L’isola ribelle: Procida nelle tempeste della Controriforma, by Giovanni Romeo

Abstract

Giovanni Romeo’s new book is an important and beautifully written contribution, concerning the effects of the Counter Reformation on the island of Procida in the Bay of Naples during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. He clearly accomplishes his goal of analysing the causes and development of resistance by the islanders against the repressive policies of the archbishops of Naples to fight moral and religious disorder. Such policies turned out to be mostly ineffective. This text, divided into four chapters, stands out owing to its broad and substantial archival research. For the entire sixteenth century Procida was entrusted to abbots who were not subordinate to any bishop but the Pope. They did not live on the island, and instead handed over control to local vicars who favoured the traditions and interests of the community. Only in 1600 was the island incardinated into the diocese of Naples. This sixteenth-century autonomy apparently led Romeo, in the early stages of his research, to believe that it facilitated the attachment to traditions at odds with Church teachings. Gradually, he found this idea unsatisfactory in explaining the profound challenges faced by the Church in applying the reforms of the council of Trent. Several causes underpin the failed attempts. One was the presence of clergy, or at any rate a large section of them, who were uninterested in the reforms. Cases of deeply corrupt vicars, such as Don Sebastiano, the first vicar after the Council of Trent, made acceptance of the reforms even harder. His only aim was to enrich himself, with the support of most of the chapter. However, the emphasis in this research on abuses and the harshness of ecclesiastical policies at times risks understating the importance of distinct cases (p. 148). Moreover, the connections with dynamics already present in the late Middle Ages could have been better identified given that similar policies to those promoted by the Council of Trent started before Trent.