An Imposing Bulla from Pope Innocent VIII, Sent to Spain and Mentioning Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492

Papal bulls to Spain are very uncommon, this being the first we have seen. We are not aware of another mentioning Ferdinand and Isabella having reached the market

The marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, second cousins, marked for many the official unification of Spain. Their relationship with the Pope was crucial to the blessing of this unconventional marriage. This they eventually received.

These rulers were, of course, the most powerful Christian rulers in Europe in their time, with Ferdinand ruling Aragon from 1479, and via his wife Isabella, the kingdom of Castille from 1475 until 1504. They drove out the Muslims of Granada from Spain effectively completing the Reconquista, sponsored Christopher Columbus’ expedition to the New World, and through Papal dispensation in 1493 were granted ownership of the entirety of North and South America (except Brazil), forming perhaps the largest empire ever seen in human history.

The relationship between the King and Queen and the Pope was crucial to both. Spain was distant from the Papal Seat and the Pope sent his orders through messengers, papal letters, and papal bulls.

The Hieronymites (or Jeronimites as they were otherwise known) were a distinctively Spanish Order of hermits, who lived in cloistered poverty according to the Rule of St. Augustine, but with St. Jerome as their main role-model. They came into being in the fourteenth century, and after an initial period of disorganisation, established themselves as a monastic Order in 1373, basing themselves in their mother house at Lupiana. They prospered quickly, and by 1415 some twenty-five houses of Hieronymites existed in the Iberian Peninsula, and the officers of the Order had permanent positions in the Spanish Royal Court. In the sixteenth century, their royal favour led to the founding of some of the grandest royal monasteries of Spain, such as the El Escorial (built 1563-84) as a mausoleum for the kings of Spain, and ensured they were among the first Spanish missionaries to America and the New World. Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros entrusted the pastoral care of the islands of the Antilles in the Caribbean to the Order, and from there a member of the Order went on to serve as an early bishop of the Canary Islands.

In this document, Pope Innocent VIII tries to bring order to the election of the Prior of St. Bartolomeo at Lupiana, who in the preceding decades it had been decided would also automatically become the head of the Order. He does so through the model of the present holder of the office, a Prior Gundissalvi (Gonzalo) de Thoro, who cannot be traced by us in any other record. This may well be the sole record of his priorship. The pope warns of the disorders and scandals of the past following disputed successions, and the detriment brought to the inhabitants of Castille, Leon, Aragon, Valencia and the majority of the Spanish realm. He urges that, as Prior Gundissalvi has, this election should be inclusive, not excluding the votes of the members of the community. Excommunication is threatened on those who would dispute this papal ruling, as is the threat of ‘expulsion from the confederation of the most powerful of our sons in Christ, Ferdinand and Isabella [here Elizabeth], queen of Castille and Leon’.

Spanish script Papal bull, Rome, April 6, 1492, issued by Innocent VIII for Prior Gundissalvi (Gonzalo) de Thoro of San Bartolomé at Lupiana in Castille, clarifying how the Hieronymite Order was to elect the prior of Lupiana, who was by default the head of the Order as well, and threatening excommunication from the Church and the friendship of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella if the Pope’s wishes were not followed, in Latin, manuscript on vellum

Large single-sheet document, written in 30 long lines in a fine calligraphic secretarial hand, opening line in ornamental capitals, several endorsements on reverse, one worn edge of the document when folded causing a hole on the right-hand side of the document running nearly its entire height, this with modern repair, some faded areas (but legible in these places) and folds, else in good condition, 20.75 x 12 inches, with lead papal seal suspended on yellow and burgundy twisted silk cords

Provenance:

1. Written and sealed in Rome in the papal chancery for a Spanish recipient (note the later archival endorsement in Spanish on the reverse), most probably St. Bartolomé at Lupiana itself. The community survived until the mandatory confiscations of Mendizábal in 1835, when the monks were expelled and the building and its goods were handed over to the Páez Jaramillo family and then the Marquis of Barzanallana. Only ruins now remain.

2. Recently acquired from a Spanish owner, and exported from that country under export license