This book is about the workings of the Roman Inquisition from 1542 to 1644, with emphasis on 1620–1644. “The Roman Inquisition belonged to the pope” (9) announces its principal motif: Urban VIII's domination of the Inquisition. This is not a study of the trial of Galileo, but an examination of the Inquisition's legal institutions and the men who staffed it.
The first chapter discusses the available sources, with particular attention to the decree registers. Mayer summarizes the methods he employs in his study of the documents left by the Congregation and other groups in the Inquisition. He emphasizes the complexities of the rules, which continued to expand and change. Chapter 2 introduces a major proposal in the book: the professional competence of the Inquisition decreased when Urban VIII became pontiff. The careers of some fifteen inquisitors (mainly before 1623) are delineated; they are distinguished by their previous experience and expertise. By contrast, chapter 3 tells of the diminished quality of select cardinals in the Congregation under Urban VIII. Mayer considers attendance—and location—at the sessions an important index of commitment and competence. Chapter 4 studies the biographies of some figures who served as commissaries, assessors, notaries, fiscals, summista, lawyers, and theologians. Many lacked the training required for their tasks. Hence they were in effect learning on the job. Chapter 5 summarizes the inquisitorial procedures, both in theory and in practice. The inquisitio is analyzed according to its steps: opening, investigation, citation, capture, charges, witnesses, defense, movement to sentence, sentence, adjuration, and punishment.
While Mayer builds on the studies of F. Beretta, C. Black, A. Del Col, H. Kelly, A. Prosperi, and J. Tedeschi, he engages them mainly in his 127 pages of endnotes. The introductory historiographical essay is brief. The great strength of Mayer's very fine study lies in the prosopographical analysis of the members of the Congregation—easily the most extensive ever made—and the clear explanation of standard procedure. Particular stress is given to the views of the cardinal-Inquisitors F. Centini, N. Eymeric, A. Galamini, B. Gessi, M. Ginetti, G. Millini, F. Peña, P. Sfondrato, F. Verospi, and L. Zacchia. Mayer notes where legal opinions differ, and how theory and practical application often diverged—and what may have been omitted from the registers. Mayer knows the sources well.
While there is no thesis in the book, as far as I can tell, there are three themes: the decline in competence of inquisitorial qualifications after 1623; the manipulation of the Congregation by Urban VIII for personal advantage; the unresolved tension between inquisitorial procedure and the subservience of the cardinals to the papal will—and the tension between the demands of case law and guiding principles of justice.
Evaluating the “competence” of a bureaucrat usually involves some measure of subjective judgment. Barberini relatives are called “creatures” (38) of the pope. Indeed most papal appointees—which means every member of the Congregation—receive the same nomenclature. But were they really all sycophants of the pontiff? Mayer presents virtually all members as motivated by greed or ambition. Why does Antonio Barberini have the “makings of the fanatic” (55)? The implication is that no inquisitor had any spiritual impulse. The religious dimension is absent. The arch-villain is Urban VIII, depicted in the book as a power-driven autocrat who delighted in utilizing the Inquisition for political ends. His exploitation of the Inquisition was supposedly an expression of his understanding of his plenitudo potestatis, a concept that should be used with more precision. The only check on the pope's misuse of the institution, according to the author, were the quarrels among the factions in the Inquisition, and the occasional strong personality, such as the Spaniard G. Borja y Velasco. Historians should attribute “motive” to the actions of historical personages with caution.
Conclusions and transitions along the way are few and brief. It would have been helpful to pull together the implications of the biographical and procedural details in a general conclusion which positions inquisitorial operations in the broader context of 1610–1644. Why the shift in procedure after 1623? Surely internal developments (for example, “Roman justice,” [207]) are not the whole picture. What types of heresy—Mayer correctly emphasizes that the Inquisition was also occupied with matters other than heresy–concerned the Roman and Italian higher clergy at the time, and why? What do these changes in routine process reveal about the pontificate of Urban VIII? The Roman Church? And indeed, Europe during the Thirty Years' War? Was the hunt for heretics really just a power play on the part of the supreme priest? What are some the wider issues that can help us place the Inquisition in a larger setting?
The book's editor should have deleted the many clichés (call on the carpet, rubber stamp, browbeat, workaholic, full of himself, trim sails, brushed up, and so forth), which clutter the prose.
Mayer does not ignore extra-inquisitorial sources, such as the gossipy Venetian ambassadorial reports. He is careful to assess the worth of each type of document.This book is a gem. Mayer's summary of Inquisition procedure is superb. His meticulous descriptions of individual members give life to impersonal institutions. This is the best prosopographical study in any language. Highly recommended.
