D O I. 1 – Eine Fälschung der frühen Salierzeit?

Abstract

D O I. 1 has long been considered a key witness to the early years of Otto I. Issued at Quedlinburg in favour of the newly established house of canonesses there, it not only stands at the start of the history of this most important East Saxon religious centre, but also contains pre-cious details about the ruler’s own thoughts and plans regarding future succession to the East Frankish throne. It has, therefore, been mined repeatedly by those studying East Frankish succes-sion practices, often with an eye to the effects of Henry I’s supposed Hausordnung of 928/9. Until recently, however, the surviving facsimile of the original single sheet charter (which itself sadly went missing following the Second World War) has attracted little attention in this connection. The present study seeks to fill this gap, offering a detailed consideration of the script, formulation and authentication of D O I. 1. In doing so, it responds to recent doubts expressed by Chrisian Warnke about the authenticity of this document and its sister charter, D H I. 20. In both cases, there is every reason to continue believing in the original judgements of Theodor Sickel and his editorial team. NOTE that the article is in German