The University of Mantua, the Gonzaga, and the Jesuits, 1584–1630 Grendler, Paul F. Published by Johns Hopkins University Press Grendler, Paul F. The University of Mantua, the Gonzaga, and the Jesuits, 1584–1630. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009. Project MUSE. doi:10.1353/book.3437. https://muse.jhu.edu/. For additional information about this book https://muse.jhu.edu/book/3437 [ Access provided at 1 Oct 2021 03:23 GMT with no institutional affiliation ] This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The University of Mantua, the Gonzaga, and the Jesuits, 1584–1630 This page intentionally left blank The niversity of mantua, the gonzaga & the jesuits, 1584–1630 paul f. grendler the johns hopkins university press Baltimore This book has been brought to publication with the generous assistance of the Lila Acheson Wallace–Reader’s Digest Publications Subsidy at Villa I Tatti. ∫ 2009 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2009 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Grendler, Paul F. The University of Mantua, the Gonzaga, and the Jesuits, 1584–1630 / Paul F. Grendler. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-8018-9171-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. University of Mantua. 2. Gonzaga family. 3. Jesuits—Education (Higher)— Italy—History—17th century. 4. Jesuits—Education (Higher)—Italy—History— 16th century. I. Title. lf3893.m36g74 2009 378.45%281—dc22 2008035750 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information, please contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936 or [email protected]. The Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent post-consumer waste, whenever possible. All of our book papers are acid-free, and our jackets and covers are printed on paper with recycled content. To my friends and former students at the University of Toronto This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Illustrations xi List of Tables xiii Preface xv Abbreviations xix Values of Some Coins and Monies of Account ca. 1625 xxi chapter 1. The Place and the People 1 1. The Duchy of Mantua 1 2. The Economy and the People 3 3. Monferrato 9 4. Jesuit Attempts to Enter Italian Universities 14 chapter 2. The Jesuits Come to Mantua 24 1. The Founding of the Jesuit College 24 2. Blessed Luigi Gonzaga 41 3. Growth of the College and School 48 chapter 3. Ferdinando Gonzaga and the Jesuits Create a University 54 1. University Dreams 54 2. Gonzaga Support of Learning 56 3. The Education of Ferdinando Gonzaga 59 4. Duke Ferdinando Gonzaga 68 5. The Jesuit Part of the University 73 6. The Public Academy of Mantua 79 viii Contents chapter 4. Doctor Marta 83 1. Early Life and Works 84 2. Ecclesiastical and Civil Jurisdiction 92 3. A Spy for James I 101 4. The Supplicatio ad imperatorem . contra Paulum Quintum 108 5. Was Doctor Marta a Doctor? 114 6. The Compilatio totius iuris ex universi orbis 117 7. The Move to Mantua 122 chapter 5. Fabrizio Bartoletti and Other Professors 127 1. Fabrizio Bartoletti 128 2. The Encyclopaedia hermetico-dogmatica 130 3. The Courting of Bartoletti 140 4. More Searches 144 chapter 6. The Peaceful University of Mantua 149 1. Final Preparations and Crises 149 2. Finances 154 3. The Pacifico Gymnasio Mantuano Begins 158 4. Students 170 chapter 7. Medicine, Law, and Tacitus 175 1. Botanical Medicine 175 2. Chemical Medicine 178 3. Bartoletti’s Research on Angina Pectoris 184 4. Law Professors and Marta’s Research 192 5. The Tacitus Professorship 195 chapter 8. The Jesuit Professorships 198 1. The Jesuit Curriculum and Teaching 199 2. The Career Paths of Jesuits and Lay Professors 216 3. Two Academic Cultures 217 Contents ix chapter 9. The End of the University of Mantua 227 1. The Crisis of the Mantuan Succession 227 2. The Contenders 232 3. War, Plague, and the Sack of Mantua 235 4. The Imprisonment and Death of Doctor Marta 240 5. The End of the University of Mantua 245 6. After the Sack 246 Appendix: Jesuit Professors at Mantua, 1624–1630 251 Bibliography 255 Index 277 This page intentionally left blank Illustrations maps 1. The Duchy of Mantua and states ruled by cadet branches of the Gonzaga ca. 1585 2 2. Northern Italy ca. 1625 12 3. The Jesuit island and university ca. 1625 34 4. Reconstruction of Santissima Trinità ca. 1630 38 genealogical charts 1. The Gonzaga of Mantua 8 2. The Gonzaga of Castiglione delle Stiviere 42 figures 1. Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duchess Eleonora of Austria, Duchess Eleonora de’ Medici 40 2. Cardinal Ferdinando Gonzaga 64 3. Duke Ferdinando Gonzaga 70 4. Proclamation of the opening of the Jesuit Public Academy of Mantua 80 5. Giacomo Antonio Marta 85 6. Title page of Giacomo Antonio Marta, Decisionum novissimarum almi Collegii Pisani 90 xii Illustrations 7. Proemium from Giacomo Antonio Marta, Tractatus de iurisdictione 94 8. Title page of Giacomo Antonio Marta, The New Man 110 9. Title page of Fabrizio Bartoletti, Encyclopaedia hermetico-dogmatica 132 10. Proclamation of the opening of the Peaceful University of Mantua 150 11. Title page of Giacomo Antonio Marta, De Accademiae Mantuanae institutione et praestantia oratio 160 12. Title page of Fabrizio Bartoletti, Methodus in dyspnoeam seu de respirationibus 186 13. Fabrizio Bartoletti, synopsis of the symptoms of sudden death from di≈cult breathing 189 Tables 1.1 Population of Mantua and the Mantovano, 1511–1625 6 3.1 Public Academy of Mantua Roll, 1624–1625 81 6.1 University of Mantua Roll, 1625–1626 163 6.2 University of Mantua Roll, 1627–1628 168 This page intentionally left blank Preface his is a book about the University of Mantua. It began in 1999 when I saw tantalizing references to a Jesuit university in Mantua in documents in the Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu. Then in December 2001 I found a treasure trove of material about a real and lively institution in the Archivio di Stato of Mantua. Despite the abundant records, not even specialists in university history have heard of the University of Mantua. Previous scholarship consists of a short article pub- lished in 1871 and a laureate thesis of 1969–70, which yielded another short article in 1972, plus a handful of passing references.∞ Bringing to light an unknown university proved irresistible. The Peaceful University of Mantua, its formal name, was a joint lay and Jesuit institution. The Jesuit part began in 1624, and law and medicine were added in 1625. But the university lasted only until the autumn of 1629. The War of the Mantuan Succession and the terrible Sack of Mantua, July 18–20, 1630, sealed its fate. Mantua has no university today. Why study a university that lasted only a few years? There are several reasons. The story of the University of Mantua o√ers the opportunity to follow the creation of a university ab uovo, as the Gonzaga and the Jesuits organized the institution, raised the money, and found professors. Another reason is that the documents provide unusually detailed information about the relationship between an Italian ruling family and a university. Previous 1. See Mainardi, 1871; Ardenghi, 1969–70, 1972. Despite its title, Davari, 1876, has only a fleeting comment on the university. Some recent studies, especially of the Jesuits, note that there was a university but o√er no further information. Frijho√, 1996, 87, in his comprehensive list of European universities between 1500 and 1800, writes only ‘‘Mantua (1625). Jesuit; suppressed in 1771/3. Catholic.’’ xvi Preface Gonzaga dukes had supported a variety of scholars in di√erent fields of learning; Duke Ferdinando (1587, ruled 1613–26) extended patronage of learn- ing to its logical conclusion by founding a university. Still another reason is that the events in Mantua display the higher education politics of the Society of Jesus. Although the Jesuits had considerable success joining and sometimes dominating established universities and creating new ones in northern Eu- rope, they met many rebu√s in Italy. They succeeded in Mantua. The university united a princely family and the Society of Jesus, two powerful forces shaping Italian history. The partnership produced a medium- sized Italian university with professorships in canon and civil law, the full range of medical positions, and the first professorship of chemistry in Italy. Jesuit professors taught the humanities, mathematics, philosophy, and theol- ogy. While common in northern Europe, a university with both lay pro- fessors and Jesuits was unusual for Italy. The winds of intellectual change blew briskly through the lecture halls of the Peaceful University of Mantua. The medical faculty taught a heady mix of anatomical dissection, experimentation, Galenism, and Paracelsianism. The star professor of medicine was the first to isolate the symptoms of angina pectoris. Giacomo Antonio Marta, the leading law professor, attempted to shift the foundations of ius commune from traditional texts to the decisions of tribunals. He also had much to say about church-state jurisdiction, the most controversial legal issue of the day. Studying the University of Mantua opens a window into Italian intellectual history in a time of ferment. Examination of the University of Mantua also permits comparison between what Jesuits and professors in civic universities taught. Despite many similarities, Jesuits and lay professors inhabited two di√erent academic cultures.