A Fake Saint and the True Church: The Story of a Forgery in Seventeenth-Century Naples, by Stefania Tutino

Abstract

In this short, accessible and lively microhistory, Stefania Tutino explores the way early modern Catholic intellectuals navigated the often subtle differences between truth and authenticity. The book centres on an obscure episode in post-Tridentine Catholic history, the attempt of Carlo Calà, the Duke of Diano and a prominent member of the Neapolitan viceregal administration, to promote the canonisation of his ancestor Giovanni Calà. At first glance, the story seems simple enough: Calà hoped to improve his own standing in Neapolitan society by tracing his lineage back to a heroic ancestor, whose social significance would have been divinely sanctioned. But there was just one problem: the stories of Giovanni Calà—and possibly his very existence—were forged. Having discovered traces of this intrigue in the archives, Tutino began tracking down every available source and, à la Carlo Ginzburg, ‘squeezing’ them for every last drop of juicy detail (p. 10). The story begins in Naples, where Carlo Calà is a noted jurist eager to advance his fortune. His opportunity is presented by Ferrante Stocchi, who tells him about an illustrious Calà ancestor from Calabria who had served under the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI before leaving the military to become a hermit. He became a follower of Joachim of Fiore, a famous medieval Italian prophet who himself has long been proposed for canonisation (and whose case has never been completed). Stocchi provided Calà with print and manuscript texts, and helped him to find the grave of his ancestor, which contained gigantic bones and a lead ball containing a vita of Giovanni Calà. As more manuscripts continued to surface, Carlo Calà began to write a book, part history, part vita and part genealogy, to promote his ancestor’s cause and draw a clear connection to himself. This book told of Giovanni’s spectacular feats in secular and religious life; in the former he defeated a hundred mounted soldiers while alone and on foot, fought a duel against ten men and killed them all, and even beheaded a giant (as a giant himself, he was more than capable), before sustaining not one, but three life-threatening wounds in battle. He was miraculously saved, and then left military life to follow Joachim, in the process gaining the gift of prophecy and the ability to perform miracles himself. His miracles included resurrecting five people, stopping a plague, walking on water, and effecting numerous miraculous cures.