Tribunale dell'Inquisizione di Pisa
Item
Country
IT
Name of institution (English)
Historical Archives of the Diocese of Pisa
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
ita
Contact information: postal address
Piazza dell'Arcivescovado 18, 56126 Pisa
Contact information: phone number
0039 050565571
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
archivio@pisa.chiesacattolica.it
Reference number
Inquisizione
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Tribunal of the Inquisition of Pisa
Title (official language of the state)
Tribunale dell'Inquisizione di Pisa
Language of title
ita
Creator / accumulator
Tribunale dell'Inquisizione di Pisa
Date(s)
1574/1772
Language(s)
ita
lat
Extent
33 storage units
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
The Tribunale dell'Inquisizione di Pisa fonds is composed of 33 files contained within folders. Its organisation is not entirely logical, and the records are only partially arranged by chronological order. This kind of arrangement may result from the characteristics of the inquisitorial trials themselves — since they used to comprise interrogations and depositions issued at different times and places and completed with additional documentation, such as correspondence, opinions of consultors, etc. —, as well as their later shelving into folders that did not follow chronological or other kinds of criteria. However, the trials often present on the back of the last page some handwritten notes from the time when they were initially stored that identify the file and, for this reason, make consultation easier.
Among this collection, there are several pieces of evidence regarding Iberian "Marani" (Conversos) suspected of Judaism and, for this reason, prosecuted by the Pisan court. Some examples are the following:
Filza V (1617-1621): testimony by Domenico Bonavita against Diogo Pinto, Rodrigo da Fonseca's grandson and a student at the University of Pisa, accused of owning a Spanish Bible printed in Ferrara (probably, the Ferrara Bible), reading books of the Index and attending the Jewish school to learn Hebrew. November 24, 1620 (fols. 841 and passim).
Filza XIX (1682-1687): testimonies and denunciations against several Portuguese Jews in Livorno, including Abramo and Samuele d'Acosta, Samuel d'Olmeda (Almeida?), Gabriel Arias, Iacob Arias da Costa, Benjamin Moreno, and Mosé de Iacob Franco de Albuquerque. December 1682. Published in Zoratini (Processi, XII).
Among this collection, there are several pieces of evidence regarding Iberian "Marani" (Conversos) suspected of Judaism and, for this reason, prosecuted by the Pisan court. Some examples are the following:
Filza V (1617-1621): testimony by Domenico Bonavita against Diogo Pinto, Rodrigo da Fonseca's grandson and a student at the University of Pisa, accused of owning a Spanish Bible printed in Ferrara (probably, the Ferrara Bible), reading books of the Index and attending the Jewish school to learn Hebrew. November 24, 1620 (fols. 841 and passim).
Filza XIX (1682-1687): testimonies and denunciations against several Portuguese Jews in Livorno, including Abramo and Samuele d'Acosta, Samuel d'Olmeda (Almeida?), Gabriel Arias, Iacob Arias da Costa, Benjamin Moreno, and Mosé de Iacob Franco de Albuquerque. December 1682. Published in Zoratini (Processi, XII).
Archival history
After the abolition of the inquisitorial courts, their documentary material was merged into the diocesan archives. Therefore, the Pisan court's records were transferred to the custody of the Archdiocese of Pisa.
The Tribunale dell'Inquisizione di Pisa's records had no finding aids until the late 20th century. In the 1990s, D. Bondielli (1995) produced an analytical inventory of the first eight files in the sequence of his degree thesis. Later, he continued the inventory of this fonds (Bondielli, 1999). Further academic dissertations have also contributed to inventorying the documentation of this collection. See Casella (2002-2003); Pirisi (2003-2004); Arviotti (2004-2005); Borsini (2005-2006); and Bahrabadi (2006-2007).
The Tribunale dell'Inquisizione di Pisa's records had no finding aids until the late 20th century. In the 1990s, D. Bondielli (1995) produced an analytical inventory of the first eight files in the sequence of his degree thesis. Later, he continued the inventory of this fonds (Bondielli, 1999). Further academic dissertations have also contributed to inventorying the documentation of this collection. See Casella (2002-2003); Pirisi (2003-2004); Arviotti (2004-2005); Borsini (2005-2006); and Bahrabadi (2006-2007).
Administrative / Biographical history
The Congregation of the Holy Office was founded in 1542 by Pope Paul III with the bull "Licet ab initio". The Congregation was made up of a group of six cardinals who benefited from exceptional powers to eradicate the "heretical pravity" from the Christian body; it was up to them to proceed against the suspicions of heresy, the heretics and their supporters and followers. To carry out this task, they appointed delegated inquisitors to represent them in the various provinces. This choice fell almost entirely to the mendicant orders. Therefore, the Inquisition took on the form of a stable and complex organisation over a few decades, with offices scattered throughout the Italian peninsula.
Over time, the inquisitors assumed wider tasks, dealing with other crimes until then handled by the ordinary ecclesiastical courts, such as bigamy, magical superstitions and witchcraft, blasphemy, Judaism, and possession of prohibited books.
In Tuscany, the Inquisition was initially placed under the control of a single inquisitor. In the mid-1570s, three inquisitorial offices were created in Florence, Siena and Pisa. In Pisa, Pope Gregory XIII established a general inquisitor to deal with the growing presence of Jewish families in the city and to act in response to the Medici policy of economic expansion of the Pisa-Livorno axis, which corresponded to an increase in commercial and maritime activities and, as a consequence, a greater influx of heterodoxies. Over time, relations of mutual collaboration were established between the Pisan inquisitors and the judicial institutions of the Medici duchy.
The court of the Inquisition in Pisa was located in the convent of San Francesco, and it was administered by Franciscans. The Pisan tribunal was organised and followed the procedural directives laid down by the Holy Office of Rome. The tribunal had a permanent vicar in Livorno. As the city was the gateway for persecuted people of several religions and nationalities, it was necessary to install a permanent seat of the Inquisition in Livorno, namely in the palace of the Confraternita della Misericordia.
As a result of the agreement between the Grand Duke and the Congregation of the Holy Office that established that the former had the right to choose the seat of the Pisan inquisitorial court, it was transferred from the convent of San Francesco to the archbishop's palace. In 1782, the Pisan and other Tuscan inquisitorial courts were extinct.
Over time, the inquisitors assumed wider tasks, dealing with other crimes until then handled by the ordinary ecclesiastical courts, such as bigamy, magical superstitions and witchcraft, blasphemy, Judaism, and possession of prohibited books.
In Tuscany, the Inquisition was initially placed under the control of a single inquisitor. In the mid-1570s, three inquisitorial offices were created in Florence, Siena and Pisa. In Pisa, Pope Gregory XIII established a general inquisitor to deal with the growing presence of Jewish families in the city and to act in response to the Medici policy of economic expansion of the Pisa-Livorno axis, which corresponded to an increase in commercial and maritime activities and, as a consequence, a greater influx of heterodoxies. Over time, relations of mutual collaboration were established between the Pisan inquisitors and the judicial institutions of the Medici duchy.
The court of the Inquisition in Pisa was located in the convent of San Francesco, and it was administered by Franciscans. The Pisan tribunal was organised and followed the procedural directives laid down by the Holy Office of Rome. The tribunal had a permanent vicar in Livorno. As the city was the gateway for persecuted people of several religions and nationalities, it was necessary to install a permanent seat of the Inquisition in Livorno, namely in the palace of the Confraternita della Misericordia.
As a result of the agreement between the Grand Duke and the Congregation of the Holy Office that established that the former had the right to choose the seat of the Pisan inquisitorial court, it was transferred from the convent of San Francesco to the archbishop's palace. In 1782, the Pisan and other Tuscan inquisitorial courts were extinct.
Access points: locations
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
Records are tendentially arranged by chronological order.
Finding aids
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2022
Bibliography
Published primary sources
Linked resources
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|---|---|---|
| Archivio Storico Diocesano di Pisa | Collections (official language of the state) |