The paper focuses on the cultural models of Italian religious libraries at the end of the 16th century. One of the most interesting sources for the study of such libraries is the corpus of codices Vaticani Latini 11266-11326 in the Vatican Library. These codices contain the result of the investigation carried out by the Congregation of the Index into the books held by regular Orders in Italy in the wake of the Clementine Index librorum prohibitorum published in 1596 and the subsequent censorship campaign. Italian convents and monasteries were required to make a list of all the books – not just those prohibited – held in their libraries. The picture that emerges from this census is impressive. It involves 33 regular Orders and about 2200 settlements. Moreover, for each convent or monastery, common libraries are described as well as books in use by the single friars and monks, for a total of about 9500 lists. Vatican inventories are now transcribed and indexed in the online database “Le biblioteche degli ordini regolari italiani alla fine del XVI secolo” (rici.vatlib.it) under the supervision of the RICI group (Research on the Inquiry of the Congregation of the Index). The extensive information of the RICI database allows noticing some peculiar features. Measuring the number of copies of each edition, it is possible to have invaluable information on the circulation of religious literature in the extensive network of libraries belonging to regular Orders in Italy. This kind of quantitative analysis is performed focusing on the occurrences of authors and works. It is possible to observe a widespread compliance with the Clementine Index and a strong diffusion of post-Tridentine books; at the same time, some traditional presences reflect the history of religious communities over earlier periods and the persistence of some cultural trends. In the paper some cases are discussed, basing on a list of authors with a large number of occurrences and some methodological remarks are proposed.
Il saggio si concentra sui modelli culturali delle biblioteche religiose italiane alla fine del XVI secolo. Una delle fonti più interessanti per lo studio di tali biblioteche è il corpus dei codici Vaticani Latini 11266-11326 nella Biblioteca Vaticana. Questi codici contengono i risultati dell'indagine condotta dalla Congregazione dell'Indice sui libri posseduti dagli Ordini regolari in Italia, in seguito alla pubblicazione dell'Indice dei libri proibiti clementino del 1596 e alla successiva campagna censoria. I conventi e i monasteri italiani furono obbligati a stilare un elenco di tutti i libri – non solo quelli proibiti – presenti nelle loro biblioteche. Il quadro che emerge da questo censimento è impressionante. Coinvolge 33 Ordini regolari e circa 2200 insediamenti. Inoltre, per ogni convento o monastero, vengono descritti sia le biblioteche comuni che i libri in uso dai singoli frati e monaci, per un totale di circa 9500 liste. Gli inventari Vaticani sono ora trascritti e indicizzati nel database online “Le biblioteche degli ordini regolari italiani alla fine del XVI secolo” (rici.vatlib.it) sotto la supervisione del gruppo RICI (Ricerca sull’Inchiesta della Congregazione dell’Indice). L'ampia mole di informazioni presenti nel database RICI consente di notare alcune caratteristiche peculiari. Misurando il numero di copie di ciascuna edizione, è possibile ottenere informazioni inestimabili sulla circolazione della letteratura religiosa nella vasta rete di biblioteche appartenenti agli Ordini regolari in Italia. Questo tipo di analisi quantitativa viene condotta focalizzandosi sulle occorrenze di autori e opere. È possibile osservare una diffusa conformità all'Indice clementino e una forte diffusione dei libri post-tridentini; allo stesso tempo, alcune presenze tradizionali riflettono la storia delle comunità religiose nei periodi precedenti e la persistenza di alcune tendenze culturali. Nel saggio vengono discussi alcuni casi, basandosi su un elenco di autori con un alto numero di occorrenze, e vengono proposte alcune osservazioni metodologiche.
Italian Religious Orders and their Books at the End of the Sixteenth Century
Giovanna Granata
Primo
2024-01-01
Abstract
The paper focuses on the cultural models of Italian religious libraries at the end of the 16th century. One of the most interesting sources for the study of such libraries is the corpus of codices Vaticani Latini 11266-11326 in the Vatican Library. These codices contain the result of the investigation carried out by the Congregation of the Index into the books held by regular Orders in Italy in the wake of the Clementine Index librorum prohibitorum published in 1596 and the subsequent censorship campaign. Italian convents and monasteries were required to make a list of all the books – not just those prohibited – held in their libraries. The picture that emerges from this census is impressive. It involves 33 regular Orders and about 2200 settlements. Moreover, for each convent or monastery, common libraries are described as well as books in use by the single friars and monks, for a total of about 9500 lists. Vatican inventories are now transcribed and indexed in the online database “Le biblioteche degli ordini regolari italiani alla fine del XVI secolo” (rici.vatlib.it) under the supervision of the RICI group (Research on the Inquiry of the Congregation of the Index). The extensive information of the RICI database allows noticing some peculiar features. Measuring the number of copies of each edition, it is possible to have invaluable information on the circulation of religious literature in the extensive network of libraries belonging to regular Orders in Italy. This kind of quantitative analysis is performed focusing on the occurrences of authors and works. It is possible to observe a widespread compliance with the Clementine Index and a strong diffusion of post-Tridentine books; at the same time, some traditional presences reflect the history of religious communities over earlier periods and the persistence of some cultural trends. In the paper some cases are discussed, basing on a list of authors with a large number of occurrences and some methodological remarks are proposed.
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