Tribunale dell'Inquisizione di Firenze
Item
Country
IT
Name of institution (English)
Archdiocese of Florence Archives
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
ita
Contact information: postal address
Piazza S. Giovanni 3, 50123 Florence
Contact information: phone number
0039 0552763710
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
archivio@diocesifirenze.it
Reference number
Inquisizione di Firenze
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Court of the Inquisition of Florence
Title (official language of the state)
Tribunale dell'Inquisizione di Firenze
Language of title
ita
Creator / accumulator
Tribunale dell'Inquisizione di Firenze
Date(s)
1537/1909
Language(s)
ita
lat
Extent
61 storage units
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
This fonds comprises part of the documentation produced by or related to the Court of the Inquisition of Florence since 1537. The documentation is arranged into 10 series: Processi (trials), Corrispondenza del Sant'Ufficio (correspondence), Documenti galileiani (documents related to Galileo Galilei's trial), Abiure (abjurations), Deposizioni e cause (depositions and cases), Appunti e schede (notes and remarks), Attestati, dichiarazioni, fedi (certificates, declarations and affidavits), Processi vari (various processes), Miscellanea (miscellaneous papers) and Stampe (printed papers).
It includes some scattered documents of Jewish interest, especially those related to the tensions between the Grand Duchy and the Inquisition, triggered by the protection given to the Jewish community and, in particular, the Sephardim who had escaped from the Iberian Inquisitions.
It includes some scattered documents of Jewish interest, especially those related to the tensions between the Grand Duchy and the Inquisition, triggered by the protection given to the Jewish community and, in particular, the Sephardim who had escaped from the Iberian Inquisitions.
Archival history
In 1645, the inquisitor Friar Giacomo Cima da Sezze drew up an inventory of the archive of the Holy Office in Florence. Then, he listed 37 binding volumes and some other bundles of trials, many bundles of letters received by the Sacra Congregazione since 1568, two red-leather-binding codices with the replies to the Sacra Congregazione's letters, as well as six volumes with various documents. All these documents were kept in an "armarione grande" (large cabinet).
When the Holy Office was extinct after the edict of July 5, 1782, the archive of the Inquisition of Florence was delivered to Archbishop Antonio Martini.
During the 19th century, this archive was widely dispersed. For instance, in 1878, four files were acquired by the painter M. J. Meerts for 500 francs and, at present, they are part of the Archives Ecclesiastiques fonds of the Archives Générales du Royaume in Brussels. Two of these files contain the correspondence between the Sacra Congregazione and the Florentine Inquisition (1583-1609), as well as a group of procedural documents, denunciations, orders and decrees relating to events and individuals in Florence and other Tuscan cities (1592-1616); one file comprises the records of a secret trial against some nuns of San Martino of Florence (1726-1733); and another file includes a miscellaneous collection of printed documents and manuscripts from the 17th and 18th centuries. Some documents dispersed throughout other collections, such as those concerning Galileo Galilei's trial, were recovered in the mid-nineteenth century by Cesare Guasti.
The reorganisation of the fonds was carried out in the 1980s by the director of the Archivio Arcivescovile di Firenze, Monsignor Carlo Celso Calzolai. Recently (2005-2009), the documentation was subject to a new and more detailed computerised inventory. It was reorganised according to main criteria, such as subject, senders and chronological order, and packed in new folders, numbered from 1 to 61.
When the Holy Office was extinct after the edict of July 5, 1782, the archive of the Inquisition of Florence was delivered to Archbishop Antonio Martini.
During the 19th century, this archive was widely dispersed. For instance, in 1878, four files were acquired by the painter M. J. Meerts for 500 francs and, at present, they are part of the Archives Ecclesiastiques fonds of the Archives Générales du Royaume in Brussels. Two of these files contain the correspondence between the Sacra Congregazione and the Florentine Inquisition (1583-1609), as well as a group of procedural documents, denunciations, orders and decrees relating to events and individuals in Florence and other Tuscan cities (1592-1616); one file comprises the records of a secret trial against some nuns of San Martino of Florence (1726-1733); and another file includes a miscellaneous collection of printed documents and manuscripts from the 17th and 18th centuries. Some documents dispersed throughout other collections, such as those concerning Galileo Galilei's trial, were recovered in the mid-nineteenth century by Cesare Guasti.
The reorganisation of the fonds was carried out in the 1980s by the director of the Archivio Arcivescovile di Firenze, Monsignor Carlo Celso Calzolai. Recently (2005-2009), the documentation was subject to a new and more detailed computerised inventory. It was reorganised according to main criteria, such as subject, senders and chronological order, and packed in new folders, numbered from 1 to 61.
Administrative / Biographical history
The Inquisition of Florence, whose origins date back to the 13th century, was reorganised after the accession to power of Cosimo I and the creation of the Congregazione cardinalizia del Sant'Uffizio in 1542. Following the example of other sovereigns, the Grand Duke considered the crimes of heresy as political crimes against the sovereign and tried to exercise control over the tribunal. In 1551, a papal brief nominated canon Alessandro Strozzi and the Benedictine monk Isidoro da Montauto "commissari sopra l'eresia" (commissaries for crimes of heresy), with the mission of supervising the Inquisition's activity on behalf of the Grand Duke. In 1560, a permanent nuncio was established in Florence, with special powers as a judge delegate in cases of heresy. The privileged relationship of the Grand Duke with the papacy allowed him to achieve gains in subsequent tensions with the Inquisition. It was the case of the protection he guaranteed to the Jews in the Grand Duchy by the approbation of the so-called "Livornine laws".
The Florentine inquisitor had to keep the Grand Duke constantly informed of the tribunal's activities and provide information on procedures. The sovereign also tended to intervene in the appointment of the inquisitors, which became another source of conflicts. This tension is apparent in the correspondence exchanged with the Congregazione Romana del Sant'Uffizio, in which the complaints on the abusive interference of secular authorities in the activity of the Inquisition in Florence can be found. Under the government of Cosimo III, the Inquisition of Florence was granted its own jails and the right to arrest suspects without informing the state authorities. Still, the conflicts between the Grand Duke and the Inquisition did not vanish.
Over the course of the first half of the 18th century, the Inquisition showed the first signs of crisis. In 1754, the new Concordat compelled the Florentine tribunal to adopt the model of the Venetian Inquisition by introducing three secular assistants, and deprived it of the management of its own prisons in the convent of Santa Croce.
On July 5, 1782, Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo abolished the Inquisition of Florence. Its archive was transferred to the custody of the Archbishopric of Florence.
The Florentine inquisitor had to keep the Grand Duke constantly informed of the tribunal's activities and provide information on procedures. The sovereign also tended to intervene in the appointment of the inquisitors, which became another source of conflicts. This tension is apparent in the correspondence exchanged with the Congregazione Romana del Sant'Uffizio, in which the complaints on the abusive interference of secular authorities in the activity of the Inquisition in Florence can be found. Under the government of Cosimo III, the Inquisition of Florence was granted its own jails and the right to arrest suspects without informing the state authorities. Still, the conflicts between the Grand Duke and the Inquisition did not vanish.
Over the course of the first half of the 18th century, the Inquisition showed the first signs of crisis. In 1754, the new Concordat compelled the Florentine tribunal to adopt the model of the Venetian Inquisition by introducing three secular assistants, and deprived it of the management of its own prisons in the convent of Santa Croce.
On July 5, 1782, Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo abolished the Inquisition of Florence. Its archive was transferred to the custody of the Archbishopric of Florence.
Access points: locations
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The fonds is divided into ten series. The records of most of these series are arranged chronologically. The documents of the Corrispondenza del Sant'Ufficio series are sorted in alphabetical order by sender names.
Links to finding aids
Existence and location of copies
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2021
Bibliography
Linked resources
Filter by property
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Archives Ecclésiastiques: Inquisition de Florence | Existence and location of originals |
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Archivio Arcivescovile di Firenze | Collections (official language of the state) |