The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio: The True Story of a Convent in Scandal

by Hubert Wolf

  86. The office of assessor came into being in 1553, and was dependent on that of the commissary. Only later did it gain specific functions, primarily providing a link between the congregation of cardinals and the investigating court. The assessor presented the Causae to be decided to the cardinals, noted the decisions from the first part of the meetings—in which the notary did not take part—and then relayed them to the notary for recording. He gave a talk in the plenary meetings, and prepared a summary for the cardinals and the pope, to enable them to make a decision. Cf. “Congregazioni Cardinalizie attuali,” in Moroni, Dizionario 14 (1842), p. 233; Agostino Borromeo, “Congregazione del Sant’Uffizio,” in DSI 1 (2011), pp. 398–91; Andrea Del Col, “Assessore,” in DSI 1 (2011), p. 107; Hinschius, Kirchenrecht, vol. 1, p. 451.

  87. The assessor’s audience with the pope replaced the Thursday meeting known as Coram Sanctissimo, Feria quinta. “Congregazioni Cardinalizie attuali,” in Moroni, Dizionario 14 (1842), p. 233. Cf. also Bangen, Curie, p. 122: “Of the specific cases, only the most important belonged here [the Coram Sanctissimo]; the rest the assessor presented to the pope for approval after the cardinals’ meeting.” See also Hinschius, Kirchenrecht, vol. 1, p. 448, note 5: For “the decisions made during the meetings in plano (in the pope’s absence), his approval was gained afterwards, except in the few important cases, which the congregation alone was given to decide, or the matters that were to be dealt with de stilo (according to a fixed and constant praxis).”

  88. Cf. Carl Joseph Anton Mittermaier, Das deutsche Strafverfahren in der Fortbildung durch Gerichts-Gebrauch und Partikular-Gesetzbücher (Heidelberg, 1827), p. 322.

  89. “Die heutige römische Curie. Ihre Behörden und ihr Geschäftsgang,” in Zeitschrift für das Recht und die Politik der Kirche, vol. 2 (Tauchnitz, 1847), pp. 195–250, here p. 216.

  90. Hinschius, Kirchenrecht, vol. 1, p. 451.

  91. The commissary was always a Dominican and acted as an ordinary judge, heading the investigating court and leading the trials. He brought the case to trial, divided the work between the consultors, and chaired their meetings. Cf. “Congregazioni Cardinalizie attuali,” in Moroni, Dizionario 14 (1842), p. 233; Luigi De Sanctis, Roma papale (Florence, 1865); Andrea Del Col, “Commissario,” in DSI 1 (2011), p. 351; Hinschius, Kirchenrecht, vol. 1, p. 451; Pianciani, Rome, vol. 2, p. 38. See also “P. Commissario e impiegati del S.O.”; ACDF SO St. St. Q 2 d (1), no. 4, no folio.

  92. Also called Primo and Secondo Compagno. According to Hinschius, Kirchenrecht, vol. 1, p. 451, note 1, two committee members, also Dominicans, formed the investigating court alongside the Commissarius Sancti Officii. There is a rough list of the specific duties of these officials in a note “P. Commissario e impiegati del S.O.”; ACDF SO St. St. Q 2 d (1), no. 4, no folio: “Fare Processi, ricevere denunzie, e fare esami, ed i Ristretti di Roma, overo quando gli atti siano denunzie, siano esami superiori al numero di tre. Materie da disbrigarsi da tutti i sostituti in generale, ed in particolare dipendentemente dal Cappo Notaro. In generale. Ricevere tutti gli atti che occorrono; fare ristretti delle denunzie, stendere i Ristretti facendo le incombenze prescrittesi, fare i Biglietti per le distribuzioni, e pieghi, e riassumere se vi siano altri privilegii contro le Persone di cui devono fare il Ristretto; e quello che riceve le denunzie deve farne anche il Ristretto.” Cf. also “Congregazioni Cardinalizie attuali,” in Moroni, Dizionario 14 (1842), p. 225.

  93. Cf. Andrea Del Col, “Notaio,” in DSI 2 (2011), p. 118.

  94. Research on the role of the fiscal, also called Advocatus or Procurator fiscalis, and corresponding to the modern-day state prosecutor, is still in its early days. Cf. Beretta, Galilée, p. 56; Lucia Piccinno, “Fiscale,” in DSI 2 (2011), p. 607.

  95. Cf. Vincenzo Lavenia, “Processo,” in DSI 3 (2011), pp. 1257–63, here p. 1262.

  96. Wolf (ed.), Prosopographie, p. 1247.

  97. Ibid., p. 1136.

  98. Riflessione e chiarimenti sull’elezione del Card[inal]e Segretario del S. Offizio; ACDF SO St. St. Q 2 d (1).

  99. Cf. Blouin, Archives, pp. 3–11; L’Apertura (various relevant entries); Schwedt, Archiv, pp. 267–80. Rules of use: Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, Archivio. Regolamento per gli Studiosi (Vatican City, 2003).

  100. Cf. Malena, Inquisizione, pp. 289–306, here p. 291, with notes 8–17; Ponziani, Fonti, pp. 59–66; Ponziani, Misticismo, pp. 323–49.

  101. On the Stanza Storica see Blouin, Archives, p. 10; recently a database with an inventory has been made available in the ACDF.

  102. As a way of publishing the verdict, the bandi gradually faded into the background, when the Editio Stereotypa in Rome started publishing the Acta Sanctae Sedis in 1865. From January 1, 1909, the Typis Poliglottis Vaticanis publishing house started producing the Acta Apostolicae Sedis. The AAS is still the official legal gazette of the Holy See, in which important decisions of the Holy Office are also published.

  103. On the conditions a Denunzia had to fulfill, see ACDF SO St. St. Q 2 m (trasferito a Q d c) 3a, no folio; Battistella, S. Officio, p. 57; Elena Brambilla, “Denunzia,” in DSI 1 (2011), pp. 467–69; Masini, Arsenale, p. 12.

  104. See ACDF SO St. St. Q 2 m; Masini, Arsenale, p. 25.

  105. Denunzia della Principessa Hohenzollern, August 23, 1859; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 a, fol. 2rv: “Sponte personaliter comparuit coram Rmo P. M.o Vincentio Leone Sallua Ord. Praed: Socio Rmi P. Commi. S. Off : sistente in Domo Illmi a Rmi DD. Archichiespicopi Edesseni, sdenusina in Ssmi D.i Nostri Pii Pape IX. In neique Illma Princeps Femina Catharina Filia quindam Principis Cordi Alberti Hohenlohe Vilua Principis Hohenzollern, nunc Soror Aloysia Maria a S. Joseph dopos Roma, aetatis suae annorum 42, qui potiit audiai, eique data facultate, et jurata de veritate dicenda tactis SS. Dei Evangeliis exposuit ut infra. Per obbligo di coscienza impostomi dall’attuale mio Confessore mi presento a questo S. Tribunale per deporre quanto appresso. Previa la facoltà del Sommo Pontefi ce sono uscita per motivo di salute del monastero di S. Ambrogio di Roma dove avervi vestito l’Abito delle Riformate del Terzo Ordine del P. S. Francesco il giorno 29 Settembre 1858. Dopo uscita dal suddetto Monastero mi sono portata in Tivoli per respirare aria migliore prendendo stanza presso le Sorelle della Carità. Quivi ho preso a mio Padre Spirituale, e Confessore il Monaco Cassinese D. Mauro Wolter per essere più intesa facilmente nella mia lingua naturale tedesca.”

  106. “Suor Luisa Maria di S. Giuseppe (Catharina Principessa de Hohenzollern)”; ibid.

  107. See for example Esame di Msgr. Hohenlohe, April 18, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 m, fol. 1.

  108. Esame di Sr. Agnese Eletta, October 18, 1859; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 a, fol. 55.

  109. Esame di Msgr. Hohenlohe, April 18, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 m, fol. 1.

  110. There is no real agreement among researchers on the distinction between the informative and offensive processes. Some differentiate between two phases of the trial: the informative on the one hand, and the offensive and defensive on the other. Cf. Battistella, S. Officio, p. 57. Other academics, e.g., Vincenzo Lavenia, “Processo,” in DSI 3 (2011), pp. 1257–63, here p. 1262, consider the first phase as characterized by two elements, an informative and an offensive process. The repetitio testium (reexamination of witnesses) belongs to the second phase, which can therefore be considered as the defensive trial. The members of the Holy Office clearly spoke of a processo informativo and a processo costitutivo, when differentiating between informative and offensive processes (costitutivo because this phase consists of costituti, hearings). This can be seen in ACDF SO St. St. Q 2 d, no. 10, quoted in Garuti, Inquisizione, pp. 381–417, here p. 403, note 112.

  111. The scribe was called a Sommista. His function and duties are not entirely clear. There is an explanation in Charles-Louis Richard and Jean Joseph Giraud, Biblioteca sacra ovvero Dizionario universale delle scienze ecclesiastiche … per la prima volta … tradotta ed ampliata da una società di ecclesiastici, 29 vols., here vol. 18 (Milan, 1837), p. 170: “Sommista, così chiamasi nella cancelleria romana
l’ufficiale il quale ha l’incarico di fare le minute, e di far apporre ad esse il suggello. ll sommista ammette nelle bolle delle clausole che non è permesso agli abbreviatori di ricevere, giusta le regole della cancelleria.” See also Andrea Del Col, “Assessore,” in DSI 1 (2011), p. 107, who explains how the assessor of 1621 was required “a procurarsi un uomo fidato che potesse preparare i sommari (sommista), in modo da concludere le cause più celermente.”

  112. Cf. Carmignani, Elementi, p. 239: “Nel processo inquisitorio, siccome il giudice esamina i testimonj insciente il reo … e siccome la publicazione degli atti si fa per via della loro comunicazione ai difensori del reo …; la difesa nel fatto si pratica per via del processo difensivo, e la difesa nel diritto per via di allegazioni scritte. Il processo difensivo o sottomette ad articoli interrogatorj i testimonj già prodotti dal querelante, il che si denomina processo rispettivo; o produce nuovi estimonj per via di capitoli, detti perciò a repulsa.” Cf. also Giuseppe Giuliani, Istituzioni di diritto criminale, vol. 1 (Macerata, 3rd ed., 1856), p. 635: “Il complesso degli esami fatti ai testimonj fi scali sugli articoli proposti dal reo chiamavasi processo ripetitivo: il complesso poi dei nuovi atti a difesa appellavasi processo difensivo.”

  CHAPTER THREE “I Am the Little Lion of My Reformed Sisters”

  1. Inventario del Monastero di S. Ambrogio della Massima 1710; ASV, Visita Apostolica 97, no. 21, Chapter 9. The Sacra Congregazione della Visita Apostolica, founded in 1592, had to make regular checks on the spiritual and material condition of Catholic convents and monasteries, and report back to the pope. On the working methods of the Congregation and its inventories, cf. Pagano, Visite, pp. 317–464. The “Pescheria” referred to here is either the church of Sant’Angelo della Pescheria, or the street of the same name, Via di Sant’Angelo della Pescheria. This street, named for the fish market that was once sited there, led east to the convent of Sant’Ambrogio.

  2. Cf. ACS, Collegio di Sant’Ambrogio. A few cloistered Catholic communities have the office of a general procurator, who functions as the order’s plenipotentiary representative to the Holy See, and is housed in the General Curia of that order. The Cassinense Congregation of the Original Observance, also called the Congregation of Subiaco, was founded by Pietro Casaretto (1810–1878) in the first half of the nineteenth century. Important marks of Casaretto’s reform included the vita communis, strict asceticism, and missionary work. In 1856 Casaretto asked the pope if he could set up his own college in Rome. After a long search for an appropriate building, in 1861 he learned that the Franciscan convent of Sant’Ambrogio was to be dissolved. On May 14, 1861, the pope gave the convent over to him. Cf. “Casaretto,” in Biographia Benedictina, online: http://www.benediktinerlexikon.de/wiki/Casaretto,_Pietro (10/11/2011); G. Paolo Carosi, “Subiaco,” in DIP 9 (1997), pp. 538–41; “Pietro Casaretto e gli inizi della Congregazione Sublacense (1810–1880). Saggio storico nel I Centenario della Congregazione (1871–1972),” in Studia monastica 14 (1972), pp. 349–525. On the monasteries of the Congregation Subacio, cf. the statistics in DIP 1 (1974), p. 1331.

  3. Cf. Bianchi, Notizie; Cutrsì, Scuola; Gurisatti and Picchi, S. Ambrogio, pp. 49–60; Lombardi, Roma, pp. 235–40; Pietrangeli, Rione XI, pp. 56 and 90.

  4. Cf. Dreuille, S. Ambrogio, p. 21.

  5. The semiofficial history of the popes contains an entry for the year 803 that mentions a “monasterio sanctae Mariae quae appellatur Ambrosii”—a convent of the Virgin Mary which was renamed “Ambrosius.” Louis Duchesne, Le Liber Pontificalis. Texte, Introduction et commentaire, vol. 2 (Paris, 1892), p. 23. Various sources from the early Middle Ages mention another, smaller church next to the Church of the Virgin Mary, Santo Stefano, the existence of which has also been proved by archaeologists.

  6. Dreuille, S. Ambrogio, p. 29.

  7. Ibid., p. 32.

  8. The Visitation of 1710 advised the building of the novitiate wing, which was completed over the years that followed. “Inventario del Monastero di S. Ambrogio della Massima 1710”; ASV, Visita Apostolica 97, no. 21. From this point on, Sant’Ambrogio fulfilled all the structural requirements for a strictly enclosed convent. For a detailed account, see Dreuille, S. Ambrogio, pp. 49–74. Also Armellini, Chiese, pp. 110–11; Lombardi, Roma, p. 240.

  9. Cf. Dreuille, S. Ambrogio, p. 77.

  10. The “Conservatorio di Sant’Eufemia” was inhabited by Zitelle (maidens) and was destroyed by French troops in 1812. In 1814, Pius VII had the Zitelle of Sant’Eufemia accommodated in Sant’Ambrogio della Massima, and in 1828 Leo XII had them moved so that the Reformed Franciscans could settle there. Cf. Dreuille, S. Ambrogio, from pp. 77–78; “Francescano, Ordine religioso,” in Moroni, Dizionario 26 (1844), pp. 48–199, here p. 195; Giancarlo Rocca, “Zitelle,” in DIP 10 (2003), p. 682.

  11. See the corresponding articles in DIP 4 (1977), pp. 446–511 and 823–911; Gieben (ed.), Francesco; Heimbucher, Orden, vol. 2, pp. 9–53; Edith Pásztor, “Franziskaner,” in LexMA 4 (1999), pp. 800–7.

  12. On the variants of the Third Order, cf. Degler-Spengler, Terziarinnen, pp. 609–62, with extensive bibliography; Giovanni Parisi and Rafaele Pazzelli, “Terz’ordine regolare di San Francesco,” in DIP 9 (1997), p. 1077; Pazzelli, San Francesco; Pazzelli, Terz’Ordine. On the basis of the Rule, cf. the Regola del Terz’Ordine claustrale di san Francesco d’Assisi (Rome, 1898).

  13. The research on these Regulated Third Order nuns is extremely modest, which may be not least because of the “all too various forms of existence” that individual Tertiary convents created for themselves “from the beginning.” “Each house observes its own statutes or constitutions in addition to the Third Order Rule, laid down by its founder or spiritual leaders.” Degler-Spengler, Terziarinnen, p. 610. On the order’s habit, see Sales Doyé, Trachten, particularly the tables on pp. 133–35 and 137.

  14. The nuns of Sant’Ambrogio are sometimes wrongly referred to as “Poor Clares” in the literature. Cf. for example Pietrangeli, Rione XI, p. 56.

  15. Cf. the requirements of the Rule from 1806: Regola della Riforma delle Monache del Terz’Ordine di S. Francesco; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 r1. On the daily routine, the Divine Office, the convent offices, and the stages of postulant, novice, and professed nun, cf. the relevant articles in DIP.

  16. Costituto Sr. Maria Luisa, June 11, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 n, fol. 1–4.

  17. Agnese Firrao’s biography is based on the collections “Copia dell’antico piccolo ristretto per il P. Priori” and “Vita della Serva di Dio. La M. Maria Agnese di Gesù” among other sources; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 e1 and B 6 q1.

  18. Carlo Odescalchi was born in 1785, into the famous northern Italian royal dynasty. He was ordained as priest in 1808 and wanted to enter the Jesuit order in 1814, though his family prevented this. In 1838 he gave up all his Curia offices and his cardinalship to become a Jesuit in Verona. After a short time as a chaplain and missionary in northern Italy, he died in 1841. See Wolf (ed.), Prosopographie, pp. 1064–66.

  19. Appendice al Ristretto informative; ACDF SO St. St. B7 f. The church and the convent of Santa Apollonia were founded in 1582 on the estate of the Roman noblewoman Paluzza Pierleoni, and consecrated in 1585. Cf. Roma antica, vol. 1, p. 181.

  20. Notizie per l’anno 1789, p. 25. On Santa Chiara on the piazza of the same name in Rione della Pigna, see Armellini, Chiese, p. 187.

  21. See Diario ordinario di Roma, no. 2200, January 30, 1796, p. 12.

  22. Ibid., no. 2226, from April 30, 1796, pp. 16–19.

  23. A reading of the few surviving “Atti della Segreteria del tribunal del Vicariato” in the ASVR did not turn up any reference to this investigation.

  24. Diario ordinario di Roma, no. 2270, from October 1, 1796, p. 23.

  25. There is no detailed biographical information on Salvadori/Salvatori. Giuseppe Loreto Marconi claimed to have spoken about the miracles with “Signor Don Domenico Salvatori,” father confessor at the Seminario Romano, during the beatification process of Benedict Labre. Cf. Beatificationis et c
anonizationis V.S.D. Benedicti Josephi Labre: summarium super dubio … de virtutibus theologalibus … positio super virtutibus …(Rome, 1828), p. 785.

  26. Copia dell’antico ristretto per il Rmo P. Priori; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 e 1.

  27. Albani was born in 1750, became a cardinal in 1801, and was cardinal secretary of state from 1829 to 1831. He died in 1834. See DBI 1 (1960), online: http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giuseppe-andrea-albani_(Dizionario_Biografico) (5/22/2012).

  28. In the Notizie per l’anno from 1786, p. 35, to 1788, p. 35, Marconi appears as a lecturer in “Teologia morale” at the Collegio Romano. In the later Notizie per l’anno from 1789, p. 35, to 1808, p. 109, Abbot Marconi appears as a lecturer in “Sagra Scrittura.” He also features in connection with the founding of the Conservatorio Borromeo. Cf. “Conservatori di Roma,” in Moroni, Dizionario 17 (1842), pp. 9–42, here p. 33. Surprisingly, there are barely any references to Marconi’s life and work in the secondary literature, and no biography of him, although he wrote numerous books that were read abroad as well as in Italy, including the Vita of Benedict Joseph Labre (Ragguaglio della vita del servo di Dio Benedetto Giuseppe Labre [Rome, 1783]), which was translated into German, English (Account of the Life of the Servant of God, Benedict Joseph Labre, Frenchman [London, 1785]), French, Dutch, Polish, and Spanish. Marconi was confessor to Labre, and to Karl Emmanuel, king of Sardinia, and spiritual guide to the king’s wife, Marie Clotilde, who was declared an Honorable Servant of God on April 10, 1808. Cf. “Maria Clotilde di Francia,” in Moroni, Dizionario 42 (1847), pp. 316–18; Luigi Bottiglia, Erbauliche Lebensgeschichte der Dienerin Gottes Marie Clotilde von Frankreich, Königin von Sardinien. Translated from the French, 3 vols. (Augsburg, 1819). As well as Firrao’s life story, Marconi was said to have written the biography of Margherita Muzi, “vergine di specciata virtù.” Cf. Qualifica del volume manoscritto sulle memorie della vita di Suor Maria Agnese di Gesù del Rmo P. Maestro Girolamo Priori Priore Generale de’ Carmelitani Calzati Consultore del S. Offizio; ACDF SO St. St. B7 f.