92. Statutes of the Monte di Pietà of Bologna

This is a codex consisting of sheets originally numbered from 1 to 22, preceded by two unnumbered sheets with the index of the volume Capitoli del Monte della Pietà .... The register has a splendid sixteenth-century binding consisting of wooden boards covered in leather with metal studs. Together with a second statute, this superb artefact is part of the series called ‘Libri iurium (secc. XVI–XVII)’. They are two parchment registers containing the transcription of those documents that sanctioned the privileges, institutional attributions and operating rules of the Monte di Pietà of Bologna. Among other important documents, it contains the following: a bull of Pope Julius II dating back to 1507, some papal briefs addressed to the congregation of the 12 presidents of the Monte di Pietà of Bologna, and the statutory provisions divided into chapters that make up the statutes of the Monte di Pietà of Bologna approved in 1514, as well as those dating back to the statutory reform passed in 1576. There are also transcriptions of bulls concerning the Monte di Pietà of Cesena (1488) and the Monte di Pietà of Savona (1514). Finally, there is also a copy of the bull issued in 1515 by Pope Leo X, which sanctioned the legitimacy of a modest interest rate on loans granted by the Italian mounts of piety in order to cover the running expenses of these charitable financial institutions.

(Armando Antonelli)