Our text focuses on Aemilius, bishop of Beneventum at the beginning of the fifth century. Unfortunately, Aemilius’ figure, though of undisputed value – related to both prominent personalities of the ecclesial world between Campania and Apulia and illustrious families belonging to the Roman Christian aristocracy – suffers from a lack of sources. Our paper is divided into three sections. Section one, exploring Aemilius’ own network of contacts and social relationships, is based upon the analysis of Paolinus of Nola’s Carm. XXV and XXI. Section two, taking the cue from Palladius’ records, pieces together different phases of the legation sent to Constantinople by Emperor Honorius and Pope Innocent I (405-406?) during John Chrysostom’s dramatic deposition and exile, as well as the role played by Aemilius at that time. Finally, section three examines pastoral actions and church building projects promoted by the bishop in Beneventum, hypothetically ascribing to him the construction of the domus episcopalis.
A nephew of Cardinal Guido da Somma and papal subdeacon, Alberto started a brilliant career within the familia of Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester and papal legate in England. From 1177 onwards, he was instructed by pope Alexander III to act as a mediator between Frederick I and the Lombard League and to supervise papal enquiries on financial matters, regarding in particular the exemption of some churches in North-West Italy. In 1181 he was canon of S. Alessandro in Bergamo, but quickly moved to the church of S. Ambrogio in Milan where, between 1188 and 1192, he restored the canons’ dire financial situation thanks to his huge resources and experience on economic matters. Alberto left the canons detailed instructions on the celebration of his obit and a rich inheritance which he used to establish a new canonical prebend, the thirteenth one, assigned to a member of his lineage. A critical edition of Alberto da Somma’s five last wills is provided.
The aim of our essay is to show the centrality of the ars predicandi during the pontificate of Innocent III (1198-1216). He was an expert preacher who regularly preached in Roman churches and basilicas as well as during the IV Lateran Council (1215). Innocent III’s preaching activity is principally accounted for by his collection of model sermons. This essay investigates the pope’s modus predicandi through the analysis of some of the main themes of his sermons. Innocent III presented himself as the heir of a tradition developing in Rome since the twelfth century and stemming from the connection among biblical exegesis, preaching and liturgy. Through pastoral care and the promotion and discipline of preaching, the pope and the Roman Curia tried to achieve a more effective governance of the Church and Christian society.
Medieval studies have analyzed the recruitment of cardinals between the 12th and 13th centuries, also thanks to prosopographic works focusing on their biographical profiles. Unfortunately, little space was devoted to a particular phenomenon, which can be defined as an “internal promotion”, whereby a cardinal moves from one title to another. This almost always occurred in an ascending fashion (i.e. from a lower to a higher cardinal title), even if there were passages between titles of the same level. The lack of documentation has likely discouraged further study on this topic, especially as to why these movements took place, inasmuch as they could be related the economic and symbolic differences among different titles. The purpose of our article is to focus on the available sources whilst providing a first survey on a seldom debated topic.
This essay aims to contextualise the foundation of a chapel dedicated to Saint Cecilia in Volterra’s cathedral. The institution of this ecclesiastical benefice was eminently a political act, carried out in agreement between the bishop and the institutions of the city, in deference to the ideals of pax and tranquillitas adopted by the Popolo.
This paper highlights how, in the early modern age, social and cultural categories usually related to individuals charged with witchcraft are prone to distinctive variables. Our contribute will deal with some meaningful cases that took place in Central-North Italy between the XVI and XVII centuries, whilst comparing stereotypes frequently linked to witches by specific literature to documentary facts. As such stereotypes are not always matched by records, we proposed to analyze the dialectic between stereotypes and anomalies in early modern witchlore, turning to prosopographical models and IT tools.
Between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, Saint Maurice’s Ring was the main insignia of sovereignty of the Dukes of Savoy. Each sovereign passed on power to his successor by giving him this ring. Duke Charles Emmanuel I (1580-1630) placed it at the core of a careful communication strategy, involving prominent painters, writers and historians active in his court. The poet Flavio Frugoni wrote that the ring symbolized the marriage between God and the House of Savoy. The duke also used it to claim the German origins of his House. By the middle of the century, though, the ring gradually lost its importance. The Holy Shroud became thereby the main religious symbol of the House.
This article traces the story of Maria Clotilde of Savoy (1843-1911), a noblewoman whose process of beatification, begun in the 1930s, was never completed. The life of Vittorio Emanuele II’s daughter was conditioned by the political-diplomatic situation within the context of national unification; at the same time, it was also characterized by a spiritual tension that deepened in her later years as the princess, thanks to her religious practices and charitable works, was greatly admired, whilst stirring up devotion among those who revered her as a sort of “living saint”. Such feelings strengthened after the princess’s death, and after the Concordat the conditions were ripe for launching a beatification process. However, this process ended up being undermined by the changing climate and transformations leading to new and different models of female sanctity after World War II.
This article aims to reconstruct the situation of ecclesiastical geopolitics in Central America immediately after the discovery of Columbus. Even though the first bishops to reside in American dioceses were Alonso Manso in Puerto Rico in 1512, and Pedro Suárez de Deza in Conceptión de la Vega in 1514, the central piece on this chessboard is Alessandro Geraldini, an Italian and the first resident bishop of Santo Domingo, the primatial seat of America. The appendix to this contribution contains the first critical edition of Geraldini’s Bull of nomination (Leo X, November 23, 1516).
Pietro Messa, Francesco profeta. La costruzione di un carisma (Michele Lodone) - Francesca Galli, Il De luce di Bartolomeo da Bologna. Studio e edizione (Marco Rainini) - Erminia Ardissino, Donne interpreti della Bibbia nell’Italia della prima età moderna. Comunità ermeneutiche e riscritture (Magdalena Maria Kubas) - Matteo Caponi, Una Chiesa in guerra, Sacrificio e mobilitazione nella diocesi di Firenze, 1911-1928 (Giovanni Battista Varnier)
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