Antonio Possevino | |
|---|---|
 Batory at Pskov. Painting byJan Matejko. Possevino is the black-robed Jesuit at the center, blessing the offerings | |
| Born | Antonius Possevinus 10 July 1533 |
| Died | 26 February 1611(1611-02-26) (aged 77) |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Occupation(s) | papal diplomat, Jesuit controversialist, encyclopedist and bibliographer |
| Notable work | Bibliotheca selecta qua agitur de ratione studiorum (1593) Apparatus ad omnium gentium historiam (2 vols., 1597–1602) Apparatus sacer ad scriptores Veteris et Novi Testamenti (3 vols., 1603–06) |
| Parent(s) | Francesco Possevino Caterina Possevino |
Antonio PossevinoSJ (Latin:Antonius Possevinus; 10 July 1533 – 26 February 1611) was aJesuit protagonist ofCounter Reformation as a papal diplomat[1] and a Jesuit controversialist, polemicist, encyclopedist, and bibliographer.[2] He was the firstJesuit to visitMuscovy,Sweden,Denmark,Livonia,Hungary,Pomerania, andSaxony in amply documented papal missions between 1578 and 1586 where he championed the enterprising policies of PopeGregory XIII.
Recent scholarship has identified Antonio Possevino's family asNew Christians admitted to the learned circles of the court ofRenaissanceMantua and itsGonzaga dukes. His father was Piedmontese from Asti and moved to Mantua where he joined the guild of goldsmiths. The family name was changed from Cagliano (Caliano) and had three sons, Giovanni Battista, Antonio and Giorgio.[3] His mother nursed her son Antonio in 1533 together withFrancesco III Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua.[4]
His older brother, Giovanni Battista Possevino (1522–1552) arrived in the mid-1540s in the Rome ofPaul III Farnese, first in the service of the Mantuan cardinal reformerGregorio Cortese, then of the papal "cardinal nipote"Alessandro Farnese (cardinal) and finally of cardinalIppolito II d'Este. In 1549 at seventeen Antonio came to study with his brother in Rome and met the leading intellectuals at theRenaissance court of popeJulius III (1550–1555), the patron ofGiovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and the builder ofVilla Giulia. These includedFulvio Orsini andPaulus Manutius. In 1553 he published posthumously theDialogo dell'Honore of Giovanni Battista who died not yet thirty. In Rome he dedicated theCentones ex Vergilio published under the name of Lelio Capilupi, to the French poetJoachim Du Bellay and in 1556 inDue Discorsi he defended his brother against accusations of plagiarism and defended the writings ofGiovanni Battista Giraldi.
His brilliance and literary skills made the young humanist much in demand. When he left Rome he was engaged in service to CardinalErcole Gonzaga as tutor to the sons of his brotherFerrante Gonzaga,Francesco Gonzaga and Gian Vincenzo Gonzaga, both future cardinals. He moved with them to the literary capital of Italy, the city ofFerrara ruled by theHouse of Este. Possevino was connected with theAristotelian revival associated withFrancis Robortello and Vincenzo Maggi (1498–1564) that generated many treatises on literary and courtly matters including his brother'sDialogo dell'honore and his early works. When the University closed in Ferrara due to theItalian War of 1551–1559, Antonio moved to Padua. At this time Don Ferrante, his wards' father, died in the aftermath of theBattle of St. Quentin (1557). Possevino had become an expert in the historical training of princes and was writing commentaries on this battle exalting the victory ofEmanuele Filiberto, Duke of Savoy. This produced a Piedmontese commendatore that he had to renounce in order to become a Jesuit, a severe hardship for his family, as his brother Giorgio was in jail and he was supporting his nephews, Giovanni Battista Bernardino Possevino and Antonio Possevino, both future translators and authors.
But in Padua and in Naples he came in contact with theSociety of Jesus and joined the order in 1559.[5] In 1560 Possevino was accompanied by Jesuit GeneralDiego Lainez to theSavoy ofEmanuele Filiberto where he bolstered theCatholic Church againstheretics and he founded theJesuit schools atChambery,Mondovì andTurin.[6] In his efforts to bring the entrenchedWaldensians around, he debatedScipione Lentolo (1525–1599),Calvin's emissary to the ItalianReformed community.[7] In combatting the influence of Calvin'sGeneva increasingly he gravitated to France. This was at the onset of theWars of Religion where he sought to rally theCatholics ofLyons together with Jesuit preacherEdmond Auger. He published a treatise on the Mass,Il sacrificio dell'altare (1563) and debated such Geneva reformers asPierre Viret and the Italian Calvinist, Niccolo Balbani. For the Italian merchant community of Lyons he providedCatholic books, for example theCatechism ofPeter Canisius and several other works in Italian. During this time he was put in jail and rescued from hisHuguenot captors by influential adherents. In 1565 he successfully defended his order at the Colloquy at Bayonne before the boy kingCharles IX and the future kingHenri IV who remained a lifelong friend. In 1569 he wroteIl Soldato cristiano for popePius V who had it printed in Rome and distributed to the papal troops at the battle ofLepanto. He served as the rector of theJesuit college ofAvignon and then ofLyons where he received the Jesuit GeneralFrancis Borgia in 1571 on a journey from Spain to Rome.[8] He was there during theSt. Bartholomew's Day massacre. During these militant years he first conceived of the plan of hisCounter Reformation bibliographical works, as he states in the introduction to theBibliotheca selecta.
When Borgia died, Possevino returned to Rome for the third JesuitGeneral Congregation and stayed on as the Latin secretary toEverard Mercurian,Jesuit general from 1572 until 1578. PopeGregory XIII sent him to the court of KingJohn III of Sweden in order to influence the course of theLivonian War. There King John converted to the Catholic Church and Possevino distributed the Holy Communion to him.[9] During this decade travelling around the Baltic and Eastern Europe Possevino wrote several tracts against his Protestant adversaries, including theLutheranDavid Chytraeus, theCalvinistAndreas Volanus and theUnitarianFrancis David[10] After Sweden and Poland Possevino proceeded to the Russian capital ofIvan the Terrible and helped to mediate between him andStefan Bathory in theTreaty of Jam Zapolski in 1582. He left a valuable account of hisnunciature in his description of the Tsardom ofMuscovy. He also wrote accounts of his travels inTransylvania andLivonia. During these years he helped found, withPiotr Skarga, the JesuitVilnius University and Jesuit academies and seminaries inBraniewo,Olomouc andCluj[11] historically connected to present day institutions. Possevino's efforts to bolster the Catholics in Poland under the patronage of Bathory engendered hostility to the Jesuit diplomat at theHabsburg court ofRudolf II reflected at the papal court of Rome.
After his protector Bathory's death at the end of 1586 Possevino was retired from diplomacy by Jesuit generalClaudio Acquaviva. He was banned from Rome as too political and exiled to Venetian territory. In Padua Possevino continued to conduct the IgnatianSpiritual Exercises thus influencing the vocation of the Bishop and SaintFrancis de Sales there as a student of law. Finally, in Padua began the scholarly project of assembling and organizing the library oforthodoxCatholic learning assembled in theBibliotheca selecta (1593) dedicated to PopeClement VIII andSigismund III Vasa. His sections were carefully reviewed by the leading professors of theRoman College includingChristopher Clavius andRobert Bellarmine. Revisions and translations into Italian of books, which were originally included in theBibliotheca Selecta, were later published as free standing works, such as theColtura degl'Ingegni andApparato All'Historia.[9][12] Next he set to preparing the compendious theological reference workApparatus Sacer that brought him to Venice. During the 1590s while he was busy as a bibliographer he was also active in pastoral work in his native Mantua and at the court of DukeVincenzo Gonzaga. Two missions on the status of the Jesuits in France brought him into renewed contact with recently converted Calvinist, KingHenri IV.
During the production and publication of his enormousApparatus Sacer (1603-06) in Venice, Possevino became the Jesuit leader of the traditionalistvecchi in opposing the anti-papalgiovani who were being more successfully led byServite historianPaolo Sarpi. There he fought the confessional "battle of the books" (la guerra delle scripture), during theVenetian Interdict, in a familiar diplomatic milieu that included the ambassador ofJames I,Sir Henry Wotton and the Venetian ambassador of his old acquaintanceHenry IV of France.[13] Possevino's contributions tola guerra delle scritture was written under pseudonyms such as Giovanni Filoteo d'Asti, Teodoro Eugenio di Famagosta, and Paolo Anafesto.[9][14] In these texts, Possevino proves his loyality to the Roman Pontiff but not without acknowledging the glorious past of the Republic of Venice. Harsh words about Paolo Sarpi and the opposers of the legitimacy of the Interdict were expressed by Possevino, but, on the other hand, his adversaries did not hesitate to criticize him and other Jesuits.[9][15] Following the Interdict of PopePaul V against Venice, Possevino was banished with the Society of Jesus from the Republic of Venice in 1606. He was sent to relative obscurity in nearbyFerrara where he wrote several polemical tracts under various pseudonyms concerning the pro-CatholicFalse Dmitriy I, theVenetian Interdict and other controversial issues.[16] Possevino's intention as a missionary, diplomat, and author was to promote a Catholic culture, which could outdo that of the Renaissance humanists. This culture was dependent on unity with the Roman Pontiff, as the prime spiritual and temporal authority.[9] Having outlived his role during theCounter Reformation as the political Jesuit intellectual,par excellence, he died in 1611.
Possevino appears in the early chapters of Alison Macleod's historical novel "Prisoner of the Queen", in which he is the beloved and admired mentor of the protagonist.
Possevino, Antonio, s.j., papal diplomat and visitor to Ivan IV's Muscovy
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Apparatus".Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al.| International | |
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