religious life 407
particularly urban ones.64 in the territories of the Serenissima, the
concentration of communities defining themselves as “evangelical” is
incomparably greater than in any other italian state, including the prince-
bishopric of Trent and the state of Milan. in the history of the Protestant
movement in italy, therefore, Venice and its state were absolute protago-
nists, not only in terms of quantity but also for the quality of the testimo-
nies: the chronology, sociology, and phenomenology of the spread and
free discussion of the doctrines then defined as “lutheran” or “heretical”
are documented in Venice and the major cities of its dominion with a
richness unparalleled in other areas of italy. Any general treatment of the
phenomenon that is not overly one-sided tends to be based on evidence
in large part from Venice and the other cities of its territory.65
several factors help explain why from the 1540s on Venice could be
considered the “gate of the Reformation in italy”:66 the state’s geographic
position and its intense cultural exchange with central europe, the pres-
ence of a colony of german merchants, the concentration of printing
presses which made it the unrivaled publishing capital south of the Alps,
and a relatively high rate of literacy. But it was also the autonomy from
Rome which the Republic, or at least a part of its governing class, claimed
for itself in spiritual matters which explains the vitality of the Protestant
movement in the Veneto with respect to other italian centers, including
the “ereticissime” [most heretical] cities such as Modena and lucca.67 it
was a movement that was spontaneous, disorderly, and creative: groups
of artisans or clerics who met to listen to or comment on the preacher of
the day, small, organized, family based “churches,” circles of shopkeepers
and semi-literate master-craftsmen who dedicated themselves to read-
ing the gospels, public wagers regarding the existence of Purgatory, even
varied attempts to reform the liturgy of the Mass and “illuminate” the
64 A map of the distribution of religious dissention in italy is published in silvana seidel
Menchi and serena luzzi, “l’italia della Riforma, l’italia senza Riforma,” in A. Melloni, ed.,
Cristiani d’Italia, Chiese, stato, società, 1861–2011, 2 vols (Rome, 2011), 1:75–90.
65 This is true for the cities of the Dominio whose ecclesiastical archives are accessible
to scholars. in some archives, access to documentation is limited.
66 The phrase belongs to the preacher and general of the Capuchin order Bernardino
ochino: see Bernardino ochino, I “Dialoghi sette” e altri scritti al tempo della fuga (Turin,
1985), pp. 28–29, cited by Massimo firpo, Vittore Soranzo vescovo ed eretico (Rome/Bari,
2006), p. 55.
67 There is evidence of the movement not only in the capital city but also in Padua,
Vicenza, Verona, Treviso, Rovigo, in minor centers (Cittadella, Asolo, gardone), in udine,
and in the centers of the patriarchate of Aquileia.