an informa business R o u t le d g www.routledge.com e ITALY IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY LONGMAN HISTORY OF ITALY General editor: Denys Hay Early Medieval Italy 600-1200 T.S. Brown *Italy in the Age of Dante and Petrarch 1216-1380 john Larner *Italy in the Age of the Renaissance 1380-1530 Denys Hay and john Law *Italy 1530-1630 Eric Cochrane (edited by julius Kirshner) Italy in the Seventeenth Century Domenico Sella *Italy in the Age of Reason 1685-1789 Dina Carpanetto and Giuseppe Ricuperati *Italy in the Age of the Risorgimento 1790-1870 Harry Hearder *Modern Italy: 1871-1995 (Second Edition) Martin Clark *already published LONGMAN HISTORY OF ITALY Italy in the Seventeenth Century DOMENICO SELLA ~~ ~~o~;~~n~~~up LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 1997 by Addison Wesley Longman Limited Published in the United States of America by Addison Wesley Longman Published 2014 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OXI4 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 USA Routledge is an imprint oft he Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business ISBN: 978-1-315-84639-2 (eiSBN) © Taylor & Francis 1997 The right of Domenico Sella to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WlP 9HE. ISBN 978-0-582-03595-9 PPR ISBN 978-0-582-03598-0 CSD British library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sella, Domenico. Italy in the seventeenth century I Domenico Sella. p. em. --(Longman history of Italy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-582-03598-8 (csd). --ISBN 0-582-03595-3 (ppr) 1. Italy--History--17th century. I. Title. II. Series. III. Series: Longman history of Italy (Unnumbered) DG544.S45 19% 945'.07-dc20 96-44940 CIP Contents Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Preface .................................................................................................... ix Map: The Italian states in the seventeenth century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x Chapter One The system of Italian states . . .. .. . .. . . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . 1 The end of Pax Hispanica . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . .. . 3 Italy and the Thirty Years War ........................................... 5 The Papacy and Italian politics . . . . .. . ... . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . ... . . .. . . .. . . .. 9 Venice and the Turks .......................................................... 11 Italy and the Sun King . .. . . . .. . ... . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . ... .... 13 Institutional stability . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . . 14 Chapter Two The economy .............................................................. 19 Agriculture: setbacks and recovery . ... . ... . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . . . .. . 23 Industrial and commercial decline .. . . . . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . 29 Causes and scapegoats ... . ... . . ... . . .. . . ... . ... .... . ... . ... . .. . . .. . . ... . . .. . 32 Industrial survival and growth .. . . . . .. . .. . . .. . . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . 41 A changed economy ... . .. . . ... . ... . ... . . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . ... . ... . .. . . .. . . ... 46 Chapter Three Society ......................................................................... 50 The aristocracy .. . . .. . ... . ... . ... . ... . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . ... . .. . ... . .. . . . .. . ... . . .. . . 52 Refeudalization? .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . 63 The middling order .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . . . 69 The plebs . . .. . .. . . .. . ... . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . ... . . .. . . .. . . .. . . ... . .. . . .. . ... . . .. . . .. . . . .. . 75 Welfare ................................................................................ 82 Revolts ................................................................................. 90 Chapter Four Religion ....................................................................... 101 Reforming the clergy .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. . . .. . . 106 Christianization . ... ... . ... . .. . . ... . ... . ... . . ... . ... . .. . . .. . ... . ... . .. . . .. . . ... . ... . 122 The response of the laity . . . .. . . .. . . . ... . .. . . .. . . .. . ... . .. . ... . ..... .. . ... . . . 137 Coercion and repression ............ :........................................ 144 v SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ITALY Chapter Five Church and state 161 In the Savoyard state .......................................................... . 166 In the Spanish dominions .................................................. . 168 In the Venetian Republic .................................................. .. 176 Chapter Six Culture 188 The arts 189 Poetry and the theatre ...................................................... .. 192 Music .................................................................................. . 195 Historiography .................................................................... . 197 Travel literature .................................................................. . 200 Books of advice ................................................................. . 201 Political theory ................................................................... . 203 Philosophers and libertines .............................................. .. 206 Chapter Seven Science ........................................................................ 213 Galileo's science .................................................................. 214 The trial . . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . . . .. . .. . . .. . 229 Galileo's legacy . ....................... .... .... ... . .... ... .. ... ... . .... . ...... .... 233 Appendix: Tables of succession ............................................................... 239 Index ....................................................................................................... 241 vi Abbreviations AISIG Annali dell'Istituto storico italo-germanico di Trento QS Quaderni storici SIB Storia d 'Italia, ed. Ruggiero Romano and Corrado Vivanti, 20 vols, Einaudi, Turin 1972-1986. SSI Storia della societa italiana, ed. Giovanni Cherubini et al., 25 vols, Teti, Milan 1981-1990. T&C Timore e carita. I poveri nell'Italia moderna, ed. Giorgio Politi et al., Annali della Biblioteca statale e civica, Cremona 1982. vii For Annamaria Preface From the days of the Enlightenment until quite recently, the seventeenth century has been the Cinderella of Italian historiography. Long viewed as a time of unrelieved decadence and gloom in sharp contrast to the splendours of the Renaissance on the one hand and to the rebirth of the nation's spirit in the eighteenth century on the other, the Seicento was dismissed as an almost embarrassing aberration in the trajectory of Italian history, an aberration that deserved but a fraction of the attention which scholars lavished on the centuries that preceded and followed it. In the last twenty years or so, however, the relative neglect in which the seventeenth century had been held for so long has given way to a remarkable surge of interest: a vast amount of research has been conducted on virtually every aspect of the nation's life, a wealth of new evidence has surfaced and, as a result, a new and profoundly different image of the period has begun to emerge. As a work of synthesis, this book is meant to provide an overview of the century in light of the revisions proposed by recent scholarship and of the lively debates those revisions have generated. I am very grateful to my colleagues Robert M. Kingdon, David C. Lindberg, Johann Sommerville and John Tedeschi for generously agreeing to read portions of the manuscript in draft and for offering helpful comments, criticisms and suggestions on several points. I am also greatly indebted to my son Antonio for the expert, unfailing assistance he has provided in the preparation of the manuscript. My wife, to whom the book is dedicated, has helped me more than she probably realizes: not only have I benefited from her constant encouragement and support during the book's long gestation, but her comments and suggestions at various stages of the work have greatly contributed to bringing clarity to my thoughts and to my writing. ix