The musical culture of the female monastic institution called La Concezione, or il monastero nuovo, reflected the political, social and devotional objectives of the Medici court. In 1562, at the close of the Council of Trent, the convent was founded through the last testament of Grand Duchess Eleonora de Toledo de'Medici with the support of Grand Duke Cosimo I's personal knighthood-- the Cavalieri di Santo Stefano. Glorified as a "reformed" institution reflecting the piety of Florence and the rectitude of the Medici family, the public image of the convent required strict adherence to Catholic Reformation ideals of female virtue. Musically, the women of the convent restricted their public performance to monophonic chant. The only universally approved music for monastics, chant was thought to be the most appropriate form of public musical devotion for the virginal daughters of the court. In private, the patrician women perhaps enjoyed the popular polyphonic music that the vast resources of their families, the Florentine court, and their superiors, afforded them. The public image of perfection was of the utmost importance to the Medici; polyphonic performance was only allowed in the most private spaces of the cloister--away from the public eyes and ears. A counter-example to recent scholarship, this view of female monastic music is in contrast to studies that have highlighted examples of wealthy convents that actively sought opportunities for polyphonic performance as part of their public character. This dissertation relies on various extant archival documents of the convent, the Order of Santo Stefano and the Medici family in an examination of the role that music played in both the public and private spheres of the most elite convent of early modern Florence. / text

This dissertation examines the spiritual poetry of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) in light of three distinct but related contexts: Italian Evangelism of the Catholic Reformation, the Italian lauda tradition, and Renaissance Augustinianism. After reviewing the reception and critical history of Michelangelo’s poetry, chapter one presents the anthropological approach of the present study as an effective means of illuminating the poet’s spiritual verses by considering what they may have meant – collectively and individually – to the poet himself. Chapter two analyzes Michelangelo’s lyrics inspired by Vittoria Colonna with respect to the Spirituali of the Ecclesia viterbiensis in general and to the Beneficio di Cristo and personal letters of Vittoria Colonna in particular. It shows that the portrayal of Vittoria Colonna in this poetry as an instrument of grace effecting Michelangelo’s spiritual refashioning, rebirth, and renewal reflects a theology of the Holy Spirit that was dear to the Italian Evangelical community and central to their self-perception. The third chapter presents the Italian lauda tradition and its mystical verses addressing Christ and the Holy Spirit as an inspiration for Michelangelo who, in a later spiritual sonnet, borrowed directly from one of Lorenzo de’ Medici’s laude. This chapter shows how Michelangelo’s verse is informed by a long, popular Christian tradition in the vernacular. The discussion in chapter four centres on Dante’s Commedia and on the Augustinian allegoreses that permeate Landino’s Comento to the grand epic. These two works, it is argued, constitute sources as important as Petrarch’s Canzoniere for Michelangelo’s Augustinian vision of a mystico-moral ascent through conversion. This dissertation concludes that for Michelangelo poetry became an instrument of spiritual devotion. His mystical verses reveal a Catholic intellectual versant in Italian rhetoric of the Catholic Reformation and a poet inspired by Paul, Augustine, and the Italian lauda tradition.

This dissertation examines the spiritual poetry of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) in light of three distinct but related contexts: Italian Evangelism of the Catholic Reformation, the Italian lauda tradition, and Renaissance Augustinianism. After reviewing the reception and critical history of Michelangelo’s poetry, chapter one presents the anthropological approach of the present study as an effective means of illuminating the poet’s spiritual verses by considering what they may have meant – collectively and individually – to the poet himself. Chapter two analyzes Michelangelo’s lyrics inspired by Vittoria Colonna with respect to the Spirituali of the Ecclesia viterbiensis in general and to the Beneficio di Cristo and personal letters of Vittoria Colonna in particular. It shows that the portrayal of Vittoria Colonna in this poetry as an instrument of grace effecting Michelangelo’s spiritual refashioning, rebirth, and renewal reflects a theology of the Holy Spirit that was dear to the Italian Evangelical community and central to their self-perception. The third chapter presents the Italian lauda tradition and its mystical verses addressing Christ and the Holy Spirit as an inspiration for Michelangelo who, in a later spiritual sonnet, borrowed directly from one of Lorenzo de’ Medici’s laude. This chapter shows how Michelangelo’s verse is informed by a long, popular Christian tradition in the vernacular. The discussion in chapter four centres on Dante’s Commedia and on the Augustinian allegoreses that permeate Landino’s Comento to the grand epic. These two works, it is argued, constitute sources as important as Petrarch’s Canzoniere for Michelangelo’s Augustinian vision of a mystico-moral ascent through conversion. This dissertation concludes that for Michelangelo poetry became an instrument of spiritual devotion. His mystical verses reveal a Catholic intellectual versant in Italian rhetoric of the Catholic Reformation and a poet inspired by Paul, Augustine, and the Italian lauda tradition.

Apparues en 1563, sous la forme d’associations d’élèves de collèges jésuites, les congrégations mariales se développent rapidement dans le contexte de la Réforme catholique, en s’étendant à l’ensemble des fidèles, encadrés selon leur âge et milieu social. Encouragées par la papauté, les autorités civiles et religieuses, comme « un rempart contre les hérétiques », ces congrégations restent liées entre elles du fait de leur agrégation à la congrégation, initiale, du Collège romain (Prima Primaria). Ses membres suivent les mêmes Règles communes, et ils bénéficient de ses indulgences. En se soumettant à divers exercices, et en s’obligeant à une vie spirituelle exemplaire, ils créent l’émulation dans leur entourage familial et professionnel. En France, les congrégations mariales s’implantent prioritairement dans les lieux destinés à l’éducation et sur les frontières entre catholiques et protestants, en premier lieu, pour former les futures élites chrétiennes et gagner les élites urbaines. Fondée, vers 1630, dans la maison professe des jésuites de Paris, la Congrégation des Messieurs rassemble les dévots des classes dirigeantes de la capitale. Parmi ceux-ci, on relève plusieurs grandes figures qui s’inscrivent, conjointement, dans d’autres cercles dévots, comme la Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement. Souvent, au sortir de leurs études dans les collèges jésuites, s’étant élevé socialement, ces dévots poursuivent leur vie congréganiste, en s’appuyant sur leur parenté et leurs relations, pour s’efforcer d’agir dans la cité vers une perfection chrétienne. Cette sociabilité, poursuivie de génération en génération, est d’autant plus précieuse dans les milieux de l’artisanat. Le réseau ainsi créé, qui apporte un secours tant spirituel que matériel, constitue également une structure d’accueil dans leur mobilité.Y aurait-il un déclin général des congrégations mariales au siècle des Lumières ? Le nombre de leurs créations diminue, dans un premier temps. Puis, ces associations se trouvent affectées par les querelles qui se développent entre jésuites et jansénistes, autour de la bulle Unigenitus. À Paris, par exemple, on constate surtout un recul du nombre des magistrats des cours souveraines, compensé par une augmentation du nombre des ecclésiastiques antijansénistes et philojésuites. Pourtant, cet apparent déclin est loin d’être unanime, selon les milieux sociaux et les régions. On constate, durant la seconde moitié du XVIIe siècle et jusqu’au XVIIIe siècle, une augmentation des effectifs des Congrégations des Artisans, et même la multiplication de ces congrégations dans la province jésuite de Lyon. Cette extension vers des catégories sociales plus modestes passe également par l’accueil de femmes. On pourrait s’étonner, aussi, d’y constater la vitalité des demandes des messes pour les morts. Le cas de la Congrégation des Artisans de Montpellier est exemplaire. Cette sodalité conserve, en effet, une réelle attractivité dans la vie associative et religieuse montpelliéraine, même après l’expulsion de la Société de Jésus, et elle maintient le réseau tissé avec les autres congrégations mariales affiliées à la Primaria. Les congrégations mariales ont donc évolué : elles ne se limitent plus à des cercles de dévots mais, en s’étendant à des catégories sociales plus modestes, elles forment désormais une communauté de « bons chrétiens ». Elles nous offrent, alors, un nouvel éclairage sur le comportement religieux des sociétés urbaines au siècle des Lumières. / The Marian congregations appeared in 1563, as association of Jesuit College students, and developed rapidly in the context of the Catholic Reformation, extending to all faithful, supervised according to their age and social backgrounds. Encouraged by the papacy, civil and religious authorities, as a "rampart against the heretics", these congregations remained interconnected because of their aggregation to the initial congregation of the Roman College (Prima Primaria). Its members followed the same Common Rules, and they benefited from its indulgences. By submitting to various exercises, and by committing themselves to an exemplary spiritual life, they created emulation in their family connections and professional relationships.In France, Marian congregations were firstly established in places for education and on the borders between Catholics and Protestants, their main purpose being to train the future Christian elites and to gain the urban elites. Founded around 1630 in the Jesuit professed house of Paris, the Congregation of Gentlemen (Messieurs), gathered the “dévots” of the ruling classes of the capital. Among these are several great figures which are jointly inscribed in other devout circles, such as the Company of the Holy Sacrament. Often, as a result of their studies in Jesuit colleges, having risen socially, these dévots pursued their congregation activity, relying on their kinship and their relations, to strive to act in the city towards a Christian perfection. This sociability pursued from generation to generation was all the more valuable among the artisans. The network thus created, which bring both spiritual and material assistance, was also a welcome structure in their mobility.Would there be a general decline of the Marian congregations in the Age of Enlightenment? Indeed, the number of newly created foundations decreased, at first. Then, these associations were affected by the conflict which had developed between Jesuits and Jansenists, around the bull Unigenitus. In Paris, for example, the number of sovereign courts magistrates, specifically, declined. This decrease was compensated by an increase in number of anti-Jansenist and philo-Jesuit clergy. However, this apparent decline is far from unanimous, depending on social categories and regions. Research shows, in the second half of the seventeenth century and up until the eighteenth century, an increase of the numbers of the Congregations of Artisans, and even the multiplication of these congregations in the Jesuit province of Lyon. This extension to more modest social categories also involves the reception of women. It is remarkable, too, to note the vitality of the demands of the masses for the dead. The case of the Congregation of the Artisans in Montpellier is exemplary. This sodality retained a real attractiveness in Montpellier's religious and associative life, even after the expulsion of the Society of Jesus, and it maintained the network with the other Marian congregations affiliated to the Primaria.Marian congregations have evolved: they are no longer confined to circles of dévots, but by extending to more modest social categories, they now form a community of "good Christians". They then give us a new insight into the religious behavior of urban societies during the Age of the Enlightenment.

The thesis addresses the topic of women in the process of the recatholization of Bohemia and focuses mainly on the first half of the 17th century. The author investigated if and how much the experience of women differed from that of men. More than the legislation and newly created norms the application of these directions enlightens the topic of women. Rich material connected to the activity of the recatholization commission and other authorities devoted to the conversion of Czech population was used. Sources of statistical character were used for evaluation of the results of the process. Because of their extent, regional restriction had to be made - we focused on Boleslavsko. In the focus of the thesis were mainly townswomen and lower nobility. One of the most important findings is the fact that the authorities saw women as important as men in the process. Although specific, seemingly more moderate, means for coercion were used in women's case. This flexibility is typical for the Catholic church's approach to women and we are in concord with other researchers, mostly from abroad. The findings also contribute to our knowledge of the process of the recatholization of the Czech lands. KEY WORDS Recatholization, Catholic reformation, women's history, gender history, early modern ages, counter-reformation.

During the seventeenth century, the Catholic Reformation sparked unprecedented growth in girls' educational opportunities with the opening of over five hundred new teaching convents. Yet, the active role girls played in these institutional and social changes is often overlooked. Even though girls' autobiographical writing from the seventeenth century is rare, prescriptive, educational, and biographical sources from convent schools are rich in details about girls' lives and vocational discernment. Upon leaving school, girls were encouraged to take either marriage or religious vows. Since orthodox Catholicism taught that salvation could only be received if one's life reflected God's will this decision was weighty. In fact, reformed convents tested their entrants to ensure that their vocations were freely chosen and not forced. Seventeenth-century girls' educational theorists shared this concern, and while they debated the details of curriculum, they agreed that only girls had the authority to articulate their own God-given vocations. At convent schools, girls encountered both models of female domesticity and women who were dedicated to religious life. The repeated affirmation of both of these paths created an atmosphere in which girls could legitimately choose either. Furthermore, the memories of vocational discernment recorded in nuns' lives offer evidence of plausible ways in which girls proved their callings to their communities. Focusing on religious vocation reveals how girls in the seventeenth century actively articulated their ideas, impacted their societies, and challenged adult authority. / Graduate / 2017-08-25 / 0330 / 0335 / 0520 / mjkort@uvic.ca

The work deals with the dissemination, duration, transformations and reception of the cult of an important Jesuit Saint, St. Francis Xavier, in the early modern Czech lands. Its goal is to contribute to the better understanding of the reality of the re-catholicization after the Battle of White Montain and the forms of Czech spirituality of the 17th and 18th century. This particular cult was selected because of the fact that St. Francis Xavier was closely related to the main (or most prominent) participant of the re-catholicization, i. e. the Jesuit order, where he in the informal hierarchy of Saints occupied the second place immediately after the founder of the Society St. Ignacius of Loyola. Moreover, St. Francis Xavier belonged among the five new Catholic Saints canonized in 1622 (St. Ignacius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Philipp Neri, and St. Isidore of Madrid), who represented an important constituent of the revived post-Tridentine Catholic spirituality. However, although the existing secondary literature presupposes that the reverence to St. Francis Xavier was widespread in the Czech Baroque, no systematic study of this theme was realized untill now. First chapter deals with the specification of the theme of the work, maps existing knowledge and sources available and...

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Au Xe siècle, l’Eglise savoyarde se trouve dans une situation catastrophique. Désorganisé par les différentes invasions, le clergé séculier peine à se redresser. Pour remédier à cette situation, l’épiscopat décide l’installation de moines venus des grandes abbayes. C’est ainsi que l’on note l’apparition de nombreux prieurés sur les terres diocésaines. Ces maisons religieuses s’installent durablement et prennent une place importante dans la vie des paroisses qui les accueillent. Leurs destins diffèrent, mais certains prieurés réguliers sont toujours conventuels à l’époque moderne. Les différents évêques en dénombrent cinq, dont quatre sont fondés autour du Xe siècle. Il s’agit des prieurés de Bellevaux en Bauges, de Peillonnex, de Talloires et de Contamine. Cette étude porte sur le rôle que jouent ces institutions dans le contexte de la Contre-Réforme catholique, instaurée dans le diocèse au cours des dernières décennies du XVIe siècle. Elle s’articule autour de trois grandes parties. La première retrace l’évolution des prieurés depuis leur fondation jusqu’à l’instauration de la Réforme à Genève. La seconde partie relate l’histoire des différents monastères au cours de trois siècles de l’Ancien Régime. La troisième et dernière partie est plus thématique. Elle tente de définir la place qu’occupent les prieurés conventuels dans la vie politique, religieuse et économique du diocèse de Genève-Annecy aux XVIe, XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. / In the 10th century, the Church from Savoy is in a very poor state. Weakened by various invasions, the secular clergy struggles to recover. Monks from major abbeys are sent by the episcopate influencing the creation of priories on the diocesan land. These religious houses settle permanently and play an important role in the life of the parishes hosting them. While regular priories had to face different fates, some of them are still conventual in the modern era. The different bishops count five conventual priories, but only four of these were founded around the 10th century. These are the priories of Bellevaux en Bauges, Peillonnex, Talloires and Contamine. This study focuses on the role of these institutions in the context of the Catholic Reformation introduced in the diocese during the last decades of the 16th century. The study is based on three main points. The first point traces back the evolution of the priories from their foundation until the introduction of the Reform movement in Geneva. The second part concentrates on the story of the monasteries over three centuries under the Ancien Regime. The last part is more thematic as it outlines how the conventual priories influence the political, religious and economic life of the Annecy-Geneva's diocese in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

Il presente elaborato esamina la trasformazione degli assetti istituzionali adottati dalle accademie letterarie milanesi nell’arco cronologico racchiuso fra la comparsa delle adunanze tra le mura cittadine e l’avvicendamento della dinastia regnante conseguente al trattato di Utrecht. La ricostruzione della fisionomia assunta dal fenomeno associativo nel periodo considerato è compiuta attraverso l’individuazione delle personalità che alimentarono gli sforzi eruditi, il riconoscimento dei gruppi che componevano la costellazione delle élite intellettuali attive nella compagine urbana, la contestualizzazione dei progetti culturali, nonché delle frizioni politiche, poste a sostrato delle iniziative intraprese e la definizione dei tratti spiccatamente ambrosiani progressivamente stratificatisi nei recinti accademici. La proposta esegetica dei componimenti ad opera dall’Accademia della Val di Blenio, mossa a partire dai rilievi storici effettuati intorno alla parabola bio-bibliografica del Facchino Cosme de Aldana, precede lo studio documentario relativo alle fondazioni accademiche occorse nei centri scolastici cittadini, frutto della sinergia tra la curia arcivescovile, gli ordini religiosi coinvolti nell’educazione dei giovani e gli organi di rappresentanza patrizia milanesi. I rinvenimenti archivistici relativi alle riunioni degli Inquieti introducono quindi alla disamina del percorso di consolidamento di un “sistema di virtù”, metronomo delle radunanze barocche, nella sua declinazione ambrosiana, che entrerà in crisi allo scadere del XVII secolo. / By adopting a long-term period chronological perspective, this research analyses the institutional frameworks’ development of Milanese literary academies between their appearance in the city area and the beginning of Austrian government’s jurisdiction after the Peace of Utrecht. Key objectives of the phenomenon’s historical reconstruction are: the identification of patrons who promoted the academies’ dissemination; the description of associational networks made up by different intellectual elite groups operating in Milan; the contextualization of cultural projects - and resulting under covered political tensions - that influenced the academical pattern’s expansion process; finally, the gradual constitution of a peculiar Ambrosian identity related with this associations’ typology. The exegesis of the “Badia della Val di Blenio” academy’s literary production, deduced by the historical examine of the “Facchino” Cosme de Aldana’s bio-bibliographical experience, introduces the enquiry on students’ academical foundations, which were the result of the cooperation between the archiepiscopal curia, religious orders involved in the educational programs and representative bodies of Milanese patricians. Archival discoveries on Inquieti’s meetings contribute in depicting the progressive composition of a coherent Ambrosian “system of virtues” (the baroque reference point for academical activities), that got into a substantial crisis at the end of seventeenth century.