Renaissance in Italy, Volumes 6 and 7 (of 7) / The Catholic Reaction

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

16504

Title

Renaissance in Italy, Volumes 6 and 7 (of 7) / The Catholic Reaction

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

John Addington Symonds chronicles the decline of the Italian Renaissance under Spanish hegemony and the Catholic Counter-Reformation. This volume explores the rise of the Inquisition, the Jesuits, and the Tridentine Council, examining how religious fervor stifled intellectual freedom while fostering a new, rigid moral order across Italy.

Summary up to 500 words

In the concluding volumes of *Renaissance in Italy*, John Addington Symonds chronicles the profound transformation of the Italian peninsula from a cradle of artistic brilliance to a realm dominated by Spanish political hegemony and Roman ecclesiastical authority. Symonds argues that the Counter-Reformation, while preserving religious unity, ultimately deformed the Church's original spirit, replacing Renaissance vitality with superstition, casuistry, and political violence. The narrative centers on the Council of Trent, which standardized Catholic doctrine but effectively excluded Protestant influence, leading to a period of intense religious scrutiny. Symonds details how the Holy Office and the *Index Librorum Prohibitorum* suppressed learning and enforced orthodoxy, often at the expense of sound scholarship and intellectual freedom. He profiles key figures who embodied the tensions of this era. Fra Paolo Sarpi emerges as a defender of state sovereignty against papal overreach, utilizing his vast erudition to argue that both the State and the Church possess distinct, divinely appointed jurisdictions. His life was marked by assassination attempts by fanatical agents, illustrating the deadly stakes of resisting Roman absolutism. Conversely, Giordano Bruno stands as a martyr of free thought, executed for his heretical views and scientific biases that challenged the prevailing dogma. Symonds also examines the dramatic life of Torquato Tasso, whose genius was marred by mental instability and the intrigues of the Ferrarese court, and the evolution of the arts under these new constraints. In music, Palestrina is celebrated for satisfying the Council's decrees with a new style of sacred composition that avoided the chaotic indecency of earlier contrapuntal styles. In painting, the Bolognese school, led by the Caracci, sought to revive classical ideals, though Symonds notes the lingering influence of Mannerism and the rise of realists like Caravaggio. The text concludes that the Catholic Reaction generated a society where enormous sins could be atoned by the murder of suspected heretics, a morality preached openly by Jesuits and whispered in confessionals. By subordinating the individual and the state to the worldly interests of Rome and repressing knowledge, the Church advanced upon a path of self-destruction. Symonds asserts that the post-Tridentine era did not reform the Church but rather substituted primitive simplicity with ambitious hypocrisy, setting the stage for the conflicts that would define early modern Europe.

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Categories

• Religion
• History