Istituto Sangalli

This research focuses on the d’Este cardinals’ diplomatic and religious actions and on their role as mediators between Italy and France. The objective is to uncover the geopolitical foundations of their actions whilst highlighting the different scales thereof. The presence of Ippolito II and Luigi d’Este is studied both in terms of their material presence and their participation in the political stakes of the time. Finally, by examining their modus operandi on the international scene, this study argues that a Catholic identity is emerging which is not heterodox for which crossing the mountains leads to readjustments in manners of expressing and representing the Catholic faith.

Jean Sénié

Entre l’Aigle, les Lys et la tiare

Firenze University Press, Firenze 2021

The present book investigates the social and religious history of the Portuguese-Jewish community of Hamburg during what may have been the most important period of its history – the second half of the seventeenth century. The political and economic rise of this small but influential community of New Christian bankers and merchants is analysed against the backdrop of its institutional dynamics, in an overall perspective never before conceived. The political, religious, economic, legal, charitable and disciplinary history of the community is thus explored through the analysis of the protocol books of the Portuguese Nation of Hamburg, written between 1652 and 1682. This is the intimate and fascinating journey of their everyday lives, hopes and challenges, as brought to us by their leaders.

Hugo Martins

Os Judeus Portugueses de Hamburgo

Firenze University Press, Firenze 2021

The Roman Republic of 1849 is one of the most exciting moment of the heroic season of the Italian Risorgimento, a short adventure in which the contemporaries recognized the opportunity to realize ideals of freedom, tolerance and democracy. This research aims to analyses the role played by religion in the political and social experiment that started in Rome after the pope’s escape, when it was necessary to redefine relations between civil and religious authorities, as well as the role of religion itself in society: a task not at all easy if applied to a State reality, where political and religious powers had been superimposed for centuries, but that will set an inescapable precedent for the subsequent attempts to build a secular State.

Jacopo De Santis

Between altars and barricades

Firenze University Press, Firenze 2020

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Ippolito II d’Este (1509-1572), cardinal and prince of Ferrara, played a crucial role in shaping the political and cultural connections between Italy and France. Seen by his contemporaries as staunchly ‘French’, his life rather followed a difficult balance between the political and spatial entities – Rome, Paris, and Ferrara – through which he continuously moved and from which he derived his power. Following his career as cardinal protector of the Valois crown, royal administrator of Siena on behalf of Henry II, and papal legate to France on the eve of the Wars of Religion, this book argues that Ippolito’s apparent diplomatic access ultimately weakened his family’s position in Italy and left it ill-equipped to compete in the changing politics of the peninsula.

Giulia Vidori

The Path of Pleasantness

Firenze University Press, Firenze 2020

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