Correspondance du Nonce en France: Gasparo Silingardi, Évêque de Modène (1599-1601) (review)

In the study of papal diplomacy in early Bourbon France, Gasparo Silingardi's brief tenure as papal nuncio between 1599 and 1601 has been overshadowed by that of his contemporary Cardinal Roberto Ubaldini. Nevertheless, Silingardi's presence coincided with a critical juncture for the Bourbon monarchy and the Catholic Church in France. In 1598 Henry IV's nearly decade-long campaign to secure political and military control of his kingdom paid important dividends when the last major unreconciled Leaguer noble, the duc de Mercoeur, submitted to his authority and the Peace of Vervins brought to a conclusion open hostilities with Spain. In the same year Henry also took an important step toward securing religious peace in his kingdom through the promulgation of the Edict of Nantes. These developments, along with the absolution of Henry IV by Pope Clement VIII in 1596, stabilized the kingdom and set the stage for a more lasting religious and political peace.

Silingardi's correspondence provides critical and sustained commentary on the efforts of Henry and his ministers to build on the political successes of 1598. Silingardi is especially revealing on the evolving religious settlement that the promulgation of the Edict of Nantes inaugurated. Thus, his correspondence provides detailed coverage of the controversies, including that surrounding Du Plessis-Mornay's tract L'Institution de l'Eucharistie and the related conference at Fontainebleau, through which the French monarchy sought to arbitrate a more lasting peace. His correspondence also provides the best single source for the examination of papal religious policy in France during this period. In his dispatches Silingardi reveals the sustained papal effort to secure confirmation and publication of the decrees of the Council of Trent, Clement VIII's unsuccessful attempts to organize an international crusade against the Turks, and, on a more successful note, papal efforts to lay the groundwork for the rehabilitation of the Society of Jesus in France.

With Silingardi's correspondence having so much to offer scholars, Bertrand Haan's commendable annotated volume of his letters is a welcome addition to the field. Haan's edition, the seventeenth volume in the Acta Nuntiaturae Gallicae series, is the most complete of Silingardi's correspondence to date. It includes 343 letters along with a number of additional memoirs and instructions. These letters are accompanied by impressive supporting materials. As someone who has read the original manuscripts of this correspondence, I appreciate Haan's careful annotations. They will save future scholars considerable time and effort both in identifying figures mentioned in letters and in verifying and offering further references to events that feature in the correspondence. But perhaps most useful is the substantial introduction of over 200 pages. It provides the most up-to-date and accessible study of Silingardi's life and career to date. In this introduction, Silingardi's whole biography is examined and through this biography a picture of Silingardi as an associate of Carlo Borromeo, committed Tridentine reformer, and experienced administrator of his diocese comes into focus. This biography ultimately shapes how one reads the letters that follow. When one considers Silingardi's earlier career, it is clear that he was more of a dedicated Catholic reformer than a papal diplomat. This may explain why, unlike his more famous successor Cardinal Ubaldini, he found himself at several crucial moments on the margins of diplomatic negotiations between the French crown and the more dedicated papal diplomatic figure, the cardinal nephew Pietro Aldobrandini.