Golden bull

A golden bull or chrysobull was a

For nearly eight hundred years, they were issued unilaterally, without obligations on the part of the other party or parties. However, this eventually proved disadvantageous as the Byzantines sought to restrain the efforts of foreign powers to undermine the empire. During the 12th century, the Byzantines began to insert into golden bulls sworn statements of the obligations of their negotiating partners.^[citation needed]

Etymology

The term was originally coined for the golden seal (a bulla aurea), attached to the decree, but came to be applied to the entire decree. Such decrees were known as golden bulls in western Europe and chrysobullos logos, or chrysobulls, in the Byzantine Empire (χρυσός, chrysos, being Greek for gold).^[1]

Notable golden bulls

Notable golden bulls include:

• The Golden Bull of 1082, issued by Alexios I Komnenos to grant Venice merchants with free trading rights, exempt from tax, throughout the Byzantine Empire in return for their defense of the Adriatic Sea against the Normans.^[2]
• The Golden Bull of 1136, issued by Pope Innocent II, more commonly known as the Bull of Gniezno
• The Golden Bull of Sicily, issued in 1212 by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
• The Golden Bull of 1213, issued by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
• The
  King John of England
  )
• The Golden Bull of 1214, issued by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor to cede all German territories north of the rivers Elbe and Elde to King Valdemar the Victorious of Denmark
• The Golden Bull of Berne, supposedly issued by Frederick II in 1218, but now considered a forgery
• The
  King John of England was made to sign Magna Carta
• The Golden Bull of 1224 (the Goldener Freibrief) issued by Andrew to grant certain rights to the Saxon inhabitants of Transylvania
• The Golden Bull of Rimini (1226), issued by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
• The
  free royal city for the inhabitants of Gradec (part of Zagreb) and Samobor in Croatia, during the Mongol invasion of Europe.^[3][4]
• The Golden Bull of 1267, issued by King Béla IV of Hungary
• The
  Charles University established by Pope Clement VI in Prague, one of the oldest universities in the world
• The
  Diet of Nuremberg, to define (and to last more than four hundred years) the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire
• The
  Breslau (present name: Wrocław), the future University of Breslau
  (Universitas Vratislatensis)

• Bulla (seal)
• Papal bull

References