Letter from Antonio Di Seravezza to Jean Le Vacher, 1670-05-10, Marseille

Title

Letter from Antonio Di Seravezza to Jean Le Vacher, 1670-05-10, Marseille

Subject

Capuchins
Franciscans
Seravezza case
Slave priests
Tripoli
Algiers
Trinitarians

Description

Letter from Antonio Di Seravezza to Gio'ni le Vacher [Jean Le Vacher]. He has most likely already heard about the abuse of the consul in Tunis, Gio' Ambrogini [Jean Ambrozin] towards not only Girolamo Da Sassari, but also to himself; Di Seravezza asked the consul to pay the church back the two piastre he has stolen from every ship for the last four years. He had also tried to burn Da Sassari and Di Seravezza, because the latter wanted the consul to change his dishonest life. In order to get justice, he has been forced to go to PF in Marseille, and he stayed there because of the death of Nostro Sig're. He made a statement before the court in Marseille and sent copies to the Grand Council, Monsù di Lion, and to Colbert. Its noted that he will go to Rome after he received their answers, and if they will not do him justice, he will make sure that the pope does. The superior of his own order and the superior of the Capuchins, have assured him that the mission of Tunis and Tripoli have been assigned to the Observants. After this news he has sent two priests to Tripoli, and two others are still waiting to go to Tunis. These superiors also wrote informing him that PF has sent him a letter written by Livorno, but he never received it. He has received letters from the Christians in Tunis who warned him about the complaints that [Jean Le Vacher] wrote about him and Da Sassari; Le Vacher believes that as they left those poor Christians behind, the mission should be assigned to Giuseppe Marini della Pantelleria [Giuseppe Merino], a slave of Mamet Goggia [Filippo Delustria?]. Di Seravezza though has forbidden this priest to say mass for several reasons: a) because he revealed the confessions; b) because he sold the sacrament of Penance; c) because he usurped the jurisdiction of the superior; d) because he married a couple (Catarina and Andrea), while the wife still had a husband; e) because of the business he did with jews; and f) because he helped the consul in his effort to burn Di Seravezza; in response, Di Seravezza states that he did not leave Tunis to abandon the church and the poor souls. The Christians sent him copies of the letters that Ambrogini [Jean Ambrozin] wrote, from this he has come to the understanding that the letters PF wrote to him were taken by Le Vacher. He asks Le Vacher to send the letters to him through Luigi Calaman. He will leave for Rome when he has sent the two priests to Tunis. After pleading his case in Rome, he will go to Tripoli via Malta, in order to inspect the church there, after which he will return to Tunis. He asks forgiveness for the harsh letter that he sent two years previously, which was in response to Le Vacher informing Da Sassari that he was vicar apostolic of the whole of Africa, and that he wanted to visit the churches of Tunis and Tripoli. Le Vacher should have known that the mission of Algiers is seperate from that of Tunis, however he should never have written to him in such a manner; Di Seravezza was also not a superior back then. Ambrogini [Jean Ambrozin] said that when he leaves Tunis, he will take 24,000 scudi with him, a ship full of items, and maybe also the tabernacle. Di Seravezza asks Le Vacher to send any letters for him to Luigi Calaman. Ambrogini [Ambrozin] states that the ships only give 64 aspri to the Chruch of S. Antonio, though everybody knows that it is actually two piastre; he asks Le Vacher to write a declaration of this, since he is well informed on this issue. He also wrote to Genova, Livorno and Malta, to ask for declarations.
Date discussed: 1670-11-10
Additional comments
Maybe the Nostro Sig're he talks about is Antonio Crocet, the representative of PF in Marseille. Or maybe the pope?

Creator

Antonio Di Seravezza

Source

APF SOCG 424, 248r-v, 253r-v

Date

1670-05-10

Contributor

Adressed to Jean Le Vacher

Relation

For the minutes of the PF meeting where this matter was discussed, see: APF ACTA 39, 197r, 201r-202v (database item 669).

Format

Original; signed

Language

Italian
Latin

Type

Letter

Identifier

752

Coverage

Origin: Marseille
Destination: [Algiers]

Citation

Antonio Di Seravezza, “Letter from Antonio Di Seravezza to Jean Le Vacher, 1670-05-10, Marseille,” Early Modern Documents: Sources and Resources for Historical Research, accessed March 19, 2024, https://earlymoderndocs.omeka.net/items/show/13295.