Carta Ejecutoria
FINELY BOUND
Carta Ejecutoria
Zaragoza, 1627.£6,000.00
Small folio, [1] + 20 numbered ll. 19 lines per page. Elegant italic letter. Text within multiple ruled borders. First l. with full page painted coat of arms with polychrome shield of de los Martas in blue, red, purple, grey and gold. Purple silk divider protecting colours. Succeeding l. with 2 very large naturalistic painted initials. 5 lines in large letter gilt. Multiple executory autographs at the end, in particular of Don Juan Fernandez de Heredia, Governor of Aragon; the assessor V. Mendoza; and Petro Polo of the Aragonese Council. Original silk ties and former seal cord. A stunning copy, very crisp and clean, in super richly gilt contemporary red morocco, ornate outer border. Central circular and four semi-circular compartments each cover with extensive acanthus and other leaf patterns, large sprigs of olive gilt framed with ornate gilt decorative devices to each corner. Small repair to extreme head of spine and one lower compartment. Very deeply embossed.
In this Carta Ejecutoria, Juan Fernandez de Heredia, of the Council of His Majesty and President of the Royal Audience of Aragon, certifies the nobility of Jeronimo de Marta from Castiliscar in the Kingdom of Aragon. The ms. states, in addition, that it has been proved since time immemorial that those from the House de Marta are of refined nobility – stating for example how its ancestors founded a hospital in Catalayud named after the Holy Ghost – and that the named Jeronimo de Marta is a descendant of this family and its lineage in Castiliscar. This Carta is an elegant example of the documents expected from the Aragonese nobility of the period.
The Marta family were part of the ruling elite of the great city of Zaragoza for several centuries, filling prestigious offices such as Rector of the University, Canon of the Cathedral, justice of the superior criminal court and Regent of Audiencia of Aragon. Although the ms. text acknowledges the existing standing of the family, it is this document which raised them officially to the rank of “noblesse de la robe”
