Add MS 8297

MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTION of letters, orations, discourses, notes and accounts relating to the German Empire, Rome, Ferrara, Austria, Hungary, Flanders, Florence, and Spain; circa 1493-1620. Italian, Latin, and Spanish. Copies, 17th cent. The MS. also includes (art. 11, ff. 207-213v), the text of dedication by Vincenzo Stampa relating to a table in Florentine mosaic or pietra dura offered in 1587 to King Philip II of Spain by Cardinal Michele Bonelli, nephew of Pope Pius V and commonly known as Cardinal Alessandrino, of which another copy is in Add. 8797. Table of contents (ff. 1-1v), added later. Old signatures 'Tomo XLV' in pencil on f. i, and '489.' in ink in fifth spine compartment: identifiable with Mattei MS. 489 (vol. 45 of 'Memorie diverse') in Guilford's catalogue Add. 8220, f. 23v. Owned by Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford, but lacking his armorial bookplate. '55 / PM' in pencil in lower edge. '103' in pencil in top left corner of front pastedown. Purchased, together with Add. 8294, 8298-8303, 8305-8314, from R. H. Evans, 8 Dec. 1830, lot 103 (part).

Contents include:

1. ff. 2-110. Imperial mandate, papal protest, letters and notes relating to the resignation as Emperor of Charles V in favour of his brother Ferdinand I, including (ff. 22-110) a long anonymous discourse; circa 1558. Italian, Latin and Spanish. Copies. Inc. (f. 2) 'Mandatum Caroli Vi Imperatoris ad resignandum Imperium / Carlo per la Divina Gratia etc. / Instruttione di quello che li nostri commessi Procuratori'; inc. (f. 22) 'Intellexi ex litteris S. V. C. Maiestatis nuper ad me clementer datis', expl. (f. 110) 'emendationi longae prudentissimae subicio', text divided into four parts (ff. 30, 52, 73, 89).

2. ff. 111-128v. Letters and orations relating to the presentation to Pope Paul V of the credentials of Paolo Savelli, Prince of Albano, representative of the new Emperor Ferdinand II, including (ff. 120-128v) copy of an oration relating to the succession of the Emperor Maximilian I; circa 1620, and 1493-1519. Italian and Latin. Copies. Inc. (f. 111) 'Pauli Papae Vi / Il Principe Savelli sia havuta commissione dall'Imperatore di prestare la solita obbedienza', expl. 'represaglie importantissime'; inc. (f. 120) 'De ordine sessionis in Consistoris Papae circa orationes Principum'.

3. ff. 129-131. 'Iulius Papa Tertius absolvit Ferdinandum Regem Romanorum ab homicidio ex causa commisso in personam Cardinalis Georgii Episcopi Vardensis', absolution granted by Pope Julius III to Ferdinand, King of the Romans, relating to the death of Cardinal Giorgio Martinusio Wisenowski, Bishop of Nagy-Varád, assassinated in 1551; 1552. Latin. Copies. Inc. 'Julius Papa 3s ... Nuper pro verbalem fratrem Paulum episcopum Zagabriensem', expl. 'Datum Romae apud Sanctum Petrum sub anulo Piscatoris die 30 Januarii 1552 Pontificatus nostri anno secundo'.

4. ff. 136-136v. 'De origine familiae Estensium in Italia', very brief history of the ancestors of the Estensi family; n.d. Italian. Copy. Inc. 'Otto primo figliolo di Enrigo fu Duca di Sassonia'.

5. ff. 137-155. Two accounts of ecclesiastical properties and revenues; n.d, circa 1572-1585. Latin. Copies. Inc. 'Nota bonorum Ecclesiasticorum pro Romanos D.D. quatuor Cardinales deputatos per subventione Sedis Apostolicae Venditorum et per quibus preciis / Et primo septem casalia'; inc. (f. 142) 'Gregorius Papa XIII / Particula primi libri acquisitionum Sanctissimi D. N. Gregorii XIII factam / Redemptio Castri Salaroli Provincia Romandiole', divided in three parts (ff. 142, 144v, 151).

6. ff. 167-176v. 'Regem Romanorum Archiducem Austriae / Verum et legittimum esse Regem Regni Hungariae triplici titulo causa...', tract relating to the legitimacy of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, to the crown of Hungary; after 1527. Latin. Copy. Inc. 'Primo propter complures pactiones et tractatus', expl. 'vel plura exempla ostendi possunt'.

7. ff. 177-181v. 'Testamento del Cardinal Seripando fatto con facoltà della Sede Apostolica e di Papa Pio Quarto', will of Cardinal Girolamo Seripando, Archbishop of Salerno; 1563. Italian. Copy. Inc. 'Nel nome di Giesu ... Questo giorno x marzo dell'anno 1563. Io Girolamo Cardinale Seripando'..

8. ff. 182-185. 'Estratto della Capitolazioni che li Stati Generali di Fiandra hanno proposto al Serenissimo Don Matthias Arciduca d'Austria', heads of agreement proposed by Flanders to Matthias, Archduke of Austria, governor general of the Netherlands (1577-1587); n.d. Italian. Copy. Inc. 'In principio i stati fanno un lungo preambulo', expl. 'e per inviolabile conservatione d'essi'.

9. ff. 186-186v. 'Decreto dell'Imperatore sopra il titolo di Gran Duca di Toscana fatto in Ratisbona li 2 novembre 1575', decree by the Emperor Maximilian II relating to the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany and Francesco Maria de' Medici; 1575. Latin. Copy. Inc. 'S. C. Maiestas D. N. Clementis benigne meminit quid cum Maiestate sua', expl. 'Ratisbonae die 2 Novembris 1575'.

10. ff. 187-206. 'All'Illustrissimo ... Cardinal Sfondrato / Discorso di Girolamo Catena intorno alla Berretta Rossa da darsi a Cardinali religiosi', discourse by Girolamo Catena, historian and man of letter, and member of the Sacra Consulta from 1588, relating to the appropriateness of the red hat and coat for cardinals from religious orders, preceded by a letter of dedication to Cardinal Paolo Camillo Sfondrati, nephew of Pope Gregory XIV; 1591. Italian. Copy. Letter of dedication, inc. (f. 187) 'Si come il trattar della berretta rossa per li Cardinali Religiosi è materia nova', expl. 'Di casa li 28 maggio 1591 ... Girolamo Catena'; inc. (f. 188) 'Correndo fama che N. S. Gregorio XIV disegna dar la berretta rossa a Cardinali, che sono eletti dalle Religioni', expl. 'conservi lungamente in prospero stato'. Published at Padova in 1591 as Della beretta rossa da darsi ai cardinali religiosi. Discorso di Girolamo Catena; another edition published at Rome in 1592, of which B.L. copy Legg.273.(2). For Girolamo Catena see DBI, 22 (1979), pp. 323-325.

11. ff. 207-213v. 'Alexandrinae Mensae Descriptio', text of dedication by Vincenzo Stampa relating to a table in Florentine mosaic or pietra dura offered in 1587 to King Philip II of Spain by Cardinal Michele Bonelli, nephew of Pope Pius V and commonly known as Cardinal Alessandrino; circa 1587. Latin. Copy. Inc. 'Philippo Hispaniarum atque Indiarum Regi Cattholico Potentissimo, ac Invictissimo. Vincentius Stampa Mediolanensis Civis Romanus. S. / Praefatio / Vetustissima admodum consuetudo', expl. (f. 10v) 'et precari nunquam desistam. Vale'. Another copy of the text in Add. 8797: for bibliographic reference see description of the latter.

Paper; ff. 213+xviii, plus two unfoliated blanks after ff. 1, 186, and one after f. 128. Old foliation in ink '1-212' (ff. 2-213). 302 x 214mm. Horizontal catchwords. One Italian hand. Late 17th-cent. Italian binding of full vellum.