Details
STATUTES OF CILENTO of 1487, in Latin, MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
Naples, 1494
340 x 240mm. 12 leaves: 112, 17th-century ink foliation, single columns of 30-34 lines, ruled in drypoint, justification: 230 x 150mm, written in brown ink in a calligraphic humanistic cursive script, section headings in capital letters, official subscriptions on f.12 (margins stained and frayed, textblock creased from having been folded into quarters prior to binding). 16th-century blind-tooled leather, stamped 'Capitoli' on upper cover, over pasteboard consisting of printed waste from Justinian, Digestum infortiatum, Rome: Apud Sanctum Marcum, 13 April 1475, reinforced with three small fragments cut from a lectionary on vellum written in Beneventan script (rubbed and worn), modern green morocco box.
The statutes of Cilento, a region to the south of Naples, southeast of the Gulf of Salerno, were first granted in 1487 by Ferdinand I (Ferrante), King of the Two Sicilies. In 1494 the statutes were confirmed by Alfonso II, son and heir of Ferdinand, in the first year of his reign. This manuscript is an official copy recording that reconfirmation, and the form is that of a legal document. A statement by Alfonso, expressing his willingness to confirm the statutes and privileges granted by his father Ferdinand in 1487 (f.1), introduces the statutes proper (f.1v-11), which he has caused to be copied following his introductory proclamation.
The text of the statutes, with headings for the individual sections, is written continuously. New subjects are distinguished only by the word 'Item' in capital letters, although chapter numbers, totalling 46, have been added in the margin by a later hand. The topics regulated include: the slaughter and sale of meat, weights and measures, penalties for damage done by animals, penalties for theft or damage to crops, maintenance of public roads and sources of water, management of the danger from fire, accusations and treatment of the accused, imprisonment, the election of magistrates, and the procedure for amending the statutes.
The text of the statutes of 1487 is followed immediately by further formulas of Alfonso's confirmation (f.11-v), and this is followed in its turn by a page of subscriptions of officials of the Kingdom of Naples (f.12). The first of these is that of Alfonso himself, dated 6 May 1494 in the first year of his reign, followed by those of other officials, including the royal secretary Giovanni Pontano. Although this manuscript is obviously an official copy of this proclamation and the text of the statutes, it was apparently never provided with an example of the great seal of Ferdinand mentioned in the text ('Imago paterno sigillo cum nostrum nondum sit expeditum').
The statutes of Cilento were confirmed again in 1516 by the local overlord Ferdinand of Sanseverino, with 18 chapters of additions in Italian. That version was published by P. del Giudice in Atti della Reale Accademia di scienze morali e politiche di Napoli 23 (1901). See also Biblioteca del Senato. Catalogo della raccolta di statuti (Rome, 1943- ) II, 200.
The virtually contemporary binding of the present manuscript is of interest because it includes both printed waste from a 1475 Roman edition of a legal text and fragments cut from a manuscript in Beneventan script.
Naples, 1494
340 x 240mm. 12 leaves: 112, 17th-century ink foliation, single columns of 30-34 lines, ruled in drypoint, justification: 230 x 150mm, written in brown ink in a calligraphic humanistic cursive script, section headings in capital letters, official subscriptions on f.12 (margins stained and frayed, textblock creased from having been folded into quarters prior to binding). 16th-century blind-tooled leather, stamped 'Capitoli' on upper cover, over pasteboard consisting of printed waste from Justinian, Digestum infortiatum, Rome: Apud Sanctum Marcum, 13 April 1475, reinforced with three small fragments cut from a lectionary on vellum written in Beneventan script (rubbed and worn), modern green morocco box.
The statutes of Cilento, a region to the south of Naples, southeast of the Gulf of Salerno, were first granted in 1487 by Ferdinand I (Ferrante), King of the Two Sicilies. In 1494 the statutes were confirmed by Alfonso II, son and heir of Ferdinand, in the first year of his reign. This manuscript is an official copy recording that reconfirmation, and the form is that of a legal document. A statement by Alfonso, expressing his willingness to confirm the statutes and privileges granted by his father Ferdinand in 1487 (f.1), introduces the statutes proper (f.1v-11), which he has caused to be copied following his introductory proclamation.
The text of the statutes, with headings for the individual sections, is written continuously. New subjects are distinguished only by the word 'Item' in capital letters, although chapter numbers, totalling 46, have been added in the margin by a later hand. The topics regulated include: the slaughter and sale of meat, weights and measures, penalties for damage done by animals, penalties for theft or damage to crops, maintenance of public roads and sources of water, management of the danger from fire, accusations and treatment of the accused, imprisonment, the election of magistrates, and the procedure for amending the statutes.
The text of the statutes of 1487 is followed immediately by further formulas of Alfonso's confirmation (f.11-v), and this is followed in its turn by a page of subscriptions of officials of the Kingdom of Naples (f.12). The first of these is that of Alfonso himself, dated 6 May 1494 in the first year of his reign, followed by those of other officials, including the royal secretary Giovanni Pontano. Although this manuscript is obviously an official copy of this proclamation and the text of the statutes, it was apparently never provided with an example of the great seal of Ferdinand mentioned in the text ('Imago paterno sigillo cum nostrum nondum sit expeditum').
The statutes of Cilento were confirmed again in 1516 by the local overlord Ferdinand of Sanseverino, with 18 chapters of additions in Italian. That version was published by P. del Giudice in Atti della Reale Accademia di scienze morali e politiche di Napoli 23 (1901). See also Biblioteca del Senato. Catalogo della raccolta di statuti (Rome, 1943- ) II, 200.
The virtually contemporary binding of the present manuscript is of interest because it includes both printed waste from a 1475 Roman edition of a legal text and fragments cut from a manuscript in Beneventan script.