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142 - [COUNCIL OF BASEL / ANTIPOPE CLEMENT VIII] - Letters of abso…
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Estimate €1,200 - €1,500
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Description
[COUNCIL OF BASEL / ANTIPOPE CLEMENT VIII] - Letters of absolution granted in 1442 by the Council of Basel to Oronisio Sanchez de Munoz, nephew of Antipope Clement VIII (whose baptismal name was Gil Sanchez Munoz y Carbon). Parchment, 75x60 cm (framed, under glass, lower left corner broken), very legible handwriting, in good overall condition, seal missing (trace of cord). Issued in Basel on the 4th of the Ides of November 1442. Summary: The Most Holy General Synod of Basel, lawfully assembled in the Holy Spirit, representing the universal Church… to the beloved son of the Church, Oronisio Sanchez de Munoz, greetings and blessings in Almighty God. The Fathers of the Council state in the preamble that they are responsible for the care of the faithful throughout the world and that they are aware of those who have devoted themselves to the universal Church. They therefore grant Oronisio’s request: ‘When you were under the authority of Pedro de Luna, then Benedict XIII, together with the Venerable Gil, Bishop of Majorca, who was later called Clement VIII and regarded as Pope in this country, … Gil, then known as Clement’, conferred upon you, by virtue of your birth and kinship, holy orders and even ‘elevated you to the dignities of the episcopate and the cardinalate’. Subsequently, Gil, having renounced the papacy in favour of Martin V, was absolved and reinstated by ‘our dear son Peter, Cardinal of Saint-Étienne, commonly known as the Cardinal of Foix, legate of Martin V, to absolve those of Peñíscola’. And ‘you were confirmed by Martin V in the canonries of Majorca and of Saint Mary of Turolio in the diocese of Zaragoza… Now, for the peace of your conscience, you beseech us to absolve you of your errors’. Therefore, ‘by virtue of the universal authority of the Church, we approve and confirm your rehabilitation’. And so that no one may accuse you ‘of a disgraceful act’, we declare the errors of the past to be abolished’. This act of rehabilitation must be respected. Should anyone attempt to undermine it, they shall incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the universal Church. An exceptional document: it originates from the Council of Basel and affirms that the Council possesses the universal authority of the Church. These letters shed new light on the history of the antipopes Benedict XIII and Clement VIII and are addressed to the latter’s nephew, who was ordained a Cardinal by his uncle.
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About the sale Catalogue sale of antique and modern books, engravings and documents
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Auction time 09/29/2026 at 10:30 AM
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