Add MS 8777

TOMMASO AREZZO: Relazione of the Catholic Church in Russia; 1806-1807. Italian, French and Latin. Copy. Tommaso Arezzo, titular Archbishop of Seleucia, was named nuncio to Russia in 1802, when diplomatic relations between Pope Pius VII and Emperor Alexander I were established. In St. Petersburg Arezzo tried unsuccessfully to resolve the disagreements on matters of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. In June 1804 the so-called Vernègues affair caused a definitive rupture in the relations between the Holy See and the Russian Government, and the nuncio was consequently expelled from the Russian territories. From St. Petersburg Arezzo moved to Dresden and there remained until he was finally recalled to Rome in 1806. The present relazione was compiled upon his return in the winter 1806-1807 (see DBI, 4 (1962), pp. 108-112). The autograph MS. is now Vatican Archive, coll. Polonia-Russia, 351, from which the relazione and its appendix were published in Nonciatures de Russie d'après les documents authentiques. Nonciature d'Arezzo 1802-1806. Seconde partie: 1804-1806, ed. M. J. Rouët de Journel (Rome, 1927), no. 369, pp. 420-496. A MS. copy with additional texts also in Vat. Arch, coll. Polonia-Russia, 342, ff. 343-390. The present MS. is entitled (f. 1) 'Relazione dello stato attuale delle Chiese Cattoliche esistenti nell'Impero Russo, e degli Affari trattati in tempo della Legazione Apostolica da S. E. Monsignor Arezzo Arcivescovo di Seleucia, e Ambasciatore Straordinario della S. Sede presso l'Imperial Corte di Pietroburgo'. Inc. (f. 2) 'Capo Primo / Della Religione Russa / La religione dominante in Russia è la Cristiana', expl. (f. 50) 'e di non accordarle mai a de' vagabondi'. The relazione is divided into 18 chapters (ff. 2, 6, 9v, 12,14, 15v, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 22v, 29v, 31v, 33, 35, 43, 45v). It is followed by: - (a) ff. 51-59v, the appendix containing copies of the edicts of the Czar (ukasi) of which the author has made use in his relazione; - (b) ff. 60-60v, a brief account relating the creation of the Catholic archbishoprics in Poland, Russia, Lithuania, and Podolia between 1773 and 1798; - (c) ff. 61-67, a detailed table of contents; - (d) f. 68, a list of Catholic feasts to be celebrated in Rome; - (e) f. 69, notes relating to the contents of a different MS. Owned by Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford, but lacking his armorial bookplate. Purchased, together with Add. 8675, 8702, 8732, and 8763, from R. H. Evans, 8 Dec. 1830, lot 392 (part).

Paper; ff. 69, plus one unfoliated blank after ff. 60, 69, and two after f. 67. 322 x 217mm. Guilford binding of quarter vellum with covers of marble paper over pasteboards.