TEXT CONCERNING PAYMENTS BETWEEN A CHAPEL AND CONVENT

Italy, 1429. 323 x 173 mm. (12 3/4 x 6 3/4"). Single column, 60 lines in a neat cursive script.
Notarial signature at lower left; verso with a date and notations in contemporary hands. ◆Vellum trimmed a little close, four horizontal and three vertical fold creases, slight darkening to verso, five very small holes (no text obscured) and one larger (naturally-occurring) hole in the text, otherwise in excellent condition with a very clear hand.

This is a notarized document recording an agreement made between the chapel and convent (i.e. the whole community) of the house of St. John, a group of female religious located in the parish of St. Peter, and the brothers of Bonsignioribus, another religious house in the parish of St. Laurence Major. The women of St. John agree to pay to the brothers of Bonsignioribus a sum of 11 libras, 8 soldas, and 9 denarios. The reason for this payment is unclear, pending further investigation into some of the more abbreviated portions of the text. The document is of additional interest for the fact that several female members of the house of St. John are mentioned by name. Based on these names and that of the notary (Ambrosius Spanzota . . . Parmensis) it would appear that the document was written in Italy, possibly in Parma, and that the two houses were also located there..