Church, Censorship and Culture in Early Modern Italy

by Gigliola Fragnito, Adrian Belton

Overview

This book covers one of the most controversial subjects in Italian historiography, namely the success or failure of the Church's policy during the counter-Reformation to exert rigorous control not only over theology but over all branches of knowledge. By drawing extensively upon newly-opened sources in the archive of the former Congregation of the Holy Office, generally known as the "Inquisition", it affords a more articulated and objective assessment of the effects of ecclesiastical censorship on religion and culture in early modern Italy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521661720
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/06/2001
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Italian History and Culture
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Gigliola Fragnito is Professor of Early Modern History in the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, Universit... degli Studi, Parma. Her many publications on early modern Italian church and government include La Bibbia al Rogo ('The Bible at the stake'), Il Mulino, 1997.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction Gigliola Fragnito; 2. The central and peripheral organisation of censorship Gigliola Fragnito; 3. How to doctor a bibliography: Antonio Possevino's practice Luigi Balsamo; 4. The Roman Inquisition's condemnation of astrology: reasons and consequences Ugo Baldini; 5. Tradition and change in the spiritual literature of the Cinquecento Edoardo Barbieri; 6. A project of 'expurgation' by the Congregation of the Index: treatises on duelling Claudio Donati; 7. The Index, the Holy Office, the condemnation of the Talmud and publication of Clement VIII's Index Fausto Parente; 8. Italian literature on the Index Ugo Rozzo; 9. The censoring of law books Rodolfo Savelli.

Editorial Reviews

"This collection of articles on ecclesiastical censorship in Italy between the 1550s and 1630s is a landmark in the historiography of that controversial subject." The Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"Students and scholars alike will find the range of insights into the process and theory of censorship rewarding." Religious Studies Review

"Drawing extensively upon this archival source, the book highlights the wide gap between the Church's aim to exert control over all knowledge and actual implementation." Italian Journal

"...this collection of essays is one of extreme importance for the understanding of Italian intellectual life in the seventeenth century." Seventeenth-Century News

"Fragnito tells the story well. Along the way, she questions some long-held assumptions about the deleterious impact of censorship on Italian culture.... Some of the articles offer excellent new material and are well-organized.... all the articles list a wealth of printed primary and secondary sources." Catholic Historical Review

From the Publisher