“In the name of the highest and incomparable good, which is God. I, Don Alfonso, King of the Aragonese, the Pamplonese, and the Ribagorzans, considering within myself and turning over in my mind that nature has begotten all men mortal, resolved in my soul, while I enjoy life and good health, to make provision concerning the kingdom that God has given me and my possessions and revenues, for what shall be after me. And thus, having the Divine judgment before me, for the health of my soul, and that of my father, my mother, and all my forebears, I make this my testament to God Our Lord Jesus Christ and to all His Saints.
And with free and willing mind and purpose I offer to God and to the Blessed Saint Mary of Pamplona and to Saint Savior of Leyre the Castle of Estella with all its people and with all things that belong to royal right: so that one half be for Saint Mary and the other half for Saint Savior of Leyre.
Likewise, I give to Saint Mary of Nájera and to Saint Millán, Nájera with all its rents and honors that belong to it; and likewise the village of Tubía with all the honor that belongs to it: and that of all this, one half be for Saint Mary and the other half for Saint Millán.
Likewise, I offer to Saint Savior of Oña, Belorado with all its honor. I also give to Saint Savior of Oviedo the towns of San Esteban de Gormaz and Almazán with all that belongs to them. I also give to Saint James of Galicia, Calahorra, Cervera, and Tudején with all that pertains to them.
I likewise give to Saint Dominic of Silos the town of Sangüesa with its two boroughs, new and old, and its market. I also give to the blessed Saint John of the Peña and to the blessed Saint Peter of Siresa all the dower goods that belonged to my mother, namely: Biel, Bailo, Asturito, Ardenes, and Sieros, and all those things that may be found to have been my mother’s dower. And of this, let one half be for Saint John of the Peña and the other half for Saint Peter of Siresa, with all that pertains thereto.
And these things thus disposed, after my death I leave as my heir and successor the Sepulchre of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, and those who keep watch over its custody and serve God there, and the Hospital of the Poor in Jerusalem, and the Temple of Solomon with the knights who keep watch there for the defense of Christendom.
To these three I leave my kingdom and the lordship that I have over all the land of my kingdom, and the principality and jurisdiction that fall to me over all the men of my land, both clerics and layfolk—bishops, abbots, canons, monks, nobles, knights, laborers, merchants, men, women, small and great, rich and poor, Jews and Saracens—under the same laws and customs by which my father, my brother, and I have held them until now, and by which we ought to hold and govern them.
I add also to the knighthood of the Temple the horse of my own person with all my arms. And if God were to give me Tortosa, let it be wholly for the Hospital of Jerusalem.
Besides this, because it will be no wonder if, being men, we have been deceived, if by chance I or my father have unjustly taken anything from the churches of our land—sees or monasteries—of their honors or possessions, we beseech and command the prelates of the Sepulchre of the Lord and of the Hospital, and of the knighthood of the Temple, that in all justice they restore it.
In the same way, if by chance I or any of my forebears have taken with wrong from any man or woman, cleric or lay, his or her inheritance, let them restore it to that person with all mercy.
But if (which God forbid) any of those who now possess, or shall in time to come possess, these honors should wish to rise up in pride, without acknowledging, serving, or obeying the aforesaid holy men, as my vassals and faithful men acknowledge me, let them be called out against as in a case of treason and baucía, as though I were alive and present; and let all help and defend the aforesaid saints and their brethren, as they now do with me, with all fidelity and without deceit.
All the things aforesaid I order and do for the soul of my father and that of my mother, and for the remission of all my sins, that I may deserve to find a place in Eternal Life: Amen.
The charter was made in the era 1169, in the month of October, at the siege of Bayonne.”