Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Note on Transcriptions
- Note on Money
- Introduction
- 1 Humanism and Honour in the Making of Alessandro Farnese
- 2 Pathways to Honour
- 3 Tradition and Reform
- 4 The Consilium and Reform Constrained
- 5 Pax et Concordia – Politics and Reform
- 6 The Ottoman Threat
- 7 The Council of Trent
- 8 Reform in the Twilight Years
- About the Author
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Note on Transcriptions
- Note on Money
- Introduction
- 1 Humanism and Honour in the Making of Alessandro Farnese
- 2 Pathways to Honour
- 3 Tradition and Reform
- 4 The Consilium and Reform Constrained
- 5 Pax et Concordia – Politics and Reform
- 6 The Ottoman Threat
- 7 The Council of Trent
- 8 Reform in the Twilight Years
- About the Author
- Index
Summary
Abstract
Throughout Europe the election of Alessandro Farnese as Paul III in 1534 prompted new hope of Church reform. In considering his fifteen-year reign, some scholars have seen Paul as a champion of reform, others as two-faced in his actions, and others as hampered by character weakness. This book offers a new perspective by taking a cultural approach. Drawing on texts of the time, it explores how the fate of reform was determined by cultural values of honour and tradition, and how honour intersected with politics. The book shows how honour led Paul to pursue reform, and how it prompted him to pull back from a reform program that would have undermined codes of honour and threatened the safety of Rome.
Keywords: Paul III; curia; reform; cultural history; textual style; correspondence
It was late morning on 13 October 1534 when Cardinal Innocenzo Cibo stepped up to the open window at the Vatican Palace. Looking out over the assembled crowd below, he raised his voice in proclamation of the time-honoured formula: ‘I announce to you tidings of great joy: we have a pope! The Most Reverend Lord Alessandro, Bishop of Ostia, Cardinal Farnese, who has taken the name of Paul III.’ The crowd erupted. This was the first time in over a hundred years that one of their own, a Roman, had claimed the papal tiara. Soon after, the cheering rose higher as the familiar figure of Farnese was carried high through the crowd on the portable throne, the sedia gestatoria, to give his first blessing as pope. Church bells rang across the city and canons fired in salute.
Having been a cardinal for forty-one years, Alessandro Farnese was known throughout Rome and was regarded highly for his nobility and magnificence, for his learning and elegance, and for his patronage and generosity. As Dean of the College of Cardinals he was well-respected by his peers among whom he had crafted broad alliances. These had served him well going into the conclave which saw his election within two days, one of the shortest conclaves in the Renaissance. This outcome of the election had been widely anticipated and now that it had been swiftly confirmed, the excitement about the coming pontificate spread rapidly.
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- Information
- Pope Paul III and the Cultural Politics of Reform1534–1549, pp. 17 - 34Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2020