Le più colte (literally, "the most cultured") was an apostolic letter produced by Pope Pius VII in the first year of his pontificate (1801) in the form of a ''

motu proprio In law, ''motu proprio'' (Latin for "on his own impulse") describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term ''sua sponte'' for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a ...

'', written in Italian, which set out drastic reforms in agricultural policy within the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

Content

The document ordered the complete freedom of production and

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

of ''granaglie'' (corn, flour, etc. but not bread) within the borders of the Papal States with the objective of increasing the general health level of the population. On the other hand, in order to satisfy internal demand,

exports An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

remained forbidden. Furthermore, the ''Deputazione dell'Annona'' was instituted for the first time, which aimed to supervise the whole agricultural production, abolishing some old corporate restrictions on ''"grascia"''. Together with the institution of the

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

of ''granaglie,'' it introduced the freedom to formulate prices and abolished the obligation to sell farm production to the Annona of Rome. Finally, the ''"università dei Fornari"'' was abolished. The reforms set out in this document were more challenging in comparison to the previous ''motu proprio'', where they had been announced for the first time. They were conceived in response to the ongoing

ideological An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied prim ...

influence of the

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

of the more advanced countries in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and some areas in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

(referred to in the '' incipit'' as "Le più colte nazioni d’Europa ed alcune popolazioni d’Italia") and not just by the needs of the moment."Il documento riveste un interesse particolare perché in esso Pio VII espone finalmente le ragioni teoriche che lo spingono a questi nuovi provvedimenti. Il Papa, contrariamente a quanto farà Pio IX cinquant'anni più tardi, afferma d'agire per motivi esclusivamente di natura economica. Ma questa volta, non più imposti necessariamente dall'avversa congiuntura. Agisce ispirandosi apertamente alle dottrine liberistiche del tempo.",

La Civiltà Cattolica ''La Civiltà Cattolica'' (Italian for ''Catholic Civilization'') is a periodical published by the Jesuits in Rome, Italy. It has been published continuously since 1850 and is among the oldest of Catholic Italian periodicals. All of the journal' ...

, Volume 117, Edizione 2, 1966. In a subsequent ''motu proprio'', the number of suppressed corporations was further increased.

References

Bibliography

* Nicola Maria Nicolai, ''Memorie, leggi, ed osservazioni sulle campagne e sull'annona di Roma: Osservazioni storiche economiche dai primi tempi fino al presente con appendice delle operazioni agrarie e biblioteca Georgica'', Pagliarini, 1803.

External links

Text of motu proprio "Le più colte" on Vatican.va
(in italian)
Augusto Goletti, ''La situazione agricola nello Stato Pontificio nel XIX secolo'', "Biblioteca e Società" anni.VII.VIII/1085.86), Viterbo, Tip. Agnesotti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le più colte Motu proprio Pope Pius VII