Pope Paul V, Vatican Papal Bull Vellum Manuscript, c.1605-1621, Perfect for Framing

Up for auction is a rare original vellum papal bull that's dated to the papacy of Paul V (Camillo Borghese), pope from 1605 to 1621.

His letter of 9 July 1606 to congratulate James I on his accession to the throne was three years late and seemed to English eyes merely a preamble to what followed, and his reference to the Gunpowder Plot, made against the life of the monarch and all the members of Parliament the previous November, was unfortunate for the papal cause, for papal agents were considered by the English to have been involved.

However, the Pope in that letter pleaded with James not to make the innocent Catholics suffer for the crime of a few, and Paul V also promised to exhort all the Catholics of the realm to be submissive and loyal to their sovereign in all things not opposed to the honor of God.

Paul summons, Galileo Galilei, to the inquisitions in 1616 after Cardinal Bellarmine had, on his orders, warned Galileo not to hold or defend the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus

Pope Paul V instructed Cardinal Bellarmine to inform Galileo that the Copernican theory could not be taught as fact, but Bellarmine's certificate allowed Galileo to continue his studies in the search of evidence and use the geocentric model as a theoretical device.

That same year Paul V assured Galileo that he was safe from persecution so long as he, the Pope, should live.

The bull is written in Latin and contains a large "P" initial in calligraphy (for "Paulus") to begin the text.

There are several signatures of the Roman Curia underneath the vellum flap and on the reverse.

This early bull is in good condition and measures approx. 12 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches with the vellum flap closed.