HOLOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED by PIER LUIGI FARNESE, FIRST DUKE OF CASTRO and FIRST DUKE OF PARMA & PIACENZA requesting the help of CARDINAL CARACCIOLO with obtaining the inheritance of Giovannmaria Vismara.

Pier Luigi Farnese (1503-1547). The first Duke of Castro and first Duke of Parma and Piacenza who was murdered in 1547.

Published by Rome: March 1st, 1537., 1537

Rome: March 1st, 1537., 1537. Very good. - Over 110 words penned in Italian in a secretarial hand on 11-1/2 inch high by 8-1/2 inch wide creamy white laid paper with an integral attached address leaf. The first Duke of Castro and first Duke of Parma & Piacenza, Pier Luigi Farnese writes to request the help of Cardinal Marino Caracciolo in obtaining a legacy or inheritance for a member of the Vismara family. Referring to his father as the Cardinal of Farnese, who was to become Pope Paul III, Pier Luigi Farnese writes, as here crudely translated: [I have entrusted to Costanza Cardano, a member of the household of my Cardinal of Farnese, to recommend to Your Most Revered Lordship the case of Giovannmaria Vismara. Regarding this matter, which concerns a legacy left to him by Master Agnolo Vismara, it appears that the aforementioned Cardinal of mine sought the favor of Your Lordship in months past, and you graciously promised it to him.]. Boldly signed by Pier Luigi Farnese. Folded several times horizontally and vertically with the address leaf partially detached. The letter is addressed on the verso of the attached leaf with the red outline from a wax seal (no longer present). There are a couple of tiny holes at the junctions of the folds of the address leaf, though the leaf upon which the letter is penned is near fine. The illegitimate son of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (who was later elected Pope Paul III), Pier Luigi Farnese (1503-1547) was the first Duke of Castro, from 1537 to 1545, and subsequently the first Duke of Parma and Piacenza, from 1545 to 1547. Belittled by the elite as "the bastard son of the Pope", he was tutored by Baldassarre Malosso di Casalmaggiore, aka "Tranguillus". He was drawn to the study of war and fortification. His father, in an effort to make him head of the Farnese family, arranged his marriage of allegiance to Gerolama Orsini, the daughter of Lodovico, Count of Pitigliano. A mercenary soldier, Pier Luigi Farnese was wild and amoral, courageous, daring and brutal. He didn't always fight on the side of the papacy and, in 1520, he and his brother Ranuccio were employed by the Republic of Venice under Charles V and participated in the Sack of Rome in 1527. While Ranuccio withdrew to defend the Pope, Pier Luigi quartered his men in his family palace to save it from destruction. When his father became Pope Paul III, his first action was to make his eldest son Alessandro Farnese, a cardinal. When the office of Captain General of the Church became vacant, the Pope nominated Pier Luigi for the post. The pope then acquired territories including the Duchy of Castro with numerous fortresses and giving his son the cities of Nepi and Ronciglione, he assigned him the task of repairing the fortresses over which he was now the feudal lord. Pier Luigi has a reputation for cruelty and decadence and was accused of raping Cosimo Gheri, the young bishop of the city of Fano. After the Pope made him Duke of Parma and Piacenza, which were previously a part of the Papal States, Pier Luigi's tyrannical rule and heavy taxation caused much enmity in the cities. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V organized a conspiracy against him with Ferrante Gonzaga, and Ferrante's brother Count Giovanni Anguissola, the governor of Como. Anguissola and others stabbed Pier Luigi to death in 1547. Worth noting are letters from Pope Paul III reproaching Pier Luigi for taking male lovers when on an official mission. The recipient, Neapolitan Cardinal Marino Caracciolo (1468-1538) was a diplomat in the service of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He was the ambassador of Duke Massimiliano Szorfa to the Papal court and created an Apostolic Protonotary. In 1515 he took part as orator to the V Lateran Council. Appointed nuncio to the new Emperor Charles V in 1520, he worked with Cardinal Girolamo Aleandro at the Diet of Worms in opposition to Martin Luther's supporters. In 1535, he was made a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church by Pier Luigi's father Po. Seller Inventory # 100904

Bibliographic Details

Title: HOLOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED by PIER LUIGI ...
Publisher: Rome: March 1st, 1537.
Publication Date: 1537
Condition: Very good
Signed: Signed by Author(s)