1807 Italian Handwritten Will – Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, Correggio
- Document type
- Manuscript
- Date
- abt 1807
- Condition notes
- Very good
Not Started
An original handwritten last will and testament drawn up in January 1807 in the city of Correggio, in northern Italy, during the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. A woman of the town dictated her will to a notary in the presence of four witnesses. It opens with an invocation of the name of Jesus Christ, commends her soul to the Holy Trinity, the Virgin, and her patron saints, and sets out how her dowry is to be divided among her sons and daughters. One of the sons is a canon of the Church. The document notes that she could not sign it herself, as she was unable to write.
It closes with the four witnesses' signatures and the notary's formal Latin attestation, accompanied by his inked notarial sign. A separate official registration dated February 1807 records the recording fee paid in Milanese and Italian lire. Two embossed "R.I. Soldi 5" revenue stamps of the Kingdom of Italy appear on the pages, a characteristic feature of Napoleonic-era legal papers.
The document is written in iron gall ink in an elegant script on laid paper, and some ink show-through is visible from the reverse. It shows age-appropriate toning, light staining, and edge wear, and remains clear and legible. This is a genuine and personal piece of Napoleonic-era Italian history, ideal for collectors of manuscripts, legal documents, Italian history, or women's history, and it would display beautifully framed.
- Bifolio, 4 Pages -