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  • “Questo Passo dell’Heresia”: Pietrantonio di Capua tra Valdesiani, ‘Spirituali’ e Inquisizione
  • Paul V. Murphy
“Questo Passo dell’Heresia”: Pietrantonio di Capua tra Valdesiani, ‘Spirituali’ e Inquisizione. By Dario Marcatto . [Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici, Serie Studi XXV.] (Naples: Bibliopolis. 2003. Pp. 262. €35,00 paperback.)

The middle decades of the sixteenth century witnessed numerous inquisitorial investigations into those associated with Juan de Valdés and later with Reginald Pole and Giovanni Morone. These investigations and trials have become the basis of a number of important studies. Central among these are the editions of the trials of Cardinal Giovanni Morone and Pietro Carnesecchi published by Massimo Firpo and Dario Marcatto. Marcatto now offers a study of the career of Pietrantonio di Capua,Archbishop of Otranto, and the investigations that he underwent that focuses on the years between 1550 and 1555.

Born of a Neapolitan noble family, di Capua (1513-1578) began what appeared to be a promising curial career in the Rome of Paul III. He gained the support of Charles V, who called upon Julius III to name him a cardinal. During his career di Capua also found strong supporters in both the Farnese and the Gonzaga families. Most of the documentation that Marcatto utilized for this study is found in the Gonzaga archives in Mantua and reveals the commitment of Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga and his brother Ferrante to di Capua's promotion. A [End Page 792] substantial appendix of this documentation is included at the back of the volume. However, di Capua's early association with the Valdesiani and other spirituali brought him to the attention of inquisitors in the 1540's and 1550's. Many others who had undergone trial had mentioned his name and he himself, therefore, came under investigation. In the changed religious climate of the 1550's even the imperial support for his promotion proved insufficient in the light of these associations. The cardinals of the Holy Office asserted a great degree of autonomy from Pope Julius III. Inquisitors such as Carafa and Cervini feared the formation of a "Lutheran" circle in the College of Cardinals that might elect a pope unacceptable to their rigorous standards. They carried out their pursuit of heresy on the basis of a commitment to orthodoxy that was not influenced by the traditional politics and prerogatives of Italian ruling families. At the same time, Philip II himself began to sympathize with this sterner attitude. Julius was able to resist the Holy Office on this matter only to the extent that, in March of 1553, di Capua underwent a canonical purgation that freed him from further trial. This did not protect him from further investigation during the reign of Pius V. While he was allowed to retain his ecclesiastical rank and subsequently attended the Council of Trent, the possibility that di Capua might attain further promotion was eliminated. Even his subsequent support of curial views while he was at Trent in 1562 and 1563 and what later even Pius V would consider to be his exemplary service as a resident bishop could not delete the memory of his earlier friendships.

Marcatto argues that this story is an illustration not only of the difficulties faced by di Capua alone or of the spirituali in the face of their increasing marginalization in Italy. It reveals a changed religious and political climate. The old links between the institutional church and the ruling families of Italy came to be subordinated to the demands of orthodoxy and an obedience that was not only political but religious. Families such as the Gonzaga would not enjoy the influence that they once had in years following the close of the Council of Trent and in the Italy dominated by the Habsburgs.

Paul V. Murphy
University of San Francisco
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