MERMILLOD (Gaspard) - Lot 177

Lot 177
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80 - 100 EUR
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MERMILLOD (Gaspard) - Lot 177
MERMILLOD (Gaspard) Carouge, 1824 - 1892 Swiss prelate, bishop and cardinal of the Catholic Church, a major figure of Catholicism in Switzerland in the XIXᵉ century, at the heart of tensions between the Holy See and the federal authorities. Autograph letter signed "+ Gaspard Mermillod évêque" to "Chère Madame". Ferney [France], July 23, 1873 1 page in-8, on embossed paper. Enclosed: two visiting cards with a few autograph words. A touching, solicitous and spiritual letter, written during Mermillod's period of exile in Ferney, following the politico-religious tensions in Switzerland. In it, the bishop expresses his attachment to his correspondent, despite "a silence imposed on me by travels and duties", and testifies to his moral support: "I admire your courage and your maternal solicitude; I wish to tell you that from afar as well as in Ferney, I have the most devoted sympathies for you...". He concludes by assuring his interlocutor of his "prayers and blessings". This document is set in a specific historical context: appointed vicar apostolic of Geneva in January 1873, Mermillod was expelled from Switzerland the following month and forced to settle in Ferney. He would not return to Switzerland until relations with the Holy See had calmed down, becoming Bishop of Lausanne and Geneva in 1883, then Cardinal in 1890. Good condition.
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