The Papal Curia was the gravitational centre of power and culture of the Roman Catholic Church throughout many centuries. This project aims to study the hegemony carried out by the papacy, which shaped both religious propaganda and cultural communication among humanists, artists and politicians who were part of, or had exchange with the Papal Court in a period extending from the pontificate of Benedict XII (1334) until the end of that of Paul III (1549). Such an approach will help to reconstruct the dynamics among the international milieu of intellectuals, diplomats and officials operating in the Curia. At the same time, the analysis will show how the theological debate changed from Late Middle Ages to the Early Modern, influenced by, and at the same time influencing, European Renaissance Humanism. From the tense dispute concerning the papal seat during the so-called Avignon Captivity to the elaboration of the papal monarchy during Renaissance papacies, the theological and political debate held in the Curia deeply affected mentality and communication. Far from being isolated, the Curia was indeed a very complex environment which elaborated wide-ranging and long-lasting theological-political devices.
Within the frame of a growing scholarship devoted to the Curia in the period taken into consideration, this interdisciplinary project will analyse the role of theology in cultural communication through a selection of case studies committed to a team of specialists of history, history of Christianity, history of art and literature, coordinated by the recipient of the "assegno di ricerca". All the single researches, based on both published and unpublished sources, will be discussed in public webinars and seminars. The final outcome of the research will be a multidisciplinary database that will be used as a way of exchanging data among the participants during the research and finally released online as a way of disseminating the results of the project.
The research, based on a multidisciplinary approach to a relevant study topic, has a high-quality level of innovation in the field of cultural, social, political and religious history. The focus on the role of theology and propaganda for the Papal Curia, both as a cultural environment and as a complex political institution, will provide a new perspective on relevant phenomena such as theological debates at Avignon and the birth of Humanism, the influence of Roman Theology and Papal propaganda on Humanists operating as Papal secretaries, the influence of "courtier" theology and antiquarianism on the artists, the theological roots of treatises, satires and dialogues concerning the Curia, Papal diplomacy and the arts in the Renaissance, the role of Erasmus and Machiavelli during Medici papacies.
A deep analysis of the peculiarities of communication within the Papal Curia will highlight the role of Christian heritage, both religiously and philosophically, in the development of modern political thought and the emergence of the modern idea of history. The relevance of those who were part of, or had exchange with, cardinal and papal courts is increased by the international dimension of the Curia, as well as its relationship with European cultural and political institutions such as universities and academies.
The new analysis of published sources, the discovery of unknown or unpublished ones, as well as a new interpretation of relevant case studies, will contribute to the study of the general phenomena described above. New historiographical sources, for instance, will highlight the variety of cultural perspectives within and without the Curia, both praising and criticizing in detail and in depth the action of different popes. Such an analysis will also show in detail how the theological debate changed from Late Middle Ages to the Early Modern, influenced by, and at the same time influencing, European Renaissance Humanism. From the tense dispute concerning the papal seat during the so-called Avignon Captivity to the elaboration of the papal monarchy during Renaissance papacies, the theological and political debate held in the Curia deeply affected mentality and communication.
As far as the database is concerned, the research will adopt an innovative approach to network analysis, extending the corpus from private letters, as in the projects listed in National - international framing of the research program, to official documents and artworks. The map of relationships among learned men and cardinals, theologians and popes, patrons and artists will integrate an analysis of themes and style adopted in each individual entry. The database will be designed, tested and implemented on the basis of a corpus that includes unpublished sources and the outcome of an original research. The final version of the database will be at the same time a display of the results of the research on the case studies, and a tool for new or further research.