Synopses & Reviews
This book offers a fresh, original and interdisciplinary interpretation of what the Catholic Reformation meant at local diocesan level in the face of attempts by Rome to regularize worship c. 1550-1700. In the process of protecting the spiritual integrity of their patria, representatives of Italian local history such as Pietro Maria Campi of Piacenza (1569-1649)--who provides the focus of this wide-ranging study--significantly broadened the boundaries of historical study and helped to lay the foundations of Italian national history writing.
Review
"...Ditchfield's attempt at revisionism can be seen as confirming the general lines of the current ortodoxy, while introducing nuance and shade into some areas once depicted in harsh tones of white and (mostly) black." Nicholas Terpstra, Canadian Journal of History"...Ditchfield has produced a learned and readbale book worthy of inclusion worthy of inclusion in this distinguished Cambridge series." William V. Hudon, The Journal of Religion"For those with a serious interest in sixteenth and sevententh century Italy, it is a vlauable contribution that illuminates a whole world of concerns too often passed over insilence....it brings to light new elements for the ongoing scholarly debate over the nature and role of historical research as practiced in early modern Europe." Gary Ianziti, American Historical Review"...Ditchfield's Liturgy--a work which constitutes a major contribution to Italian historiograpy and, for this reviewer at least, a transforming experience." Dermot Fenlon, The Catholic Historical Review"...abundantly detailed....Ditchfield has done a thorough--indeed, erudite job--of defining the scope and interests of ecclesiastical historiography and suggesting its impact on Italian historiography..." Frederick J. McGinness, Journal of Modern History
Table of Contents
List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Maps; 1. Introduction. Part I. Liturgy: 2. Reform of liturgy and the reinvention of historia sacra; 3. Hagiography as liturgy in a local context: the ecclesia placentina riformanda; Part II. Sanctity: 4. Early Christian martyr; 5. Aristocratic hermit; 6. Well-born nun; 7. Lay helper of the urban poor; 8. Visionary shepherdess; 9. Saintly pontiff; Part III. History: 10. Historia sacra as redemptor ecclesiarum italicarum; 11. The ecclesiastical roots of national historiography: Ferdinando Ughelli's Italia sacra; Bibliography; Index.