Papacy (Early Modern and Modern Church History)

Hva formidler serien om katolisisme? AV JANE SKJOLDLI Tidligere forskning på South Park og religion har basert seg på en grunn-leggende antakelse om at denne serien fremmer sekulaer humanisme. Denne artikkelen kritiserer dette premisset. Basert på en sammenstilling av seks episoder som fokuserer på katolisisme og/eller inneholder karakterer som er basert på historiske paveskikkelser ("Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?", "Red Hot Catholic Love", "Bloody Mary", "Fantastic Easter Special", "The Hobbit", "A Boy and His Priest"), argumenterer jeg for at seriens portrettering av katolisismen er mye mer balansert, og at den i tillegg pro-moterer verdier som kommer til syne dersom vi betrakter den fra Nancy Ammernanns perspektiv og anvender hennes begrep om «golden rule Christianity» (1997). Nøkkelord: pave, katolisisme, South Park, satire, Golden Rule Chris-tianity, anti-katolisisme Siden 1997 har Trey Parker og Matt Stones animasjonsserie South Park smykket skjermer verden over med sin skarpe satire servert via papp-dukkeaktige figurer. Serien har rettet skyts mot historiske og samtidige offentlige personer, kulturelle trender, politiske partier, institusjoner og, ikke minst, religiøse forestillinger, tradisjoner og grupper. Temaet religion er så fremtredende i serien at enkelte beskriver den som religionsfiksert (DeLashmutt og Hancock 2008:176). Hva kan vi laere om hva South Park gjør med religion dersom vi ser naermere på hvordan serien behandler pavefigurer og andre katolikker i episoder hvor katolisisme blir tematisert? Pavefigurene er interessante fordi fremstil-lingene av dem og deres iscenesatte interaksjoner med andre figurer er 35

This paper will closely analyze two unpublished manuscripts on military strategy written by dalmatian-born philosopher Franciscus Patricius (1529-1597), both kept in the Vatican Archives. Patricius spent his final years in Rome, where he not only taught platonic philosophy, but also planned and promoted a military reform, which he considered propaedeutic to an antiottoman enterprise. Patricius hoped to put into practice the military theories he expressed in his final work, Paralleli Militari, deeply influenced by Machiavelli and published in Rome between 1594 and 1595. According to Patricius, ottoman discipline, as already highlighted by late Renaissance humanists such as Paolo Giovio, was closely related to ancient roman military organization, which needed to become an inspiration for contemporary Christian, but specifically Italian, armies.
The first manuscript is a draft of the author’s introduction to his Paralleli Militari, even more explicitly focused, compared to the published version, on bitterly criticizing contemporary warfare. In fact, I argue that the sharp terms used by Patricius against the “bloated and empty words” of contemporary captains, as well as a rather anachronistic appeal to a holy crusade led by Pope Clement VIII, needed to be softened before the text was published.
The second manuscript, a detailed plan for a “War in Albania”, but actually reaching as far as Istanbul, is a final attempt to realize what Patricius theorized: a military expedition led by the Papal States, with the objective of defeating the Porte for good. Through his plans, Patricius shows a solid knowledge, both strategic and geographical, as well as anthropological, of the Ottoman territories and the people inhabiting them, as well as an attention to new technological devices. On the other hand, these plans were also part of a microstrategy through which the elderly philosopher, living in a precarious state, aimed at obtaining sustenance and a more stable condition.

The current thesis attempts to illuminate the relationship of the Hispanic Monarchy with the Papacy during one of the most unexplored and innovative periods of the reign of the Catholic Monarchs: the Castilian regency of Ferdinand V of Aragon (1504-1507), which coincides with the pontificate of Julius II (1503-1513). Using the developments of New Diplomatic History, we have reconstructed the system of relationships between the royal and papal powers, keeping in mind the diplomatic figures, the spheres of conflict and/or cooperation, the political communication, and the cultural exchanges that arose between the Iberian and Italian Peninsulas during the turbulent years of the “Italian Wars.” Not only do we reconstruct the search for diplomatic understanding within the complex international setting, but we also study the projects of ecclesiastical invigoration promoted by the monarch in his new jurisdictions (The Indies and Naples), during which time the Pope was consolidating his political princendom through a territorial conception of his sovereignty.
To expound on a topic of such breadth, we have put together unedited documentation from European archives (Italian, French, Swiss, and Spanish) that have provided us with a wider and more contextualized view of the topics of negotiation. Our exposition begins with the dealings of Elizabeth and Ferdinand with the turbulent Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (1471-1503), up to a papal election that enjoyed Hispanic support. The unwillingness of Julius II to grant the investiture of the Kingdom of Naples –for fear of going against French claims– or his lack of respect towards certain privileges of the Royal Patronage impeded a sense of understanding with this “Francophile” Pontiff who was suspicious of some monarchs who allied with Venice, the usurper of cities in Romagna. Despite all this, there were moments of understanding between the parties, such as the neutralization of Cesare Borgia or the defense projects in the Mediterranean, which stimulated propagandistic synergies concerning the new Golden Age of the Church inaugurated by Julius II, an age made possible by the overseas expansion of the Catholic Monarchs.
The conflict of succession that broke out after the death of Elizabeth (1504) destabilized the relationship with a Papacy that did not hide its sympathies towards Philip of Castile. While Spanish diplomacy in the Eternal City split into two, the natio hispana introduced new ways of grouping in the wake of the separation of kingdoms established in Villafáfila (1506), which obliged the Catholic king to abandon Castile and to move to Naples. From there, he promoted a pacifist government within a new age of alliance with France and paved the way towards a friendship with Julius II that led to the concession of the Indian Patronage (1508) and the Neapolitan Investiture (1509). After four years of instability, Ferdinand was able to align his interests with that of the Apostolic See, intensifying religious reform and legitimizing his rule in Southern Italy while French presence in the North faded away.
The research offers original insight on the complex processes of political construction and ecclesial renewal, woven together by the Hispanic and papal powers at the threshold of Modernity. Because of the combination of a renewed methodology and the documental investigation in unexplored sources, a fresh perspective, one that is more global, can be offered regarding this germinal period of the Monarchy and the Papacy in the Renaissance, a relationship that would form the “Catholic axis” or backbone of Modern Europe.
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Coordination:

Margarita CABRERA (Universidad de Córdoba),
Maite LÓPEZ DE GUEREÑO (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid),
Fermín MIRANDA (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

Organization:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Proyecto Migravit HAR2016/74846-P), École des hautes études hispaniques et ibériques (Casa de Velázquez, Madrid)

La confessione dei peccati è un sacramento difficile da indagare dal punto di vista storico, sia per i problemi posti dal cosiddetto sigillo sacramentale, sia perché ordinariamente la sua amministrazione effettiva non lascia tracce scritte. Un punto appare però indubbio: solo con il Concilio di Trento fu definitivamente abbandonata la disciplina antica, quella che contemplava la confessione pubblica dei peccati, e la penitenza privata, i cui antecedenti vanno ricercati tra l’XI e gli inizi del XIII secolo, diventò il solo modo di amministrare il sacramento. I Padri Tridentini imposero una stretta normativa sulla confessione sacramentale trasformandola in uno strumento di controllo e disciplinamento.  Ne sono testimonianza la riconferma tardo-cinquecentesca dell’Omnis utriusque sexus, cioè dell’obbligo di confessione annuale al parroco e il decreto Quamvis presbyteri, con cui si decise che per poter confessare da quel momento bisognava essere parroci o, in alternativa, essere approvati dal vescovo territorialmente competente con modalità a sua discrezione. Tuttavia, nel corso del Seicento la confessione si avviò a diventare da pratica sgradita a momento di incontro e di scavo interiore fortemente ricercato, così come molti confessori si trasformarono da sacerdoti visti con sospetto, da cui rifuggire, in padri spirituali apprezzati e amati.  In che modo avvenne questa trasformazione apparentemente opposta alle intenzioni del Concilio di Trento, quale fu l’atteggiamento delle autorità romane nei confronti di questa svolta imprevista, quale fu il rapporto dei confessori con il contesto politico e sociale delle realtà dove operavano, quali furono le fasi di costruzione del loro prestigio e le possibilità di carriera che gli si offrivano d’innanzi. Quali furono le difficoltà affrontate dagli stessi nell’esercizio delle proprie funzioni e in particolar modo quali furono i rapporti dei confessori con le penitenti e quali gli spazi d’azione nella vita private delle stesse. Sono queste le domande sorte e lasciate aperte da questo bilancio in attesa di nuovi studi.

Si tratta di un estratto dell'articolo disponibile su "RISCONTRI", N.2 (2019), https://riscontri.net/2019/09/02/riscontri-n-2-2019/.

M.A. thesis discussing the papalogy (theology of the papacy) of Pope Saints Leo, Gregory, and Nicholas the Great and Bl. Pope John Paul II as found in their lives and their writings. This thesis is a historical and theological project, examining not only the theological developments of these popes’ papalogy, but also how their pontificates enacted their theological developments. The strength of these pontiffs’ papalogy laid the foundation for them receiving the title “the Great.”

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar la reforma monástica de Fernando II de Aragón durante su primera regencia castellana (1504-1507), tras el fallecimiento de su esposa Isabel. Se trata de un período poco conocido que pretendemos iluminar con documentación publicada e inédita, poniendo en relación los procesos reformadores impulsados desde la corte, con la situación de las órdenes religiosas, las negociaciones con Roma bajo Julio II, y la crisis sucesoria que enfrentó a Felipe de Habsburgo con al rey Católico. En este marco contextual advertiremos en qué medida este el monarca aragonés se implicó en la renovación monástica de principios del siglo XVI, con sus continuidades y sus transformaciones.

Per Federico Cesi, fondatore dell’Accademia dei Lincei, il «Natural desiderio di sapere» corrisponde a un modo plurale di pensare la conoscenza e il suo ruolo sociale e politico di fronte all’incertezza innescata dall’allargamento del mondo,  dal profilarsi di nuovi modi di comprendere i rapporti fra uomo e natura, dal confronto con una vita di
corte, dominata dall’interesse individuale.
Centro della rivendicazione universalistica pontificia e spazio comunicativo fra vecchi e nuovi mondi, Roma emerge come teatro barocco di un progetto di capitalizzazione dei saperi, che mobilita appassionati virtuosi, filosofi “straccioni”, medici mediatori, agguerriti pittori, scultori in gara con la natura, missionari in cerca di legittimazione.
Attraverso il racconto dell’affascinante storia del Tesoro messicano - imponente volume tardivamente pubblicato nel 1651 - si ricostruisce un cantiere di produzione naturalistica, fra sconosciuti exotica e artefatti stranamente familiari, scambi e competizioni, conflitti e negoziazioni, individuando nei saperi una lente per comprendere la dinamica storica.