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“Peregrinationes” Accademia Internazionale MelitenseTomo II - Anno Accademico II MMI - Acta et documenta
“Carlo V e Mercurino di
Gattinara suo Gran Cancelliere”
International Meeting 9-11 giugno 2000 – Malta, Forte Sant’Angelo Introduction The anniversary of the
birth of Charles V in the year 2000 prompted a series of initiatives five
centuries later for studying this exceptional personage and representatives of
his court, and especially his Grand Chancellor Mercurino Arborio di Gattinara. The Order of Malta also wanted to commemorate the Emperor's
historic Deed of Concession of the Maltese Islands and Tripoli to the Knights
of St. John in 1530 as part of the celebrations that the countries historically
involved in Charles V's empire were organising in Europe. Within this framework, the Accademia Internazionale
Melitense organised a conference in its extraterritorial seat of Fort St. Angel
in Malta, in the presence of H.M.E.H. the Prince and Grand Master, Fra' Andrew
Bertie, of H.E. the President of Malta, Prof. Guido de Marco, numerous members
of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Order of Malta and eminent
representatives of local and international culture. This conference is entirely
devoted to Charles V and to his Grand Chancellor. In conjunction with the conference, and again in the
prestigious venue of the Grand Master's Palace in Fort St. Angelo, a
historiographical exhibition was opened on 9 June, prepared by the Grand
Magistry and the National Library of Malta, running until 18 June, in which the
original document of the Concession took pride of place. The Rector of the University of Malta, Roger
Ellul-Micallef, and the President of the Accademia Internazionale Melitense,
Paolo Caucci von Saucken, of the University of Perugia, introduced the
conference, after which papers were delivered by Victor Mallia Milanes, of the
University of Malta, Luis de Llera, of the University of Genoa, Gabriele
Morelli, of the University of Bergamo and Hugo O'Donnel, of the University of
Madrid. Alongside the conference and exhibition, the Order's
Magistral Post Office dedicated a commemorative philatelic issue to the Fifth
Centenary of the Emperor Charles V and the Order's historic event.
The International Conference in Malta was preceded by another event
held in Gattinara, to which the Order had given its patronage and during which
a commemorative plaque was dedicated to the Grand Chancellor of the Emperor
Charles V. The great merit for this initiative goes to the Ambassador of Spain
to the Sovereign Order, Carlos Abella y Ramallo, who gathered around him,
besides myself, Cardinal Antonio María Javierre Ortas, the Ambassadors of
Austria, Gustav Ortner, of Belgium, Thierry Muuls, of Germany, Jurgen
Oesterhelt, and of Holland, Guy Westerouen van Meeteren. These encounters led to invitations for the Order to
participate actively with its special delegations in other events held
throughout the world in honour of Charles V, and especially that of Toledo on 5
October, in which the Grand Master of the Order participated with the
sovereigns and heads of government of Europe, guests of HM the King of Spain
Juan Carlos I. There were also many papers and references dedicated to
this imposing historical figure and his political strategy during subsequent
events. After presenting this volume, the writer is left, together with the
pleasant task of addressing his most heartfelt thanks to His Most Eminent
Highness the Prince and Grand Master, to all the government authorities, to the
members of the Diplomatic Corps and to personalities of the cultural world who
have honoured this International Conference with their presence, with the
satisfaction of having hosted such an important event in the seat of the
Accademia Internazionale. Let us hope that the scientific results of this
conference can bear fruit to shed further light on the figure of the great
Emperor and his Grand Chancellor. Malta, Fort St. Angelo - 9 February 2001
Toledo. The Heads of State and Government of the European
countries which had a historical influence at the time of Charles 5th, in
occasion of the events organised in Madrid and Toledo by the King of Spain Juan
Carlos, in honour of the Emperor. On the right of the King and Queen of Spain,
the Prince and Grand Master, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, top first on the right, the
Grand Chancellor, Amb. Conte Carlo Marullo. Conclusions
“Charles V and his Grand Chancellor Mercurino di Gattinara” Our meeting is now ending and I would like to sum up those points which
will surely remain for future discussion. These concern not only the theme of Charles V and Mercurino di
Gattinara but also the presence of the Order of Malta in the Maltese islands
and the significance that Charles V's concession had for the Knights and the
significance that it could still have today for the future of the Order. This is precisely because the formula used by Charles V is a formula
that could also have its own topicality for the near future. I thank Professor
Mallia Milanes, the first speaker, who placed Charles V in the cultural milieu,
helping us to see him through the ideological bases of his action, also
carefully and acutely depicting the economic and political situation in which
Charles V and Mercurino di Gattinara's actions were inserted. And he did this
with great delicacy, without flaunting great policy reasons, but showing how
Gattinara, and Charles V even more than Gattinara, proceeded slowly, almost
following a path, a path traced out step by step on the basis of intuitions
that came perhaps also from the divine will. Conversely, Professor Luis de Llera gave a less political slant to this
plan of Charles V and to his presence in history. He dwelt on the character of
Charles V, on what was perhaps his health; he talked a little about his fits of
depression and this enabled us to catch a glimpse of his relationship with his
mother and to see crises during some moments of his empire which could
certainly seem to have been prompted by great politics, by the disappointments
he suffered, but which perhaps with less emphasis one could attribute to a
state of temporary illness. Undoubtedly, Professor de Llera showed us not only
a Charles V dedicated and above all ready to sacrifice himself to keep faith
with his commitment, but also a more human Charles V. A Charles V who is still
himself in his dimension in history, but is also someone who has to come to
terms with his anxiety, his inner development that, in spite of thinking he had
finished his political mission at the age of twenty-five, was to have led him
forward for all his long reign. Perhaps suffering much, certainly a great
figure of a man, and surely striving to grow: and it is this striving that I
believe Professor de Llera has shown us and I am confident he will give us the
opportunity to hear how he develops his theses, further supported and verified
with new documents. Professor Morelli has given his paper today, with a clear
vision of the relationship between Charles V and Gattinara. He has shown how in
history men who are called on to perform different functions - maybe because of
their state of grace, maybe because their paths are illuminated by Providence,
maybe because daily assumptions help to make plans bigger than men - remain
closely linked to their sovereigns, taking on some of their features, and thus
making up for some deficiencies and above all stabilising the management of
power, guaranteeing with loyalty their counsel to their sovereign, guaranteeing
with their wisdom a truth offered to him who has the power to decide. What greater talent could a chancellor, or grand chancellor, or
political counsellor, have than that of telling his sovereign the truth, not
only the truth but also honestly giving his own opinion? An opinion that can be
harsh or not, according to the circumstances, but which has to provide his
sovereign with the terms for judging and deciding. Gattinara fits extremely
well into this picture: counsellor, honest counsellor, counsellor who, even
faced with the decision of Charles V to act directly, makes it his duty to
provide the advice he considers the best. Professor Morelli's paper gives an idea of a greater Gattinara, to be
encountered in the great issues but also in the smaller ones; rather like the
preceptor who becomes counsellor. And the counsellor Charles V has for all his
life and who never betrays him is certainly a great man. Professor O'Donnel,
with his contribution, interprets the act conceding the Island of Malta to the
Order. He leaves us with a thesis, to be further investigated, in which he
claims that the Order of St. John, which had lost the territory of Rhodes, did
not acquire sovereignty with Charles V's act, but a temporary control of a
territory it administered, exercising a sovereignty that it already had, and it
probably lost this temporary control when it lost the territory. And thus it continued along a path that was to remain sovereign as it
is still today in international law. I think I do not need to add anything else
to these weighty matters and to the authoritative papers we have listened to.
The academy has been happy to offer this opportunity of intellectual debate to
Their Excellencies, to the Ambassadors who wanted to come here with the Spanish
Ambassador to honour Charles V, to see the island and see the memories of the
Knights. And these days will certainly remain in your hearts. We are left with the
satisfaction of having done our duty, keeping faith with our commitment. I thank the members of the board of directors of the Accademia
Internazionale Melitense for the support they have given us in organising this
event. I would also like to thank those who have enabled us to organise the
exhibition here on the ground floor. In particular, I would like to thank
Confrère Commander Fra' John Edward Critien, Miss Maroma Camilleri and Mr.
Joseph Schirò. Thanks to them it has been possible to flank this conference
with the exhibition in Fort St. Angel where you have certainly seen, for the
first time, the document ceding the Maltese Islands, the document signed by
Charles V, certainly an important deed for the Order of Malta in this its first
base on the island. Thanks are also due to all those who have given their
technical contribution to this event, the speakers, present here in the room,
who will now be receiving a small gift from His Most Eminent Highness. And I
would like them to take back a thought with them: that the presence of the
Order in this fort can, also through their work and with their future
commitment, germinate and become a beacon in the Mediterranean with its renewed
cultural commitment. The Order has passed through difficult moments - as you
all know – but Providence always came to the rescue, and the splendour achieved
in the past decade ensures that, alongside its commitment to "tuitio
fidei", alongside its commitment to "obsequium pauperum", the
Order has always found the possibility and means to carry on its cultural
dialogue, in seeking its history, in seeking to protect its memory, even
recent, and also with regards to what will be the future. This is an important
link in its evolution. And it is doing it with exhibitions, shows, debates and
dialogues all over the globe, also encouraging the marginal areas of the world. This is what the Accademia Internazionale Melitense wants to do and I
as its rector, here in Malta, reiterate this commitment. The Maltese and the
illustrious university professors must also help us, we need to concentrate all
the available cultural forces around this academy so that it will become an
international beacon of research and culture, a beacon that will shine in the
three directions of history, medicine and, above all, diplomacy. Thank you again for being with us and best wishes for the journey that many of you will shortly be making to return to your homes. |
