Volume 7, Issue 1 -

Antwerp altarpieces produced between c. 1500–1540 could be remarkably similar and have often been regarded as epitomising the shift from bespoke commissions to standardized objects made to be sold on an open market. The only (preserved) Antwerp altarpiece imported to Norway was commissioned by the priest Ansten Jonsson Skonk and put on display in the parish church of Ringsaker shortly before the Reformation was introduced in Denmark-Norway in 1537. Unique in Norway, the altarpiece is of uncommon character even within the larger body of preserved Antwerp pieces. When analysing the many idiosyncrasies of the Ringsaker altarpiece, it comes across as a deliberately versatile product: on the one hand it carefully reflects altarpieces and devotional practices known to Skonk; on the other, it also reflects contemporary religious disputes of northern Europe more broadly, substantiating the claim that (some) Antwerp workshops intentionally created “multi-confessional” artworks – seemingly to suit the patron(s) in question once installed.

The article shows how Swedish reformers – through the ordo for the blessing of the corpse and the funeral – introduced a new focus in relation to the medieval tradition: from the deceased to the living. The reformers rejected the medieval idea of purgatory and refused intercession and the celebration of Mass before funeral. Therefore, the relation between the living and the dead must have suffered and the living would no longer be reminded of those who departed to the same extent as before. Instead, according to the reformers, during the funeral service the living would be reminded of their own condition, their certain death and Christian hope. Sources from late sixteenth century which demonstrate prohibitions of certain customs emphasize that the Swedish Reformation did not mean a sudden break with earlier tradition and custom, but that it was a longue durée .

Alfonso de Castro (1495–1558) is known as a staunch opponent of vernacular Bible translation, who intervened on the matter at the Council of Trent. This article offers a fresh appreciation of Castro’s polemics against vernacular bibles, in light of a less well-known treatise in which Castro defends the right of the indigenous Spanish colonial population to be educated in the liberal arts and theology. It is argued that at the root of Castro’s misgivings about Bible translation is a concern for preserving traditional education as a necessary prerequisite for biblical interpretation.

The article delves into the fiery furnace motif and its evocations of the healing and makeability of men. Building on previous research conducted in religious history, art history and anthropology, a diachronic analysis of the textual and visual traditions of this motif is made. At its base lies the idea that the natural phenomenon of fire has a transformative power. This belief is present in several magico-religious rituals and in the visual imprint within Christian iconographical tradition. Both manifestations exist in conjunction and their evolution is intertwined. Herein lie the roots of the early modern secular motif of the furnace as a place of metaphorical transformation. Society may not have been aware of these previous attitudes, but the urban context does provide a fertile breeding ground for motifs such as The Rejuvenation Furnace and the so-called Baker of Eeklo . From the point of view of Christian ethics, it is interesting that the concentration of the furnace motif can serve as a seismograph of fluctuations in morality.

This article retraces the intra-Jesuit theological debates on the theology of salvation, including the relationship between the elements of predestination, God’s foreknowledge, Grace, and free will, in the delicate passage between the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, and within the debates on Augustine’s theological legacy. Specifically, it explores the Flemish Jesuit Leonard Lessius’ theology and the discussions raised by it within the Society of Jesus, in order to show how soteriology has been central in the process of self-definition of the Jesuit identity in the Early Modern Age. This is particularly clear from the internal debates developed between Lessius, on the one hand, and General Claudio Acquaviva and curial theologian Roberto Bellarmino, on the other hand. Not only does the article investigate little known aspects of intra-Catholic theological debate in the post Tridentine period, but it also shows how deep pastoral and moral concerns strongly contributed to the rise of Lessius’ open-minded theology of salvation, which seemed to deprive God’s sovereign authority in favour of humankind’s free will, and human agency in the process of salvation.

From the 1570s onwards, the territories of southern Ottoman Hungary with their amalgam of Orthodox, Catholics, Reformed, Antitrinitarians, and Muslims of various ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, were the focus of Rome–directed Catholic missionary and pastoral endeavors. Prior to the establishment of the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide in 1622, several Jesuits had already been active in the region and sought to implement Tridentine reforms in this religiously, linguistically, and legally-diverse setting. The activity of the Jesuits, however, was complicated by the presence of the Bosnian Franciscans, who were legally Ottoman subjects, and with whom the Jesuits were in a permanent competition over the jurisdiction of certain missionary territories. Furthermore, the Jesuits also had to contend with the local authority and influence of Orthodox priests and Ottoman judges ( kadi s), who, in several instances, proved to be more attractive “alternatives” to many Catholics than the Catholic authorities themselves. Drawing primarily on Jesuit and Franciscan missionary reports, this article examines how this peculiar constellation of local power relations, and the ensuing conflicts among missionaries, Orthodox clergymen, and Ottoman judges, influenced the way(s) in which Tridentine reforms were implemented in the area. In particular, this study addresses those cases where various jurisdictional disputes between Jesuits and Bosnian Franciscans on the one hand, and Jesuits and Orthodox priests on the other, resulted in contestations about the administration and validity of the sacraments and certain rituals, and led Jesuits, Franciscans, and even Roman authorities to “deviate” from the Tridentine norm.

This paper investigates the theorisation of the duties belonging to different – both lay and professional – conditions, elaborated upon by post-Tridentine moral theology, in order to highlight its contribution to the modern conceptualisation of the profession, and, more generally, to modern economic and political rationality. It focuses particularly on how work and professional activities are dealt with in Juan Azor’s Institutiones morales , Hermann Busenbaum’s Medulla theologiae moralis and Alfonso de Liguori’s Theologia moralis , between the early seventeenth and mid-eighteenth centuries. The paper begins with some quick historical remarks on the theological elaboration on the states of life (in the context of early-modern political and moral thought on duty and office) and the tradition de officiis underpinning these sources. The specific prescriptions imposed by these sources on professional activities in their discussions of the Third Commandment, and the obligation to rest or fast on certain days, are then examined. A brief analysis of the paragraphs explicitly devoted to the duties of professionals (legal and health professionals in particular) precedes some final observations about the post-Tridentine model of profession and its influence on the moral and socio-political valorisation of professional activities.