Bulletin of the Society for Renaissance Studies;
Volume XVIII, Number 1, October 2000, pp.8-17.

On the Early Years of the Medici Granducal Archive

Edward Goldberg, Senior Scholar, THE MEDICI ARCHIVE PROJECT

Virtually every letter sent or received by the Medici family and the Medici court over two centuries (1537-1743) has survived, filling 6,429 volumes and a full kilometer of shelf space in the "Archivio Mediceo del Principato", a section of the Florentine State Archive. Apart from the specific relevance of this material to Tuscany and the Medici, it offers the most complete documentary record of any princely regime in early modern Europe, allowing scholars to ask and answer questions that are possible nowhere else. Since the Medici Grand Dukes had ambassadors, agents and correspondents in every major city and court in Europe and the Mediterranean world, their archive is fully international in scope, making it an essential source for the history and culture of an entire age.

Two and a half centuries after the end of Medici rule, under the auspices of The Medici Archive Project, this archive is being catalogued and indexed according to present-day scholarly criteria with the support of the latest information management technology. Though scholars show a keen interest in the lode of research data that we are excavating from this daunting mountain of paper, few think to ask the fundamental question of why the mountain exists at all. While it will be years before we are ready to attempt a full history of the Medici Granducal Archive, we can in the meantime share a few documents that take us straight to the heart of the remarkable archival culture that developed at the Tuscan court during the reign of Cosimo I and flourished throughout the life of the Medici principate.

Notwithstanding his own propaganda, Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-74) often seems one of the least likely people ever to found a ruling dynasty. In 1537, he was elected "capo e primario" of Florence at the age of 17, three days after the assassination of his cousin Alessandro. Though Cosimo was apparently viewed as a short-term compromise both at home and abroad, he not only survived but quickly began to consolidate power, establishing himself as the Duke of Florence that same year, then Duke of Florence and Siena in 1557 and finally Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569. Six of his descendents succeeded him on the Tuscan throne, ruling for exactly two centuries (until 1737, followed by the six-year interregnum of Anna Maria Luisa, Last of the Medici.)

During Cosimo's early reign, while he was inventing a new government for a new state, his administration was based on a fluid collaboration between executive secretaries who adapted themselves to the exigencies of the moment and traded assignments back and forth. Since everyone and no one was responsible for everything, the only way to avoid administrative chaos was through meticulous record keeping. From the beginning, every major and minor executive decision was duly noted, every incoming letter was saved and every outgoing letter was recorded for the files. This had revolutionary implications in an age when state business was still largely enacted through verbal discussions between courtiers and thus left little permanent trace.

Cosimo recognized that documentation meant power, documentation meant order and documentation meant control. A crucial watershed in his transformation of the old Florentine Republic into an absolute monarchy was the annexation of the archives of the civil government, beginning with the system of justice. In the aftermath of the disastrous flood of 1557, the Duke "with great expense and diligence, had an infinite number of volumes of this archive (of the former Camera del Comune) cleaned, rebound and put in order." The next logical step was for him to take control of the daily operation of this archive, which he accomplished with a resolution of 28 November 1559, followed by an authoritative and very detailed proclamation of 1 May 1560.

No less significant was Cosimo's proclamation of 14 December 1569, assuming direct control of the notarial archive that recorded all Florentine property transactions. This proclamation (amplified by later ones), established new premises for the notarial archive above the Oratory at Orsanmichele and set the terms for filing, consulting and copying all contracts, including transfers of ownership, wills and marriage settlements. There was to be an archival staff of at least ten, including a Chancellor ("Cancelliere"), three Notaries ("Notarii dell'Archivio"), four Assistants ("Coadiutori") and two Porters ("Tavolaccini".) In the months and years that followed, Grand Duke Cosimo repeatedly intervened in the specifics of management. According to a resolution of 17 March 1569 [1570] , "It pleases His Highness that fires be lit there until the end of April, and then it will no longer be the case to light them, because He does not wish to alter the regulations." Although the by-laws for the new archive forbade the use of lamps or fires for reasons of security, Cosimo recognized the parallel danger of excess humidity and the necessity of drying out the fresh plaster.

The management of an archive has three defining aspects: the preservation of documentary evidence, the organization of documentary evidence and the access to documentary evidence. In the same years that Cosimo I de'Medici was imposing his authority on the public archives of the Florentine civil administration, he was also focusing his attention on the internal archive of his princely regime. In memos between various Medici secretaries and functionaries, there are intriguing glimpses of the operation of this palace archive in these years.

During the Christmas season of 1564-65, Secretary Bartolomeo Concini was in Pisa with the ducal court. On 2 January, he informed his colleague Secretary Antonio Serguidi in Florence, "Varchi has written the Duke that he is stalled in his history because he doesn't have the letters that he desires from the secretariat ("segreteria"), even though His Excellency [Cosimo I] has ordered that these be given to him. Open up the Old Secretariat ("Segreteria Vecchia") and start releasing the registers ("registri") and bundles ("mazzi"), beginning at the time of His Excellency's assumption [of power] until the present day. Give these to Varchi, making note of how many things you give him on each occasion. And don't fail in this, allowing Varchi to complain to His Excellency that his time is being wasted."

This instruction is attached to a manuscript list filling four sides of a bifolio, citing 146 sets of letters from 1537 through 1549 which were duly entrusted to the distinguished historian Benedetto Varchi (1502-1565). These items are meticulously identified according to their dates and general contents and divided into five categories including: 2 libri (bound volumes), 12 registri (file copies of outgoing letters entered in registers), 14 filze (sewn gatherings), 94 mazzi (bundles) and 38 lettere (subdivided into series of lettere-letters, scritture-writings, processi-proceedings, avvisi-newletters and minute-notes or rough drafts.)

It is evident that we are dealing with a serious archive, where attention was given to conservation, organization and record-keeping. As we learn from other documents, the "Segreteria Vecchia" or "Old Secretariat" was housed in the Palazzo Vecchio while a working secretariat concerned with current affairs was established in the Palazzo Pitti after Cosimo took up residence there in 1550. Letters and other documents were kept in the working secretariat until they were no longer required for immediate consultation; they were then transferred to the "Old Secretariat" for storage and future reference.

Benedetto Varchi was an official historian at the Medici court but by no means an unquestioning Medici apologist. Though he was granted an evidently free run through recent and confidential state papers, he died within the year and thus had little opportunity to enjoy such privileged access. Varchi's Storia fiorentina (published posthumously in 1721) treats only the period from 1527 through 1538, barely touching the phase of Florentine history after Cosimo de' Medici's assumption of power. A brief but eloquent memorandum following the historian's death demonstrates the professional seriousness of the managers of the Segreteria Vecchia:

"There is a note dated January 1564 [1565] of writings that were removed from the Segreteria and consigned by Secretary Antonio Serguidi to Messer Benedetto Varchi and on his behalf to Alessandro di Giovanni Piero del Serra for use in the history."

"These are very numerous and it is necessary to investigate whether they have been returned."

Varchi's archival borrowing privileges passed to his successor Giovambattista Adriani (1511-1579). A dense list of 206 series of documents from the late1540s through the 1550s is countersigned , "I, Giovambattista Adriani, on 2 March 1568 [1569] received the letters and writings specified above, consigned to me by Messer Pieropagolo Corboli by order of His Excellency [Cosimo I] for the history."

Adriani subsequently collected an extensive set of documents regarding the Sienese war of the mid-1550s, "I, Giovambatista son of Messer Marcello Adriani, received the writings specified above from the segreteria by order of the Grand Duke, to be used for the history and then to be returned to the segreteria from whence I had them on this day the 29^th of November 1570."

Adriani continued his borrowing at least until 23 March 1576. This primary material must have formed the immediate background to his writings, since his Istoria de' suoi tempi (published posthumously in 1583) chronicles events in Florence from 1536 through the death of Cosimo I in 1574, years that were minutely documented in the Segreteria Vecchia.

In the early 1590's, major renovations were under way in the Palazzo Vecchio, forcing the reorganization of the various administrative structures that were housed there. The Segreteria Vecchia was on the move from two large rooms to four smaller ones in the attic. These lofty premises were presumably dry and airy, thus well-suited to the conservation of documents. However, these very qualities made them no less attractive to the Guardaroba which was responsible for storing and maintaining the Grand Duke's other possessions. Though Secretary Girolamo Seriacopi was eager to avoid a turf battle with the Guardaroba, he commented to Secretary Marcello Accolti on 22 January 1592, "If appropriate rooms are not found for the service of the segreteria, there is danger that the one in Palazzo Vecchio will be like the one in Palazzo Pitti. And there must be an archive above all because the quantity of writings is continually growing."

The working secretariat in Palazzo Pitti was evidently not seen as a model of archival management to be emulated by the Secreteria Vecchia. In any case, by 10 March 1592, the Segreteria Vecchia (now somewhat confusingly called the Nuova Segreteria) had been installed in the four attic rooms, to Girolamo Seriacopi's very evident satisfaction.

"The four rooms of the new secretariat have been set up. In addition to the counters (banchi) that were already there, I sent to the fortress for two wooden tables, considering the light weight of the material. So that they would make an honorable appearance, I had them covered with felt and green fabric. For the sake of security, I had the entrances fortified and I further ordered two inner doors, that is to say strong and robust screens, so that if anyone broke through the doors they would also have to come through the inner doors…The secretariat of these princes has never been in better shape. I would indeed say that there is not another such to be found in Tuscany or indeed all of Italy."

Apart from his personal pride in a job well done, Secretary Seriacopi makes an essential point. Not only was the archive a fundamental element in the administrative apparatus of the Medici Court, it was also a showpiece that defined its identity and added to its lustre. This belief remained unquestioned throughout the two centuries of Medici rule and indeed survived the extinction of their dynasty in 1743. The Medici archive (like the Medici art collection) passed to the succeeding House of Lorraine, then to the Kingdom and finally, Republic of Italy. Through a happy combination of good stewardship and good luck, the Medici Granducal Archive has survived until the present day in the Florentine State Archive.

This is not to say that we have been entirely spared mishaps, due to fire, flood and the heedlessness of scholars. Though the documents borrowed by Varchi and Adriani seem to have returned safely home, there was at least one alarming disjuncture in the late eighteenth century, well after the end of Medici rule. In preparing his monumental Istoria del granducato di Toscana sotto il governo della casa Medici (Florence 1781), the historian Riguccio Galluzzi (1739- 1801) worked in the amiable old-fashioned way, marching through the Medici Granducal Archive, seizing whatever took his fancy and setting it aside for eventual use. Galluzzi's rough quarry of documentary material, alas, was duly returned but never refiled and now forms the 676 filze of the so-called "Miscellanea Medicea" (known to scholars as "The Bermuda Triangle of the Medici Granducal Archive.")

In the 21^st century, we hardly expect to take unique documentary material home with us for leisurely perusal. However, we can achieve all of these advantages and more through the innovations of modern technology, including searchable databases, digitized images and web delivery. It is through these means that The Medici Archive Project is working to bridge the gap between the archival past and the archival future.

APPENDICES

1. Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Miscellanea Medicea 163, insert 11; 2 gennaio 1564 (ie.1565) Bartolmeo Concini in Pisa to Antonio Serguidi in Firenze, "Il Varchi ha scritto al Duca che si sta circa l'historie, per non havere le lettere che desideri di Secreteria, però Sua Eccellenza mi ha comandato che se gli diano; Aprite la Secreteria vecchia, et incominciate a rilasciare tutte li registri et mazzi dal principio dell'assunzione di Sua Eccellenza in qua, et dateli al Varchi facendo nota di quante cose che gli darete di mano in mano, et non mancate perche non possa dolersi appresso di Sua Eccellenza di perdere tempo."
   
   
2. Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Mediceo del Principato 825, f. 152; 22 January 1591 (ie. 1592) Girolamo Seriacopi in Florence to Marcello Accolti, "Ho preso spediente di fare un memoriale sopra l'assegnare stanze per tenere le scritture della secreteria vechia, poi che i tanti ragionamenti senza conclusione sono causa che le scritture stieno in pericolo. e non si può tirare inanzi la muraglia onde per questa via doverà sortire la resolutione senza più dilatione. E se le stanze sieno assegnate con intervento del sig.re guardaroba, e nel ordine sia dichiarato se hanno a essere più di una, e quante, subito seguirà l'effetto alla presentia di betto tavolaccino. e con satisfatione di tutti. Però mi rimetto al effetto. di colli solamente che se ora non si otterrà stanze apropiate per ser[vizio] della secreteria, porta pericolo che la stia accomodata nel palazzo vechio come in quello de pitti. e pure vi doverebbe essere un archivio massime che le scritture sempre agumentano."
   
   
3. Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Mediceo del Principato 825, f. 237, 31 January 1591(ie. 1592) Girolamo Seriacopi in Florence to Grand Duke Ferdinando I […] Jacopo Dani dopo l'havere sei volte rivisto ha per più degni rispetti risoluto che le scritture della secreteria si riduchino nelle soffitte nuove di palazzo, ma per essere le volte basse, li armadioni e banchi che sono in dua stanze grande, ricerchare quattro soffitte, però si farà rimurare alcuni usci non necessarij, e ridurvi le scritture, le quali staranno bene e sicure."
   
   
4. Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Mediceo del Principato 825, f. 265, 1 February 1591(ie. 1592), Girolamo Seriacopi in Florence to Marcello Accolti ("alla Corte"), "Il Sig.r Dani dopo l'haver sei volte considerato le stanze, e bisogni della secreteria ha eletto quattro soffitte [oltre-cancelled] le meglio onde farò rimurar quattro usci, e solo lassarne duoi che uno riesce in su le scale principale, e l'altro su una scala mezzana secreta. Poi farò ridurvi li armadj, e sempre sarò presente io, e betto tavolaccino per ogni rispetto, e fatto questo la secreteria starà meglio che mai sia stata, e così pare al sig.r Jacopo. Ma per che a S.A.S. non paresse gran cosa il dar quattro soffitte V.S. lo faccia capace come nelle due stanze vecchie li armadioni son l'un sopra l'altro il che non si può far nelle soffitte essendo stanze piccole, e basse.//Queste soffitte eron desiderate dal sig.r Guardaroba oltre alle stanze che sono sopra alle dette atteso che dette stanze sono al piano della guarda roba ma quando habbia quelle che si propone se ne può contentare, e perche in vero la guarda roba patisce, e per mitigare il fedrio harei caro che S.A. confermassi le stanze disegnate alla guarda roba alla qual si è tolto, e va togliendo."
   
   
5. Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Mediceo del Principato 825, f. 306; 3 febbraio 1591(ie. 1592); Girolamo Seriacopi in Florence to Marcello Accolti ("alla Corte"), "Domattina si comincia a cavar li armadij e banchi della secreteria vechia essendosi atteso a fare quanto è occurso nelle stanze nuove per mia satisfatione. E subito fatto questo importante servitio me ne verrò già."
   
   
6. Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Mediceo del Principato 826, f.68; 10 March 1591 (ie. 1592); Girolamo Seriacopi in Florence a Marcello Accolti ("alla Corte"), "Furno accommodate le quattro stanze della nuova secreteria e oltre a banchi che vi erono prima ho mandato di fortezza dua tavole di albero rispetto alla leggierezza ma per che sieno honorevoli l'ho fatte coprire di feltro e di tela verde. E perche sia più sicura ho fatto fortificare li usci di sorte che sono sicuri. e di più al un e al altro fatto fare dua bussole, overo, paraventi forti e gagliardi in modo che chi havessi spezato gli usci ha di poi a rompere dette bussole. e di fatto si è contento il Sig.r Jacopo Danij. Ma per che vi è da fare altre commodità necessarij indugerò a loro riturno per che turni in effetto archivio e secreteria senza havervi mai più a pensare. se bene di così sta in modo che mai la secreteria di questi Principi stette meglio. anzi credo che in Toschana e forse in Italia se ne trovi un altra."
   
   
7. Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Mediceo del Principato 826, f.133; 19 March 1591 (ie. 1592); Girolamo Serjacopi (Firenze) a Belisario Vinta (alla corte); "In sua assentia [ref. Ms. Giaches Bilivelt] si è accomodato la secreteria nelle stanze nuove il meglio che è stato possibile. e almeno sta meglio che sia mai stata. E perche si attende a congiugnere l'appartamento nuovo con il salone e va rovinato tutto il vechio, e sento che uno stanzino quale è sopra la stanza che gia servì per le riformagioni, serve detto stanzino per secreteria, e forse vi debbe essere scritture e saria bene in tal caso anticipare acciò non sia ritenuto indietro il lavorare, volendo per tutto maggio havere fatto la loggia et corsia fra il salone et appartamento nuovo."