Gallo's patent of nobility

Patent of nobility granted by Leopold I of Hapsburg, Archduke of Austria, to the brothers Francesco Antonio and Pietro Antonio Gallo from Austrimont. The two documents of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries differ markedly from the previous ones as they were issued by a chancellery with the usual solemn forms (and formulas). In the museum there are in particular a privilege granted by King Ladislao to the Latin and Greek clergy of the city of Altamura, concerning immunity and franchises, and a brief Papal States granting the privilege of being able to celebrate Masses of suffrage in the altar of St. Mary of Constantinople, inside the Cathedral of Altamura. Both are written on parchment and retain the hanging seal, symbol of the power of the public authority that issued the document. The privilege of the Gallo family, from the seventeenth century, is a small volume of nine parchment papers, bound in cardboard covered with fabric and with ribbons for the closure. Features are the initial capital letters written in gold and the noble coat of arms made of watercolour. Because of the quality of the parchment, it can be assumed that it is a copy of the original privilege, made relatively recently.