History - The Everhard Codex from Fulda

One of the oldest written sources that mentions Wieringen is the Everhard Codex. A summary of property belonging to the monastery at Fulda, it was prepared between 1150 and 1158, by a monk named Everhard. He made a compilation of all the monastery's deeds and transfers in order to have a list of property that had been taken from them during the turbulent 9th century. In the Codex, transfers related to Wieringen are generally dated to between 800 and 817.

Why Fulda?

The Frankish king wanted to convert the heathen Saxons and Frisians of the north to christianity. The regions inhabited by these people had recently been acquired by the king, who believed it would be easier to keep his new subjects in line if they were christian (although this purpose was not publicly announced). He gave the task of converting the northern regions to a Brit named Boniface. To this end, Boniface (whose real name was Wynfrith) founded a monastery and church at Fulda. He eagerly set to work and was known as the "apostle of the Saxons". (His colleague Willibrord was "the apostle of the Frisians). In 754, Boniface died a martyr's death in Dokkum. His bones were returned to the monastery in Fulda. Soon after, the monastery became quite powerful in Frisia because many converted Frisians, through Boniface, had given their land to the monastery.

Ego Gebi tradidi ad monasterium sancti Bonifacii in pago Wirense curtilem unam cum omnibus que ad eam pertinent, terris et mancipiis, domibus et mancipiis…

I, Gebi, have transferred to the monastery of St. Boniface, in the district of Wieringen, one villa, with all that belongs thereto, lands with serfs, and buildings with serfs

2:
Ego Gerwic de Fresia trado sancto Bonifacio ad Fuldense monasterium terram iuris mei iuxta fluvium Maresdeop et quicquid proprietatis habui sive in agris vel pratis, silvis, domibus vel mancipiis…

I, Gerwic of Friesland, transfer to St. Boniface, of the monastery at Fulda, the land that falls under my jurisdiction by the stream of the Mars Deep, and all that I owned, whether fields or pasture, woodland, houses or serfs.

Note: At that time, the Mars Deep was a stream that separated the regions of Wieringen and Texel, which were both much larger than they are today. Brother Everhard was not always precise in his work, for the gift from Gerwic appears twice in the Codex, in slighly different wordings.

3:
Ego Geltrud tradidi ad monasterium sancti Bonifacii omnem proprietatem meam in agris, silvis et de pratis ad XX carradas feni, in loco nuncupato Wictulfingafurt in pago Wironi…

I, Geltrud, have transferred to the monastery of St. Boniface all my possessions; property in fields, woodland, and from the pasture, XX cartloads of hay, on the place that is called Wictulfingafurt, in the district of Wieringen.

Note: Wictulfingafurt is an unknown place. "Furt" means "ford", a crossable spot in a river. The cities of Amerfoort, Frankfurt, and Oxford all have a similar suffix. In the case of Wictulfingafurt, the name may refer to a ford close to the home of a family named Wictulf. It must have been situated somewhere in the peat areas between Wieringen and Texel, or between Wieringen and Medemblik.

4:
Ego in Dei nomine Isanbalt et uxor mea Sigibirn de Fresia tradimus ad sanctum Bonifacium in villa que dicitur Brochenlar, in pago Wirah, quicquid proprietatis habuimus, hoc est de terra arabili quantum XI modus conseri potest…

In God's name, I, Isanbalt, and my wife Sigibirn from Friesland, transfer to St. Boniface in the villa named Brochenlar, in the district of Wieringen, all that we owned, that is, ploughlands as much as can be sown with XI mud.

Note: Brochenlar is also an unknown place. Perhaps "Brochenlar" is a spelling mistake, and the name should have been "Brocherlar", meaning "broekelaar". This could point to a piece of land west of Stroe that is named "Broek(erpolder)".

A villa was a social centre in Carolingian times: a property consisting of a manor, plus all accompanying outbuildings and lands.

5:
Ego Hunbertus tradidi ad sanctum Bonifacium quicquid mihi in regione Frésionum in pago Wirah mei reliquere parentes in hereditatem, cunctamque meam possessionem, hoc est in terris, agris, pratis, pascuis, silvis, aquis, domibus ac familiis…

I Hunbertus, have transferred to St. Boniface all my parents left me as my legacy, in the region of the frisians, in the district of Wieringen, and all of my property, that is: fields, meadows, grassland, woodlands, water and houses and those who live in them.

Note: In Carolingian times, the word "familia" meant the entire population of an estate.

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