Epistolario scelto
Item
Country
IT
Name of institution (English)
State Archives of Parma
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
ita
Contact information: postal address
Strada M. d'Azeglio 45e, 43125 Parma (institutional headquarters)
Via La Spezia 46, 43125 Parma (archival collections and reading room)
Contact information: phone number
0039 0521235487
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
as-pr@beniculturali.it
Reference number
Epistolario scelto
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Sellected correspondence
Title (official language of the state)
Epistolario scelto
Language of title
ita
Creator / accumulator
Archivio di Stato di Parma
Date note
15th century/1857
Language(s)
ita
Extent
26 folders
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
This collection comprises correspondence produced by or related to some illustrious figures of the history of Parma. Among Girolamo Muzio's correspondence, there is a letter that he sent to Ferrante Gonzaga, the governor of Milan, concerning the Sephardic family Mendes Benveniste. On November 28, 1551, he informed the governor of the supposed intention of Brianda de Luna's daughter, Beatriz Mendes, to go to Turkey with the fortune she had inherited from her father, Diogo Mendes. This episode is part of the long dispute between Brianda and her sister Beatriz de Luna over the late Diogo Mendes' inheritance. This letter, as well as other Muzio's letters, was transcribed and published by Amandio Ronchini (1864, doc. CXXI).
Archival history
The Epistolario scelto is a collection created by Tommaso Gasparotti (1785-1847), the director of the Archivio Farnesiano, in the first half of the 19th century, and later expanded by Amadio Ronchini (1812-1890). The collection was composed of documentation relating to illustrious figures in Belles-Lettres, Arts or Political History extracted from various fonds, in particular the currently dismembered Segreteria farnesiana e borbonica. Especially, it was extracted from their original fonds numerous letters of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese and those of some members of the Gonzaga di Guastalla family. In 1853, Ronchini published part of this correspondence in the volume Lettere di uomini illustri conservate in Parma nel regio Archivio di Stato. In his catalogue of the Archivio di Stato di Parma (1941), Giovanni Drei published the list of recipients and senders of the letters comprised in this collection.
Administrative / Biographical history
The history of the Archivio di Stato di Parma dates back to 1592, when the works in the Palazzo della Pilotta were completed with the creation of a specific space to store the Farnese archives, in accordance with the last will of Ranuccio I Farnese. Until then, the archives were dispersed in various buildings. At the beginning of the following year, Pietro Zangrandi was appointed archivist of the Archivio Segreto ducale.
In the 1730s, a large part of the documentation preserved in the Archivio was transferred to Naples, when Don Carlo di Bobone became king of Naples and later renounced to the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza. Only a part of this documentation returned to Parma.
After the French domination, Maria Luisa d'Austria established the Archivio Generale dello Stato on October 15, 1816, with the aim of gathering the documentation produced during the Farnese and Bourbon governments and the French period, as well as the archives of extinct courts. It was under the dependence of the Ministero dell'interno and, after 1848, of the Dipartimento di grazia, giustizia e buongoverno. In 1860, the archive of Parma, as well as other Emilia-Romagna archives became part of the Direzione generale degli Archivi del Regno di Sardegna.
The Palazzo della Pilotta continued to be the headquarter of the Archivio di Stato di Parma until the Second World War. On May 13, 1944, an aerial bombardment destroyed a wing of the palace, damaging part of the archival collections.
In 1948, the archive moved to the oldest wing of the Ospedale della Misericordia, also known as the Ospedale Vecchio. This part of the Ospedalle had been originally built between 1476 and the first decade of the 16th century. The main deposit of the archive was located in the large vaulted room in the form of a cross that had served as a ward of the hospital until 1926, and that became known as the "Crociera".
In 2011, the documentation was transferred to a modern warehouse annexed to the new facilities of the Archivio di Stato di Parma in via La Spezia 46.
In the 1730s, a large part of the documentation preserved in the Archivio was transferred to Naples, when Don Carlo di Bobone became king of Naples and later renounced to the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza. Only a part of this documentation returned to Parma.
After the French domination, Maria Luisa d'Austria established the Archivio Generale dello Stato on October 15, 1816, with the aim of gathering the documentation produced during the Farnese and Bourbon governments and the French period, as well as the archives of extinct courts. It was under the dependence of the Ministero dell'interno and, after 1848, of the Dipartimento di grazia, giustizia e buongoverno. In 1860, the archive of Parma, as well as other Emilia-Romagna archives became part of the Direzione generale degli Archivi del Regno di Sardegna.
The Palazzo della Pilotta continued to be the headquarter of the Archivio di Stato di Parma until the Second World War. On May 13, 1944, an aerial bombardment destroyed a wing of the palace, damaging part of the archival collections.
In 1948, the archive moved to the oldest wing of the Ospedale della Misericordia, also known as the Ospedale Vecchio. This part of the Ospedalle had been originally built between 1476 and the first decade of the 16th century. The main deposit of the archive was located in the large vaulted room in the form of a cross that had served as a ward of the hospital until 1926, and that became known as the "Crociera".
In 2011, the documentation was transferred to a modern warehouse annexed to the new facilities of the Archivio di Stato di Parma in via La Spezia 46.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
Records are arranged in alphabetical order.
Finding aids
Epistolario scelto. Index. 1986. Available in the collection (no. 38).
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2022.
Published primary sources
Linked resources
Filter by property
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Archivio di Stato di Parma | Collections (official language of the state) |