Descrizione

4to (221x155 mm). [4] pp. Collation: A4. Woodcut arms of Pope Gregory XV (1621-1623) on the title page. Later marbled wrappers. Uncut.
Bologna reprint of this papal constitution, issued on 2 July 1622 and first printed in Rome the year before, against the heretics residing in Italy and their supporters.
“In the Italian states, the confusion of the custodians of faith regarding mobility and the growing popularity of travel - increasingly prevalent among casual visitors and not limited to work or study - is clearly expressed in a letter of June 1627 sent to the cardinal padrone, the cardinal nephew Francesco Barberini, secretary of the Roman Congregation of the Holy Office, from Fra' Giovan Michele Pio, the Inquisitor of Milan. He writes that ‘the wars of the Milanese state, the grandeur and opulence of this city - noble emporium of the region, its proximity to Germany and France [and] the desire of foreigners to see the beauty of Italy leads me to believe that many heretics set foot in this state which is, so to speak, the first Italian threshold, thus obliging me and other inquisitors to be most vigilant'. The Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples were under Spanish rule and strategically defined the peninsula's geopolitics. In this period the Milanese territory was a staging area for military operations, frequented by armies on their way to repress Protestants in the Valtellina. From Milan, imperial troops would also be deployed to the wars ot Monferrato and in the Duchy of Mantua. German troops plundered, caused destruction, carried the bubonic plague, and, as the Inquisitor feared, also disseminated the ‘heretical plague' (peste ereticale). He wrote that he was not afraid of merchants with papal permits (concessione apostolica) that allowed them to engage in business. Nor did he fear ‘the soldiers whose presence is tolerated because of the wars, provided they avoid trouble and mentioning [religious] doctrine'. But what should he do about ‘those hidden heretics who do not request permission [to be here] from this tribunal'. Moreover, ‘how am I to handle those heretics […] who, in order to visit Italy, or for other impermissible purposes, come here illegally, yet in good faith (bona fide)?'. These would-be casual travellers believed they could obtain permission from the Inquisitor to stay for a few days, a notion based on an interpretation of Gregory XV's Romani Pontificis constitution of 2 July 1622, ‘which appears not to prohibit them from coming but only from living and staying here'. The Inquisitor feared that the severe treatment of these travellers, ‘who were generally nobles', would have negative repercussions for many ‘Catholic Italians living north of the Alps'. He therefore implored the Holy Off ice to find a solution to avoid ‘capturing and punishing them, for it is undeniable that it is easier to reason with them than with hidden heretics, since these visitors present themselves in good faith and request permission from the tribunal' ” (P. Nelles-R. Salzberg, eds., The Practice and Expereince of Movement, Abingdon, 2023).
Italian Union Catalogue, IT\ICCU\TO0E\011485.