Papers of the Ferretti Family of Ancona

The collection is composed of some 121 unpublished manuscript documents - in Latin and Italian - relating to the Papal States and the House of Ferretti. The collection also contains many supporting photocopied items (articles etc), and some colour photographs of Palazzo Ferretti in Ancona. There is a large envelope containing city plans of Ancona.

This material offers a detailed account of the private lives of the minor nobles in the Papal States after the Sack of Rome in 1527 and the closure of the Council of Trent in 1563.

The Ferretti family of Ancona, on the Adriatic, came from Germany in the 14th century. They were men-at-arms. The family enriched themselves in the 17th century during the Wars of Religion in France. The Ferretti family sired military engineers, marine soldiers - Ancona being a base against the Turks - papal diplomatists, a Saint, and a Pope (Pius IX) whose Pontificate from 1846 to 1878 has been the longest in 2000 years. Today, a branch of the Ferretti's of Ancona build powerful leisure craft. The Marche National Archaeological Museum is situated in Ancona's fifteenth century Palazzo Ferretti.

This archive of the Ferretti Family begins in 1574 with the last will and testament of the richest man in Ancona at the time 'Il Perillustrissimo Conte Angelo', and closes in the mid-18th century with an impressive marriage and the tale of the family coach.

Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance

Accession no. E2003.30

Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.

Compiled by Graeme D. Eddie, Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections Division.

Check the local Indexes for details of any additions.