386 cecilia cristellon and silvana seidel menchi
the derelitti, incurabili, and san lazzaro, in addition to directing the patri-
archal and ducal seminary that was founded in 1581. Between 1536 and
1539, the Giudecca saw the rise of the first Capuchin convent (an order of
reformed franciscans), whose father general Bernardino ochino would
flee to switzerland in 1542 to officially join the Protestant reform. in rec-
ognition of their efforts in assisting victims of the plague, the Capuchins
were entrusted with the votive church of the Redentore, which had been
constructed in 1579 at the end of the plague. in 1550 the first Jesuits estab-
lished themselves in Venice after ignatius loyola, having been absolved
of accusations of heresy, obtained approval for his order’s rule from Paul
iii, thanks to the intercession of the Venetian cardinal gasparo Contarini
(1540). it was in the heart of the Serenissima, in fact, that the Jesuits
founded one of their first colleges, alongside another in Padua in compe-
tition with the city’s university—a competition that reached a breaking
point when the Jesuits even began conferring academic degrees.15
The Republic’s attitude towards the new orders, and the Jesuits in par-
ticular, was ambivalent: as directly subject to the pope, they were viewed
with diffidence, an attitude which led to the expulsion of loyola’s follow-
ers during the interdict controversy (1606). But the city was also willing to
listen to their proposals and come under their influence. The Jesuit Bene-
detto Palmio’s preaching against comic theater, for example, had a direct
impact on the Council of Ten’s decision to ban such representations;16
his moralizing work was responsible for the foundation of the Casa delle
Zitelle—an important charitable institution for “indigent young women
of great beauty” who, as such, ran the risk of being induced into prostitu-
tion. The project fired the minds of Venice’s most illustrious noblewomen
who lavished the house with enormous bequests, thus setting an example
for the female elite of generations to come.17
15 on the new religious orders in Venice, see silvio Tramontin, “Venezia tra riforma
cattolica e riforma protestante,” in Tramontin, ed., Storia religiosa del Veneto, 1:91–130,
pp. 124–26 and bibliography. in addition, on the Theatines, see Andrea Vanni, ‘Fare dili-
gente inquisizione.’ Gian Pietro Carafa e le origini dei chierici regolari teatini (Rome, 2010),
particularly pp. 123–33 for Venice; on the somaschans and Jesuits, see Maurizio sangalli,
Cultura, politica e religione nella Repubblica di Venezia tra Cinque e Seicento. Gesuiti e Soma-
schi a Venezia (Venice, 1999). on the Jesuits and the university of Padua, see Maurizio
sangalli, Università accademie gesuiti: cultura e religione a Padova tra Cinque e Seicento
(Trieste, 2001), pp. Vii–XX; Paul grendler, The Universities of the Italian Renaissance (Bal-
timore, 2002), pp. 479–483; and edward Muir, The Culture Wars of the Late Renaissance.
Skeptics, Libertines, and Opera (london, 2007).
16 sangalli, Cultura, politica e religione, particularly p. 122 in reference to Palmio.
17 on the Zitelle in Venice, see Monica Chojnacka, “Women, Charity and Community
in early Modern Venice: The Casa delle Zitelle,” Renaissance Quarterly 51 (1998), 68–91;