politics and constitution 77
the 18th century when the printing of several of Sarpi’s writings (1760–61)
accompanied in the form of ideological support the most original attempt
at reform ever undertaken by the Republic.69
The circulation of the writings of the figure who had strongly opposed
Roman jurisdictional claims in the early decades of the 17th century—
contesting the legitimacy of courts reserved for ecclesiastics and canceling
exemptions and fiscal privileges which, during the 15th and 16th centuries,
had shifted notable quantities of public wealth into the hands of religious
entities—would serve in this last period of existence of the Republic to
justify the creation of new magistracies—the Deputati ad Pias Causas,
the Provveditori sopra Monasteri—charged with determining the extent
of monastic land holdings and correcting the most obvious abuses.
Through a series of legislative provisions, immediately proposed to Euro-
pean public opinion thanks to the circulation of gazettes that reported on
these developments in detail, the Venetian government reprimanded the
Counter-Reformation Church for its policies of coercion and rationaliza-
tion undertaken after the Council of Trent, secularizing it, and placing it
under the control of public institutions. The ultimate effectiveness of 18th-
century “reforms” in ecclesiastical matters is hotly debated. Some authors
have underlined the unrealistic nature of reformers’ intentions; others,
however, have argued for the presence of a reforming will not unlike that
of other contemporary Italian states.70
For the latter, the reform of the regular clergy, the bitter conflict with
the Jesuits, a newfound dignity on the plane of international relations,
accompanied by the wisdom of ambassadors capable of intervening inci-
sively not only with the traditional interlocutors of the Serenissima, such
as the House of Austria and the Ottomans, but also with new powers occu-
pying an increasingly important role in the Mediterranean (“Muscovy,”
Holland, England), served to demonstrate a crucial capability of renewal
within the aristocracy.71 Philosopher-literati, printers, and booksellers
contributed decisively to “publicize” this great debate. From this angle,
the Venice of Casanova and Goldoni was not only a city for tourists, the
capital of the dolce vivere [the good life] but also a center for Italian and
69 Mario Infelise, “Ricerche sulla fortuna editoriale di Paolo Sarpi (1619–1799),” in Pin,
ed., Ripensando Paolo Sarpi, pp. 542–43.
70 Franco Venturi, Settecento riformatore, vol. 2, La Chiesa e la Repubblica dentro i loro
limiti, 1758–1774 (Turin, 1976), pp. 101–62.
71 Giovanni Tabacco, Andrea Tron (1712–1785) e la crisi dell’aristocrazia senatoria a
Venezia (Trieste, 1954).