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Imperial Privilege for Konrad Peutinger, Augsburg (1515)
Source: Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg D 6467
Citation:
Imperial Privilege for Konrad Peutinger, Augsburg (1515), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
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2 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
JORNAN
DES DE REBVS
GOTHORUM. PAU
LUS DIACONUS
OF FORUM JULII
DE GESTIS
LANGOBARDO=
RUM
[Illustration showing two Gothic kings – one of them
is Athanaric (d.381), prince of the western Goths]
Chapter 1 Page 2
MAXIMILIAN, BY DIVINE
Grace and for all times Emperor of the Romans
and King of Germany, Hungary, Dalmatia,
Croatia etc., Archduke of Austria,
Duke of Burgundy, Brabant etc., Count
Palatine etc. Whereas although we already,
because of our habitual generosity, greatly distinguish those who
cultivate their zeal for scholarship, we nevertheless bestow our
particular and special grace on those thanks to whose diligence
books and monuments of venerable antiquity are investigated
every day. And who, so that these do not wholly sink into
oblivion, bring them to light for the common benefit of all; since
for this reason the honourable Konrad Peutinger, Doctor of Civil
and Canon Law, our loyal counsellor, has, with his particular
diligence compiled and taken care to write down an exemplary
selection from the Itinerary* of Emperor Antoninus, our
predecessor, and from the Histories of the Lombards and Goths
by the Lombard Paulus of Forum Julii** and the Goth Jordanes;
and he has also arranged to print*** these as a token of
esteem for us and for the benefit of those who would like
to know the truth about history; therefore, so that he should
not suffer any loss, we have granted and given him the
following favour, and on the strength of these presents we
do hereby give and grant to him, that no one in the whole
Holy Roman Empire and in all our dominions, during the
space of ten years, counting from the day on which the
said books shall have been printed under the direction of
our counsellor himself, may print or cause to be printed,
inside or beyond these borders, the aforesaid books and
writings against his will and without his knowledge; and also
that no one may sell or cause to be sold [copies of these
works] that have been printed elsewhere in precisely this
our Holy Roman Empire; on pain of losing all books and
writings which are [printed or sold] without the consent
and approval of our aforesaid counsellor. Indeed, this very
same counsellor of ours shall be entitled to take possession
of, and use for his own benefit, any such copies wherever
he finds them. In proof of which these letters have been
furnished with our affixed Seal. Given in our town of
Freiburg, on the first day of March, the year of our Lord
fifteen hundred and eleven, the twenty-sixth year of our
reign in the Roman lands of our Empire, and the twentieth
in Hungary.
By personal order of His Imperial Majesty.
_____
*) An itinerarium was a list of destinations along the Roman
road network.
**) The modern-day area of Friuli in north-eastern Italy.
***) formis excudi - lit. ‘to strike out with letter-moulds’
- Note by Melanie Maga-Hess.
Translation by: Luis Sundkvist using a German translation by Melanie Maga-Hess
Source: Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg D 6467
Citation:
Imperial Privilege for Konrad Peutinger, Augsburg (1515), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
Back | Record | Images | No Commentaries
Translation only | Transcription only | Show all | Bundled images as pdf
2 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
DES DE REBVS
GOTHORUM. PAU
LUS DIACONUS
OF FORUM JULII
DE GESTIS
LANGOBARDO=
RUM
[Illustration showing two Gothic kings – one of them
is Athanaric (d.381), prince of the western Goths]
Chapter 1 Page 2
MAXIMILIAN, BY DIVINE
Grace and for all times Emperor of the Romans
and King of Germany, Hungary, Dalmatia,
Croatia etc., Archduke of Austria,
Duke of Burgundy, Brabant etc., Count
Palatine etc. Whereas although we already,
because of our habitual generosity, greatly distinguish those who
cultivate their zeal for scholarship, we nevertheless bestow our
particular and special grace on those thanks to whose diligence
books and monuments of venerable antiquity are investigated
every day. And who, so that these do not wholly sink into
oblivion, bring them to light for the common benefit of all; since
for this reason the honourable Konrad Peutinger, Doctor of Civil
and Canon Law, our loyal counsellor, has, with his particular
diligence compiled and taken care to write down an exemplary
selection from the Itinerary* of Emperor Antoninus, our
predecessor, and from the Histories of the Lombards and Goths
by the Lombard Paulus of Forum Julii** and the Goth Jordanes;
and he has also arranged to print*** these as a token of
esteem for us and for the benefit of those who would like
to know the truth about history; therefore, so that he should
not suffer any loss, we have granted and given him the
following favour, and on the strength of these presents we
do hereby give and grant to him, that no one in the whole
Holy Roman Empire and in all our dominions, during the
space of ten years, counting from the day on which the
said books shall have been printed under the direction of
our counsellor himself, may print or cause to be printed,
inside or beyond these borders, the aforesaid books and
writings against his will and without his knowledge; and also
that no one may sell or cause to be sold [copies of these
works] that have been printed elsewhere in precisely this
our Holy Roman Empire; on pain of losing all books and
writings which are [printed or sold] without the consent
and approval of our aforesaid counsellor. Indeed, this very
same counsellor of ours shall be entitled to take possession
of, and use for his own benefit, any such copies wherever
he finds them. In proof of which these letters have been
furnished with our affixed Seal. Given in our town of
Freiburg, on the first day of March, the year of our Lord
fifteen hundred and eleven, the twenty-sixth year of our
reign in the Roman lands of our Empire, and the twentieth
in Hungary.
By personal order of His Imperial Majesty.
_____
*) An itinerarium was a list of destinations along the Roman
road network.
**) The modern-day area of Friuli in north-eastern Italy.
***) formis excudi - lit. ‘to strike out with letter-moulds’
- Note by Melanie Maga-Hess.
Translation by: Luis Sundkvist using a German translation by Melanie Maga-Hess