An old calligraphy document written in old German. There are various mentions of the Cittadella di Messina in Sicily, Munich to Stolzenau, Oliver Graf Von Wallis and many other names. It is dated 1720 in several areas of the document. This document may be related to the Quadruple Alliance with the Treaty of Hague in 1720. It measures 28" x 21" . It includes the wood weight that would be attached to the base of the document.Background and constructionThe Real Cittadella was built by the Spanish Empire, who controlled the Kingdom of Sicily between 1680 and 1686. It was built to defend the Port of Messina, but it was also meant to establish a strong garrison in the city to prevent the population from revolting, as had happened a few years earlier in 1674. The fort was designed by Carlos de Grunenbergh, the military engineer of the Viceroy of Sicily. It was built in the centre of the peninsula of San Raineri, and was cut off from the mainland by a moat. The extremity of the peninsula was occupied by the Forte del Santissimo Salvatore.A neighborhood populated by 8000 people, a Benedictine monastery and several churches had to be demolished to make way for the construction of the Cittadella.18th and 19th centuriesThe Spanish lost control of Sicily to the House of Savoy in 1713. In 1718, they invaded the island during the War of the Quadruple Alliance and the Cittadella surrendered to the Spanish general Spinola. A year later it was recaptured by the Austrian Count Claude Florimond de Mercy. The Cittadella was again captured by the Bourbon Charles III of Spain in 1735, during the War of the Polish Succession.The fort was also used as a prison, and the French geologist Doedat Gratet de Dolomieu was imprisoned there in 1798.