Carteggio delle Cancellerie dello Stato
Item
Country
IT
Name of institution (English)
State Archives of Milan
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
ita
Contact information: postal address
Via Senato 10, 20121 Milan
Contact information: phone number
0039 027742161
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
as-mi@beniculturali.it
Reference number
Carteggio delle Cancellerie dello Stato
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Correspondence of the State Chancelleries
Title (official language of the state)
Carteggio delle Cancellerie dello Stato
Language of title
ita
Creator / accumulator
Cancellerie dello Stato di Milano
Date(s)
1535/1624
Language(s)
ita
lat
spa
Extent
62 linear metres (435 storage units)
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
The Carteggio delle cancellerie dello Stato fonds comprises correspondence of the governmental chancelleries (Secretariat of State and Secretariat of War) and of the chancellery of the Grand Chancellor (or Secret Chancellery) with the central and peripheral authorities of the State, various communities, and with single individuals. Besides the correspondence, it includes concessions and privileges, and documents relating to the census and the tax system.
The transit of Iberian New Christians and Jews throughout the territory of the State of Milan, the concession of safe-conducts and matters related to judicial and inquisitorial procedures involving Iberian New Christians are recurring topics in the correspondence of the Milanese chancelleries, in particular in the 16th century. Some examples are the following:
Busta 66: Letter from Charles V to the governor of Milano, Ferrante (Ferdinando) Gonzaga (1507-57), alerting to the impact of the Inquisition's actions against New Christians regarding the collection of taxes and fees by the Crown. He ordered that a just payment should be given to those who had their assets confiscated so that they could continue their commercial activities (Leoni, 1998). Afterwards, governor Ferrante Gonzaga asked the Podestà di Pavia if, among the assets confiscated by Iohannes Vuysting, the commissioner "contra los malos christianos" (against bad Christians), there were goods belonging to Christian merchants from Venice, namely members of the Mendes family (January 3, 1547). Other documents related to this case are in buste 68 and 70.
Busta 74: Letter from the Cancelliere del Senato to governor Gonzaga regarding the request for the concession of a safe-conduct to Salomone Gomes. October 13, 1547.
Busta 94: Letter from Iohannes Vuysting to governor Gonzaga regarding the concession of safe-conducts to Portuguese New Christians to travel to the State of Milan. February 1, 1548.
Busta 82: Letter from governor Gonzaga to the Capitano della Darsena di Pavia informing that he had granted numerous safe-conducts to Portuguese New Christians to transit throughout the state territories, in exchange for the payment of an amount of money. April 21, 1548.
Leoni (2011) summarised and transcribed part of this documentation.
See other examples of documentation from the Cartegio delle Cancellerie dello Stato relating to Jewish matters in the Yerusha database.
The transit of Iberian New Christians and Jews throughout the territory of the State of Milan, the concession of safe-conducts and matters related to judicial and inquisitorial procedures involving Iberian New Christians are recurring topics in the correspondence of the Milanese chancelleries, in particular in the 16th century. Some examples are the following:
Busta 66: Letter from Charles V to the governor of Milano, Ferrante (Ferdinando) Gonzaga (1507-57), alerting to the impact of the Inquisition's actions against New Christians regarding the collection of taxes and fees by the Crown. He ordered that a just payment should be given to those who had their assets confiscated so that they could continue their commercial activities (Leoni, 1998). Afterwards, governor Ferrante Gonzaga asked the Podestà di Pavia if, among the assets confiscated by Iohannes Vuysting, the commissioner "contra los malos christianos" (against bad Christians), there were goods belonging to Christian merchants from Venice, namely members of the Mendes family (January 3, 1547). Other documents related to this case are in buste 68 and 70.
Busta 74: Letter from the Cancelliere del Senato to governor Gonzaga regarding the request for the concession of a safe-conduct to Salomone Gomes. October 13, 1547.
Busta 94: Letter from Iohannes Vuysting to governor Gonzaga regarding the concession of safe-conducts to Portuguese New Christians to travel to the State of Milan. February 1, 1548.
Busta 82: Letter from governor Gonzaga to the Capitano della Darsena di Pavia informing that he had granted numerous safe-conducts to Portuguese New Christians to transit throughout the state territories, in exchange for the payment of an amount of money. April 21, 1548.
Leoni (2011) summarised and transcribed part of this documentation.
See other examples of documentation from the Cartegio delle Cancellerie dello Stato relating to Jewish matters in the Yerusha database.
Archival history
The Carteggio delle Cancellerie dello Stato fonds is the result of the merger of the state chancellery papers existing at the time of the Spanish-Austrian domination, namely:
1. the Governor's secretariat, itself divided into Secretariat of State and Secretariat of War. This Chancellery processed the Governor's acts (as a direct representative of the sovereign), in the areas of regulatory, control and coordination of the Lombard magistrates, appointments of the members of the city and provincial organs, and notification to the public of the sovereign’s will, through dispatches.
2. the Grand Chancellor’s chancellery, known as the Secret Chancellery. This Chancellery acted as a filter between the duke’s will and the central and peripheral administrations of the Sforza domain. It had many tasks: diplomatic relations, relations between central authorities and local courts, issues relating to the granting of ecclesiastical benefits, supervision of criminal cases, as well as the drafting of safe-conducts, letters of grace, and special exemptions. Control over all the ducal earnings and expenditures was ultimately up to the secret chancellery. To these were added documents from the plenipotentiary minister's chancellery and, to a lesser extent, material from the archives of the other chancelleries created as a result of the Theresian and Josephine reforms, namely: the Government Registry and the State Chancellery.
The merger of the documents probably took place at the San Fedele Government Archive, under the direction of Luca Peroni. After 1818, in fact, the archives of the Visconti-Sforza and Spanish-Austrian ducal period were merged and the documentation was arranged chronologically in order to select, extract and organise the documents by subject, according to the system known as "Peronian". From this activity of fusion of fonds of different origins derives the vast archival complex of the Archivio di Stato di Milano called Government Acts.
Under the direction of Luigi Osio (1851-71), the bulk of the documentation underwent a new reorganisation, forming a partition of the so-called Historical-Diplomatic Section commissioned by Osio himself. The fonds was named "Diplomatic correspondence of the various governments in the State of Milan after that of our dukes", or "Post-1535 diplomatic correspondence" and also included "documentation following to the duchy, until 1815: archives of the Vice-presidency Melzi, of the Italian Republic, of the Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Italy and of the Bellegarde Imperial Commission"(GG II 931). Subsequently, under the direction of Cesare Cantù (1873-95), the chronological endpoints of the documents were brought back to the end of the duchy (1796) and, with the new name of "Carteggio generale" or "Diplomatic documents", formed a single series with the Visconti-Sforza correspondence. This situation remained unchanged until the early years of the management of Luigi Fumi (1908-20), when the correspondence of the chancelleries, united with the Visconti-Sforza letters, constituted the fond "Diplomatic documents of the lords of Milan, of the Visconti, of the captains and defenders of the Ambrosian Republic, of the Sforza, of the foreign sovereigns who succeeded them in the government of Lombardy”.
The archives that were removed from the fonds in the following period were used to reconstitute the so-called National Archives (that is, the complex of fonds of the Napoleonic period); the acts of the Bellegarde Commission were in turn attached to the Government Presidency of the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom.
With Giovanni Vittani (1920-1938) the correspondence of the state chancelleries was arranged in a logical and chronological way and was followed by the registers.
Finally, in the guide to the fonds held in the Italian state archives of 1944, the correspondence (more precisely called Carteggi) constitutes, with the registers, one of the two sections of the documentary complex Secretariat of the State of Milan (1536-1796).
Documents are only preserved up to the years 1623-24, as the fonds suffered significant damage during bombardments in August 1943.
1. the Governor's secretariat, itself divided into Secretariat of State and Secretariat of War. This Chancellery processed the Governor's acts (as a direct representative of the sovereign), in the areas of regulatory, control and coordination of the Lombard magistrates, appointments of the members of the city and provincial organs, and notification to the public of the sovereign’s will, through dispatches.
2. the Grand Chancellor’s chancellery, known as the Secret Chancellery. This Chancellery acted as a filter between the duke’s will and the central and peripheral administrations of the Sforza domain. It had many tasks: diplomatic relations, relations between central authorities and local courts, issues relating to the granting of ecclesiastical benefits, supervision of criminal cases, as well as the drafting of safe-conducts, letters of grace, and special exemptions. Control over all the ducal earnings and expenditures was ultimately up to the secret chancellery. To these were added documents from the plenipotentiary minister's chancellery and, to a lesser extent, material from the archives of the other chancelleries created as a result of the Theresian and Josephine reforms, namely: the Government Registry and the State Chancellery.
The merger of the documents probably took place at the San Fedele Government Archive, under the direction of Luca Peroni. After 1818, in fact, the archives of the Visconti-Sforza and Spanish-Austrian ducal period were merged and the documentation was arranged chronologically in order to select, extract and organise the documents by subject, according to the system known as "Peronian". From this activity of fusion of fonds of different origins derives the vast archival complex of the Archivio di Stato di Milano called Government Acts.
Under the direction of Luigi Osio (1851-71), the bulk of the documentation underwent a new reorganisation, forming a partition of the so-called Historical-Diplomatic Section commissioned by Osio himself. The fonds was named "Diplomatic correspondence of the various governments in the State of Milan after that of our dukes", or "Post-1535 diplomatic correspondence" and also included "documentation following to the duchy, until 1815: archives of the Vice-presidency Melzi, of the Italian Republic, of the Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Italy and of the Bellegarde Imperial Commission"(GG II 931). Subsequently, under the direction of Cesare Cantù (1873-95), the chronological endpoints of the documents were brought back to the end of the duchy (1796) and, with the new name of "Carteggio generale" or "Diplomatic documents", formed a single series with the Visconti-Sforza correspondence. This situation remained unchanged until the early years of the management of Luigi Fumi (1908-20), when the correspondence of the chancelleries, united with the Visconti-Sforza letters, constituted the fond "Diplomatic documents of the lords of Milan, of the Visconti, of the captains and defenders of the Ambrosian Republic, of the Sforza, of the foreign sovereigns who succeeded them in the government of Lombardy”.
The archives that were removed from the fonds in the following period were used to reconstitute the so-called National Archives (that is, the complex of fonds of the Napoleonic period); the acts of the Bellegarde Commission were in turn attached to the Government Presidency of the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom.
With Giovanni Vittani (1920-1938) the correspondence of the state chancelleries was arranged in a logical and chronological way and was followed by the registers.
Finally, in the guide to the fonds held in the Italian state archives of 1944, the correspondence (more precisely called Carteggi) constitutes, with the registers, one of the two sections of the documentary complex Secretariat of the State of Milan (1536-1796).
Documents are only preserved up to the years 1623-24, as the fonds suffered significant damage during bombardments in August 1943.
Administrative / Biographical history
After the death of Francesco II (1495-1535), without heirs, in 1535, the Duchy of Milan should have been devolved to the Empire to be re-enfeoffed. However, Charles V (1500-58) decided to keep the State of Milan under his direct control, mainly to oppose the French expansionist ambitions. Then, he proceeded with the enfeoffment in favour of his son Phillip. When Filipe II (1527-98) ascended to the throne of Spain in 1556, the State of Milan went under Spanish rule.
Even after the transition to the Crown of Spain, the peripheral organisation of the State of Milan continued to rely on the city oligarchies. The city of Milan stood out as the capital and seat of state magistracies. Its oligarchies enjoyed a leading position and considerable privileges, especially in tax matters.
The highest representative of the Spanish Crown in Milan became the governor. He was appointed by the king and endowed with broad jurisdiction on political and military matters. The governor was assisted in his functions by a Consiglio segreto consultivo (secret advisory council) with judicial duties on tax matters and the possibility of replacing the governor in his absence. The administration was headed by the Grancancelliere (Grand chancellor), who operated through the Cancelleria segreta (Secret chancellery). The governmental bodies were also assisted by a Collegio fiscale (Fiscal college).
The Senato (Senate), which had been created in 1499, during the first French occupation, had its powers increased significantly. On the one hand, as a judicial body with criminal and civil jurisdiction, the Senate was placed at the head of the intricate judicial system of the State of Milan. On the other hand, it enjoyed privileges and prerogatives on a political level that made it the principal instrument of power of the Lombard aristocracy.
The Capitano di giustizia (Captain of Justice) was a magistracy of ducal origins with jurisdiction over criminal offences committed in Milan and its outskirts, as well as the gravest offences committed in the State territories. The financial management of the State was under the control of two magistracies: the Magistrato ordinario, which handled the affairs relating to duties, tax revenues, state expenditure and monetary system; and the Magistrato straordinario, which managed the patrimony of the “principe” (prince). The Congregazione dello Stato defended the interests of the different communities of the State, in particular in tax matters.
After the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), Milan passed under the control of the Habsburgs of Austria, except for the Savoy occupation of 1733-1736 and the brief Spanish interlude of 1745-46.
Even after the transition to the Crown of Spain, the peripheral organisation of the State of Milan continued to rely on the city oligarchies. The city of Milan stood out as the capital and seat of state magistracies. Its oligarchies enjoyed a leading position and considerable privileges, especially in tax matters.
The highest representative of the Spanish Crown in Milan became the governor. He was appointed by the king and endowed with broad jurisdiction on political and military matters. The governor was assisted in his functions by a Consiglio segreto consultivo (secret advisory council) with judicial duties on tax matters and the possibility of replacing the governor in his absence. The administration was headed by the Grancancelliere (Grand chancellor), who operated through the Cancelleria segreta (Secret chancellery). The governmental bodies were also assisted by a Collegio fiscale (Fiscal college).
The Senato (Senate), which had been created in 1499, during the first French occupation, had its powers increased significantly. On the one hand, as a judicial body with criminal and civil jurisdiction, the Senate was placed at the head of the intricate judicial system of the State of Milan. On the other hand, it enjoyed privileges and prerogatives on a political level that made it the principal instrument of power of the Lombard aristocracy.
The Capitano di giustizia (Captain of Justice) was a magistracy of ducal origins with jurisdiction over criminal offences committed in Milan and its outskirts, as well as the gravest offences committed in the State territories. The financial management of the State was under the control of two magistracies: the Magistrato ordinario, which handled the affairs relating to duties, tax revenues, state expenditure and monetary system; and the Magistrato straordinario, which managed the patrimony of the “principe” (prince). The Congregazione dello Stato defended the interests of the different communities of the State, in particular in tax matters.
After the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), Milan passed under the control of the Habsburgs of Austria, except for the Savoy occupation of 1733-1736 and the brief Spanish interlude of 1745-46.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
Records are arranged chronologically with some exceptions (buste 1-23, 262, 421-427).
Finding aids
Carteggio delle cancellerie dello Stato. Analytical inventory of the first 23 buste and summarised inventory of the other records. Early 20th century (reviewed in 1987 by Maria Pia Bortolotti). Available for consultation in the archive, room SA 2.
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Additions by Carla Vieira, 2022
Published primary sources
Linked resources
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