In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

The Catholic Historical Review 88.3 (2002) 590-591



[Access article in PDF]

Book Review

Les Servites de Marie en Corse:
Histoire, patrimoine, vie conventuelle


Les Servites de Marie en Corse: Histoire, patrimoine, vie conventuelle. Edited by Jean-Christophe Liccia. (Ajaccio: Éditions Alain Piazzola. 2000. Pp. x, 1157. Paperback.)

The long book of which Jean-Christophe Liccia is editor and in large part author undertakes to retrace the history of the Servite houses (couvents) in Corsica from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. Their presence witnesses to the close bonds that united the island to the Italian mainland. To be sure, the order of the Servites of Mary is of Tuscan origin, founded in the thirteenth century; it belongs to the family of mendicant orders and is distinct by reason of its particular devotion to the Virgin Mary, especially to Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows.

The first chapter, written by Franco Andrea del Pino, traces the history of the order prior to its first lasting foundation in Corsica, dating from 1479, which succeeded earlier but ephemeral foundations. In the following pages Jean-Christophe Liccia delivers a detailed reconstruction of the history of the seven Servite establishments on the island, emphasizing the geography of their locations, which were exclusively in the north of Corsica. A study of the religious entries and professions of these houses reveals a clear predominance of religious of Italian origin, at least up to the middle of the seventeenth century; the following period was marked by a massive entrance of young men of the island into the Order. A high intellectual level was characteristic of the Order; in the eighteenth century the Corsican Servites counted, in fact, thirty-nine doctors of theology. This learned orientation by no means prevented them from taking part in pastoral activities with a predilection for preaching—this is not surprising for a mendicant order. The income of the houses derived in part from the begging carried on in the island (an interesting map of begging zones apportioned to each house is shown on page 214) and on the other hand from the lands bequeathed by pious laymen. The analysis of the accounts reveals in general good budgetary balance, upset sometimes only by the expenses incurred for important construction work.

If the reform efforts following the Council of Trent are hardly different from what is known of other religious orders in different places, the book on the whole, on the contrary, furnishes an interesting view of the insertion of the houses in the contemporary society of Corsica. Their proximity to the inhabitants is shown in the very strong bonds woven between the establishments and certain families, and this appears on several levels; entrance into the First, the Second, or the Third Order (which was only for women) of the Servites of Mary, figliolanza or the affiliation of lay people which permitted them, in exchange for donations, to enjoy the spiritual goods of the order, and the choice burial places in the houses. Even the miracles that sometimes took place in the houses give testimony to this deep penetration of the Servite houses into the space and society of the island.

It was this insertion, however, that provoked divisions in the Order at the time of the national revolution; one of the priors of the Order was a companion of Paoli, whom he followed even to England; the head of the revolutionaries [End Page 590] also received the support of a certain number of brothers born in the interior of the island, while others were favorable to the republic of Genoa. The political history of the eighteenth century determined the history of the Servite houses; suppressed in 1790-91, the Order was re-established at the time of the Anglo-Corsican kingdom before being suppressed in 1797 (chapers by Louis Belgodre de Bagnaja and Odir Jacques-Dias).

This book is interesting in having united a historical approach—which is documented in detail—and an evocation of the artistic patrimony of the houses. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were rich in alterations and reconstructions that...

pdf

Share