testaments of noblewomen in the holy roman empire typical late medieval document used for transactions (‘Geschäftsurkunde’),20 which is a sealed charter in landscape format on a single sheet of parchment. Rare portrait format charters are found in ‘contact zones’ and may have been influenced by notarial practice.21 Notarial instruments were used from the second half of the 15th century onwards under the influence of local documentary practice and, it seems, mainly in cases of imminent death, since they often mention the illness of the testatrix.22 The involvement of a public notary is found in wills made orally in his presence,23 a notarial ratification (nos. 25, 26), or the insertion of a will issued as a sealed charter or of a concept or a list of dispositions into a notarial instrument.24 Others were authenticated and inserted into notarial transsumpts after the testatrix’s death (no. 35). ‘Hybrid’ forms such as sealed charters written by public notaries (nos. 34, 42) and sealed notarial instruments (no. 22), or special cases such as a not fully developed sealed charter (no. 2) and a will in the form of a mandate letter (no. 7) seem to be individual choices or influenced by external circumstances.25 Wills could be either issued as ‘open letters’ (offen brief) or ‘closed letters’ (verschlossen brief, versigelt, or beschlossen testament). The vast majority of sealed charters are ‘open letters’; the earliest closed letter in this corpus dates from 1382 (no. 19).26 If the representative libelli form was used, it is usually found as a closed document.27 20 Härtel 2011, p. 25. 21 Nos. 3, 10, 13. No. 2 is nearly square. See also Hörmann 2023, p. 538. 22 Nos. 28, 30, 32, 37, 41, 43. For notarial instruments and ‘hybrid’ types, see Weileder 2019, pp. 90–104. 23 Nos. 22, 30, 32, 37 are such ‘nuncupative wills’. 24 No. 28 confirms the literal insertion of the contents of a paper slip (eyns bappnen zedels) into the instrument. Similar actions are recorded in nos. 41 and 44. 25 For more details on nos. 2 and 7 see Hörmann 2023, pp. 535f, 538. 26 It still bears the remains of a closure seal and a dorsal note stating that the will was to be opened only by the named executors. No. 25 had also been closed with the testatrix’s seal (eius sigillo proprio clausam), which is mentioned in the notary’s ratification of the same day. For a contemporary critique of closed wills, see Zeiler 2023, p. 109. 27 (Silk) threads or strips of parchment were pulled through punctures or cutouts in the outer margins of the parchment and the closure seal was attached: nos. 31, 34, 39, 44; the last-named is accompanied by a separate codicil which had also been sewn together. 60
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