Beschreibung:

Three leaves from Innocent IV, Apparatus in Quinque Libros Decretalium, in Latin, manuscript on parchment [Italy, second half of fourteenth century] Three single leaves, double column of 66 lines in a rounded Italian gothic bookhand, red rubrics, running titles in alternate red and blue capitals, paragraph marks in red or dark blue, initials in red, white and pale blue, enclosing sprays of coloured foliage, with other curls of foliage in margin, one large initial in blue edged with white, enclosing a lacertine animal with an animal's mask on burnished gold grounds, all on pale pink-white grounds with angular foliate extension in margin enclosing gold bezants, some small marginalia, notable grain pattern on some sides, damage to upper edge of one leaf, small spots and stains, else excellent condition, each leaf 390 by 260mm. Provenance: These leaves acquired from a private European collector on 14 February 2020. Another leaf from the same parent manuscript was Quaritch, cat. 1315 (2004), no. 43. Text: Pope Innocent IV (reigned 1243-54) was trained as a canon lawyer, and used these skills to defend the papacy at the height of the Investiture Contest - when the pope and the emperor both claimed to have the divine right to appoint or depose each other. Thus, in this commentary on the Decretals, he argued from a legal basis that the pope had supreme authority as God's representative on earth, and went further, extending papal rule 'not just over Christians but also all infidels, since Christ holds power over all'. Thus empowered, he asserted himself against the aggressive new Hohenstaufen emperor, Frederick II, as well as calling for further crusades, corresponding with Muslim rulers about the truth of the Gospel, and sending Christian envoys to the powerful Mongol Empire.