Roma Capitale (1447-1527) ed. by Sergio Gensini

Abstract

(1447-1527). Edited by Sergio Gensini. [Pubblicazioni degli Archivi di Stato, Saggi 29; Centro di Studi sulla Civilta del Tardo Medioevo San Miniato, Collana di Studi e Ricerche, 5.] (Rome: Ministero per i beni culturali, Ufficio Centrale per i beni Archivistici. 1994. Pp. xiv, 629. Paperback.) The twenty-two papers in this volume explore Renaissance Rome from a number of different angles, but the general theme around which they all revolve is the city, its culture and institutions under the papal prince. Written for a conference dedicated to the theme of Roma Capitale held at San Miniato in October, 1992, without exception the papers are characterized by superb scholarship and lively writing. Here I can only hope to give some idea of the breadth of learning and high quality of scholarship that mark these works. Humanism in Renaissance Rome is well represented in this volume by a number of contributions. Charles Stinger, for example, explores how humanists created an image of Rome consonate with the exalted spiritual and cultural claims of the resurgent popes. Humanists did this by celebrating the numerous sacred shrines and miracle-working sites that comprised the sacred geography of the city. The sacred marvels of Rome reinforced the image of Christ as savior and Rome as the perpetual seat of his priesthood. This rich legacy of Christian Rome led humanists to claim that Rome had a central role in the unfolding of Christianity Stinger also offers insights into how curial humanists reconciled the splendor of classical Rome with Christian Rome. A number of papers published in this work delve into the demographical and social changes that accompanied Rome's emergence as a dominant political and ecclesiastical center. Pierre Hurtubise analyzes the efforts of the transplanted Florentine merchant family of the Salviati to work its way into the elite ranks of the Roman nobility and church hierarchy. Members of the Salviati clan systematically acquired landed estates and aped the food and artistic tastes of the Roman elite, in order to leave their merchant class origins behind. However, the key to the rise of the Salviati in Rome was the privileged place they enjoyed because of their close ties to the Medici popes. Lucrezia de Medici, who married the paterfamilias of the clan, was the sister of Leo X. Christiane Schuchard's research documents the shrinking employment opportunities available to Germans in Rome. While Germans continued to hold a few positions within the Penitentiary and Rota, few if any were found working in the Camera or Chancery. Germans were increasingly replaced by Italians in the Curia, so that Italians comprised 58 of the curial workforce by 1527, whereas Germans only totalled 6 of the curial employees. Peter Partner explains the process by which the Roman Curia became Italianized. Under Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII, offices within the Datary went up for sale-and not cheaply. Because of the high price of a curial office, the financial support of an entire Italian family was drawn upon to subvent the cost. Once a family member was inside the Curia, he worked tirelessly to procure other lucrative curial offices for his kinsmen. Members of bureaucratic dynasties within the Curia tended to look upon their positions as private property and resisted any efforts at reform. Egmont Lee investigates the inhabitants of the district of Ponte and finds that the peculiar nature of the city as home to the papacy and as a great pilgrimage site distinctly shaped the neighborhoods of the area. The majority of the inhabitants of this quarter were non-Romans. While Lee finds numerous Florentine banking families living here, most of the inhabitants worked in the hospitality trade. …