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Handwritten Petition
Translation
Alfonso Ciaccone, nephew of the late Brother Alonso Ciaccone [Chacón] humbly begs your Holiness to grant him the grace of a privilege over the book which is being printed titled The Lives and Deeds of the Popes [Vitae et gesta Pontificum] which now has been printed up to Pius V, so that no one for the next ten years in the Pontifical State may print, nor if printed elsewhere, sell neither in Latin nor in the [Italian] vernacular, nor in the Spanish language, nor in a collection, nor the sole coats of arms of the Popes and Cardinals, nor in whatsoever other manner. Because of the things of his Uncle which Your Holiness granted him, and especially of the said book, there remain nothing, everything having gone to pay the debts that still have not been paid off, nothing remains to him [the petitioner] other than four old things which are not able to be sold, so that if Your Holiness grants him the said grace he will reprint the book as it should be, and [the grant] will encourage the said petitioner to print the other works of his said Uncle and thus the debts on the moneys lent to the said Uncle will be satisfied in part, and [the petitioner will be released] from fatal servitude, for all of which he will once again receive by the most singular grace of Your Holiness and he will pray our lord God for your long life.
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Handwritten Privilege
Translation
[1-2] Pope Clement VIII [proclaims the following] for the future memory of the matter.
[2-5] Whereas, as we have heard, [our] dear son Alphonso Ciacconio, nephew of Alonso Chacòn, has arranged for a certain book, titled Lives and Works of the Popes, assembled by the aforementioned uncle Alphonsus through many nights’ labor, to be printed in type,
[6-11] we, wishing to provide for the indemnity of the present Alphonsus, lest he suffer too much expense from a printing of this kind; and [wishing] for him to proceed with special favors and goodwill; [and] absolving [him] from whatever [forms] of excommunication, suspension, and injunction, and from other ecclesiastical judgments, censures, and penalties, brought either under law or by man on whatever occasion or cause, if he is implicated by any in any way, to the effect of the present decrees insofar as applicable with respect to the list of these [penalties]; and resolving that he will be absolved;
[11-17] motu proprio, and from our certain knowledge, with the fullness of apostolic power, [we hereby establish that] a penalty is to be incurred, as often as it is merited, by each and all of the Christian faithful, of either sex, especially the printers of books, and booksellers, both in the City, and the whole temporal Holy Roman Church-state, or the areas immediately subject to it, [in the amount] of 500 ducats of gold from the Treasury, and [including] the loss of books, and of all types, to be allocated one [part] clearly for the prosecutor, and another for the Apostolic Treasury, the remaining third however to the aforementioned Alphonsus.
[17-22] lest anyone dare or presume to print, either on large or small pages, and in whatever language – even under the pretext of supplying additions, annotations or commentary – the said book, or any part of it, without special permission from Alphonsus, or from holding rights from him, or to sell, hold it for sale, or to display it in the next ten years as counted from the first printing of the said book,
[22-27] ordering therefore each and every venerable brother, Archbishops, Bishops, and other ordinaries of places, and legates, and vicelegates, governors, and praetors within the state [serving] on behalf of the Church in any way, to carry out the previously-mentioned penalty against the infringers unwaveringly, and assist Alphonsus himself, or his deputies, or those having cause from them with the protection of an effective legal defense,
[27-29] with infringers to be restrained without appeal, according to the aforementioned and other appropriate penalties against them, and suitable remedies of law and fact, and if there is need, with the help of the secular branch invoked to this matter.
[29-33] Notwithstanding any decrees, apostolic order, statutes, customs, even those bolstered by oath, apostolic confirmation, or whatever other force, and also privileges, indulgences, and apostolic letters that are contrary to the decrees, however granted, confirmed, approved, and whatever other things to the contrary.
[33-] We wish, moreover, that to the copies of the present decrees, also [after they have been] printed in the volumes themselves, underwritten by the hand of some notary public and fortified by the seal of a person endowed with ecclesiastical grace, this same faith may be applied henceforth, which would be applied to these originals, if they should be produced or shown.
[48-50] Granted in Rome at Saint Peter’s, the 13th day of December 1599, in the eighth year of our pontificate.
If it pleases his holiness, it may be expedited. P. Cardinal Aldobrandini
M. Vestrius Barbianus
Annotation Translation
For Alfonso Ciaccone
Privilege for no printing for a decade
the book sometimes titled the lives and deeds of Popes
The most illustrious divine commanded
for record to be made and his holiness was content
It is in form in the ecclesiastical state
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Translation of Privilege printed in the book
Pope Clement VIII [proclaims the following] for the future memory of the matter.
Whereas, as we have heard, [our] dear son Alphonso Ciacconio, nephew of Alonso Chacòn, has arranged for a certain book, titled Lives and Works of the Popes, assembled by the aforementioned uncle Alphonsus through many nights’ labor, to be printed in type,
we, wishing to provide for the indemnity of the present Alphonsus, lest he suffer too much expense from a printing of this kind; and [wishing] for him to proceed with special favors and goodwill; [and] absolving [him] from whatever [forms] of excommunication, suspension, and injunction, and from other ecclesiastical judgments, censures, and penalties, brought either under law or by man on whatever occasion or cause, if he is implicated by any in any way, to the effect of the present decrees insofar as applicable with respect to the list of these [penalties]; and resolving that he will be absolved;
motu proprio, and from our certain knowledge, with the fullness of apostolic power, [we hereby establish that] a penalty is to be incurred, as often as it is merited, by each and all of the Christian faithful, of either sex, especially the printers of books, and booksellers, both in the City, and the whole temporal Holy Roman Church-state, or the areas immediately subject to it, [in the amount] of 500 ducats of gold from the Treasury, and [including] the loss of books, and of all types, to be allocated one [part] clearly for the prosecutor, and another for the Apostolic Treasury, the remaining third however to the aftorementioned Alphonsus,
lest anyone dare or presume to print, either on large or small pages, and in whatever language – even under the pretext of supplying additions, annotations or commentary – the said book, or any part of it, without special permission from Alphonsus, or from those assigned by him, or to sell, hold it for sale, or to display it in the next ten years as counted from the first printing of the said book,
ordering therefore each and every venerable brother, Archbishops, Bishops, and other ordinaries of places, and legates, and vicelegates, governors, and praetors within the state [serving] on behalf of the Church in any way, to carry out the previously-mentioned penalty against the infringers unwaveringly, and assist Alphonsus himself, or his deputies, or those having cause from them with the protection of an effective legal defense,
with infringers to be restrained without appeal, according to the aforementioned and other appropriate penalties against them, and suitable remedies of law and fact, and if there is need, with the help of the secular branch invoked to this matter.
Notwithstanding any decrees, apostolic order, statutes, customs, even those bolstered by oath, apostolic confirmation, or whatever other force, and also privileges, indulgences, and apostolic letters that are contrary to the decrees, however granted, confirmed, approved, and whatever other things to the contrary.
We wish, moreover, that to the copies of the present decrees, also [after they have been] printed in the volumes themselves, underwritten by the hand of some notary public and fortified by the seal of a person endowed with ecclesiastical grace, this same faith may be applied henceforth, which would be applied to these originals, if they should be produced or shown.
Granted in Rome at Saint Peter’s, the 13th day of December 1599, in the eighth year of our pontificate.
M. Vestrius Barbianus
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“To the Reader” Translation
[1] TO THE READER
[2-6] Alonso Chacòn, second to no one in talent, piety, and learning, was unable to polish what he had written nor complete this his work concerning the Roman pontificate and cardinals, which is as useful as it is necessary and which was woven together through a large amount of work and time, since he (Chacòn) was prevented by his death, a misfortune for the Roman men of letters.
[6-8] For this reason, it would be no wonder if this work should cause offense through some gaps and errors of type, errors which sneak in more by fault of the editor than that of the author.
[8-10] To these you will yourself show mercy, goodhearted reader, wisely following the judgment of Horace, expressing himself as follows concerning the writing of others:
[11-13] “But where many things shine in a poem, I am not offended by small imperfections, which either a lack of care has spilled or human nature too little sings of.”[1]
[1] Q. Horatius Flaccus, De Arte Poetica liber, 351-353. “Canit” in the quotation is an error; the original line 353 reads “aut humana parum cavit natura” (“or against [which] human nature is insufficiently guarded”).
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Translation of dedication from the printed book
That famous deceased man enters, at long last, into light, already noble in his reputation and of famous birth in the estimation of men, despite having been left destitute by his own parents before he could take life and enter in the light of men. He now receives his authority and his dignity from the splendor of your most glorious name.
And indeed the magnitude of his work was such that it is miraculous that it was able to be not only researched but almost completed to perfection by one man, since it would be hard to believe it had been completed by many men given many years’ labor.
And he would have completed it indeed, if the sublime task with its incredible, peculiar difficulty – both of thoroughly clothing the facts in the truth of history or of explaining the historical epochs themselves – indeed the magnitude itself of the subject matter with respect to its own vastness, had not overburdened the man. And still he was planning to expand this work yet further.
Franciscus Cabrera Morales – a man excellent with respect to every genre of letters – completed the rest of the history from Alexander VI to the most blessed times of your Pontificate. But the narrative of your accomplishments, B.P., was passed over intentionally, since your accomplishments are already in the ear and eyes of men and will come to pass in the light of the world, more resplendent from your splendor than [is possible to capture in] any man’s praise in words.
And indeed, prior history includes glorious moments which are retained in the memory of the later eras whose judgment will be sincere and uncorrupted and will protect from forgetting.
Although not in all places, if from yourself, not from your modesty, but from you yourself you judge, things appear to have been left out.
Surely, you will recognize images/ideas of your virtues and of your deeds, scattered among the diverse persons [in this book] and they will come to mind when you read these things at some point. . . And whenever your sanctity encounters in the diverse biographies some aspect of itself, then that conscience of yours, whose judgment you cannot escape, will compare you with all the examples [of the other popes]. That conscience will bring forth its judgment concerning you,
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and it will compare it with the reputations of men, and with the opinion of the world.
Indeed, in that seat of dignity, your piety and the magnitude of your soul will place you among the greatest popes, such that nothing in the lands shall be beyond your reach; the offices of life have been brought together around you and the Eternal Laborer; no human thing will interpose itself, although human praise is a powerful asset for you.
The quiddity of your virtue lies in the fact that you have already well established that there is no one (setting aside, please, those most holy men, whose footsteps you will follow) beyond yourself whom you could imitate, should you wish you be like yourself… a fact which has perhaps great value if you should measure and evaluate all things related to your deeds and common examples by the magnitude of your soul and virtue.
Deservedly therefore you appear first on the stage of the popes and will be seen last [in the book], since you illustrate the memory of those who came before and illuminate your successors.
The author, Chacon, of the [Domincan] order of preachers, my uncle, subscribed to this view of your sanctity and, with his zeal for public utility and for the glory of giving your name forward to posterity, came close to completing this work. His purpose was to show, by working until his last breath, either that he had exhausted every conceivable charity on your account, or that such charity as he had to give was not able to be diminished even by death itself, since he had the most blessed thing in life – the fruits of his labors, which he bore through intense pains on your behalf in the most extreme willingness, which is typically – and must be – inviolable.
In a word, he worked himself to death in order that his last breath might appear to express a desire to amplify your dignity, when his life relinquished its final moment.
Because his every living moment was filled with this work, you can see precisely what he labored on during his waking moments and in precisely which thoughts he breathed his last breath.
You see, therefore, most blessed father, to whose names this product of your beauty is owed, precisely because it did not die with its author, thanks to your singular liberality towards me.
And indeed when you set me up as the heir of my uncle, my heart would have been ungrateful towards you and impious towards my uncle, considering the consequences of inheriting my family’s affairs, if I had not taken that perspective which my uncle always adopted towards you.
Therefore, although it befell me for other reasons, I nevertheless owe this most weighty gift to my uncle: namely the gift of an opportunity to make known my and his zeal for you.
Although it would not have been a benefit to me at all if you had not come to my aid. Therefore I consider you encumbered and bound by a mortgage/debt of your beneficence; I hold these to be securities of your volition; in order that you might be seen to owe me patronage in some sense with respect to this work,
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to which you meted out life & light.
Who else is in a position to have received from you such a necessary obligation and burden – stemming from no other law or reason than your very magnificence and the magnitude or your liberality towards me. Of what other obligation can it be said that you are deemed to owe to a man what you have given him?
Therefore receive, good father, this object no less evidence of your beneficence than my observance of your authority, in which, if there is something great, it is great because of you.
What better thing could your beneficence offer me? You operate upon that condition that no generosity is able to be given to you unless it is from your own store, similar to the storehouse of all good things – sourcing from God; whatever gifts are given to God, they are repaid by still greater benefits, with the result that you are able to receive nothing from me except through a prior gift of your own. All men see because of you, they admire your virtues in you. All things conspire for your glory and success, and all men beg happiness and immorality from you in immortal God, in whose vision all men profit. Your generosity has been great to me.