Notarial deed of dissolution, between the Casa Albizzi of Florence and the Casa Venier of Venice, in the matter of the betrothal of Donna Lucrezia Maria Albizzi to Signor Pietro Venier. Drawn by Ser Niccolò di Pier Vespucci at the Florentine Studio the xxiiijth day of February, anno 1484. Filed in the Albizzi archive; a sealed copy delivered into Venier hands by courier the xxvjth.
Notum sit omnibus.
Be it known by these presents that the betrothal aforesaid is, by mutual consent of the parties, dissolved, the marriage not having taken place; the cause not being the fault of the said Donna Lucrezia nor of the said Signor Pietro, but of certain parole pesate uttered between the Magnificent Signor Tommaso degli Albizzi and the Magnificent Signora Caterina Venier (mother of the said Signor Pietro) in the parlour of the Casa Venier on the xivjth day of February, the substance of which the present notary, by the parties' instruction, doth not record.
The disposition of the dowry goods stands as follows:
Returned this day, by courier, into the Albizzi household at Florence:
items 1 through 13 of the dowry inventory of xiij December 1483, in their entirety; the bench-coin moiety having been previously released by the Casa Venier upon notice of the dissolution.
Retained by the Casa Venier as collateral pro forma until the satisfaction of certain matters arising:
None.
Disputed:
Item 14 of the inventory aforesaid, la colombina d'argento niellata, antique, with the Greek inscription on the reverse.
The Casa Albizzi assert that the said colombina was returned with items 1 through 13. The Casa Venier assert that the said colombina was not in the chest at the moment of its return; they assert that it was last seen at the dinner of the xivjth, worn at the throat of Donna Lucrezia, and that whether it left the Casa Venier with her cannot now be settled. Donna Lucrezia herself, asked, says she did not wear it that evening; the Magnificent Signora Caterina, asked, recalls a colombina of the kind on the bride's bodice but cannot be certain.
The parties, finding the matter not capable of present resolution by witnesses' testimony and not wishing to delay the dissolution upon a single item of considerable sentimental but not principal value, have agreed that the colombina shall be held neither here nor there in the present deed, and that if it shall surface at a later date in either house the holder shall return it to the other without prejudice or proof.
Quod superest cum tempore tractabitur. What remains will be dealt with by time.
Sealed and witnessed, Ser Niccolò di Pier Vespucci, notary
[At the foot of the deed, in a different hand and a smaller pen, undated, in Florentine vernacular:]
Il tempo non l'ha mai trattata. — Time has never dealt with it.