The Conquest of the Soul: Confessions, Discipline, and Public Order in Counter-Reformation MilanCarlo and Federico Borromeo achieved fame by turning Milan into the foremost laboratory of the Italian Counter-Reformation. This monograph, the first on the subject to appear in English, interprets their program of penitential discipline as a quest to reshape Lombard society by reaching into the souls of its inhabitants. This integration of the public and private spheres had vast implications - the transformation of the clergy into a professional body, a bureaucratic-juridical turn in sacramental practice, interventions in the ritual order (notably the introduction of the confessional), and new models of disciplined and 'civilized' behavior. Catholic confessionalism thus conceived had decidedly mixed outcomes. While it transformed the religious landscape forever, its deepest ambitions foundered amidst political opposition, popular resistance, and bureaucratic accommodation. Milan was never to be a city on a hill. "2001 Winner of the Howard R. Marraro Prize of the American Catholic Historical Association," |
Common terms and phrases
absolution absolve altri archbishop Arcisate ASDM authorities Avvertenze Bascapè behavior bishop Borromean canon Cardinal Federico Carlo Borromeo Carvajal Catholic chiesa Christian church città clergy clerical confes confession confessional confessors congregations conscience coscienza Council of Trent Counter-Reformation curate curia decree devotion diocesan diocese disciplinary discussed Early Modern Easter Ecclesiae ecclesiastical episcopal Federico Borromeo Giberti Giovanni History holy ibid inconfessi Instructiones Italy Jesuit laity Lecco Lenten letter Locatello Lombard medieval Milan Milanese Muzio occasions occasions of sin Oggiono Ormaneto parish priests pastoral peccato penitential penitentiary penitents pieve plague Pope Gregory XIII Porta Ticinese post-Tridentine practice Prosperi Provincial Council provost public penance quali quod reform religious ritual Roma rural vicars sacrament of penance sacred Sacri Ragionamenti scandal seal of confession secular sins sion sixteenth century social discipline soul spiritual storia superstition Synod tion Tridentine vicari foranei vols women