Description
PAUL V (Camillo Borghese, known as). Letter signed at the top "Paulus Papa [quintu]s" (secretary), in Latin and Italian, addressed to King HENRI IV of France. Frascati, October 13, 1609. 2/3 p. folio in Italian with one line in Latin, address on back with red wax seal. FOLLOWING THE AFFAIR OF PASTOR DIODATI'S LETTER, THE POPE THANKS HENRI IV FOR HIS GESTURE IN FAVOR OF ROME AT VENICE'S EXPENSE. At the beginning of the century, a conflict was raging between Rome and the Republic of Venice, which had taken steps to control ecclesiastical appointments in its territory, while part of its Senate was leaning towards tactical support for the reformed powers in Europe, and Paul V had issued an interdict against the Serenissima. France was a traditional ally of Venice, and there was a strong Gallican current in favor of "Venetianism" against Roman absolutism. The assassination attempt on Paolo Sarpi, a Venetian opposition figure in Rome, in February 1609 had aroused indignation in France. Henry IV, worried that a rapprochement between Venice and the Protestants against Rome would put him at odds, made a significant gesture towards the Curia. The Italian Calvinist theologian Giovanni Diodati had written to the Protestant Philippe Duplessis-Mornay in January 1609, welcoming the favorable prospects for spreading the Reformation in Venice, but his letter had been intercepted by the French authorities: in August 1609, the King ordered that it be given to the Apostolic Nuncio in Paris, Roberto Ubaldini, and that a copy be forwarded to the Venetian Senate via the French ambassador Jean Bochard de Champigny. This action enabled Rome's supporters to regain a majority in the Senate. "Char[issi]me in Christo fili n[oste]r, salutem et apost[olic]am benedictionem. Fossimo avvisati da Venetia degl'offitii che haveva passati con quella Repubblica il s[igno]re di Ciampigni, amb[assado]re di V[ostra] M[aes]tà per ordine suo, avvertendola in spetie della LETTERA PERNITIOSA DI GINEVRA IN MATERIA DI MUTATIONE DI RELIGIONE. Noi ce ne consolassimo sommamente et per l'opera in se et per l'avumento di merito et di gloria che ne riceve la M[aes]tà V[ostra]; et inviassimo ordine al nuntio di ringratiarnela in nostro nome ; ma non contenti in noi di questo solo off[iti]o, ne la ringratiamo affettuosamente anco per noi stessi, certificandola che havremo stimolo tanto magg[io]re di ringratiarnela, pure con gl'effeti alle occasioni, quanto che nella pia et veramente regia attione di V[ostra] M[aes]tà riconosciamo et consideriamo principalmente il serv[iti]o di Dio n[ostro] S[igno]re et della sua Chiesa S[an]ta . Et perche habbiamo commesso al sodetto nuntio che le dica in voce quel più che ci occorre in simili materie, ci riportiamo a lui, et alla M[aes]tà V[ostra] pregiamo felicità continua... "
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PAUL V (Camillo Borghese, known as). Letter signed at the top "Paulus Papa [quintu]s" (secretary), in Latin and Italian, addressed to King HENRI IV of France. Frascati, October 13, 1609. 2/3 p. folio in Italian with one line in Latin, address on back with red wax seal. FOLLOWING THE AFFAIR OF PASTOR DIODATI'S LETTER, THE POPE THANKS HENRI IV FOR HIS GESTURE IN FAVOR OF ROME AT VENICE'S EXPENSE. At the beginning of the century, a conflict was raging between Rome and the Republic of Venice, which had taken steps to control ecclesiastical appointments in its territory, while part of its Senate was leaning towards tactical support for the reformed powers in Europe, and Paul V had issued an interdict against the Serenissima. France was a traditional ally of Venice, and there was a strong Gallican current in favor of "Venetianism" against Roman absolutism. The assassination attempt on Paolo Sarpi, a Venetian opposition figure in Rome, in February 1609 had aroused indignation in France. Henry IV, worried that a rapprochement between Venice and the Protestants against Rome would put him at odds, made a significant gesture towards the Curia. The Italian Calvinist theologian Giovanni Diodati had written to the Protestant Philippe Duplessis-Mornay in January 1609, welcoming the favorable prospects for spreading the Reformation in Venice, but his letter had been intercepted by the French authorities: in August 1609, the King ordered that it be given to the Apostolic Nuncio in Paris, Roberto Ubaldini, and that a copy be forwarded to the Venetian Senate via the French ambassador Jean Bochard de Champigny. This action enabled Rome's supporters to regain a majority in the Senate. "Char[issi]me in Christo fili n[oste]r, salutem et apost[olic]am benedictionem. Fossimo avvisati da Venetia degl'offitii che haveva passati con quella Repubblica il s[igno]re di Ciampigni, amb[assado]re di V[ostra] M[aes]tà per ordine suo, avvertendola in spetie della LETTERA PERNITIOSA DI GINEVRA IN MATERIA DI MUTATIONE DI RELIGIONE. Noi ce ne consolassimo sommamente et per l'opera in se et per l'avumento di merito et di gloria che ne riceve la M[aes]tà V[ostra]; et inviassimo ordine al nuntio di ringratiarnela in nostro nome ; ma non contenti in noi di questo solo off[iti]o, ne la ringratiamo affettuosamente anco per noi stessi, certificandola che havremo stimolo tanto magg[io]re di ringratiarnela, pure con gl'effeti alle occasioni, quanto che nella pia et veramente regia attione di V[ostra] M[aes]tà riconosciamo et consideriamo principalmente il serv[iti]o di Dio n[ostro] S[igno]re et della sua Chiesa S[an]ta . Et perche habbiamo commesso al sodetto nuntio che le dica in voce quel più che ci occorre in simili materie, ci riportiamo a lui, et alla M[aes]tà V[ostra] pregiamo felicità continua... "
