Illephonso Perez de Laratole - De anniversariis, et capellaniis - 1622

Pages: 14/172/64

ALFONSO PÉREZ DE LARA (Ildefonso Pérez de Lara).

De Anniversariis et Capellaniis, Libri Duo.

Madrid, apud viduam Ferdinandi Correa, 1622.

Legal and canonical work written in Latin by the Spanish jurist Alfonso Pérez de Lara, native of Toledo. It is a specialized treatise on religious anniversaries and chaplaincies, fundamental institutions in the organizational structure of the Church and in the testamentary and funeral practices of Old Regime Spain.

Across its two books, the author studies the provisions relating to foundations of Masses and anniversaries for the deceased, chaplaincies and their obligations, as well as the goods and revenues destined for pious purposes. He also addresses issues of notable social and legal interest for the time, such as revenues allocated to the marriage of maidens, the upbringing of foundling children, the redemption of captives, the liberation of prisoners, and the montes de piedad. He also covers aspects related to the celebration of Corpus Christi, funeral rights, and the requirements for proving noble lineage and blood purity in order to access certain chaplaincies.

The author, Alfonso Pérez de Lara, was a prominent Spanish jurist of the era of Philip III, connected with the administration of justice of the Hispanic Monarchy. He held judicial positions in the Americas and in various peninsular Audiences, including Galicia, Granada, and Valladolid, and he also served at court. His legal output achieved considerable diffusion and was reissued in later centuries.

This Madrid edition of 1622 constitutes an interesting testimony of the law and religious literature of the Golden Age, especially valuable for the study of canon law, ecclesiastical foundations, testamentary provisions, and charity in 16th- and 17th-century Spain.

Original antique edition, printed in Madrid in 1622. Text entirely in Latin.