La Mostra Origin, Timing and Forms of the Rite Changes to the rite and its timing
Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee of 1350
Clement VI shortened the gap between Jubilees to 50 years and included St John in the Lateran among the Basilicas that pilgrims were required to visit
Clement VI, Unigenitus Dei filius (27 gennaio 1343), in: Collectionis bullarum sacrosanctae Basilicae vaticanae..., vol. I, Roma 1747
Petrarch's Epistle to Clement VI
In 1342 Petrarch wrote an epistle in verse to Clement VI, who was in Avignon, lamenting the derelict state of the City of Rome and begging the pope to reduce the gap between Jubilees to 50 years
Francesco Petrarca, Poesie minori del Petrarca sul testo latino ora corretto, volgarizzate da poeti viventi o da poco defunti, vol. III, Milano 1834
Cola di Rienzo's embassy to Clement VI at Avignon
In 1342 Cola di Rienzo, not yet a tribune of Rome (1347), was included in an embassy of Romans to Pope Clement VI at Avignon. Amongst other things, the ambassadors begged the Pope to visit Rome and announce a Jubilee, inorder to to bring the City out of its decline . The Pope declined to go to Rome but did announce a Jubilee, which was celebrated in 1350
Vita di Cola di Rienzo, in: Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Antiquitates italicae medii aevi sive dissertationes..., vol. III (Historiae romanae fragmenta ab anno Christi MCCCXXVII usque ad MCCCLIV neapolitana sive romana dialecto scripta auctore anonymo...), Milano 1740
In the Jubilee of 1350, Saint John Lateran became one the basilicas pilgrims were required to visit
In 1350 Clement VI added St John Lateran to the number of basilicas pilgrims were required to visit in order to obtain the indulgence
Girolamo Franzini, Templ. S. Ioannis lateranen., in: Le cose maravigliose dell’alma città di Roma..., Roma 1595
How Pope Clement VI annouced the Jubilee in Rome in 1350
Giovanni Villani, Cronica di Giovanni Villani a miglior lezione ridotta coll'aiuto de' testi a penna, vol. VII, Firenze 1823
How general pardon was annouced in Rome in 1349
Matteo Villani finished his older brother Giovanni's work under his death in 1348. In this passage (Book 1, Ch. 29) he explains how Clement Vi reached the decision to hold a Jubilee in 1350
Matteo Villani, Cronica, in: Croniche di Giovanni, Matteo e Filippo Villani..., vol. II, Trieste 1858
The Cardinal of Ceccano, Papal Legate, comes to Rome to start the Jubilee
The Jubilee of 1350 announced during the so-called "captivity at Avignon", was celebrated in the absence of the Pope. Clement VI did announce the Jubille but never came to Rome for the celebrations. Annibaldo Caetani, Cardinal of Ceccano, stood in for the Pope.
Vita di Cola di Rienzo tribuno del popolo romano..., Bracciano 1631
Gregory XI's Bull, Salvator Noster Dominus
In1373, a Bull by Pope Gregory XI Bull included St Mary Major among the Basilicas pilgrims were required to visit to obtain the indulgence
Gregory XI, Salvator noster Dominus (29 aprile 1373), in: Collectionis bullarum sacrosanctae Basilicae vaticanae..., vol. II, Roma 1750
Saint Mary Major is one of the four Basilicas pilgrims were required to visit in the Jubilee of 1390
In 1373 Pope Gregory XI issued a bull establishing that, in order to obtain the indulgence, pilgrims were also required to visit the ancient Basilica of St Mary Major: this decision was upheld by his successor Urban VI in the indiction of the 1390 Jubillee and was never changed again
Girolamo Franzini, Templ. divae Mariae maioris, in: Le cose maravigliose dell’alma città di Roma..., Roma 1595
The Jubilee Basilicas: Saint Mary Major, St Peter's in the Vatican
Saint Peter's has been a Jubilee Basilica since 1300, Saint Mary Major became one in 1373, for the Jubilee of 1390
Giacomo Brogi (phot.), Le basiliche del giubileo, in: L'illustrazione italiana, a. XXVI, n. 52, 24 December 1899
Jubilee Basilicas: St John Lateran and St Paul's outside-the-Walls
St Paul's has been a Jubilee Basilica since 1300, St John's since 1343, for the Jubilee of 1350
Giacomo Brogi (phot.), Le basiliche del giubileo, in: L'illustrazione italiana, a. XXVI, n. 52, 24 December 1899
The third Holy Year celebrated by Boniface IX in the year 1390
In 1389, in his bull Salvator noster Unigenitus, Pope Urban VI reduced the interval between jubilees to 33 years, in reference to the number of years Christ lived on earth. He also confirmed the decision taken by Gregory XI (1373) to include Saint Mary Major among the basilicas to visit in jubilee years. Urban VI died a few months before the start of ceremonies for the 1390 jubilee, which was celebrated by his successor Boniface IX.
Domenico Maria Manni, Istoria degli anni santi dal loro principio sino al presente del MDCCL, tratta in gran parte da quella del p.l.f. Tommaso Maria Alfani..., Firenze 1750
The Jubilee of 1400 as chronicled by Giovanni Sercambi
The bull of indiction for the Jubilee of 1400, which was indeed celebrated, has never been traced. Giovanni Sercambi, a chronicler from Lucca (1348-1424), describes the events of that year and the great number of so-called “Whites” who flocked to the event. Members of the Confraternity of White Penitents (who probably originated in Provence) had established a penitential religious movement that by the end of the 14th century had spread through Italy and reached Rome
Giovanni Sercambi, Le croniche di Giovanni Sercambi lucchese pubblicate sui manoscritti originali a cura di Salvatore Bongi, vol. II, Lucca 1892
Portrait of Martin V
The election of Pope Martin V (Oddone Colonna) in 1417 by bishops gathered at the Council of Constance marked the end of the “Great Schism” which since 1378 had divided the Church’s faithful between competing popes. Martin V brought in a policy to strengthen papal authority over the papal territories and to improve Rome’s public services, urban development and architecture
Martinus V romanus, Oddo de Columna dictus, in Concilio constantiensi papa creatus anno 1417, in: Magnum oecumenicum Constantiense Concilium de universali Ecclesiae reformatione, unione, et fide... operam et labore Hermanni von der Hardt...,vol. IV (Corpus actorum et decretorum magni Constantiensis concilii de Ecclesiae reformatione unione ac fide), Frankfurt am Main - Leipzig - Helmstadt 1700
The Jubilee of 1423
In 1423, thirty-three years after the celebration held in 1390, Martin V celebrated a Jubilee in Rome. The bull of indiction has never been found.
Andrea Vittorelli, Historia de' giubilei pontificii celebrati ne' tempi di Bonifacio VIII, Clemente VI, Urbano VI, Bonifacio IX, Martino V..., Roma 1625
The Jubilee of 1450 in the chronicle of Paolo dello Mastro
Paolo dello Mastro, Memoriale, ms. misc. sec. XVII in., Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat.lat.5522.pt.2 (©2016 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana)
The Jubilee of 1450
Nicholas V proclaimed a Jubilee for 1450, restoring the fifty-year interval chosen by Clement VI in 1350 and confirmed by the Council of Constance (1414-1418)
Andrea Vittorelli, Historia de' giubilei pontificii celebrati ne' tempi di Bonifacio VIII, Clemente VI, Urbano VII, Bonifacio IX, Martino V..., Roma 1625
Bull by Paul II for the Jubilee of 1475
Paul II, Ineffabilis providentia (19 aprile 1470), in: Bullarum, diplomatum et privilegiorum sanctorum romanorum Pontificum..., vol. V, Torino 1860
Bull of indiction for the Jubilee of 1475
Sixtus IV seconded the decision taken by his predecessor Paul II to reduce the interval between jubilees to twenty-five years. In his bull Quemadmodum operosi (1473) he confirmed his indiction of a Holy Year for 1475, twenty-five years after Nicholas V’s Jubilee. The twenty-five year interval between ordinary jubilees remains to this day. From this Jubilee onwards, bulls were printed – this was the first Holy Year after invention of the printing press with moveable type (1455)
Sixtus IV, Quemadmodum operosi (29 agosto 1473),in: Corpus iuris canonici. Extravagantes communes,V.IX.4, Venezia 1600
The reduction of jubilee cadence to 25 years
Olimpio Ricci, De' giubilei universali celebrati negli anni santi, incominciando da Bonifazio VIII fino al presente..., Roma 1675
Pastoral letter of 10 September 1574 addressed to diocesans by the archbishop of Milan Carlo Borromeo, by which he exhorted them to make the pilgrimage to Rome on the occasion of the forthcoming jubilee
Le cose maravigliose dell'alma città di Roma dove si tratta delle chiese, stationi, & reliquie de' corpi santi che vi sono. Con un trattato d'acquistar l'indulgentie. La guida romana che insegna facilmente a i forastieri a ritrovare le più notabil cose di Roma. Li nomi de i sommi pontefici, imperadori, & altri principi christiani. L'antichità di Roma brevemente raccolta. Et un discorso sopra i fuochi degli antichi. Tutti novamente purgati, & corretti. Et una epistola del cardinale Borromeo del giubileo dell'anno santo, Roma 1575
Bull of indiction for the Jubilee of 1700
The Bull of indiction for the Jubilee of 1700, published by Innocent XII on 18 May 1699, was printed in Italian too
Innocent XII, Pubblicazione dell'universale giubileo dell'anno santo mille settecento, Roma 1699