Exceptionally rare Italian broadside against the unauthorised manufacture of saltpetre and gunpowder within the Papal States. Saltpetre, an essential ingredient of gunpowder, and gunpowder itself could only be manufactured and traded under the monopoly of the Apostolic Camera and its official contractor. Issued in 1651, the present decree renews earlier prohibitions against private saltpetre and gunpowder makers and forbids landowners from allowing production on their properties. Offenders faced severe penalties, including confiscation of their goods and, in certain cases, death. The text refers to several earlier decrees on the same subject, including a general decree of January 1645, indicating that unauthorised production remained a persistent problem despite repeated attempts to suppress it.
The document is slightly soiled and has been folded in the past, a horizontal tear in the middle which has been repaired on the verso, two brown stain in the lower margin, slightly affecting the imprint. Otherwise in good condition. Not in OPAC SBN; USTC; WorldCat.