New documents from the Archives of the Order of Saint John in Valletta and from the Vatican Apostolic Archive shed a light on the figure of Pietro Pignatelli, prior of Rome, capitular bailiff of Santo Stefano in Monopoli and later prior of Messina. He was from Naples and became a high exponent of the Hospitaller hierarchy of Southern Italy between the end of the XIV and the beginning of the XV century. He was able to obtain important roles and responsibilities despite a complicated period in the history of the Order, involved in the Western Schism, the repercussions of which led to the opposition between the grand master Juan Fernández de Heredia and his alter ego Riccardo Caracciolo. The events connected with Pietro Pignatelli and the capitular preceptory of Santo Stefano in Monopoli show how in the South of Italy the members of the local nobility gradually supplanted those of Provençal origin at the helm of the Hospitaller priories and domus.
Alcuni documenti finora inediti provenienti dall’Archivio dell’Ordine di San Giovanni alla Valletta e dall’Archivio Apostolico Vaticano consentono di tratteggiare la parabola di Pietro Pignatelli, priore di Roma, precettore capitolare di Santo Stefano di Monopoli e, più tardi, priore di Messina. Napoletano, alto esponente della gerarchia giovannita dell’Italia meridionale a cavallo tra XIV e XV secolo, Pignatelli seppe destreggiarsi nel difficile periodo dello Scisma d’Occidente, le cui ripercussioni sull’Ordine portarono all’opposizione tra il gran maestro Juan Fernández de Heredia e l’alter ego Riccardo Caracciolo. Le vicende legate a Pietro Pignatelli e alla precettorìa capitolare di Santo Stefano a Monopoli rivelano come nel Mezzogiorno i membri della nobiltà locale “cogliessero l’occasione” dello Scisma per soppiantare, progressivamente, quelli di origine provenzale alla guida dei priorati e delle domus.
Nel vortice dello Scisma. Santo Stefano di Monopoli e il precettore Pietro Pignatelli (1381-1385)
Perta G
2022-01-01
Abstract
New documents from the Archives of the Order of Saint John in Valletta and from the Vatican Apostolic Archive shed a light on the figure of Pietro Pignatelli, prior of Rome, capitular bailiff of Santo Stefano in Monopoli and later prior of Messina. He was from Naples and became a high exponent of the Hospitaller hierarchy of Southern Italy between the end of the XIV and the beginning of the XV century. He was able to obtain important roles and responsibilities despite a complicated period in the history of the Order, involved in the Western Schism, the repercussions of which led to the opposition between the grand master Juan Fernández de Heredia and his alter ego Riccardo Caracciolo. The events connected with Pietro Pignatelli and the capitular preceptory of Santo Stefano in Monopoli show how in the South of Italy the members of the local nobility gradually supplanted those of Provençal origin at the helm of the Hospitaller priories and domus.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.