Royal DonationClotaire II

This papyrus charter (625) is the oldest document preserved in the French National Archives. It confirms a donation made to Saint-Denis Abbey by Dagobert, a Merovingian noble. Though partly degraded, it still bears Clotaire II’s signature and royal monogram with the invocation in Christi nomine. Attached to another sheet for preservation, it reflects both the rarity and fragility of papyrus in early medieval Europe.