253 - Rare marriage charter on vellum between Claude Micolier and Françoise Croppet. Ten-line Latin text alternating between gold and blue, flanked by four crosses, with the initial “I” and illuminated borders on a gold background decorated with foliage and flowers, daisies, violets, and columbines. Lyon, first half of the 16th century, 1531. 23 x 36 cm (some wear). Framed and mounted under glass.

Rare marriage charter on vellum between Claude Micolier and Françoise Croppet. Ten-line Latin text alternating between gold and blue, flanked by four crosses, with the initial “I” and illuminated borders on a gold background decorated with foliage and flowers, daisies, violets, and columbines. Lyon, first half of the 16th century, 1531. 23 x 36 cm (some wear). Framed and mounted under glass. Transcription: In the holy and indivisible name of the Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—Amen. I, Claudius Micolier, a resident of Lyon, take you, Francesia, daughter of the honorable Master Jacob Croppet, registrar of Lyon, to be my wife. And I entrust my alms to you. As God has said, Saint Paul has written, and Roman law confirms: what God has joined together, let no man put asunder. Given at Lyon in the church[Church] of the Holy Cross on the twenty-fourth day of the month of January in the year of our Lord one thousand five hundred thirty-one. (In the name of the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. I, Claude Micolier, a resident of Lyon, take you, Françoise, daughter of the honorable Master Jacques Croppet, clerk of the Lyon registry, to be my wife. And I entrust my alms to you. As God has said, as Saint Paul has written, and as Roman law confirms: what God has joined together, let no man put asunder. Given in Lyon, in the Church of Sainte-Croix, on the 24th day of January, in the year of Our Lord 1531.) The Rhône Departmental Archives preserve a record of the marriage of Claude Micolier to Françoise Croppet, celebrated on January 24, 1531, at the Church of Sainte-Croix in Lyon. The bride was the daughter of Jacques Croppet, notary, royal notary public, and court clerk in Lyon (AD 69, Ferdinand Frécon collection, Consular Families, volume 3). Illuminated marriage certificates constitute a documentary genre closely associated with the Lyon region, where this tradition is said to have flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries. Imbued with deep symbolic meaning, they were blessed by the priest at the same time as the wedding ring, then presented by the groom to his bride. Their decoration follows a consistent pattern: text set in lines alternating between gold and blue, framed by an illuminated border adorned with four crosses. Some of these documents may be the work of documented artists from Lyon, such as the illuminator Pierre Vanier (1493–1546), to whom a marriage charter dated 1511—now in the Saumur Museum—is attributed. Expert: Laurence Fligny - Tel: 01 45 48 53 65