Editor's note: "Among the many ecclesiastical concerns he inherited from his predecessors, all of whom had belonged to monastic orders and several of whom had already begun to impose higher standards, none was more urgent than the reform of the patrician convents. This reform was put off for a few years while the Venetian government and the church dealt with the problems caused by the War...". p. 384
nedits: Julius II - a member of the della Rovere clan from France and nephew of Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) - after friendly relations with Venice earlier that decade, in 1509 excommunicated the see of Venice, among other things, as mentioned back in early May. This was a major blow to Venice and her Patriarch, But, remember the muneghini?
Editor's note: "... by the spring of 1513, however, a Lateran Council in Rome was proposing its own general reforms. And in the next year the Council of Ten in Venice addressed the problem of the muneghini with new strictures on the part of the nuns." p. 384
1514
Sanudo Diaries: July 1, 1514 (18:323): "Today a noteworthy event occurred by order of the heads of the Ten, who have again taken up a bill against the muneghini proposed by the former heads of the Ten that also brings this matter under the council's jurisdiction, as they had earlier done with blasphemy."
Editor's footnote: "In 1513 the Council of Ten assumed jurisdiction over cases of sacrilege committed in the monasteries; in April 1514 it extended its jurisdiction to cases of blasphemy. Eventually, this led to the creation of new permanent committees. The Magistrato sopra i monasteri, originally established in 1521 as a temporary magistracy, later became permanent; and the Esecutori contra la bestemmia (Execustors against blaspheny)) was established in 1537." p. 384
Sanudo Diaries: July 1, 1514 con't: "Now, wishing to close the parlor of [the Convent of] San Zacharia in the interests of chastity, the vicar of the patriarch, don Zuan Anzolo di Santo Severino, of Vicenza, university laureate, went there for this purpose, accompanied by some captains and officials. Seeing this the nuns drew together [and defended themselves] with stones and forced the officials and the vicar to leave against their will. So they have decided that on Monday the patriarch himself will go to take care of this matter. Moreover, the Council of Ten ordered that grilles be installed."
Editor's footnote: "The privilege withdrawn here was a more open parlatorio (conversation room) where, instead of their being a grille to separate the nuns from their visitors, a more salonlike arrangement prevailed." p. 384
Editor's note: "It was not a simple matter. The patrician families of the nuns actively defended the privileges of their daughters and sisters to come and go, to put aside their veils, keep servants, and in general lead lives in keeping with their social status. But the patriarch continued to remind the government of his concern "over the vices of the city, especially those of the nuns" (January 14, 1516).... In 1519 the patriarch began a series of reforms in the convent of Santa Maria delle Vergini, scene of the symbolic wedding of the doge to the abbess in 1506. Similar reforms would be pursued in other convents, such as San Zaccaria, Santa Anna, and Santa Maria la Celestia. The method was relatively simple, to introduce Observant nuns, that is, nuns following a stricter rule, alongside the Conventuals." p. 385
1519:
nedits: It didn't always work out simply however. As relations with Rome and the papacy had improved greatly for various reasons under Leo X, (he was a de Medici first of all), even so, in May 1519 the nuns resisted and their relations complained to the Collegio. The nuns said they would rather be made Observants themselves than to be placed with Observants they didn't know or that had different practices and have to live with them side-by-side. In June, a wall went up. The doge had ceded control of his convent to the patriarch for the sake of reforming it. Men were sent...
Sanudo Diaries: June 21, 1519 (27:402): "... They entered the convent by force, having broken down the doors, and partitioned part of this convent, ... [This section] they wish to turn over to Observant nuns of Santa Justina, who will enter there. The nuns of the Verzene cried out that they were being coerced and impeded from using their usual paths, etc.; nevertheless, they had patience...."
Editor's note: "Meanwhile, the patriarch had taken the precaution of obtaining papal support, and his vicar came to the Collegio with a papal brief fully authorizing the reforms (June 24, 1519; 27:405). But while the secular and ecclesiastical officials were pursuing these measures, the nuns of the Vergini were taking matters into their own hands. The next day, June 25, which was the Feast Day of the Apparition of San Marco, the news of their actions reached the Signoria" p. 386
Sanudo Diaries: June 25, 1519 (27:407): This morning, after the procession [for the Feast of the Apparition of San Marco], the doge and the Signoria having heard that yesterday the nuns of the Verzene had torn down the wall put up to separate them from the nuns of Santa Justina... [the doge] sent the Signoria with the heads of the Ten and the three state attorneys [and] ... When they saw what been done, they strongly berated them and sent for the patriarch.... He arrived and entered the chapter room with the state attorneys; they called the nuns, saying that what they had done would harm them. And the nuns asked pardon, saying that it was very difficult to be expelled from their home, and this patriarch, although he threatened to punish them, in the end is not their superior, and so they left without doing anything more. Nevertheless, the masons are working to divide the convent."
Editor's note: "Three days later it became apparent that the nuns and their families had also had recourse to Rome to protect their rights. The patriarch was temporarily outmaneuvered by another brief from the pope." p. 387
Sanuo Diaries: June 28, 1519 (27:409) "In the morning our patriarch came to the Collegio, where he had an audience with the heads of the Ten and the state attorneys after the others were sent out of the room. And he complained that the nuns of the Verzene yesterday and all night long had rung their bells to signal their joy because they had received a brief sent from the pope to his legate [saying that the pope] wishes the nuns to be reformed but not that other nuns be placed in their convent, etc. There was considerable discussion about what to do about this matter. Because they had a previous brief from the pope authorizing the patriarch to reform these Conventual convents and turn them into Observants, taking whatever measures he thought necessary, the doge, the patriarch, and the whole Collegio with the heads of the Ten were of the opinion that they need not obey this second brief...."
nedits: Similar circumstances were going on at San Zaccaria, but in July the Signoria gave its own order to introduce Observants there as well. The ambassador sent to Rome to petition against this second brief that they decided not to obey, was not happy with his task. He thought they were wasting their money. But he would do it. (July 13, 1519 27:473)
All quotes as Sanudo Diaries or Editor's notes or Editor's Footnotes from Venice, Cita Excellentissima, Selection from the Renaissance Diaries of Marin Sanudo translated by Linda L Carroll, editors: Patricia H LaBalme and Laura Sanguineti White, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008
Also, Rachel Maddow told a funny story yesterday, August 2 via Bluegal and Heather
No comments:
Post a Comment