Add MS 8378

COLLECTION relating to the Dispute between Cardinal Paluzzi Altieri and the ambassadors of France, Spain, Venice, and the Empire; 1674-1675. Italian. Copies. The collection contains various papers relating the dispute between Cardinal Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Alberoni, nephew and prime minister of Pope Clement X (1670-1676), and the French ambassador Duc François Annibal II d'Estrées. Altieri was unpopular and had often been accused of concentrating power in his hands in order to increase his new, but already prodigious wealth. The dispute began with the issue of Altieri's edict on 11 Sept. 1674, which introduced an import duty on foreign goods and abolished all the diplomatic privileges. Estrées, who was already in financial difficulties, was enraged by the edict and enrolled the support of also the ambassadors Pietro Mocenigo of Venice and Juan Everardo Nitardo of Spain, and the Imperial ambassador Cardinal Friedrich Landgraf of Hessen-Darmstadt in his dispute against the Cardinal Nepote. The dispute was settled only when Clement X revoked Altieri's edict. Other related collections in Add. 8336 (ff. 106-267v) and 8394. For Cardinal Altieri see DBI, 2 (1960), pp. 561-564. The MS. also includes (ff. 82v-83) a sonnet relating to the processions for the Holy Year 1675, inc. 'O belle Processioni quest'anno santo / hanno fatto veder con gran decoro'. Unidentified heraldic stamp in ink in lower right corner of f. 1, cancelled. Owned by Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford, but lacking his armorial bookplate. Purchased from R. H. Evans, 8 Dec. 1830, lot unknown.

Contents as follows:

1. ff. i, 1-50v, 57-91v. 'Relazione delle cose passate tra i Signori Ambasciatori et il Signor Cardinal Altieri'; n.d. Inc. (f. 1) 'E' la corte di Roma quel teatro, ove alla vista del mondo intiero', expl. 'co' quali sfuggì sempre d'abboccarsi'.

2. ff. 51-56v. 'Lettera circolare al Sacro Collegio'; n.d. Inc. 'Eminentissimi ... Signori / L'affare che oggi corre nel mondo è di sì grande importanza', expl. 'con aspettare dalla sua provida mano la comune salvezza'. Another copy in Add. 8336, art. 21, ff. 203-207v.

3. ff. 92-95v. Letter to Pope Clement X; n.d. Inc. 'Beatissimo Padre / L'infinita benignità di Vostra Beatitudine espresse nell'udienze passate', expl. 'con gli altri Signori Capi d'ordine suoi colleghi'.

4. ff. 96-99v. 'Manifesto del Signor Cardinale Altieri'; [11 Sept. 1674]. Inc. 'La Santità di Nostro Signore per sgravio del suo stato ecclesiastico', expl. 'che dubitarono di sollevazione'.

5. ff. 100-106v. 'Relatione dell'aggravii dal Signor Cardinal Altieri alli Signori Ambasciatori delle Corone, presentata a gli Eminentissimi Signori Cardinali Mediatori Francesco Barberini, Cibo e Carlo Barberini'; n.d. Inc. 'E' noto a tutti in che modo da più di cinque mesi', expl. 'si contentino di andarvi sempre insieme e non altrimenti'. Another copy in Add. 8394, art. 12, ff. 63-72.

Paper; ff. 106+ii, plus three unfoliated blanks after f. 91; ff. 51-56v are later addition. 299 x 207mm, with leaf edges cropped. Quire signatures in arabic numerals '1-4' (ff. 1-31). Horizontal catchwords on each leaf. Several Italian hands. Guilford binding of quarter vellum with decorated paper covers over pasteboards.