La papauté de Paul IV à travers les sources diplomatiques romaines et vénitiennes

Abstract

This article presents the findings of an extensive research conducted on Pope Paul IV’s European and Mediterranean policy (1555-1559), from the edition of the correspondence of the Venetian ambassador Bernardo Navagero, the nuncios in Venice Filippo Archinto and Antonio Trivulzio, and other Roman and Venitian documents from the same period. Centrally located, in every sense of the term, in the European and Mediterranean history of the 16th century, the papacy of Paul IV is marked by decisive political and ecclesiastical choices : the war against Charles V and Philip II, the inquisitorial offensive against the powerful party of the spirituals (spirituali), as well as a thorough reform of the methods of appointment to ecclesiastical benefices which anticipates the “centralism” of the pontiffs of the post-Tridentine age. Through these unpublished sources, it is possible to propose a new interpretation of the political and diplomatic issues of the last years of the Italian Wars.

Keywords

• Paul IV
• Navagero (Bernardo)
• Archinto (Filippo)
• Trivulzio (Antonio)
• Charles V
• Philip II