National Colleges and their Cardinal Protectors during the Pontificate of Gregory XIII

Susanne Kubersky-Piredda

The establishment of numerous seminaries for the training of young priests in Rome and in various other Italian and foreign cities was one of Pope Gregory XIII’s major undertakings. In addition to supporting the Roman Jesuit College since 1574, he gave his patronage to other religious institutions in Rome such as the Germanic-Hungarian College, the Greek College, the College of the Neophytes, the English College, the Maronite College, and the Armenian College, though the latter was never realized due to the pontiff’s death in 1585. While the management of the colleges was entrusted to the Jesuits, who had a well-established educational system and an international network of institutions already in place, the planning and supervision of the new seminaries was delegated to a group of cardinal protectors who stood out for their diplomatic skills and theological knowledge. These included Ludovico Madruzzo, Tolomeo Gallio, and Marco Sittico Altemps (skilled bilingual diplomats who by origin or cultural background were firmly linked to the politics of the Holy Roman Empire) and Giulio Antonio Santori, Antonio Carafa, and Guglielmo Sirleto (high-ranking erudites, connoisseurs of Greek, Hebrew, and classical literature, and promoters of major post-Tridentine publishing enterprises). The present project is centered on these multifaceted figures, the networks in which they moved, and the specific role they assigned to visual culture as a didactic, liturgical, and propagandistic medium.