The Statute of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Sacrament in Umag (1555)

Abstract

The paper is divided in three parts - the Author’s introductory text, the text of the Statute of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Sacrament in Umag and the translation. The introductory text deals first with the confraternities in Umag, mainly on the basis of a report submitted by the Commission headed by Agostino Valier in 1581. Valier’s Commission examined eleven confraternities, but there were undoubtedly more than that. They dominated the private and public life of the inhabitants of Umag, in the religious, social and economic sphere. The Author then examines the Statute of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Sacrament, adopted during the assembly in 1555. It consists of 13 articles, while the fourteenth is an addition concerning moral issues. It is one of the few extant statutes of religious associations and is particularly valuable for the study of the structure and activities of layperson associations in Istria, particularly around Umag. The Statute prescribes the internal structure of a confraternity, from the theological question of the explanation of the mystery of the Most Holy Sacrament, to economic and charitable problems, questions regarding relations between members, the election and authority of the gastaldus (headman), etc. Members were obliged to follow the accepted rules, while insubordination was punished in a variety of ways - financially, morally, excommunicating a person from the association, etc. The document is written in Italian humanistic characters on parchment paper, and the introduction is embellished with a few miniatures. It is kept today in the Umag Parish Archive.