Shadows of Doubt: Language and Truth in Post-Reformation Catholic Culture

305 Pages·2014·1.914 MB·

by  Stefania Tutino

Shadows of Doubt
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Shadows of Doubt
Language and Truth in Post-Reformation
Catholic Culture
STEFANIA TUTINO
1
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1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tutino, Stefania.
Shadows of doubt : language and truth in post-reformation Catholic culture / Stefania Tutino.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–932498–9 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–19–932499–6 (ebook)
1. Catholic Church—History—Modern period, 1500– 2. Truth—Religious aspects—Christianity.
3. Language and languages—Religious aspects—Catholic Church. I. Title.
BX1330.T88 2014
282.09’03—dc23
2013015744
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
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Siamo molto superfi ciali, io e voi. Non andiamo ben addentro allo scherzo, che è più
profondo e radicale, cari miei. E consiste in questo: che l’essere agisce necessariamente per
forme, che sono le apparenze ch’esso si crea, e a cui noi diamo valore di realtà. Un valore
che cangia, naturalmente, secondo l’essere in quella forma e in quell’att o ci appare. E ci deve
sembrare per forza che gli altri hanno sbagliato; che una data forma, un dato att o non è
questo e non è così. Ma inevitabilmente, poco dopo, se ci spostiamo d’un punto, ci accorgiamo
che abbiamo sbagliato anche noi, e che non è questo e non è così; sicché alla fi ne siamo
costrett i a riconoscere che non sarà mai né questo né così in nessun modo stabile e sicuro;
ma ora in un modo ora in un altro, che tutt i a un certo punto ci parranno sbagliati, o tutt i
veri, che è lo stesso; perché una realtà non ci fu data e non c’è, ma dobbiamo farcela noi, se
vogliamo essere: e non sarà mai una per tutt i, una per sempre, ma di continuo e infi nitamente
mutabile. La facoltà d’illuderci che la realtà d’oggi sia la sola vera, se da un canto ci sostiene,
dall’altro ci precipita in un vuoto senza fi ne, perché la realtà d’oggi è destinata a scoprire
l’illusione domani. E la vita non conclude. Non può concludere. Se domani conclude, è fi nita.
Luigi Pirandello, Uno, nessuno e centomila
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments i x
List of Abbreviations xi
Introduction: Looking out from the Edge of the Cliff : History,
Language, and Truth
1
1. Telling the Truth: Equivocation and Mental Reservation Between
Morality and Hermeneutics
10
2. Writing the truth: Agostino Mascardi and Post-Reformation
Historiography by Way of Paul Ricoeur
40
3. Writing the Truth: Ecclesiastical History and its Critics
74
4 . Rhetoric, Truth, and the Truth
113
5 . Th e Sacrament of Language and the Curse of Speech 1 49
Notes 1 91
Select Bibliography 253
Index 2 71
vii
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I could not have writt en this book, indeed I could not do my job, without
being able to count on the competence, generosity, and kindness of the staff
of the libraries and archives where I work. I am especially grateful to Mons.
Alejandro Cifres, Fabrizio De Sibi, and Daniel Ponziani at the Archivio della
Congregazione per la Dott rina della Fede; Prof. Martín Morales, Cristina Berna,
Lorenzo Mancini, and Irene Pedrett i at the Archivio della Pontifi cia Università
Gregoriana; Mauro Brunello, Francesco Stacca, and Salvatore Vassallo at the
Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu; Giovanni Castaldo and Carlo Piacentini at
the Archivio Segreto Vaticano; the staff of the manuscript room and early printed
books room at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana; Giuseppe Finocchiaro at the
Biblioteca Vallicelliana.
Also, while working on this book I have enjoyed the support, criticism,
and suggestions of many friends and colleagues. Among them, I would like
to mention Hilary Bernstein, Alison Bjerke, Anna Boschett i, Tom Carlson,
Tom Cogswell, Simon Ditchfi eld, Lori Anne Ferrell, Michael Geiss, Margaret
Jacob, Carol Lansing, Marc Lerner, Anthony Milton, Adriano Prosperi, Debora
Shuger, Jon Snyder, Ann Taves, Nicholas Terpstra, Alexandra Walsham, Colleen
Windham-Hughes, Ronald Witt . I  am grateful to Alessandro Vascon for
providing the cover image.
I would like to thank the editorial staff at Oxford University Press, especially
Charlott e Steinhardt and Cynthia Read, who even in diffi cult times never failed
to off er advice and encouragement. Th is book has benefi ted from the insightful
and engaged criticism provided by the anonymous readers: even though I did
not follow all of the suggestions they gave me, their comments were immensely
helpful in refi ning my thinking. Of course, I take full responsibility for the fi nal
shape that this book has taken.
I had the opportunity to discuss parts of the second and third chapters, respec-
tively, at the 2010 Mellon workshop on early modern studies at the University
ix
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