Civic Politics in the Rome of Urban VIII

by Laurie Nussdorfer

Overview

In this colorful depiction of daily political life in Baroque Rome, Laurie Nussdorfer argues that the lay persons managed to sustain a civic government under the increased papal absolutism of Urban VIII (1623-1644), who oversaw both sacred and secular life. Focusing on the S.P.Q.R. (the Senate and Roman People), which was administered from the Capitoline Hill, she shows that it provided political representation for lay members of the urban elite, carried out the work of local government, and served as a symbol of the Roman voice in public life. Through a detailed study of how civic authorities derived their sense of legitimacy and how lay subjects maneuvered in informal and disguised ways to block or criticize the papal regime, the author advances a new way of conceiving politics under an absolute ruler. As Nussdorfer analyzes the complex interactions between the lay administration and Urban VIII and his family, the papal administration, and Romans of the upper and lower classes, she also provides fresh insights into the actual practice of early modern government. She takes the plague threat of the early 1630s, the War of Castro (1641-1644), and the interregnum following the pope's death as important test cases of the state's power in times of crisis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691656359
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	04/23/2019
Series:	Princeton Legacy Library , #5409
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

Units of Money and Weight

Abbreviations

Introduction

Pt. I The Roman Setting

Ch. 1 A Holy City

Ch. 2 The Economic Conjuncture

Ch. 3 The Nodes of Power

Ch. 4 A Web of Jurisdiction

Pt. II The Roman People

Ch. 5 A Civic Space

Ch. 6 A Civic Nobility

Pt. III The Politics of Jurisdiction

Ch. 7 Marketplace

Ch. 8 Guilds

Ch. 9 Vassals

Ch. 10 Plague

Pt. IV The Politics of Patronage

Ch. 11 The Network of Relationships

Ch. 12 Civic Revenues and the Papacy

Pt. V The Politics of Accommodation and Protest

Ch. 13 The War of Castro

Ch. 14 The Vacant See

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

"Nussdorfer's exemplary social history of political culture in the long reign of Urban VIII (1623-44) is committed to delineating the structures of society and power, explicating the language of cooperation and coercion, examining the tensions between ruler and ruled, and understanding the logic behind the vying political pretensions of overlapping jurisdictions."

Sixteenth Century Journal

"Nussdorfer's exemplary social history of political culture in the long reign of Urban VIII (1623-44) is committed to delineating the structures of society and power, explicating the language of cooperation and coercion, examining the tensions between ruler and ruled, and understanding the logic behind the vying political pretensions of overlapping jurisdictions."--Sixteenth Century Journal

From the Publisher