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30 - [MANUSCRIT]. [VAUCLUSE]. [AVIGNON] Statutes of the Master Ho…
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[MANUSCRIT]. [VAUCLUSE]. [AVIGNON] Statutes of the Master Hortolans and Gardeners of Avignon [Confrérie des Maître Hortolans]. In French and Latin, calligraphic manuscript on parchment. France, Avignon, 1593 [authenticated copy dated 14 July 1753]. 11 ff, preceded by two parchment endpapers (on the recto of the first endpaper: "Statuts des Hortolans", in ink) and followed by a parchment endpaper, cursive handwriting in dark brown ink, text inscribed in double frames in pen, pen tests on the verso of the last endpaper. Bound in red morocco, 5-ribbed spine with cloisonné and fleuronné, large gilt roulette around the boards, roulette around the edges (corners dulled; some rubbing and discolouration to the boards). Size: 252 x 185 mm Placed under the patronage of Marie-Madeleine, who saw Christ in the form of a gardener, the Maîtres Hortolans and Maîtres Jardiniers of Avignon established themselves as a "trade" brotherhood, which in fact remained more of a "devotional brotherhood", thus escaping consular supervision and coming more under the authority of the Church and ecclesiastical law. The role of the archbishop was central to these brotherhoods. Although they were professional organisations, they were considered more as religious organisations (works of piety and charity, assistance to the poor and dying). No brotherhood could be set up without the consent of the bishop (or archbishop), who had to examine and approve the statutes. The Confrérie des Maîtres Hortolans et Jardiniers celebrated its feast day on 22 July, Saint Mary Magdalene's Day. From the Latin word "hortus" (garden, orchard, enclosure), the term "Hortolan" or "Hortolain" appears in Godefroy's Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française: "A gardener in general, and a market gardener in particular, who cultivates and makes the most of a garden, a marsh, a plot of land where vegetables and herbs are grown". The "hortailles" and "hortage" are the various garden products. Throughout his episcopate, Francesco Maria Tarugi (1525-1608) [François Maria Taurusius, nephew of Pope Julius III], Archbishop of Avignon, kept a close eye on the Avignon confraternities, as can be seen from the present document, and the Statutes (old and new) of the Confrérie des Hortolans were placed under his supervision: "François Maria Taurusius, by the grace of God and the Holy Apostolic See, Archbishop of Avignon. To all those who will see these presentes...". (fol. 1). The Augustinian convent was one of the convents of mendicant friars in the city of Avignon, established in 1261 and closed during the Revolution. Today, all that remains of this convent is the bell tower, now a public clock, and some parts of the church in the houses that were built in its side chapels. The same Archbishop Tarugi complained about the behaviour of the religious, who were resistant to the Catholic counter-reformation and had settled into a lifestyle that was too comfortable. This led in 1610 to the founding of the Reformed Augustinians in a neighbouring street, who were then distinguished from the conventual Augustinians, who were from then on known as the "Great Augustinians". The Confrérie des Maîtres Hortolans et Jardiniers was spiritually dependent on the Augustins convent: "Et a ces fins sous l'autorité et permission de nos antecesseurs archeveques auroient erigé une confrerie en l'Eglise du venerable couvent des frères Augustins de la presente cité...". (fol. 1v). The first "Statutes of the Hortolans and Gardeners of Avignon" date from 1589 (Avignon, Archives départementales du Vaucluse, 1 G 122, fol. 454), followed by an authorisation for new Statutes granted by Archbishop Tarugi in 1593 (date of present manuscript) (copy Carpentras, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 885, ff. 1-3) with the new Statutes that followed (see present manuscript, 18th century copy emptied on an original). Text : ff. 1-2, Preamble by Francesco Maria Tarugi, archbishop of Avignon (since 1592): "Let us know that as Jesus Christ God...knowing especially that the Holy Mary Magdalene was a garden of devotion and a vessel of dilection he wished to appear to her first after his holy resurrection in the form of a hortolan or gardener..." (text different from that preserved in the Vaucluse AD). ff. 2-3, De la création des Bayles; Qui pourront être Bayles; De rendre compte. ff. 3v-4v, To keep two books; Brotherhood rights; New Masters; Articles and processions. ff. 5-6v, To accompany the band; Not to sell herbs on the feast day; Estimates; The general cantat; The mass of the brotherhood. ff. 6v-7v, To visit and help the sick; To accompany the burial of confreres; A mass will be said for each deceased confrere; The four brandons. ff. 7v-10, To live as good men; Against criminals; Against blasphemers; Servants who are loathsome; Masters who loath servants; To notify servants; Constraint against offenders. ff. 10-10v, Confirmation of the Statutes of the Hortolans and Gardeners of Avignon by Archbishop Francesco Maria Tarugi, "Given in Avignon in the Apostolic Palace this twenty-fifth day of the month of May one thousand five hundred and ninety-three...". ff. 10v-11, Note attesting that this copy is authorised and confirmed in the presence of Jean François Bordini, bishop of Cavaillon (he was archbishop of Avignon from 1598 to 1609) according to the original; original copy authenticated by Ponce, major clerk of the archbishopric of Avignon, before Joseph Crespin de Brun, priest and dean of the church of Saint-Agricol. See Thomas, B: Thomas, B. "Les confréries de métier d'Avignon et leurs relations avec les autorités pontificales aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles", in Provence historique, tome 226, 2006, pp. 383-404, in particular p. 386. - M. Venard, "Les confréries de métier dans le Comtat Venaissin au XVIe siècle", in Provence historique, tome 26, 1976, pp. 65-82. Provenance: France, private collection.
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Auction time 06/17/2026 at 2:00 PM
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