who give him advice or aid, or hold
converse with him, unless it be to advise him to do penance and to leave the
bishopric, shall be under excommunication until they have made satisfaction.
4. If any violator of the peace shall fall sick and die before he completes
his penance, no Christian shall visit him or move his body from the place where
it lay, or receive any of his possessions.
5. In addition, brethren, you should observe the peace in regard to lands and
animals and all things that can be possessed. If anyone takes from another an
animal, a coin, or a garment, during the days of the truce, he shall be excommunicated
unless he makes satisfaction. If he desires to make satisfaction for his crime
he shall first restore the thing which he stole or its value in money, and shall
do penance for seven years within the bishopric. If he should die before he
makes satisfaction and completes his penance, his body shall not be buried or
removed from the place where it lay, unless his family shall make satisfaction
for him to the person whom he injured.
6. During the days of the peace, no one shall make a hostile expedition
on horseback, except when summoned by the count; and all who go with the count
shall take for their support only as much as is necessary for themselves and
their horses.
7. All merchants and other men who pass through your territory from other lands
shall have peace from you.
8. You shall also keep this peace every day of the week from the beginning
of Advent to the octave of Epiphany and from the beginning of Lent to the octave
of Easter, and from the feast of Rogations[the Monday before Ascension Day]
to the octave of Pentecost.
9. We command all priests on feast days and Sundays to pray for all who keep
the peace, and to curse all who violate it or support its violators.
10. If anyone has been accused of violating the peace and denies the charge,
he shall take the communion and undergo the ordeal of hot iron. If he is found
guilty, he shall do penance within the bishopric for seven years.
From Oliver J. Thatcher, and Edgar Holmes McNeal, eds., A Source Book for Medieval History, (New York: Scribners, 1905), pp. 417-418