Metadata: Registers of State Cancelleries - Series XXI Patents, safe-conducts, passports, arms licenses, "gride", orders
Collection
- Country:
- Italy
- Holding institution:
- State Archive of Milan
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archivio di Stato di Milano
- Postal address:
- via Senato 10, 20121 Milano
- Phone number:
- +39 027742161
- Web address:
- http://www.archiviodistatomilano.beniculturali.it/
- Email:
- as-mi@beniculturali.it
- Reference number:
- Registri delle cancellerie dello Stato – Serie XXI Patenti, salvacondotti, passaporti, licenze d'armi, gride, ordini. Registers 2; 6-13; 16-19; 20-34
- Title:
- Registers of State Cancelleries - Series XXI Patents, safe-conducts, passports, arms licenses, "gride", orders
- Title (official language):
- Registri delle cancellerie dello Stato – Serie XXI Patenti, salvacondotti, passaporti, licenze d'armi, gride, ordini
- Creator/accumulator:
- State Chancellery and the Secret Chancellery of the Spanish and Austrian period
- Date(s):
- 1557-1755
- Date note:
- Jewish-related material dates from 1533-1602
- Language:
- Italian
- Extent:
- 52 registers
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The 21st series "Patents, safe conducts, passports, arms licenses, grida, orders" comprises 52 registers for the years 1557-1755 which contain orders, licenses, safe conducts, licenses to carry firearms and other extraordinary licenses. The series includes many documents relating to the Jews of the Duchy.
First of all, there are some documents concerning the Governor of Milan’s concession to the Jews of the Duchy to rent and manage a house for the Jews passing through Milan. Since 1533 Jews had been forbidden to reside in Milan, a ban that would remain almost unchanged until 1597. The privilege of Francesco II Sforza allowed Jews to stay in the capital only for up to three days (which later became 20) for reasons strictly connected to economic activities. In register 10 there is an important document dated 25 June 1575, an act of the governor of Milan, Don Antonio de Guzman, marquis d'Ayamonte, who grants the Jews a house in Milan for 8 months, in which no Christian could live and in which a Jew would reside permanently with a domestic servant to manage as an inn. In this place the Jews would be able to stay in Milan for no more than three days to deal with their business. The authorisation, however, provided that, if the Jews needed to stay in Milan for a longer time, they would have to provide the Justice Captain with a valid reason and the captain could then grant an extension without further disbursement of money. The authorisation was granted after a detailed memorandum from the Jews which is reported in the first part of the document. The renewal of this authorisation is found in register 12, doc. 15 February 1580 and in register 16, doc. 9 May 1583. Related is a document in register 25, the authorisation of the governor of Milan, Don Pietro Enriquez de Acevedo, count of Fuentes, to David Benazar to stay in Milan for a month.
There are numerous concessions to extend the condotta of the Jews starting from 1570: on 18 October 1570 (register 8), the governor of Milan, Don Gabriele de la Cueva, Duke of Albuquerque, grants the Jews an extension of 8 months to the condotta that had expired in 1569, followed by a second and a third, in agreement with the Senate, on 19 June 1571 and 6 December (register 9). New extensions occur on 22 February 1576, after a memorandum by the Jews which refers to the principles established by the condotta of Francis II Sforza in 1533 (register 10), on 10 January 1579, 26 May 1579, 6 September 1580, and 30 April 1581 (registers 12-13). On 24 May 1581 (register 13), on the basis of the royal letter of 6 March 1581, the governor of Milan, Don Sancho de Guevara and Padillia, granted the Jews an extension of 4 years provided they did not lend at an interest and carry the yellow mark. Others will follow in subsequent years (registers 18 and following).
The series also contains many licenses to carry weapons granted to some members of the Jewish communities. By way of example these include: Register 6: license dated 18 November 1566 to Mandolino, Sansone de Bacchi, Pasino Sacerdote and other Jews; license dated 10 December 1566 to Rafael Carmini of Cremona. Register 7: license of 3 August 1569 to Lazzaro Levi of Lodi. Register 8: license dated 23 March 1569 to Ventura di Bacchi and Magio di Cividali of Cremona; license of 29 July 1569 to Abram de Sacerdoti and to his nephew Marco di Brisi; license dated 3 August 1569 to Lazzaro de Levi of Lodi; license dated 3 October 1570 to Abram de Sacerdoti and his son Simon. Register 9: License dated 16 February 1572 to Rafael and Michel Carmini of Cremona and their agents Simone, Salomone, Moise and Maggio. Register 13: License of 22 May 1581 to Rafael Carmini of Cremona; license dated 9 January 1582 to the sons and nephews of Viviano Levi, who had been assassinated. Register 16: license of 24 May 1582 to Lazzaro Levi of Lodi. Register 17: license dated 21 March 1584 to Rafael Carmini and family from Cremona.
To the series of extraordinary authorisations also belong the Governor of Milan’s concessions to some Jews not to wear the sign or yellow beret or to wear the black cap. A grida of 2 September 1566 had established the obligation for the Jews of the Duchy to wear the yellow sign and the prohibition of providing loans at interest. Wearing the sign had become mandatory, except for some privileged Jews, namely: Vitale Sacerdote and his son Simone (for example: register 10, 3 April 1574, 27 August 1575; register 11, 2 March 1577; register 12: 8 July 1578; register 16: 12 July 1583; register 25: 29 April 1601); Lazzaro Levi from Lodi (for example: register 12, 18 October 1578; register 17, 30 January 1584); Rafael Carmini of Cremona (for example: register, 12, 12 February 1579; register 17, 12 January 1584); Clemente Pavia (for example: register 12, 12 April 1580); Rafael Mestre (register 12, 10 May 1578; register 14, 15 October 1582); Sansone Massarano of Mantua (register 12, 11 July 1580); Salomone Levita (register 17, 7 June 1584); Liberal Levi (register 18, 12 October 1587) and others in registers 20-34.
There are also numerous concessions for travelling Jews to pass through the Duchy, most of whom were headed for Piedmont. These include: Register 10, 12 August 1575, pass for Jacob Haviv resident in Ferrara who intends to travel to Piedmont. Register 12, 31 May 1578, pass for Moyse Ceralvo, Portuguese Jew with his wife Sara and his children Salomone, Abram Jacob and Garcia who intend to go to Turin from Ferrara. Register 16, 6 February 1575, pass for Samuel di Sarfatti, former prisoner of the Turks and released, 21 July 1583; pass for Giuseppe Mazaod, Portuguese Jew, residing in Pinerolo, who intends to go from Ferrara to Turin.
A special authorisation was given to Jewish converts to Catholicism who, being without means, tried to sustain themselves by public charity. They are found in registers 19, 24 and following. In register 25, for example, there is the request of 17 August 1602 by Tomaso Guasco, a former Jew, who says he was converted and baptised by the then Viscount of Alessandria and his wife Livia Guasco and, after his baptism, lost his possessions. He asks to be granted a license to look for or allow his agent to look for alms in the state of Milan, since he is sick and has a crippled arm. The license is granted for 4 months by the Governor of Milan.
Finally, the following acts are subdivided by register:
Register 2, 11 April 1578, the governor of Milan, Don Gabriele de la Cueva, Duke of Albuquerque, authorises Jews to carry out an internal census of all Jews in the Duchy, for the needs of their Community. This is actually the renewal of a license of 1564.
Register 6, 3 November 1566, the governor of Milan, Duke of Albuquerque, issues a decree in favour of the Jews so that they are not harassed;
Register 7, 23 January 1567, the Secret Council orders that Jews be forbidden to enter churches while a service is in progress, unless they have been expressly invited by the priest (the provision will be reconfirmed on 4 February 1567, register 8)
Register 9, 10 November 1571, the governor of Milan, Don Alvaro De Sande, informs the governor of Pavia that, as is the case in Alessandria, the Jews must not be harassed and they must not be required to lodge troops
4 January 1572, confirmation of Trezzo in his position of conservator (also in Worship, ancient part, folder 2159)
Register 12, 30 June 1578, Authorisation granted to Isachino Levi Finzi to print and use books and bills of his invention for 10 years, for the collection of duties and taxes. (see also series 14, register 4); 31 May, 1580, the governor of Milan, Don Antonio de Guzman, marquis of Ayamonte, confirms the exemption of the Jews from lodging troops
Register 24, 9 October 1592, The king confirms that the Jews must be protected and must not in any way be subjected to harassment.
- Archival history:
-
The law of 1875, included in the Regulation of 1911, established that the archives of the central magistracies of pre-unification states should form, within the individual Archives, the section of State Acts. The other fonds had to be divided into three more sections, namely Judicial Documents, Administrative Documents, Notarial Deeds. All the remaining archives should form special sections.
Until 1963 the fonds of the State Archives of Milan were then assigned to the various sections, which changed over time [among them we point out the Historical-diplomatic, the Administrative and Financial, the Judiciary, the Military, the Confidential archive; in 1919, after the management of Luigi Fumi, sections of State Acts and Administrative Acts, Judicial Proceedings, Archives of the reigns of the Visconti and Sforza, Religion fonds and collections; in 1950 the First sections (State Acts i.e. Peronian Government Acts), Second (Administrative Acts), Third (Judicial Acts), Fourth (Special Collections), Fifth (Purchases, Gifts, Transfers)].
Following the loss of a large quantity of documents, series and entire fonds during the Second World War and with the transfer of new large archives, including the Notarial Archive and the Cadastral Archive, the fonds were reorganised.
The General Guide to the State Archives describes the fonds of the AS MI in the 1980s, grouping them, where possible, according to the historical period (Ancien Régimes, Napoleonic, Restoration, Post-unitary). The Acts of Government fonds (15th-19th century) could be inserted in any of these historical periods, for its peculiar characteristics, and is considered in its own right. The Diplomatic fonds is also presented in its own right, including the Diplomatic Archive (consisting of the fonds with the oldest documentation) and the Historical Section (containing miscellaneous material and collections). The remaining fonds are identified by type or according to the creator body (Fascist archives, Notaries, Cadastres, Pious and Charitable institutions, Religious corporations; Family and individuals' archives, Different archives, Collections and miscellaneous).
In terms of order and arrangement, the archival history of the pre-unification fonds of the AS MI was characterised by the so-called Peronian system, a particular type of organisation by subject implemented in the 18th and 19th centuries by the Milanese archivists, who created the complex of fonds named Government Acts; to the latter were added the documentary aggregations carried out in the 18th and 19th centuries that produced collections and miscellaneous sections.
See also http://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/archivi/soggetti-conservatori/MIAA00017D/
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
The fonds of Registers from State chancelleries and various magistracies comprises 962 registers and 11 volumes, for a length of 158.9 metres. It brings together documentation from the period 1538-1796 and is organised in 45 series. According to the Guide of the Milan State Archives, these are the letter books (i.e. registers of copied letters) of the State Chancellery and the Secret Chancellery of the Spanish and Austrian period.
The secret chancellery (15th century-16th century) was the real engine of the state and was the filter between the will of the duke and the central and peripheral administrations of the Sforza dominion. Starting from 1453 and 1456, the first secretary of the duke, Cicco Simonetta, issued a series of provisions to regulate the duties and tasks of chancellors, scribes, ushers and recorders. According to these provisions, the officers had the duty, after having sworn a solemn oath of loyalty to the person and to the Duke's State, to send the ducal letters after having personally registered them.
The Chancellery, originally a single office between 1450 and 1460, was divided into four distinct sectors: political chancellery - under the guidance of Cicco Simonetta from 1450 to 1479, and of Bartolomeo Calco from 1480 to 1499 - beneficial chancellery (1451), judicial chancellery (1451) and financial chancellery (1456). The political chancellery, responsible for the domestic and foreign political conduct and therefore superintendent of diplomatic relations, coordinated the ambassadors and managed the personnel responsible for managing the ducal posts and the correspondence between the central authorities and the local courts. The issues relating to the granting of ecclesiastical benefits were delegated to the beneficiary chancellery, while the handling of criminal cases, the writing of safe conducts and any letters of grace were delegated to the judicial chancellery. Finally, the financial registry was responsible for controlling all ducal revenues and expenses. (http://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/istituzioni/schede/8000140/?view=toponimi&hid=0)
Following the merger of these archives, which took place at the Government Archive at the time of the directorate of Luca Peroni (1820-1832), the registers could no longer be easily tracked to individual, specific chancelleries.
In the 1930s the entire corpus of the chancellery was rearranged and the registers were organised in 28 series. To this were also added "twelve other sets of registers of the ordinary and extraordinary magistrate, the governors of the fortresses, the lord of Milan, the general of the artillery, the general commissioner of the army, the imperial commissioner, the pay and major courier offices, the Chamber of Accounts" (GG II 931), thus bringing the number of series to 40. The current total number of 45 (44 plus one bis) derives from the separation into autonomous series of the registers constituting the 40th series. These are about seventy registers pertaining respectively to the ordinary Magistrate (40th series), to the Extraordinary Magistrate (41st), to the Chamber Magistrate (42nd), to the Chamber of Accounts (dispatches, letters, decrees – 43rd), as well as registers containing extracts from the correspondence with the Royal Court and extracts from government letters (44th). The access tool available at the Milan State Archives and on the web is an inventory in which the following are listed for each register: number, series, title of the register, initial and final date, notes and old signatures.
- Access points: persons/families:
- Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan, 1495-1535
- Yerusha Network member:
- Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center - Milan
- Author of the description:
- Rori Mancino; Centro di documentazione ebraica contemporanea; 2018