Scandinavian Converts to Catholicism in Rome, 1673–1706 1
2011; Routledge; Volume: 36; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/03468755.2011.581423
ISSN1502-7716
Autores Tópico(s)Historical Influence and Diplomacy
ResumoAbstract This article presents an analysis of a group of converts to Roman Catholicism, hitherto largely unknown in historical research, of Scandinavian origin received in the late 17th and early 18th centuries in Rome by Ospizio dei Convertendi. The article provides an overview of the converts and their motives, examining different factors which influenced the complex conversion process. It suggests that the key factors were often of a social rather than a religious nature, and that the conversions as a whole cannot be explained by Queen Christina's example and presence in Rome. Keywords: conversion17th centuryRomeScandinaviaCatholicism Notes 1 I would like use this occasion to thank Alfred Kordelin Foundation and the Society of Swedish Literature for supporting my work. In addition, I gratefully acknowledge the personnel of the Archivio Segreto Vaticano where most of my research was carried out. 2 KVA, Bergianska biblioteket, H.III: 5.1 N.8. 3 Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 61. 4 On the Nordic missions Missio Danica and Missio Suecica, see for example the well-documented work Garstein, Rome and the Counter-reformation, vols 3–4. 5 Studies dedicated to the institute vary from Pagano's ‘Ospizio dei Convertendi’ general approach to those discussing converts of a particular geographical provenience: Matheus, Konvertenden und Konvertiten; Neveu, ‘Tricentenaire de la fondation’; Stannek, ‘Migration confessionelle’; Callmer, ‘Svenska konvertiter’; and Raunio, ‘Una presenza svedese’. These contributions open up a possibility for a more comparative approach in future research on the topic, which is not however the purpose of the present article. 6 ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 5. 7 The list published in the appendix is based on this register, leaving out the haircolour and height because these are difficult to reproduce since they are indicated with different dots and lines in the original. The purpose of such a careful registering was to identify the converts, in case they would try to take advantage of the hospice for a second time, or others posing as the person admitted for subsistence. On matters regarding identification in early modern Europe, see Groebner, Who Are You? 8 ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 10–11, 14. 9 On the identification of different filters and voices in microhistorical research, see the classic work by Carlo Ginzburg, Il formaggio e i vermi, xiii. 10 See Allegra, ‘Modelli di conversione’, 903. 11 On such attempts in Rome, see for example Pagano, ‘Ospizio dei Convertendi’, 316 and Caffiero, ‘Anno santo’, 485. More details of the negotiations in the 1670s in Rome leading to the foundation of the Ospizio dei Convertendi can be found in Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 45–9. 12 On the Marian cult in Counter–Reformation Rome, see Caffiero, ‘Istituzioni, forme’, 167. 13 See Caffiero, Battesimi forzati. 14 ‘Nell'Hospitio non si sforzano nissuno ad abiurare e abbracciar la fede cattolica, perché mille volte è meglio che partano manifesti heretici (anco quando si sono serviti et abusati dell'Hospitio) che finti e mali cattolici [...]’ in Regole per li reverendi catechisti, published in Pagano, ‘Ospizio dei Convertendi’, 368. 15 Fosi, ‘Fasto e decadenza’, 817. 16 See Pagano, ‘Ospizio dei Convertendi’, 335 and Neveu, ‘Tricentenaire de la fondation’, 379, 386. Refused conversions among the Scandinavian hosts of the hospice are rare; the earliest such case is registered as late as in 1707 which, however, falls outside the chronological limits of my research. 17 See convert number 1633 in ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 7. For similar cases of different nationalities, see ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 5, ff.64r, 65r. 18 See, for example, ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 5, ff.11r, 19r, 24r, 24r, 52r. 19 ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 5, 66v–67r.; ibid., 14, f.nn. 20 The total number of Scandinavians listed in the registers during the entire existence of the hospice, from 1673 to 1879, is 247. 21 The detailed list of converts, which will be published together with this article, is for its Swedish guests mostly, but not entirely, concordant with the one published by Christian Callmer in 1983. 22 Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 61, 204. 23 Moch, ‘Europe’, 133. 24 Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 65–6. 25 Ibid., 76–8. For more detailed descriptions constructed on the basis on conversion stories, see Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 207–8. 26 Schilling and Tóth, ‘From Empires’, 31; Amelang, ‘Cities and Foreigners’, 43. 27 Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 67–8, 151. 28 Cfr. Callmer, ‘Svenska konvertiter’, 25 and Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 68. 29 Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 73. 30 Pullan, ‘Conversion of the Jews’, 70. 31 A closer analysis and full versions of these stories can be found in Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, ch. 4. 32 ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 14, f.nn.; ibid., 36, ff.47r–47v. 33 ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 14, f.nn. 34 See Caffiero, ‘Anno santo’, 487–8; Callmer, ‘Svenska konvertiter’, 22; Neveu, ‘Tricentenaire de la fondation’, 373; Pagano, ‘Ospizio dei Convertendi’, 326 and Fiorani, ‘Verso la nuova città’, 163. 35 See, for example, Bildt, ‘S. Birgittas hospital’; Karttunen, Erik Schnack; and Callmer, ‘Svenska konvertiter’. 36 Duffy, ‘Poor Protestant Flies’, 298–9. 37 Here I have consulted especially ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 10–14, f.nn. See Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 76–106. 38 Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 79. 39 Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 79–85. 40 Johnson, ‘Blood, Tears and Xavier-water’, 198. 41 Scribner, ‘Introduction’, 9. 42 Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 98–100. 43 The connection between mobility and conversion has been discussed, for example, in Fosi, ‘Roma e gli ultramontani’; Siebenhüner, ‘Conversion, Mobility’; and Matheus, ‘Mobilität und Konversion’. 44 ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 14, f.nn. and Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 90–3, On early modern mixed marriages, see for example Freist, ‘One Body, Two Confessions’. 45 See Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, ch. 6. One well-documented example of a convert returning to Lutheranism is Magnus Gabriel von Block (1669–1722), who after his conversion in Rome established himself at the Medici court in Florence, and later on returned to Sweden. On von Block, see ibid., 164–5; Nyman, ‘Leibniz, toleransen’; and Raunio, ‘Äkta eller falsk’. 46 Raunio, Conversioni al cattolicesimo, 148–9. 47 ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 5, ff.17v–18r; ibid., 10, ff.69v–70r. 48 ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 5, ff.17v–18r. 49 ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 10, ff.86v–87r ; ibid., 5, ff.21v–22r. 50 ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 11, ff.2v–3r. 51 ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 5, ff.31v–32r. 52 ASV, Ospizio Convertendi, 5, ff.34v–35r; ibid., 11, ff.40v–41r. 53 For the letter from Christina to the Duke of Mantua, see Arckenholtz, Memoires concernant Christine, vol. 3, 463. 54 RA, K436, B.2. 55 ASPF, Collegio Urbano, f.595r. 56 Ibid. 57 BA, Ms.1650, f.27r. 58 ASVR, Monastero di S.ta Brigida, 56, f.nn.
Referência(s)