This paper offers an unprecedented analysis of two main hagiographies of Hermachoras of Aquileia, BHL 3838 and 3840 – the latter never having been considered by scholars so far. Our investigation includes comparisons with other texts, especially De episcopis Mettensibus by Paul the Deacon, leading to an accurate chronology of the hagiographies, twice modified in the Early Middle Ages within a short period of time because of the Three Chapters Controversy and the division of the local ecclesiastical seat. Such a modification only intervened in the section about Mark the Evangelist (Leggenda marciana): in an original Passion from the late sixth century, a first addition dating from the beginning of the seventh century (BHL 3840) was altered again within the first third of the same century (BHL 3838), when Grado renewed its communion with Rome. Our survey includes a historical contextualization of texts, and observations on the Aquileian patriarchate’s title.
Our essay focuses on Pope Felix V of Basel’s relationship with the mendicant orders between 1439 and 1449. During that decade, the religious map of Savoy was redesigned as a result of multiple factors. Factionalism among friars and monks acted as a sounding board for the restlessness of the 15th century monastic world, fueling uncertainty and instability, whilst exacerbating the ongoing conflicts between Reformed and Conventuals. Contemporary sources shed light not only on the gap between the friars and their orders and convents, but also on the increased authority of friars from Piedmont (mostly Dominicans) rising to the command of their order, and whose allegiance rested with Felix V.
During the seventeenth century, the choice of the leaders of the Order of Friars Minor was a constant cause of internal conflicts involving both the lay and ecclesiastical powers. The study of the competition for the governing positions of the Franciscans gives us a very different picture from the one given to us by contemporary literature and much of historiography. In this respect the practices of intervention of the Spanish Monarchy and the Holy See in the life and institutional organization of the Franciscans, in order to ensure – through the appointment of superiors of proven loyalty – a certain degree of control over them, represent a very important yet little studied aspect. Here, as a matter of fact, various factions clashed, alliances were built, and rumors, news, memoirs and libelli famosi were spread, with no holds barred, to question the loyalty of this or that friar; loyalty and infidelity were indeed rewarded in order to strike opponents and competitors.
The mission to Kongo and Angola that Propaganda Fide entrusted to Italian Capuchins began in the 1640s. The reports drawn up by the missionaries in the following fifty years are useful to define the true meaning of mission. Even before setting out on a long and dangerous sea voyage, the missionaries had to deal with a constantly changing political situation in Europe that strongly affected the preparations for the ongoing mission. In the area of vangelization the Capuchins had to struggle with an unhealthy climate, illnesses, and the wide and desert surroundings. Besides, spreading Catholic teachings was extremely complex, as they were generally perceived in an unorthodox way because of the persistence of traditional rituals and behaviors among natives.
The essay focuses on the first mission to southern Borneo carried out by the Theatine priest Father Antonino Ventimiglia, whose biographical profile is reconstructed, following his traces, retracing the steps of his journey through an extensive use of narrative and archival sources. Through such sources the contextual complexity of Father Ventimiglia’s mission emerges, far beyond the circumstances in which it had been originally planned.
Our paper offers a critical edition of the Letter to the Italian Princes written by Timoteo Maffei, a Veronese humanist and Lateran canon regular (ca. 1415-1470), who was archbishop of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) from 1467 to 1470.
Paola Foschi, Domenico Cerami, Renzo Zagnoni, Monasteri benedettini nella diocesi di Bologna (secoli VII-XV), a cura di Paola Foschi (Silvia Carraro) - «Non ore orandum solo» nelle vicende del monastero di Santa Grata «in Columnellis» a Bergamo, a cura di Mariarosa Cortesi (Caterina Cappuccio) - Renzo Fantappiè, Eresia e Inquisizione a Prato (secoli XII-XIV) (Riccardo Parmeggiani) - Daniele Solvi, Il canone agiografico di san Bernardino (post 1460) (Marco Guida)
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