The rite of Aquileia

In 811 Charlemagne decided that Carantania, in those times one of the principalities dependent on his Empire, should be divided between the Archdiocese of Salzburg and the Patriarchate of Aquileia, the borderline between both ecclesiastical metropolitan provinces being the river Drau / Dravus:

… predictam provinciam Karantanam ita inter se dividere iussimus, ut Dravus fluvius qui per mediam illam provinciam currit, terminus ambarum dyoceseon esset …[1]

The reason for this decision, as it is expressed in the decree itself, was to put an end to an old controversy between the two ecclesiastical provinces. The decision remained in force almost for a millenium – until the downfall of the Patriarchate under Joseph II.   

Consequently, Carniola (Germ. Krain, Slov. Kranjska), which came into being as a southern margravate of Carantania around the turn of the millenium, belonged, as ecclesiastical matters were concerned, to the Patriarchate of Aquileia. The land was ruled by several powerful dynasties, until in 1335 it became one of the hereditary duchies of the House of Habsburg, remaining this until the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. There was no diocese in Carniola until 1461; since it was difficult to watch over vast territories far away from Aquileia, the domains in the east were divided into several archdiaconates.

As for liturgical matters it may be inferred that it was the rite of Aquileia that had to be used in the churches of the land. This is indirectly attested by the charter of the diocese of Ljubljana / Laibach; in 1461/1462 a new diocese was erected in the town that also functioned as the capital of Carniola; by this act the founder of the new diocese, Emperor Frederick III, tried to reduce the political influence of the Patriarchs in his lands. The new diocese, which originally did not encompass the whole of Carniola, was therefore exempted from the Patriarchate and directly subordinated to the Pope. Yet it was the rite of Aquileia that was expressly prescribed as the liturgical norm of the new diocese in its charter:

Volentes ut idem episcopus, praepositus, decanus, canonici, una cum vicariis perpetuis futuris temporibus, iuxta ordinationes, et statuta per eos edenda, et statuenda, officium quinque horarum canonicarum, videlicet, primam, tertiam, sextam, nonam, et completorium, in dicta ecclesia sancti Nicolai, quotidie decantent, ac matutinas per praefatos vicarios, et aliquem seu aliquos ex eis, prout ipsi super hoc statuent. Necnon vesperas per scolares eiusdem oppidi decantari procurent. Ad haec qualibet die duo officia, unum de Beata Virgine, secundum de tempore aut festo, prout occurret, per ipsos canonicos, et vicarios, et a scolaribus ad finem cum sequentiis, simbolo praefatione et oratione dominica, plenarie iuxta cuiuslibet temporis exigentiam et rubricam Aquileiensem decantentur. Dicti etiam episcopus, praepositus, decanus, et capitulum in qualibet angaria anni, in refrigerium nostrae, ac nostrorum praedecessorum, haeredum, et successorum, ac omnium fidelium defunctorum animarum, vigilias mortuorum, una cum officio pro defunctis, ultra praedicta duo officia, decantare debebunt. Fiantque alii cantus, lectiones, et processiones, cum caeteris ecclesiasticis ceremoniis, quemadmodum, haec omnia iuxta ordinem rubricae, seu breviarii Aquileiensis ecclesiae, et statuta, de quibus infra fit mentio, pro quolibet tempore anni fuerint observanda. Si vero episcopus, praepositus, decanus, canonici, et vicarii dicti, ultra praescriptas missas, et officia etiam alias et plures missas celebrare voluerint, id suis conscientiis et voluntatibus relinquimus. Ita quod eos praesentis fundationis nostrae vigore ad officia plura quam superius est expressum, non intendimus obligare. [2]

(We will that the same Bishop, Provost, Dean, canons, together with vicars, in all perpetual future times every day sing, according to the statutes edited and confirmed by themselves, in the mentioned church of St Nicolas the office of five canonical hours, namely Prime, Terce, Sext, None, and Compline; and that Matins be sung by the mentioned vicars and one or several of the aforementioned, as they will decide on this matter. They must as well procure that Vespers be sung by the schoolboys of the mentioned town. Besides, every day two offices (Masses): the first of the Holy Virgin, and the second of the time (Temporale) or the feast day (Sanctorale), as it will occur, should be sung by the same canons, vicars and schoolboys, containing the (appropriate) sequence, the Symbolum (Credo), the Preface and the Lord’s Prayer, all this fully in accordance with the exigencies of time and according to the rite of Aquileia. The said Bishop, Provost, Dean and Chapter will have to sing, in addition to the aforementioned two masses, in every Ember Week the Vigils of the Dead (Office of the Dead) together with the Office (Mass) of the Dead, to the benefit of our soul, souls of our predecessors, heirs and successors as well as for the benefit of the souls of all the faithful deceased. Let other chants, lessons, processions as well as other church ceremonies – all this be performed according to the rite or breviary of the Aquileian church, and the statutes for whatever time of the year, mentioned below, should be observed. If, however, the Bishop, Provost, Dean, canons and vicars wish to celebrate, beyond the obligatory Masses and Offices, also other different Masses, then we leave that to their own consciences and wishes. Thus we do not intend to oblige them by the power of this our present foundation to more services than is expressed above here.) (Trans. J. Snoj.)

The charter is interesting since, in liturgical matters, it is comprehensive enough to allow for a reconstruction of the liturgy that was to be performed in the newly established cathedral (»Abb. The Liturgical Offices in the Cathedral of Ljubljana / Laibach, 1461). Lauds are not mentioned in the charter; they seem to have been subsumed under the term of Matins, as they were normally performed immediately after Matins.

Abb. The Liturgical Offices in the Cathedral of Ljubljana / Laibach, 1461

Although »the rite of Aquileia« appears to be a commonly accepted term, it is not quite clear what it actually refers to; it certainly cannot be understood as a detailed and invariable liturgical order since even the liturgical books from the Patriarchate’s centers, Aquileia and Cividale, do not agree in every detail.[3] Besides, there is the impression that in liturgical matters there was a certain degree of freedom and casualness in the Middle Ages. Studying the liturgical manuscripts, the Aquileian liturgical peculiarities may thus most clearly and unequivocally be recognized in the presence of the feasts of the Aquileian local saints. Among these the most important were the following groups of martyrs: St Hermagoras and Fortunatus (the first Bishop of Aquileia, installed purportedly by St Marc, and his deacon), St Hellarus and Tatianus (also a bishop of Aquileia and his deacon), St Cantius, Cantianus, Cantianilla, and Prothus (a Roman family who were executed near Aquileia), and the Four Virgins (Euphemia, Dorothea, Tecla, Erasma) who were baptized by St Hermagoras and consequently put to death.    

Of the liturgical manuscripts used in the churches of Carniola, very little has remained. From the numerous monasteries no more than seven plainchant manuscripts have come down to us  (see »Abb. Monasteries in Carniola in the Middle Ages); as for the secular churches, there are only two whose musical activity can be discussed on the basis of preserved manuscripts: the cathedral of Ljubljana / Laibach and the parish church of Kranj / Krainburg (in Upper Carniola). There is, however, a host of fragments of destroyed medieval manuscripts in Slovenian libraries, among which there are certainly also remnants of liturgical books used in the churches of the land.[4] Yet due to their imperfection it is very difficult to ascertain their provenance with any degree of certainty.