Istoriniai Italijos dokumentai

Historical Documents of Italy

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS OF ITALY

The Collection contains 24 documents pertaining to the history of Italy, amongst them the oldest manuscript of the Collection – the deed of land property transfer dating from 1329. Written in Latin and Italian, the documents of the group are framed chronologically between 14^th and 17^th centuries: 1 document in Latin dates from 14^th century; 13 documents in Latin date from 15^th century; 1 document in both Latin and Italian dates from 16^thcentury; 5 documents date from 17^th century (3 are written in Latin, 1 is written in Italian and 1 is written in both Latin and Italian); 4 documents date from 18^th century (1 is written in Latin, 1 is written in both Latin and Italian, and 2 documents are written in Italian).

The decree of Fernando IV, King of Sicily, 1761.
F101-113

The decision of the legal case , 1431.
F101-3

The Italian documents stand out among the other manuscripts of the Collection by their 'appearance'. Most of unsealed documents are written on a long (the length of the document F101-73 is 218 cm) parchment leaf, untrimmed at the bottom. The quality of the parchment is usually not very high. The invocation of the manuscripts In nomine Domini... is usually decorated with the initial "I" and the cross in front of it; the text is also completed with an image of the cross. The document F101-113 (the letter of Giovanni Assenzio de Goyzueta, the field marshal of the King of Sicily Fernando IV, His Majesty's Secretary of the State) is illuminated with the initial "C", adorned with a coloured image of the port of Naples and Vesuvius.

The documents were written on behalf of kings, church hierarchs, court officials and representatives of other social classes. The largest part of the documents is comprised of the deeds of land transfer, selling and lease (F101-1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 12, 16, 40, 94); juridical documents (F101-3, 4, 8, 11, 51, 65, 79). The Collection also includes a document certifying consecration (F101-98), a document certifying nobility (F101-83), a permission for water use (F101-13) and a shop lease (F101-17).

Only seven of the documents were certified by seals.
Unfortunately, most seals certifying the documents have not survived. Today only the remaining seals of the later documents are on view: a fragment of the impressed seal certifying the document of Roman Curia (F101-79), the impressed red wax seals with decorative paper custodies certifying the letters of Domenicus Invitti, the archbishop of Sardi (F101-98) and the King of Sicily Fernando IV (F101-113).

Five documents pertain (F101-13, 17, 88, 98, 114) to the Kingdom of Naples, three documents (F101-6, 8, 12) – to St.Maria de Stella monastery, two documents (F101-73, 94) – to the County of Coriolani and two documents (F101-3, 4) are juridical documents of a citizen Andrea de Lisul.

The largest part of the Popes' letters is also related to the history of Italy.