Letter from PF to, Andrea Grella, a slave in Tunis, Rome, 1662-06-12

Letter from PF to, Andrea Grella, a slave in Tunis, Rome, 1662-06-12

Ransom

Slaves (Christian & Muslim)

Slave priests

Tunis

Letter from PF to Andrea Grella, a slave in Tunis. PF regrets the difficult situation that Andrea Grella (and the other slaves), find themselves in. New pains have also been added to Grella, of which he is not to blame; one example is the money that the Bey wants to be restored from the Maltese captains [Vincenzo Piccinini and Francesco and Giuseppe Guevara]. Fortunately the money has been retrieved in Rome, and the Maltese admitted to having the money, and returned it without any problems. They apologized for not going to Messina (as had been originally planned), and for not knowing that the slave (for whose freedom the money should have been used), had already been freed. Therefore it should be made clear to the Bey that the money is ready for collection, and that he should send someone to retrieve it. PF does not want to risk sending it themselves. PF also wants to make clear that the money had not been returned because of the threats made by the Bey; his threats were very well known, and have hurt the poor slaves staying in Barbary. PF also does not want to react in the same way to similar cases, that are often very frequent within the Turkish dominion; the situation was amended as it happened to take place in Rome, and the authorities of the city decided to impose justice. They hope that this will inspire the Bey and other Turkish officials to give justice themselves, for the Christians in their regions.

Additional comments

PF

APF Lettere 43, 29r-30v

1662-06-12

Adressed to Andrea Grella

For the letter of Andrea Grella to PF, see: APF SOCG 254, 44r-48v (database item 382).

copy; unsigned

Italian

Letter

818

Origin:[Rome]

Destination: Tunis