Notai capitolini

Item

Country

IT

Name of institution (English)

State Archives of Rome

Name of institution (official language of the state)

Language of name of institution

ita

Contact information: postal address

Complesso di Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza, Corso del Rinascimento 40, 00186 Rome

Contact information: phone number

0039 06/67235600

Contact information: web address

Contact information: email

as-rm@beniculturali.it

Reference number

ASRm, Notai Capitolini

Type of reference number

Archival reference number

Title (English)

Capitoline notaries

Title (official language of the state)

Notai capitolini

Language of title

ita

Creator / accumulator

Notai capitolini

Date(s)

1477/1899

Language(s)

ita
lat

Extent

23,466 volumes, 298 lists, 74 indexes, 9 folders and 2 fascicles

Type of material

Textual Material

Physical condition

Good

Scope and content

The Notai capitolini fonds preserves the acts drawn up by the college of the Trenta notai capitolini (Thirty Capitoline notaries), founded by Sixtus V in 1586. The documentation preserved here is largely composed of protocols, repertories, and correspondence produced by each office while carrying out its notarial functions. To these 30 offices were added the acts of the Notaro Maggiore della Camera Capitolina, and those of the notary offices of the Curia di Ripagrande, Curia di Borgo, Curia del Governo, in addition to the four notary offices of the Curia del Vicario generale, and those of the Consolato dei Fiorentini and Fabbrica di S. Pietro. For this reason, the documentation adds to a total of 39 distinct notary offices connected to judicial functions in the city of Rome. In the documents preserved here, there are references to acts and judgments relating to Iberian Jews and New Christians in Rome.
Anna Esposito published a small group of wills of Sephardim that were living in Rome in the early 16th century.
Number 929 (fols. 443r-v, 451r), dated March 1, 1506, contains reports of the meeting of 68 Jews (17 from the German and French communities, 22 from the Universitas hebreorum aragonensium, 13 from that of the Catalan Jews and 16 from that of Castilian Jews) held in a house in the S. Angelo district, in Piazza del Mercatello, with the aim of appointing 12 procurators (three per group), with the task of checking if there were "poveri, infermi e mendicanti" (poor, sick and beggars) to whom they owed provide relief, and raise money for this purpose from members of the "universitas" (communities) (see Esposito, 2007).
As reported in storage unit number 128 (fols. 19r-v), in 1496 three of the representatives of the Spanish Jews (Mayr don Solema, Aven Lope, and None Almercharen) were charged with appointing two officials, Moyses ben Venisti and Moyses de Banes, who in turn had to choose six councillors. This college was intended for controlling the administration, especially with regard to the collection of taxes in the Spanish Jewish community. This resolution aimed to escape the current administrative management of the Italian and Roman groups (see Esposito, 2007).
Number 1321 contains documents related to Jewish butchers and butchery active in Rome in the early 16th century. On the same subject, see also no. 126, fols. 472-490; no. 850, fols. 545-547. Documents published in Esposito (2006).
The protocol registers of the "notai dei banchieri ebrei" (notaries of Jewish bankers), a total of 34 volumes with records from 1592 to 1684, converged on the vast collection of the Notai capitolini. These 34 volumes contain acts stipulated between private customers, mostly in Latin but also in Italian. There are numerous instruments of economic nature, stipulated between Jews of modest conditions belonging to the Roman Community and Christians living in Rome. These protocols were in possession of the notary Girolamo Buttaoni and, at present, they are at the acts of office no. 37 (ex 19).

Archival history

The records of the Notai capilotolini fonds are arranged chronologically, within each office. The list of notaries in each office was published in François's work and recently republished by De Vizio (2011). Other notary offices were merged with the original 30 offices for a total of 39 separate offices. The offices of the Trenta notai capitolini (Thirty Capitoline Notaries) were originally numbered from nos. 1 to 30, while the documents of the other offices did not bear any number, but only the designation of the judiciary to which they belong. At the Archivio di Stato di Roma, they received a new numbering from 1 to 39 - with which they are currently preserved - which distorted the original one of the 30 offices (now numbered 1-29 plus the number 37) and marked the other offices with numbers which currently range from 30 to 39 (excluding 37).
Sources:

Administrative / Biographical history

The College of the Trenta notai capitolini (Thirty Capitoline notaries) was established by Sixtus V (papacy, 1585-1590) on December 29, 1586, with the aim of reorganising the number and activity of all the notaries who served in the courts of the Campidoglio. Certainly, the writings of notaries who had exercised their profession at the curia of the Capitoline courts before the provision of Sixtus V converged in this archive. The notaries called "capitolini" exercised their profession ab antiquo at the curiae of the various magistrates and courts of the Campidoglio. Since the 15th century, they had constituted a corporation with its own statutes and precise rules, also regarding the preservation of the deeds drawn up for private individuals. An important precedent for the establishment of the College of the Trenta notai capitolini by Pope Sixtus V is represented by a provision dating back to December 23, 1562. Jurisdiction over the archive rested with the Apostolic Chamber. The appointment of notaries was up to the "conservatori" of the Capitol. By Sixtus V, this appointment was transferred to the College, but it returned to the "conservatori" after a few years. Pius IX (papacy, 1846-1878), by motuproprio on October 1, 1847, entrusted the competence of the archive to the magistracy of Rome. Immediately after, with motuproprio on December 29, 1847, on the council of ministers, the Pope declared that the archives and notaries of the state were dependent on the ministry of the interior.

Access points: locations

Access points: persons, families

Access points: subject terms

Access points: document types

System of arrangement

The Notai capitolini documentation is divided into 30 "uffici notarili" (notarial offices). Records of each "ufficio" are arranged chronologically.

Links to finding aids

Author of the description

Andrea Cicerchia

Bibliography

Published primary sources

Item sets

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Archivio di Stato di Roma Collections (official language of the state)