Editorial: Rethinking Catholicism in Early Modern Italy (original) (raw)
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Church History and Religious Culture, 104(3-4), 293-311., 2024
This introduction to the monographic issue highlights the methodological shift inspired by the “global turn,” which has reshaped traditional research fields by emphasizing interconnectedness across cultural and religious contexts. It examines how Italian religious historiography has engaged with global frameworks while maintaining a dialogue with its national traditions. The discussion addresses pivotal historiographical debates. The first section of the essay provides a general overview of religious history in Italian historiography since the late 1990s, followed by a more detailed exploration of the most recent historiographical developments and debates.
The present paper aims to analyze the reception of Medieval tropes in the so-called Catholic Tradionalist movements and associations borned around Sixties, especially in Italy. In fact, the closure of the Second Vatican Council (1965) did not coincide, in a part of the clergy and the faithful, with an orderly acceptance of the changes introduced by the Council Fathers. These movements – often wrongly united under the single definition of “lefebvrians” – have, from their origins to nowadays, usually motivated and based their opposition to such innovations – mainly ecumenism and religious freedom – and to modernity in general with frequent and constant references to the Middle Ages, seen as the golden age of Roman Catholicism. To better understand the use of the Middle Ages operated by them, I will explore in particular three topics: the ideas of Crusade and Chivalry and the recepetion of the whole Medieval Era, considered as a perfectly and hierarchically ordered society.
Journal of Early Modern History, 2016
There are now a number of ways to describe the phenomena which come under the umbrella of innovations in Roman Catholicism in the early modern period including “Counter Reformation”; “Catholic Reformation” and “Early Modern Catholicism.” After a brief survey of the various labels used by scholars over the last half century or more, this article seeks to rehabilitate the use of the label “Counter Reformation” in the light, particularly, of the determining role played by the Holy Office (aka Roman Inquisition) in shaping the Catholic Church down to Vatican ii (1962-65). A key role in this was played by Gian Pietro Carafa, who was made head of the congregation of the Holy Office at its foundation in 1542 and who became pope as Paul iv in 1555. During the key decades from the 1540s to 1570s the Inquisition in Rome set the agenda and by means, not only, of a series of trials of prominent members of the clerical establishment whom they regarded as their enemies, succeeded in intimidating ...
De Gruyter eBooks, 2015
The aim of this paper is to show how disciplines such as the History of Christianity became established in Italian public universities duringthe twentieth century. In apredominantlyCatholiccountry like Italy-which was the seat of the papacy and simultaneouslysubject to special treatment by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and which stood under the influenceo fadominant historicistt radition that has Neapolitan philosopher BenedettoCroceasits most distinguished representative-the development of these disciplines was particularlyr emarkable. 1T he beginnings in Italy The History of Christianity first appeared on the curriculum of an Italian State university in 1887. ¹ The facts behind this development are themselvessignificant: at the time the chairmanship of the University of Rome was givent oBaldassare Labanca, aformer priest (1829-1913) (cf. Preti 2004). In 1873 schools and departments of theologyhad been closed in Italy. However,unlike the French Government,the Italian regime, which had been in strongc onflict with the Church for some time, did not make efforts to set up historical-religious courses in the State universities. It was onlyinthe 1880 sthat the tide changed. This resulted in Labanca'ss ummoning to Rome in 1886 to teach the History of Religions,acourse that he would adjust the following year to specificallycover the History of Christianity.The fact that Rome, acitythathad been the capital of the new kingdom of Italysince 1870,a nd was also home to the Pope, offered ac ourse on the History of Christianity-taught by aformer priest-provoked aheateddebate. As a On each of the themes touched upon the bibliography is uncontrollable. The notes aretherefore limited to essential references. Fora no verview of these events, see Siniscalco .
Heresy, Culture, and Religion in Early Modern Italy: Contexts and Contestations (review)
Renaissance Quarterly, 2007
despite the repressions of Albornoz, the return of the papacy from Avignon and the gradual reassertion of papal control throughout the remainder of the Trecento. Constitutional change during the intervening decades came slowly and subtly: rubrics outlawing participation of the barons in the city’s affairs stayed on the books, while the content of individual rubrics underwent gradual change or saw the replacement of former offices (reformatores) with new ones (conservatores), for example. Only under Paul II did Rienzo’s legacy truly disappear with the abolition of the 20 May Mass of the Holy Spirit in honor of his revolution (replaced by the feast of S. Bernardino in 1469) and the substitution of the Respublica romanorum and presens popularis status with the Sanctissimi domini nostri Pauli pape Secundi et Romane Ecclesie status. The change of a few words tells far greater tales. Modigliani offers a good review of the Roman constitution from 1143 into the Trecento and a detailed analy...
The Italian Church in the Year of the Papal Succession
Italian Politics, 2006
Arturo Carlo Jemolo wrote Church and State during the Last Hundred Years in 1948. Jemolo, an insightful scholar of a relationship that has been scrutinized from all angles, continually updated his "long-seller," publishing fresh editions at various points. It was even reprinted after his death. By this time, historiographical knowledge of the single segments of that experience had increased in significant ways. Yet there is one reason in particular that explains this book's resistance to both the progress of time and advances in research and illustrates why it still deserves our attention today. Jemolo had intuited the broad chronological dimension that was and still remains indispensable in order to understand the relationship between church and state in Italy. If we did not precisely place the phenomena on a wide parabola, we would, in fact, risk confusing episodes with tendencies, outcomes with processes-and, in the end, become prisoners (if I may pun on the subtitle of the newspaper Osservatore Romano) of a "political and religious daily" life in which the ephemeral becomes memorable, and vice versa. Ever more so today, we need to proceed with caution in evaluating the aspects of the life of the Catholic Church that significantly influenced the course of Italian politics during 2005. The list of memorabilia should be sorted according to less spontaneous criteria than those that normally govern the daily news. Above all, we should at least attempt to reposition the processes in motion in a broader framework, which, Notes for this chapter begin on page 198.
Heresy, Culture, and Religion in Early Modern Italy: Contexts and Contestations
Truman State University Press, 2006
Perhaps her most decisive influence has been her encouragement of her students and younger colleagues. As a mentor and teacher, Elisabeth has listened to many young scholars over the years; she has helped them (and us) reformulate our dissertations, rethink our conference papers, and craft our first publications. She has always done so with courtesy, encouragement, and an uncanny ability to enable her colleagues to rethink some of their most basic assumptions. It is our hope that this volume can serve as a collective expression of our gratitude to Elisabeth for all that she has done to develop the field of the study of religion in early modern Italy.
A Sacred CIty: Consecrating Churches and Reforming Society in Eleventh-Century Italy
The so-called Investiture Conflict was a watershed moment in the political life of the Latin West and the history of the papacy. Occurring at a time of rapid social change and political expansion, the eleventh-century reform movement became a debate centered on a ritual: the investment of bishops with the signs of their sacred and secular authority. The consecration of bishops, however, was only one of several contemporaneous conflicts over the significance of consecrations. Less well known is that which occurred over the dedication of churches. This book provides an examination of the consecration, placing the fundamental questions of the Gregorian Reform and Investiture Conflict back into their original liturgical framework. This context allows us to consider the symbolic richness of the liturgy that attracted large numbers of people.