Sultan (London: Putnam, 1956); Gülru Necipolglu, Archi-
tecture, Ceremonial, and Power: The Topkapi Palace in the
Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT
Press, 1992).
contado The territory adjoining an Italian city that was
subject to the laws and taxes of that city.
Contarini, Cardinal Gasparo (1483–1542) Italian
Catholic reformer
Born into a leading Venetian family, Contarini studied phi-
losophy and natural science at Padua before turning to
theology. He experienced a spiritual conversion in 1511
and remained throughout his life sympathetic to Erasmian
doctrine and humanist principles. In 1518 he became an
ambassador and developed a profound knowledge of
Rome and the imperial court. Having been made a cardi-
nal (1535) by PAUL III, in 1536 he was appointed head of a
commission designed to initiate reform of the Church. In
his work as commissioner and as papal legate at REGENS-
BURG(1541) it is evident that Contarini failed fully to ap-
preciate the fundamental spiritual conflict between
Protestant and Catholic in his assumption that formal re-
organization of the Church, coupled with certain conces-
sions to the Lutheran doctrine of JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH,
would achieve reconciliation. Criticized on account of his
Epistola de justificatione (1541) as a “crypto-Lutheran”
and embittered by his failure at Regensburg, Contarini
died the following year. Although he never shared in the
true spirit of the coming COUNTER-REFORMATION, Con-
tarini played a part through his keen support of IGNATIUS
LOYOLAduring the early 1540s. Besides works on theolog-
ical topics and ecclesiastical reform, Contarini wrote
(1523/24) a renowned book on Venetian statecraft, De
magistratibus et republica Venetorum (1543); it was trans-
lated into English in 1599 and became a key text in de-
bates on the optimum form of political constitution.
Further reading: Peter Matheson, Cardinal Contarini
at Regensburg (Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon Press, 1972).
Conti, Niccolò dei (c. 1395–1469) Italian traveler
Born in Chioggia, in Venetian territory, he spent the years
between 1415 and c. 1439 traveling in the Middle East,
India, and Southeast Asia. Forced at one point to convert
to Islam to save his life, he applied on his return to Italy
for absolution from the pope and was interrrogated at
length by the pope’s secretary Poggio BRACCIOLINI, who
wrote down his story and published it as an illustration of
the fickleness of fortune in his Historia de varietate fortu-
nae (1448). In later life Conti held various official posts in
the Venetian state. The first printed edition of his narra-
tive appeared in Milan in 1492; translations into Por-
tuguese (1502) and Spanish (1503) followed. The Italian
version in RAMUSIO’s collection (1550) was widely circu-
lated but has many errors.
contrapposto A pose, used especially in sculpture in the
round, in which the torso of a sculpted figure is twisted
and its weight thrown onto one leg. This device was de-
veloped originally by the ancient Greeks in the fifth cen-
tury BCE and later revived in Renaissance Italy by
LEONARDO DA VINCIand others, being employed to great
effect in MICHELANGELO’s David (Accademia, Florence).
The pose was equally adapted to draped or nude figures
and introduced both tension and realism, with an aesthet-
ically interesting play of light on the different angles and
masses of the sculpture. It was used at an early date by DO-
NATELLOand VERROCCHIO, and exaggerated contrapposto
(figura serpentinata) became a favorite device of the man-
nerist sculptors such as CELLINIand GIAMBOLOGNA.Contucci, Andrea See SANSOVINO, ANDREAconversos In Spain, Jews who had converted to Chris-
tianity. Although conversos and descendants of conversos,
such as Álvaro de LUNA, rose to high office in 14th- and
15th-century Spain, ANTISEMITISMwas a constant factor
and was institutionalized in the persecutions conducted
by the SPANISH INQUISITION. Curiously, some of the most
zealous persecutors of the Jews were themselves of con-
verso stock—the antipope Benedict XIII (Pedro de Luna;
died 1423) and TORQUEMADA, to name but two. Particu-
larly at risk were the marranos, professed converts, either
Jews or Moors, who continued to practice their ancestral
religion in secret.
See also: MENDES, GRACIA; MORISCOScookery See FOOD AND COOKINGCoornheert, Dirck Volckertsz. (1522–1590) Dutch
humanist and scholar
As a young man Coornheert, who was born in Amster-
dam, read widely on religious matters, eventually adopt-
ing a brand of evangelical humanism which brought him
into conflict with both Catholics and reformers. From
1566 he was also associated with WILLIAM THE SILENTin
the political struggle against Spain, an involvement which
forced him to withdraw into exile in 1568, where he acted
as the prince’s political agent in Cleves. Returning to Hol-
land in 1572, Coornheert became embroiled in a serious
theological controversy with orthodox Calvinists, defend-
ing his views on free will. His writings influenced the
young Arminius (appointed to refute Coornheert but in
large measure persuaded by him), and he is consequently
seen as one of the forebears of ARMINIANISM.
A truly versatile figure, Coornheert was also an en-
graver and book illustrator, illustrating NOOT’s Das Buch
Extasis (1576). From 1577 he was a notary at Haarlem,
but moved to Delft and finally Gouda in 1588. He trans-
lated works by Cicero, Boethius, and Seneca, the Odyssey,
and various tales from Boccaccio’s DECAMERON. He alsoCCoooorrnnhheeeerrtt,, DDiirrcckk VVoollcckkeerrttsszz.. 1 11177