religious life 385
institutions that responded religiously to specific social problems (the
confraternities), and the contribution of non-Venetian churchmen.12 in
this last group, members of the various mendicant orders stood out partic-
ularly, such as giovanni Dominici, a follower of Caterina da siena, or the
franciscans Bernardino da siena and Bernardino da feltre, whose “moral-
izing and extremist offensive,” unleashed principally via their preaching,
had considerable influence even on the political sphere. The reinforcing
of decrees regarding blasphemy emanated by secular authorities during
the 15th century and norms targeting homosexuality were closely linked
to the sermons of these mendicant friars.13
The desire for Church reform manifested itself with authority at the
beginning of the 16th century. gasparo Contarini and Tommaso giustini-
ani, members of the monastic order of Camaldoli, composed a Libellum ad
Leonem X (1512) with a strongly critical stance toward the immorality and
ignorance of the clergy, unthinking religious devotion, and theological
bickering; and they advocated the frequent organization of both specific
and general church councils and expressed a similar sensibility to that of
luther with respect to the benefits of making scripture and the liturgy
accessible in the vernacular.14
in the first half of the 16th century the city witnessed the arrival of
new religious orders dedicated principally to various forms of social assis-
tance, education of the city’s youth, preaching, and confession. After the
sack of Rome (1527), the Theatine regular clerks sought refuge in Venice in
the footsteps of gian Pietro Carafa and gaetano Thiene, who had already
founded there a hospital for the incurabili (1522) and the oratory of Divine
love (1524), finding a home in church of san Nicolò dei Tolentini. The
Theatines also provided initial support to girolamo Miani, founder of the
order of the somaschans. Dedicated mainly to caring for orphans, the
somaschans also took over the spiritual direction of the three hospitals of
12 Mario fois, “i religiosi: decadenza e fermenti innovatori,” in Vian, ed., La Chiesa di
Venezia tra medioevo ed età moderna, pp. 147–82. for the confraternal phenomenon, see
David d’Andrea’s contribution in this volume, along with its bibliography.
13 on the mendicant orders and preachers in Venice, see fernanda sorelli, “gli ordini
mendicanti,” in Storia di Venezia, vol. 2 (1995): L’età del comune, ed. giorgio Cracco and
gherardo ortalli, pp. 905–27; and fernanda sorelli, “Predicatori a Venezia (fine secolo
XiV–metà secolo XV),” Le Venezie Francescane 6 (1989), 131–58. Regarding norms against
blasphemy in 16th-century Venice, see stefano Piasentini, “indagine sulla bestemmia a
Venezia nel Cinquecento,” Studi Storici 40 (1999), 471–549, p. 516; for the stronger norms
regarding homosexuality, see guido Ruggiero, The Boundaries of Eros. Sex Crime and Sexu-
ality in Renaissance Venice (New York/oxford, 1985), pp. 109–45.
14 see also below, section ii.