The Roman Inquisition: A Papal Bureaucracy and its Laws in the Age of Galileo. By Thomas F. Mayer. Haney Foundation Series. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013. 385 pp. $79.95 cloth.

Abstract

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)The Roman Inquisition: A Papal Bureaucracy and its Laws in the Age of Galileo . By Thomas F. Mayer . Haney Foundation Series. Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press , 2013. 385 pp. $79.95 cloth.Book Reviews and NotesThis book is about the workings of the Roman Inquisition from 1542 to 1644, with emphasis on 1620-1644. Roman Inquisition belonged to the pope (9) announces its principal motif: Urban VIII's domination of the Inquisition. This is not a study of the trial of Galileo, but an examination of the Inquisition's legal institutions and the men who staffed it.The first chapter discusses the available sources, with particular attention to the decree registers. Mayer summarizes the methods he employs in his study of the documents left by the Congregation and other groups in the Inquisition. He emphasizes the complexities of the rules, which continued to expand and change. Chapter 2 introduces a major proposal in the book: the professional competence of the Inquisition decreased when Urban VIII became pontiff. The careers of some fifteen inquisitors (mainly before 1623) are delineated; they are distinguished by their previous experience and expertise. By contrast, chapter 3 tells of the diminished quality of select cardinals in the Congregation under Urban VIII. Mayer considers attendance--and location--at the sessions an important index of commitment and competence. Chapter 4 studies the biographies of some figures who served as commissaries, assessors, notaries, fiscals, summista , lawyers, and theologians. Many lacked the training required for their tasks. Hence they were in effect learning on the job. Chapter 5 summarizes the inquisitorial procedures, both in theory and in practice. The inquisitio is analyzed according to its steps: opening, investigation, citation, capture, charges, witnesses, defense, movement to sentence, sentence, adjuration, and punishment.While Mayer builds on the studies of F. Beretta, C. Black, A. Del Col, H. Kelly, A. Prosperi, and J. Tedeschi, he engages them mainly in his 127 pages of endnotes. The introductory historiographical essay is brief. The great strength of Mayer's very fine study lies in the prosopographical analysis of the members of the Congregation--easily the most extensive ever made--and the clear explanation of standard procedure. Particular stress is given to the views of the cardinal-Inquisitors F. Centini, N. Eymeric, A. Galamini, B. Gessi, M. Ginetti, G. Millini, F. Pena, P. Sfondrato, F. Verospi, and L. Zacchia. Mayer notes where legal opinions differ, and how theory and practical application often diverged--and what may have been omitted from the registers. Mayer knows the sources well.While there is no thesis in the book, as far as I can tell, there are three themes: the decline in competence of inquisitorial qualifications after 1623; the manipulation of the Congregation by Urban VIII for personal advantage; the unresolved tension between inquisitorial procedure and the subservience of the cardinals to the papal will--and the tension between the demands of case law and guiding principles of justice. …