Between the conquest of Padua in 1405 and its temporary rebellion in 1509, Venice built the strongest territorial state in Italy, expanding its apparatus of government to incorporate originally heterogeneous lands into an administrative whole. Military defeat in 1509 allowed Padua's secession, an anachronistic return to separate identity motivated by its political class's resentment at subjection to Venice: denied representation in mainstream public life, they enjoyed illusory local administrative autonomy. In military terms Padua's passage under Venetian rule was marked by the adaptation of the terraferma provinces' systems of defence to their new territorial configuration, achieved firatly by the creation of a permanent, professional army. Its units had no particular territorial affiliation; their recruitment, conditions of service and dislocation were decided by central authority. The province of Padua, strategically placed in the terraferma, served to accomodate companies in transit and long-term billetting, and to supply conscript auxiliary forces. Local fortifications were of secondary importance, and in consequence poorly maintained. The army was the main recipient of terraferma taxation, which was dogged by organizational difficulties, in the assignment of income to spending, and in co-ordination between capital and provinces, with a frequent excess of expenditure over effective revenue. Gross imbalance in the distribution of taxation, with delay and abuse in its collection, characterized Padua's fiscal system. Growing intervention by central government, and the diminution of Paduans' residual fiscal competence, were the constant elements in Venice's largely unsuccessful remedial action. Tax therefore became a point of conflict; Venice grew impatient with Paduan inefficiency and illwill, the Paduan political class showed anger at encroachment by Venetian authority, and fear for the loss of the city's fiscal privilege.

The complex panorama of the Mediterranean area in the fourteenth century compelled Venice to modify its economic patterns. The city started to pay attention to the Italian mainland, developing its agriculture and other industries. But the Veneto was marshy and needed to be drained and improved. The Venetian and mainland aristocracy gradually abandoned commerce for agriculture and land reclamation. Andrea Palladio built many villas for them from which they could administer their estates, transforming the marshes of the Veneto into sites for the villas. Those villas became the perfect place for retirement and contemplation.

This dissertation argues that Venetian space in the sixteenth century was embedded with various boundaries that individuals challenged and that communities and Venetian secular and ecclesiastical authorities reinforced. The development of Venetian urban space played an essential role in the formation of Venetian civic identity, which in turn was predicated upon the myth of Venice. The time period examined includes the re-establishment of the Roman Inquisition, and the early period of the Inquisition in Venice, which were concomitant with a time of religious and social disruption. Documents of the Venetian government and contemporary diarists offer contextual evidence; however, trials before the Holy Office in Venice, particularly cases involving those accused of witchcraft, inform the greatest portion of this study. Drawing on such evidence, this dissertation challenges the argument that “Venetian” society was cohesive and well balanced. By repurposing common and sacred items to invoke supernatural entities and perform heterodox practices, those accused of witchcraft challenged the Venetian secular and ecclesiastical authorities as they created a competing vision regarding the definition of domestic sacred space. Examination of the neighborhood as a social space reveals boundaries, both real and imagined, and the challenges to the boundaries that those living on the margins of society displayed through the creation of their own communities. Finally, inhabitants’ use of public space and their movement throughout these spaces offers evidence of challenges to boundaries as well as the measures authorities took in re-establishing these boundaries. Ultimately, competing desires for belonging and legitimacy, as well as disagreements over physical, ideological, and social boundaries set Venetian inhabitants and authorities in opposition.

Thesis (D.Min.)--South Florida Center for Theological Studies, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

A Double Review of "Paolina's Innocence: Child Abuse in Casanova's Venice" by Larry Wolff and "Venice: A New History" by Thomas F. Madden

published_or_final_version / History / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Venice and Rome was not always on good terms, which the interdict crisis of 1606 and 1607 clearly manifests. Interdicts had been placed on Venice before, but the one of 1606 set about a veritable flood of pamphlets and tracts, either in favour or against the interdict of Pope Paul V (1605–1621).   One of these tracts, which was written in favour of the Papal interdict, was the Nuova Risposta di Giovanni Filoteo di Asti, alla lettera di un theologo incognito scritta ad un sacerdote suo amico, sopra le censure, & interdetto di Papa Paolo V, contro la Signoria di Venetia, which I intend to analyse in this thesis. The Nuova Risposta was a text born out of the Guerra delle scritture. It was published in 1606 in Bologna and in Ferrara, both locations were, at that period of time, a part of the Papal States. This text manifests the troublesome relations between the Venetian government and the Papal Court in Rome, but also the importance of adhering to a historiographical framework in which the author Antonio Possevino elaborates on Papal claim to superiority in spiritual and in temporal matters.

Cette thèse enquête sur la dimension rituelle et cérémonielle d’une municipalité soumise à la domination vénitienne : la ville de Bergame. Le point de départ de l’analyse est le « Livre de Cérémoniels » de la ville, rédigé par les chanceliers à partir de la fin du XVIIème siècle. L’analyse est donc conduite selon trois directives. La première considère les aspects qui définissaient l’identité culturelle et rituelle de la ville de Bergame. Les objectifs sont de reconstruire son calendrier festif spécifique et de présenter certaines des récurrences rituelles parmi les plus importantes. La deuxième vise à identifier les usages et les fonctions de la ritualité dévotionnelle, publique et collective, durant le XVIIIème siècle, en illustrant les effets socio-politiques. Dans ce sens, des épisodes liés aux litiges entre l’institution ecclésiastique et l’institution civique, pour la gestion du « patrimoine immatériel » de la ville, sont retranscrits. Enfin, la troisième cherche à clarifier la relation politique et culturelle entre Bergame et Venise au travers du prisme de la dimension rituelle. Pour atteindre cet objectif, les cérémonies relatives aux Recteurs de Terre Ferme ont été considérées, telles que les entrées, les célébrations de la fin du mandat, les baptêmes de leurs fils et les élections des « protecteurs de la ville ». Des cas spécifiques d’altération de ces cérémonies ont aussi été analysés dans le but de d’identifier et de comprendre les formes de l’expression de positions opposantes et contestataires. / The present dissertation investigates the ritual and the ceremonial dimension of a municipality subjected to the Venetian domain: the city of Bergamo. The point of departure is the “Book of ceremonials” written by the chancellors starting from the end of the XVIIth century. The thesis has been led along three directives. The first one aims to pinpoint the elements defining the cultural and the ritual identity of the city of Bergamo, reconstructing the specific festive calendar and presenting some of the most important ritual events. The second one considers the uses and the functions of the public and collective devotional rituality during the XVIIIth century and tries to illustrate its socio-political effects. Thus, some episodes related to the competition for the administration of the “immaterial patrimony”, between the local ecclesiastical institution and the civic, are evoked. Finally, the third one seeks to clarify the political and the cultural relation between Bergamo and Venice as developed into the ritual dimension. For this purpose, the ceremonies related to the Rectors of the so-called Terraferma have been considered, such as their entrees into the city, the celebrations for the end of the mandate, the baptism of their sons and their election as “protectors of the city”. Some specific cases of alteration of these ceremonies have also been considered, in order to intercept and to understand the forms and the expressions of protesting positions. / La presente tesi indaga la dimensione rituale e cerimoniale di un soggetto municipale sottoposto al dominio veneziano: la città di Bergamo. Il punto di partenza dell’analisi è costituito dal « Libro de Cerimoniali » della città, redatto dai cancellieri bergamaschi a partire dalla fine del secolo XVII. L’analisi viene quindi condotta secondo tre direttive, tra di esse intrecciate. La prima considera gli aspetti definenti l’identità culturale e rituale della Città di Bergamo e ha come obiettivo quello di ricostruire il calendario civico festivo, nonché quello di illustrare alcune delle ricorrenze rituali cicliche più ricorrenti. La seconda, invece, mira ad individuare gli usi e le funzioni della ritualità devozionale - pubblica e collettiva - durante il secolo XVIII, chiarendone gli effetti sociali e politici. Sono quindi ricostruite alcune delle vicende concorrenziali insorte tra l’istituzione ecclesiastica e quella civile nella gestione del « patrimonio immateriale » cittadino. La terza, infine, intende chiarire la relazione politico-culturale dispiegatasi tra l’istituzione civica bergamasca e quella repubblicana entro la dimensione rituale. A tale scopo, sono state prese in considerazione alcune delle cerimonie principali che si costituirono attorno ai Rettori di Terraferma, quali le entrate e le uscite cerimoniali dalla città, le cerimonie di battesimo dei loro figli, le elezioni al « patronato », nonché analizzati dei casi studio in cui alcune di queste cerimonie furono turbate e alterate in funzione dell’espressione di istanze contrarie o contestatorie.

A missal is the liturgical book containing the prayers and readings for the celebration of the Mass. Originally designed in large folio format, the simultaneous arrival of the printing press amidst a shift in the celebration of Mass from a communal to a private sphere resulted in the proliferation of the small and more portable octavo-size missal. Missals traditionally contained minimal illustrations prior to printing, resulting in their strict classification as a liturgical object. This thesis questions the previous established boundaries which categorize medieval objects as related to a particular type of religious activity. In other words, missals have been categorized based on content rather than function. This study will challenge the existing strict nomenclature applied to medieval art objects as either liturgical or 'devotional.' After missals began to be printed in the early Renaissance, the first example to contain extensive images was Lucantonio Giuntas Missale romanum published in 1501 in Venice. By his October 1508 edition Giunta included a total of twenty full-page woodblock images to form a coherent iconographic program throughout the text. This thesis asserts that his 1508 Missale romanum exhibits the same characteristics as Books of Hours, popular devotional prayer books. In particular, Giuntas image formula mirrors his widely successful Book of Hours publication, the Officium beatae Mariae Virginis, of 1501, by providing a model for devotion, indicating a shift in the relationship between text and image in early printed missals. This study seeks to refine our knowledge of late medieval liturgical and devotional art, the effect of printing on the design decisions regarding liturgical books, and of the significance of reusing images from a devotional text in a liturgical one. While the focus of this inquiry remains on the 1508 romanum, comparisons will be made with three other Giuntine publications: his earlier 1501 romanum, his 1507 Missale congregatio casinensis, and his 1501 Officium. These texts, along with other contemporary Venetian printed missals, illustrate my position that the woodblock images in the 1508 edition embody the accompanying text by providing meditational themes, while their stylistic characteristics encourage private devotion. Whereas the text of a missal serves a liturgical function, the accompanying images do not fit so easily in the same classification, resulting in a new application of the 'para-' or 'quasi-liturgical' art object.