Privileges accorded to Vitale di Tivoli and members of his family, and their households. Granted by Giuseppe Gavotti, Prefect of the Apostolic Palace.

(ITALY)

Rome

1801

Italian text, signed by Giuseppe Gavotti, with his seal affixed, surmounted by the coats of arms of both Gavotti and Pope Pius VII. lluminated and decorated in gouache, ink and shell-gold on vellum.

This illuminated document bestows important personal and commercial privileges on Vitale di Tivoli, a well to do Jewish merchant who provided needed goods and services for the Apostolic Palace. As a result, he and his extended family were freed from many of the restrictions that their less fortunate co-religionists within the Roman Jewish community were obligated: They were exempted from the wearing of a distinctive Jewish costume; their passage to and from the Ghetto was not restricted; they were permitted to maintain their own shops outside the Ghetto walls; and they were permitted to participate in the important Trade Fairs in Sinigaglia and Ancona. These rights and privileges which emanated from the Holy See were widely respected and certainly provided an important social and economic advantage to the di Tivoli family.