III
DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS
In this category we place all the acts having a character of public authenticity, particularly those which were drawn up by the pontifical cabinet.
This source of information, where each document has its date, is precisely the one which has been most neglected up to this time.
I. Donation of the Verna
The Instrumentum donationis Montis Alvernæ, a notarial document preserved in the archives of Borgo San Sepolcro,[1] not only gives the name of the generous friend of Francis, and many picturesque details, but it fixes with precision a date all the more important because it occurs in the most obscure period of the Saint's life. It was on May 8, 1213, that Orlando dei Catani, Count of Chiusi in Casentino, gave the Verna to Brother Francis.
II. Registers of Cardinal Ugolini
The documents of the pontifical chancellery addressed to Cardinal Ugolini, the future Gregory IX., and those which emanate from the hand of the latter during his long journeys as apostolic legate,[2] are of first rate importance.