Papal Decree regarding the Jewish Community of Rome.

(ITALY)

Rome

1615

Brown ink on vellum. Single sheet, 21.5 in. wide x 17 in. high, dampsoiled and partially split at folds with minor loss of text.

This “chirograph,” or decree of the Roman Curia, clarifies for the Jewish community of Rome (Universitatis Hebreorum) the extent of the autonomy in the administration of justice accorded it by the Pope, as ruler of the city. The document was issued by the Genoese churchman and diplomat Jacopo Cardinal Serra, whose name is emblazoned across the top of the document and whose signature appears at the bottom of it. Chancellor and chamberlain of the papal court and former papal nuncio to Hungary, he is remembered now as an influential patron of baroque painting, who championed Peter Paul Rubens when he was young, unknown, and a foreigner in Rome. Cardinal Serra spells out the Vatican’s understanding of the distinctions established by the previous pope, Clement VIII, in 1604 and now upheld by Serra in the name of the current pope, Paul V. The Jewish courts are authorized to handle misdemeanors and felonies within the community, with the exception of homicide, sacrilege, counterfeiting, lèse-majesté, and rebellion - the jurisdiction in these cases being reserved to the Most Holy Office of the Roman Inquisition. In language that fluctuates between Latin and Italian, Serra proceeds to address questions relating to punishments, fines, and the adjudication of civil cases, all in significant detail, in a document running to 49 lines.