Parere dell’Illustrissimo Giovanni Andrea Doria ...

Pius V formed an alliance between Spain, Genoa, Venice and the Papal States, to respond to the Ottoman attack against Cyprus on July 1570. The combined Christian fleet of 205 galleys and numerous smaller vessels assembled on the Venetian-held island of Crete on August 25, 1570. Bad weather and the delaying tactics by Doria, who deeply feared the Turks and was reluctant to engage them, delayed departure for Cyprus until the beginning of September. The Christian armada was halfway to Cyprus when news of the fall of Nicosia (September 9) reached it.

The day before their departure, Doria addressed this Parere [Opinion] to the general commander of the fleet, Marcantonio Colonna, putting into writing his objections to the expedition.

The note on the 'Parere' indicates that this manuscript was the first in the series of Doria-Colonna manuscripts. This is confirmed by Gennarelli in his introduction to the publication of the 'Colonna' manuscript above. The Parere was published by Achille Gennarelli (1817–1902) in Il Saggiatore, on the basis of a manuscript then in the possession of Vincenzo Colonna (Il Saggiatore, giornale romano di storia, letteratura, belle arti, filologia e varietà, vol. II, Roma 1844, pp. 289-295). That copy was there titled: Primo manifesto tra il sig. Marc. Antonio Colonna Illmo et il sig. Andrea Doria, and the text shows considerable variations compared with the present one.

At least three copies of this manuscript are known: 1) the Ioannou copy, 2) the copy published by Gennarelli, and 3) another copy in the possession of the German Historical Institute in Rome (Minucciani ms. 7, no. 34, ff. 310r-314r, titled: Copia del parere del signor Giovanni Andrea Doria circal’andare ad commettere l’Armata turchesca dato al signor Marc’Antonio Colonna) [n.b. 'Sitia' misread as 'Letia' in Corsica]. It is described in I Codici Minucciani dell'Istituto Storico Germanico. Inventario a cura di Alexander Koller, Pier Paolo Piergentili e Gianni Venditti, Rome, 2009, p. 81.

With reference to all three manuscripts concerning Doria and the Cyprus expedition: The manuscripts were transcribed to order by a professional scribe, and the same scribe transcribed all three manuscripts. The number '4' probably refers to the volume into which all three manuscripts were bound. According to the folio number on the first leaf of each gathering, the order in which the manuscripts were originally bound was, first, the Colonna manuscript, then the Doria 'Parere' and finally the 'Relatione'. However, according to the Minucci volume, it is clear from the foliation that the correct order was first, the 'Parere', then the 'Relatione', and finally the 'Informatione'. This is confirmed by the note in a later hand on the first leaf of the 'Parere'.

An examination of the text of the Ioannou copy of the 'Parere' with the transcription of the 'Parere' manuscript made by Genarelli indicates that the Ioannou manuscript must have been made before the copy of the manuscript transcribed by Genarelli. It is possible that the Genarelli manuscript was copied from the Ioannou manuscript. There are lines missing from the Genarelli copy, as is clear when the two manuscripts are compared. An accurate account of Doria’s opinion concerning the expedition to Cyprus would be advanced by a comparison of the text of all three manuscripts.