Charters are written records composed and certified under certain conditions and the content of which is a process which is legal in nature. For the period up to the 14th century, in the absence of other archive sources they are the most important so-called written remains of the past. The Middle Ages is accordingly called the ‘age of charters’ and the early modern period the ‘age of documents’ [2. 81 f.].
A distinction is made between imperial, royal, papal and private charters, the term private charter including all such charters that were not issued by king, em…
