A Dossier of Texts for the Augustinian Hermits of Lucca

In 1506, the vicar general of the diocese of Lucca authorized a notarized dossier of texts, most of them papal, favoring the observant house of the Augustinian Hermits in that city. Some of these texts had themselves been notarized to make them useful in litigation. Along with the papal letters, there are previously unknown letters of Enrico del Carretto, bishop of Lucca (d. 1323), and Alexander de S, Elpidio, a prior general of the Hermits. The probable moving force in this compilation was Antonius de Meliis, a leading figure among the observants. This dossier was later copied into a manuscript which was located at the Augustinian convent in Crema. The manuscript is now found at the Van Pelt Library of the University of Pennsylvania.