The essay tries to analyze the relations between secular and ecclesiastical institutions in the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, particularly in the period between the reign of Francesco Farnese and the reforms of Du Tillot. The examination of several unpublished sources enables the author to revise the historiographical thesis of a total submissiveness of the Farnese Dukes to the local Church and TO the Roman Curia. The correspondence of duke Francis Farnese shows his peculiar attention to ecclesiastical bodies and persons, with a view to protecting his jurisdiction and the ducal prerogatives. This is not the result of a planned jurisdictionalist policy, but of the daily and personal management of ecclesiastical affairs by the Duke and his ministers.
Keywords: Duke Francis Farnese, duchy of Parma and Piacenza, jurisdictionalism, ecclesiastical privileges, exequatur, asylum