Copia de Statuti de Vergognosi e S[ant]a Marta e decreti descritti nel libro bianco.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Author/Creator:

Opera pia dei poveri vergognosi (Bologna, Italy)

Contributor:

Julius II, Pope, 1443-1513.

Conservatorio di Santa Marta.

Language:

Italian

Latin

Subjects (All):

Charity-schools--Italy--Bologna.

Charity-schools.

Poor--Italy.

Poor.

Confraternities--Italy--Bologna--Early works to 1800.

Confraternities.

Charities--Italy--Bologna--Early works to 1800.

Charities.

Bologna (Italy)--Economic conditions.

Bologna (Italy).

Bologna (Italy)--Social conditions.

Italy--Bologna.

Italy.

Genre:

codices (bound manuscripts)

bylaws (administrative records)

decrees

Manuscripts, Italian.

Manuscripts, European.

Physical Description:

120 leaves : paper ; 206 x 137 mm bound to 212 x 152 mm

Production:

Bologna, [1722?]

Language Note:

Italian, with a few short passages in Latin.

Biography/History:

Founded in 1495 in the church of San Domenico in Bologna, on the initiative of ten citizens (referred to as provveditori in the manuscript), on the occasion of a famine that hit the city. Aimed to assist members of formerly wealthy families who had fallen into poverty and, as a result, felt ashamed ('vergognosi' in Italian) of their new social status. Assumed administration in 1554 over the Conservatorio delle Putte di Santa Marta, whose mission was to assist young women (either orphans, or the daughters of the noble families who could no longer support them and had to rely on the Opera for help) to preserve their honor through catechism, education and marriage arrangements.

Summary:

Collection of copies of 2 larger works, the statutes of the Opera pia dei poveri vergognosi of Bologna, the statutes of the Conservatorio Putte di Santa Marta, and a number of shorter documents, mostly copies of decrees related to the management of the Opera. The first two documents are very similar: after briefly outlining the history of the two charitable institutions, a copy of their respective statutes follows. Most of the regulations concern the eligibility of paupers for benefits of the Opera pia, and of the young women for the Conservatorio. The two institutions mostly worked together, the Opera looking after the older members of formerly wealthy families who had been impoverished or become indigent for various reasons, and the Conservatorio caring for their daughters (which also made the selection process stricter for young women because, in order to receive benefits from the Conservatorio, one's family had to be either deceased or eligible for benefits from the Opera; should these criteria not be met by the young woman in need, there was no way for her to be to be admitted). The Opera and the Conservatorio also had very strict requirements for their members (the procuratori and the sisters who worked in the Conservatorio), also collected in the statutes, which regulated their election, and a strict code of conduct that covered almost every circumstance that could arise in the course of their work. Transcribed between the two statutes is a copy of a letter, dated 18 July 1511, written by Pope Julius II and addressed to the Opera, both to encourage its members to persist in their work, and, at the same time, to warn them against committing heresy and disobeying his orders, which would result in interdict and other punishments. The last part of the manuscript is a selection of decrees issued between 1633 and 1722 by the Opera, which amended or rectified previous decrees. For each amended article a copy of it in its original form is also present, to facilitate the understanding of the changes occurred. The topics of the aforementioned decrees include the management of the organization, the maximum number of members that can be part of it, and the financial administration of funds.

Contents:

1. p.1-27: [Statuti de Vergognosi]

2. p.28-80: [Statuti e decreti della Conservatorio di Santa Marta]

3. p.91-213: Copia de decreti registrati nel Libro Bianco.

Notes:

Ms. codex.

Title from cover.

Pagination: Paper; [viii], 1-69, [70-232], contemporary pagination in ink, modern pagination in pencil, upper outer corners (p. 91-213 originally paginated [ii], 1-79, [i], 80-120 in ink).

Layout: Written in 19-23 long lines.

Script: Written in a cursive script, by multiple hands.

Watermark: Unidentified watermark containing two crossed keys with the letters M O R O underneath, surrounded by a decorative frame.

Binding: Contemporary vellum, Copia di vari statuti, followed by unreadable writing, Bologna on spine; the heading Copia de Statuti de Vergognosi e Santa Marta e decreti descritti nel libro bianco on upper cover.

Origin: Written in Bologna in or after 1722 (p. 80), latest date of an amended decree.

Cited in:

Described in Zacour, Norman P. and Hirsch, Rudolf. Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Libraries of the University of Pennsylvania to 1800: Supplement A (5), Library Chronicle 37 (1971), no. 2, p. 97 (Ms. Lea 576).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 1483

OCLC:

318984981