Girolamo Tartarotti (;. 1706–1761) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

Neo-Platonist Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common id ...

, and writer, primarily famed for his works on

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

Life

Tartarotti was born at

Rovereto Rovereto (; "wood of sessile oaks"; locally: ''Roveredo'') is a city and ''comune'' in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River. History Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the fronti ...

near Trent and studied at the

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

. For a time, he formed part of the entourage of

Marco Foscarini Marco Foscarini (4 February 1696 in Venice – 31 March 1763 in Venice) was a Venetian poet, writer and statesman who served as the 117th Doge of Venice from 31 May 1762 until his death 14 months later. He studied in his youth in Bologna, and w ...

, who later served as

doge Doge, DoGE or DOGE may refer to: Internet culture * Doge (meme), an Internet meme primarily associated with the Shiba Inu dog breed ** Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency named after the meme ** Kabosu (dog), the dog portrayed in the original Doge image ...

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. Following the execution of the elderly nun Maria Renata Singer on charges of

, he took part in the academic debate over the

witchcraft trial A witch hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. Practicing evil spells or incantations was proscribed and punishable in early human civilizations in the Middle East. ...

s of his time, attempting to strike a middle ground which—against

Martin Delrio Martin Anton Delrio SJ (; ; ; 17 May 1551 – 19 October 1608) was a Dutch Jesuit theologian. He studied at numerous institutions, receiving a master's degree in law from Salamanca in 1574. After a period of political service in the Spanis ...

and Benedetto Bonelli—dismissed most purported claims of witchcraft while, on the grounds of its appearance in

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

, upholding the existence of sorcery against the skepticism of

Scipione Maffei Francesco Scipione Maffei (; 1 June 1675 – 11 February 1755) was an Italian writer and art critic, author of many articles and plays. An antiquarian with a humanist education whose publications on Etruscan antiquities stand as incunables o ...

and

Count Carli Gian Rinaldo Carli (11 April 1720 – 22 February 1795), also known #Name, by other names, was a Republic of Venice, Venetian economist, historian, and antiquarian. Name "Gian Rinaldo Carli" is the modern Italian form of his name, which may a ...

. The equivocation such a position entailed was first refuted by Bonelli in 1751.

Works

Abbot Tartarotti's
Three Books
on the Nocturnal Congress of the

Lamia Lamia (; ), in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and, in later tradition, was regarded as a type of night-haunting spirit or "daimon". In the earliest myths, Lamia was a beautiful queen of ancient Libya who had an affair with ...

''—composed in 1748 but delayed from publication by the

Venetian Inquisition The Venetian Inquisition, formally the Holy Office (), was the tribunal established jointly by the Venetian government and the Catholic Church to repress heresy throughout the Republic of Venice. The inquisition also intervened in cases of sacrileg ...

until 1750—proposed that witchcraft was an organized religion descended from the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

cults Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ha ...

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

and Erodiade. This was an unpopular and heterodox idea, and he was obliged to restate some points in an apologia two years later.. He had the sermons of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Georg Gaar, one of the clerics responsible for Sister Maria's execution, translated into Italian so as to publish his own attacks against the man's points.. He defended the existence of witchcraft, however, and won the vast majority of Italian academics to his side of the debate. *''Ragionamento intorno alla poesia lirica toscana'' (1728) *''Idea della logica degli scolastici e dei moderni'' (1731) *''Delle disfide letterarie, o sia pubbliche difese di conclusioni'' (1735) *''De origine Ecclesiae tridentinae et primis eius episcopis'' (1743) *''Memorie istoriche intorno alla vita e morte de' santi Sisinio, Martirio ed Alessandro'' (1745) *''De versione Rufiniana Historiae ecclesiasticae Eusebii Caesariensis dissertatio, in qua Valesianae interpretationis dignitas et praestantia vindicatur'' (1748) * . *''De auctoribus ab Andrea Dandulo laudatis in Chronico Veneto'' (1751) * . *''Lettera di un giornalista d'Italia ad un giornalista oltramontano sopra il libro intitolato: Vindiciae Romani Martyrologii uscito in Verona'' (1751) *''Memorie antiche di Rovereto e dei luoghi circonvicini'' (1754) *''Apologia delle Memorie antiche di Rovereto'' (1758) *''Dell'origine della Chiesa di Aquileia'' (1759) *''Lettera seconda di un giornalista d'Italia ad un giornalista oltramontano sopra il libro intitolato: Notizie istorico-critiche intorno al b.m. Adalpreto Vescovo di Trento ''(1760) Published in ''Raccolta d'opuscoli scientifici e filologici'' edited by

Angelo Calogerà Angelo Calogerà, also known as Domenico Demetrio Calogerà, (, Padua — 29 September 1766, Isola di San Michele) was an Italian Benedictine monk and writer, active in popularizing literature and science. Life Angelo was born Domenico Demetrio ...

: *''Relazione d'un manoscritto dell'Istoria manoscritta di Giovanni Diacono veronese'' (1738) *''Dissertazione intorno all'arte critica'' (1740) *''Lettera intorno all'Eloquenza italiana di mons. Fontanini'' (1741) *''Lettera al sig. N.N. intorno alla sua tragedia intitolata il Costantino'' (1741) *''Lettera intorno a detti o sentenze attribuite ad autori di cui non sono'' (1741) *''Lettera intorno alla differenza delle voci nella lingua italiana'' (1745) *''Lettera intorno ad una particolare significazione degli avverbi fere e quasi nelle lingue italiana e latina'' (1748) Published posthumously: *''Osservazioni sopra la Sofonisba del Trissino con prefazione del cav. Clementino Vannetti'' (1784) *''Rime scelte dall'abate Girolamo Tartarotti'' (1785) *''La conclusione dei frati francescani riformati'' (1785) *''Dialoghi della lingua latina'' *''Annotazioni al Dialogo delle false esercitazioni delle scuole d'Aonio Paleario'' (1795)

Legacy

Leo Martello Leo Martello (September 26, 1930 – June 29, 2000) was an American Wiccan priest, gay rights activist, and author. He was a founding member of the Strega Tradition, a form of the modern Pagan new religious movement of Wicca which drew upon his ...

revived the concept of witchcraft (specifically the Italian

Stregheria () is a neo-pagan tradition similar to Wicca, with Italian and Italian American origins. While most practitioners consider to be a distinct tradition from Wicca, some academics consider it to be a form of Wicca or an offshoot. Both have similar ...

) as a survival of the

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

in the 1970s.

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* , translated from the German by J.C. Grayson & David Lederer, 1997. * . * .

External links

La ricostruzione della biblioteca di Girolamo Tartarotti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tartarotti, Girolamo 1706 births 1761 deaths 18th-century Italian male writers Witchcraft in Italy