The Renaissance Papacy's Projects of Religious Reform between Ancient Christianity and "Catholic Orientalism"

Andrea Annese · Ludovico Battista · Antonio Gerace · Herman J. Selderhuis · Christopher B. Brown · Günter Frank · Barbara Mahlmann-Bauer · Tarald Rasmussen · Violet Soen · Zsombor Tóth · Günther Wassilowsky · Siegrid Westphal

Oct 2025 · Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

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270

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About this ebook

Within the framework of a research project aimed at a systematic reconstruction of the ideology of Papacy in the years 1431–1549 (PRIN 2022 2022BXT33X) this volume takes the Renaissance Church as an institution promoting an ambivalent and complex project of religious reform, where the ideal of the affirmation of a new political power, coexists – in dialectic tension – with the attempt to absorb and channel the diverse claims for the spiritual renewal of the Church, based on Biblical and apocalyptic motifs. In particular, this volume explores 1) the influence of texts and motifs from early Christianity on the literature produced in the years 1431–1549 (e.g., the use of Patristic texts; the reception of Biblical motifs in the ideology of reform and in political theology); 2) the rise of the so-called "Catholic orientalism" in Renaissance Rome (biblical scholarship, interpretation of Hebrew texts, Christian Kabbalah), which influenced the conceptualization of different types of Christianity. This edited volume analyzes how Roman Catholic theologians in Rome used Bible exegesis, Patristic writings, and Hebrew studies to defend the Papacy's authority against scholars like Lorenzo Valla, as well as the rising tide of the Reformation.

About the author

Andrea Annese is Associate Professor of History of Christianity at the University of Bologna.

Ludovico Battista is Assistant Professor in History of Christianity at the SARAS Department of the University of Rome “La Sapienza”.

Antonio Gerace is an Early Modern Church historian, affiliated to KU Leuven.

Herman J. Selderhuis ist Professor für Kirchengeschichte an der Theologischen Universität Apeldoorn, Direktor von Refo500, Wissenschaftlicher Kurator der Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek sowie Präsident des Internationalen Calvinkongresses.

Dr. Christopher B. Brown is Associate Professor of Church History at Boston University.

Dr. Günter Frank ist Direktor der Europäischen Melanchthon-Akademie Bretten und außerplanmäßiger Professor am Karlsruher Institut für Technologie.

Barbara Mahlmann-Bauer ist Professorin em. für „Neuere deutsche Literatur“ an der Universität Bern.

Tarald Rasmussen ist Professor für Kirchengeschichte an der Universität Oslo.

Dr. Violet Soen is Associate Professor for Early Modern History at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Leuven.

Dr. Zsombor Tóth is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Literary Studies at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Günther Wassilowsky ist Professor für Kirchengeschichte an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Prof. Dr. Siegrid Westphal ist Inhaberin des Lehrstuhls für Geschichte der Frühen Neuzeit an der Universität Osnabrück sowie Direktorin des Forschungszentrums Institut für Kulturgeschichte der Frühen Neuzeit.

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