Right thinking and sacred oratory in Counter-Reformation Rome (review)

Abstract

Reviews 301 McGinness, Frederick J., Right thinking and sacred oratory in CounterReformation Rome, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1995; cloth; pp. xii, 337; 10 Ulustrations; R R P US$49.50. The focus of Frederick J. McGinness' book is preaching before the popes in Counter-Reformation R o m e from, as he states in the introduction (p. 5), the close of the Council of Trent in 1563 to the death of Pope Paul V in 1621. He later (p. 92) changes the chronology to cover the years from 1545 to 1640. McGinness' analysis of the classical rhetoric that shaped this preaching lies within the tradition of the work of Hans Baron on The crisis of the early Italian Renaissance, William Bouwsma on Venice and the defense of republican liberty, John O'Malley on Praise and blame in Renaissance Europe and Marc Fumaroli on L'dge de Veloquence. One of the common charges made against Catholic clergy by Protestant reformers had been their dismal performance as preachers. The post-tridentine church attempted to redress this situation by promoting good preaching and the rhetorical skills that went with it. Preachers adapted the classical study of eloquence as revived by the Renaissance humanists to defend the church and to attack Protestantism. In addition to the model of classical rhetoric, preachers had the simpler advice given by St Francis of Assisi to his followers (pp. 30-32): 'whenever they preach then words are to ... define virtues and vices, punishment and glory. And let them be brief.' According to McGinness, the general tenor of the sermons preached to the papacy changed during the period. Before 1600 the sermons were in the tradition of the Counter-Reformation with an emphasis on 'Counter'; that is, they attacked Protestant doctrine and promoted the church's battle with the northern heretics. After 1600 the sermons, while not disregarding the Protestants, focussed instead on a celebration of papal and Catholic achievements and glories. Closely associated with both the battle and the celebration was the promotion ofrightthinking, which, as indicated by the title, is a major theme in the book. Right thinking was not a matter of accepting this or that doctrine, nor was it a matter of rejecting heresy. Right thinking was an unquestioning faith in the church and its doctrine, and an unquestioning obedience to its authorities, especially the pope. The acceptance of papal authority was a dogma that supported all other dogmas. In the mouths of Counter-Reformation orators right thinking became the supreme test of orthodoxy. Missing from McGinness'tideis another aspect 302 Reviews of sacred oratory in Counter-Reformation Rome, that of triumphant celebration and exaltation. The preachers celebrated the exaltation of the triumphant church, the triumphant papacy, and triumphant Rome. McGinness writes with an eloquence and a rhetorical flourish that seem appropriate for the topic. However, he seems himself infected by the triumphalism of the preachers, and consequentiy his analysis lacks balance. The best example of this is McGinness' analysis of the oratory on Rome, civitas sancta, as indicated by thefinaltwo sentences of the book (p. 192): 'With its citizens now bound by the chain of perfect love, Roma Sancta was the locus where visible and invisible worlds merged, a place whose powers threw back demons and routed heresy, division and chaos. R o m e had triumphed, she was holy, and God was pleased.' McGinness confronts the falsity of the image only by listing the names of seven historians whose work has documented the darker side of early m o d e m Rome. McGinness' erudition is commendable, but the 120 pages of notes and the excessively long quotations in Latin are unnecessarily extravagant. The greatest shortcoming of the book is its subject matter; even though I have long been interested in Counter-Reformation Rome, I found the book tedious and uninteresting. A. Lynn Martin Department of History The University of Adelaide Page, R. I., Chronicles of the Vikings: records, memorials and myths, London, British Museum Press, 1995; cloth; pp. 240; R R P AU$45.00. At first glance this would seem an idiosyncratic work, with a strong emphasis on those somewhat obscure literary and runic texts upon which its author is an...