Scrittvre concernenti la causa dal S[igno]r Cardinal Giulio Alberoni con tutte la lettere scritte, e manifesti da esso proditti dopo il di lui arresto seguito in sestri di Leuante luogo della Republica di Genoua à richiesta della santità di N.S. Papa Clemente XI° : dette scritture sono la maggior parte fauoreuoli à sua em[inen]za benche ue ne siano anche alcune della contrarie.

Scritture concernenti la causa dal Signor Cardinal Giulio Alberoni

Italy, after 1722.

1 volume (342 leaves) : paper ; 27 x 19 cm bound to 27 x 20 cm

Copies of letters and other documents, written between 1717 and 1722, by Alberoni and others relating to the charges brought against him by the papacy. Manuscript includes letters written by Alberoni to officials in Rome, letters written to and from the Spanish court, a letter from Genoa to Cardinal Imperiali, a note from Cardinal Aquaviva to Clement XI, manifestos, an account of Alberoni's case, and two form letters, one addressed to a monsignor in Rome and the other to a duke in Madrid written in Spanish (either this letter was to be translated into Spanish or had since been translated into Italian).

Ms. codex.
Title transcribed from title page.
Collation: Paper (watermark: Étoile, similar but not identical to Briquet 6089 and Heawood 3885), fol. i + 342 + i; 1⁸ 2⁴ 3-13¹⁰ 14⁸ 15-22¹⁰ 23¹² 24-35¹⁰. Folio 2 is loose and in a protective folder.
Layout: Written in single columns of twenty-two lines.
Script: Written in cursive by two hands.
Origin: Most likely written in Italy during the second quarter of the eighteenth century.
Shelfmark: Berkeley, CA, the Robbins Collection, UC Berkeley School of Law, Robbins MS 142.

In Italian.

Giulio Alberoni, born in 1664 in Piacenza, was a politician, statesman, diplomat, cardinal, and bishop. The son of a gardener and a seamstress, he was educated by local priests, the Barnabite fathers of S. Brigita in Piacenza, and was studying with the Jesuits at S. Pietro by 1680. He became the protegé of Dr. Ignazio Gardini, a lawyer practicing in the courts of Piacenza, and when Gardini was exiled in 1685, Alberoni went with him to Ravenna, where he met Giorgio Barni, apostolic vice-legate and later bishop of Piacenza. Alberoni was ordained by Barni in 1691. He became private secretary to Alessandro Roncovieri, ambassador to the Duke of Parma, by 1702; a canon of the cathedral chapter in 1703, and secretary to the duke of Vandôme in 1706. When the duke died in 1712 in Spain, Alberoni remained as Parma's ambassador, negotiating the marriage of Philip V to Elisabetta Farnese, niece of the duke of Parma. Alberoni became, effectively, premier of Spain. As such, Alberoni continued the administrative centralization and fiscal reforms, encouraged the establishment of industry, reduced the influence of the royal councils, and reorganized the army and the navy. Alberoni was also elected bishop of Málaga, Spain, in 1717. He also ordered, or was pressured to order, the invasion of Sardinia in 1717 and Sicily in 1718, despite assurances to the contrary given to Clement XI. The invasions led to a war with France, England, Holland, and the Holy Roman Empire (the Quadruple Alliance), then Spain's defeat in 1719, for which Alberoni was held responsible. Exiled from Spain, Alberoni was arrested by the Genoese and taken to Sestri, where he was held presumably awaiting a decision from a commission of cardinals. Alberoni escaped sometime in 1720 and reappeared in Rome in 1721 to participate in the conclave of Clement XI's successor, Innocent XIII. In 1723, Innocent issued an absolutory brief in Alberoni's favor. After living in retirement for some time, Alberoni acted as legate in Ravenna between 1735 and 1739; became cardinal protoprete in 1740; and acted as legate in Bologna from 1740 to 1743. He spent the remainder of his live in Piacenza, where he died in 1752.

Unidentified library stamp on title page and fol. 3r.

Bound in vellum over pasteboard; "M.S. Scirture concernenti la causa dell. emin° Alberoni," and "LXXVI" inscribed in ink on spine; "T.T.," "76," "D," and "g" were inscribed on spine and subsequently cancelled.

Restrictions: Inquiries concerning this item should be directed to the reference librarian for the Robbins Collection.

Italy.

Robbins MS 142

Italian