ABSTRACT
On 19 April 1715, Frà Marcello Sacchetti, ambassador of the Order of Malta to the Holy See (1682–1720), prepared to organise his material possessions. 1 The opening paragraph of his will and inventory read as follows:
In the name of God, and of the Glorious perpetual Virgin Mary Amen[.] Since the lot of Man is assailed by infinite perils, and knowing full well that as a wretched sinner I am mortal, born to die, unknowing of the day of reckoning save that I will have to pay my dues, I am resolved with the help of his Divine Majesty to prepare myself for that uncertain hour, and leave my affairs in order[,] lest lawsuits and disagreements between my Holy Religion and my nephew the Lord Marquis Matteo Sacchetti follow my demise. Thus having been professed for many years into the said Holy Religion I desire to conform with the provisions of the statutes of the same and make my dispropriamento. 2
