[MANUSCRIT]. [VAUCLUSE]. [AVIGNON]. - Lot 30

[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 July 14, 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 penciled frames, penciled essays on the verso of the last endpaper. Bound in red morocco, 5-ribbed spine cloisonné and fleuronné, wide gilt roulette framing the boards, roulette on the edges (corners dulled; some rubbing and discoloration to the boards). Dimensions: 252x185mm Placed under the patronage of Marie-Madeleine, who saw Christ in the form of a gardener, the Maîtres Hortolans and Maîtres Jardiniers d'Avignon established themselves as a "trade" brotherhood, which in fact remains more of a "devotional brotherhood", thus escaping consular guardianship and coming under Church and ecclesiastical law. The role of the archbishop is central to these brotherhoods. Although they were professional organizations, they were considered more like religious organizations (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 feast of the Confrérie des Maîtres Hortolans et Jardiniers is set for July 22, the day of Saint Mary Magdalene. From the Latin word "hortus" (garden, orchard, enclosure), the term "Hortolan" or "Hortolain" appears in Godefroy's Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française: "Gardener in general, and in particular market gardener, who cultivates, who promotes a garden, a marsh, a piece of land where vegetables or 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 are placed under his supervision: "François Maria Taurusius, par la grâce de Dieu et du St Siege apostolique archeveque d'Avignon. A tous ceux qui ces presentes verront..." (fol. 1). The Augustinian convent was one of Avignon's convents of mendicant friars, established in 1261 and closed during the French Revolution. Today, all that remains of this convent is the bell tower, now a public clock, and a few parts of the church in the houses built in its side chapels. The same Archbishop Tarugi complained about the behavior of the religious, who were resistant to the Catholic counter-reformation and had settled into an overly comfortable lifestyle. This led, in 1610, to the founding of the Reformed Augustinians in a neighboring street, as distinct from the conventual Augustinians, who were henceforth known as the "Great Augustinians". The Confrérie des Maîtres Hortolans et Jardiniers was spiritually dependent on the Augustinian 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 "Statuts des Hortolans et Jardiniers d'Avignon" date from 1589 (Avignon, Archives départementales du Vaucluse, 1 G 122, fol. 454), followed by an authorization 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): "Savoir faisons que comme Jesus Christ Dieu...connoissant spécialement que la Sainte Marie Magdeleine etoit un jardin de devotion et un vase de dilection il se serait voulu premierment apparoitre à elle après sa sainte resurrection en forme de hortolan ou jardinier..." (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, Accompagneront la bandiere; De ne vendre herbes le jour de la fête; Des estimes; Le cantat general; La Messe de la confrérie. ff. 6v-7v, To visit and help the sick; To accompany the burial of confreres; A mass will be said for each confrere who has died.