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136
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CATHERINE II OF RUSSIA (1729–1796).
See original version (Italian)
136
-
CATHERINE II OF RUSSIA (1729–1796).
See original version (Italian)
Estimate €600 - €1,000
Voluntary lot
Description
CATHERINE II OF RUSSIA (1729–1796). Autograph letter signed to Giacomo Durazzo concerning the religious policy of the Russian Empire and relations with the Holy See. St Petersburg, 1783.
Autograph letter signed ‘Catherine’, 3 pages in French with an autograph address on the reverse, addressed to Count Giacomo Durazzo (1717–1794), the Genoese diplomat in the service of the Habsburg Monarchy. An important political document concerning relations between the court of St Petersburg and the Holy See following the establishment of the Archdiocese of Mohilev. Catherine II informs Durazzo that she has received the papal response regarding the organisation of the Catholic hierarchy within the territories of the Russian Empire and instructs him to firmly uphold the position of the Imperial court in Rome. The Empress reiterates the principles of religious tolerance underpinning her government, whilst asserting that no ecclesiastical authority may interfere with the sovereignty of the State or with its civil administration. A rare testimony to Catherine II’s religious policy and to the complex diplomatic relations between Russia, the Habsburg Empire and the Holy See in the years following the First Partition of Poland, addressed to one of the most prominent European diplomats of the eighteenth century.
3-page letter (260 × 190 mm), address panel on the reverse and red wax seal. (1)
See original version (Italian)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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