TUDESCHIS, Nicolaus de. Super libros Decretalium, I-V.

Folio (420 x 290 mm.), 5 parts bound in 6 volumes. [214], the first blank; [210] the first blank; [134] the first and the last blank; [130] the first and the last blank; [210] the first and the last blank; [162]] the first, the last and leaf 41blank, 2 columns, 69-71 lines. Got. Typ. With seven illuminated pages with miniatures and large extending floreal borders in green, red, pink, blue and gold by a contemporary South German artist; six printer's devices in red at the end of each volume. All the illuminations have a background of incised and punch-dotted burnished gold, within a blue frame, the subjects of the miniatures are: I-Nicolaus de Tudeschis in a pink robe kneeling in front of pope Eugen IV, the throned pope is receiving a copy of the Decretalia; II-a trial scene with two standing men debating in front of a seated judge; III- Nicolaus de Tudeschis in a green and pink robe in his studio reading; IV- Nicolaus de Tudeschis in a pink robe in his studio reading; V- a scene taken from the Holy Mass: the priest and a young cleric kneeling in front of the altar; VI- Nicolaus de Tudischis in cardinalice dress standing between the betrothed couple; VII- a judge seated between two men in a pink robe accusing themself reciprocally. Beside all the miniatures is depicted an angel holding a shield with the coat of arms of the Gessel family from Augsburg. Contemporary South German binding, half blindstamped calf over bevelled wooden boards, two clasps. Provenance: Gessel family Augsburg, illuminated coat of arms at the beginning of each volume; Andreas Perneder (1500 – 1543), famous jurist, counselor of the Duke of Bayern, William IV,and Stadtprokurator of Munich, (armorial ex libris in volume I); Andreas Perneder junior; Anna Reitmor, sister of Andreas Perneder junior, famous Bavarian bibliophile of the XVI century with her note dated 1564 on the first flyleaf of each volume; Antiquariat J. Halle of Munich; auction house Paul Graupe, Berlin 1935 (auction 144, lot. 29); Swedish private collection. Light worming at the beginning and the end of each volume, a few spots, binding restored, overall a very fine set with a distinguished Bavarian provenance.

Very rare and complete copy of the Lectura super V libris Decretalium by Panormitanus famous Italian theologian and Archbishop of Palermo, Nicolaus de Tudeschis (1386-1445). ‘Nicolaus was born at Catania in 1386. At an early age he joined the Benedictine order but was sent at a young age to study in the North. After having received a stipend in either 1405 or 1406 from the Senate of Catania, he matriculated in the law school at Bologna. Antonius de Butrio and Francesco Zabarella, the two leading canonists of the early fifteenth century, may have taught him, but we cannot be certain that he studied with Zabarella, who was teaching at Padua when Nicolaus was studying in Bologna. He began teaching in ca. 1411, at the age of 25, first at Bologna, and then in Parma, and Siena. Having taught in Parma from 1411 to 1418 he then moved to Siena, where he stayed until ca. 1430. Documents refer to him as “Doctor Decretorum” while he taught at Siena, but he did not write a commentary on the Decretum until 1436. During his Sienese career, his literary work focussed on the Decretales of Gregory IX. During the Council of Siena, 1423-1424, he worked with the ambassadors of the King of Sicily and held a disputation that many of the assembled dignitaries attended. A short time later, Nicolaus was appointed abbot of Santa Maria di Maniace in 1425, which is located on the north-western shoulder of Mount Etna. He remained in Siena until ca. 1431, when he moved back to Bologna and received a stipend of 600 pounds from the comune to teach the Decretals during the years 1431-1432. During this short stay, we have a repetitio that he dated Bologna, 5 May, 1432. The next day, the Florentines invited him to deliver Lectiones Decretorum at the Studio Florentino. […] He accepted the offer, even though a few months later Venice bid for his services in Padua. […]  While in Florence, he may have examined the Littera Florentina, the late antique copy of Justinian's Digest that had recently been transferred from Pisa.At this point Panormitanus entered the wider stage of papal and conciliar politics. Pope Martin V had convened a general council in Basel according to the provisions of the decree Haec sancta that had been promulgated at the Council of Constance. The new pope, Eugenius IV dissolved the council on 18 December 1431 with a solemn papal bull. He viewed the council as an impediment to the unification of the Eastern and Western churches and as a danger to papal prerogatives. When the council rejected pope's authority to dissolve it, Eugenius sent a delegation of legates to represent him and to negotiate. Panormitanus was an auditor in the papal curia and accepted Eugenius's mandate to join the delegation. After arriving at the council in March, 1433, he defended Eugenius' position with sermons on 9 March and on 13 July before the council. Eugenius's proposals were not well received, and Panormitanus left the council. The death of Ubertino dei Marini, the archbishop of Palermo, presented an opportunity for Panormitanus to hold high office. The king of Sicily, Alfonso V, ignored the rights of the cathedral chapter and placed him in the see. He renounced the abbacy of Maniace and was confirmed by Pope Eugenius IV on 9 March, 1435.As archbishop of Palermo, Panormitanus' role at the Council of Basel changed dramatically. He no longer represented papal interests when he returned to the council as Alfonso's ambassador in 1436. […] When Eugenius successfully persuaded a minority of the participants at Basel to convene the council in Ferrara (later, in 1439, transferred to Florence), Panormitanus did not follow Nicolaus of Cusa and many of the Italian bishops to Ferrara in 1437. He remained in Basel, and, with the support of Charles VII, king of France, the council issued a series of documents that affirmed the superiority of the council over the pope. In 1438, Panormitanus was sent to Frankfurt as the council's representative before the Reichstag. The council in Basel declared that Eugenius was deposed, elected Duke Amadeus of Savoy pope. He took the name, Felix V. The new pope created Panormitanus a cardinal in 1440. Felix asked Panormitanus to compile the conciliar decrees of Constance and Basel into a canonical collection, but he never seems to have finished the job. His contemporaries remarked on his ability to switch sides on an issue. Aeneas Sylvius Piccolominus (Pope Pius II) wrote in his De gestis of Panormitanus' struggle with his conscience and his duty to support his king. Panormitanus had been made leader of the conciliar party at the council not through his own wish, but through necessity alone, and he was bound to obey his prince. He arrived at Basel a supporter of the papacy and left an advocate of conciliar supremacy. His speeches at Basel reflect these two positions. These conciliar sermons can be compared with a quaestio written in 25 April, 1426, Episcopus et quidam rector curatus in which Panormitanus dealt with papal authority and supported papal prerogatives within the church before he became involved in ecclesiastical politics. After Alfonso V concluded a treaty with Eugenius IV at Terracina in 1443, he recalled his delegation, and Panormitanus returned to Palermo. His stay was short. On 24 February, 1445 he died of the plague. His legacy was rich and varied. He was without a doubt the most influential jurist of the fifteenth century. His conciliar thought also found resonance in the work of later thinkers. Even Martin Luther admired him. Panormitanus worked his commentary on the Decretales over a long period of time and revised his work continuously. He probably began writing when he started teaching in ca. 1411 and must have completed it by the time he began to participate in the Council of Basel. He did not comment on all parts of the Decretales equally. Even a superficial reading reveals that he expended much more time and effort on books two and three than on books one, four, and five. Book one is only a bit less detailed that books two and three, but he gave four and five only rudimentary treatment. He never commented on all of book one. There is no evidence that he wrote or taught the titles from X.1.7 to X.1.28'. (legalhistorysources.com)

 Hain-Copinger 12313; GW 47874; Goff P-49; Proctor 4695; Pellechet 8341 IGI 9753. 9780. 9797. 9812. 9829. 9846; ISTC ip0004900.