Girolamo Tartarotti ( la, Hieronymous Tartarotti;. 1706–1761) was an Italian

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

Neo-Platonist Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some id ...

, and writer, primarily famed for his works on

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

Life

Tartarotti was born at

Rovereto Rovereto (; "wood of sessile oaks"; locally: ''Roveredo'') is a city and ''comune'' in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River. History Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the frontier b ...

near

Trent Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California, ...

and studied at the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

. For a time, he formed part of the entourage of

Marco Foscarini Marco Foscarini (February 4, 1696 in Venice – March 31, 1763 in Venice) was a Venetian poet, writer and statesman who served as the 117th Doge of Venice from May 31, 1762 until his death. He studied in his youth in Bologna, and was active as a ...

, who later served as doge of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. Following the execution of the elderly nun Maria Renata Singer on charges of

, he took part in the academic debate over the

witchcraft trial A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The Witch trials in the early modern period, classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and European Colon ...

s of his time, attempting to strike a middle ground which—against Martin Delrio and Benedetto Bonelli—dismissed most purported claims of witchcraft while, on the grounds of its appearance in scripture, upholding the existence of sorcery against the skepticism of Scipione Maffei and

Count Carli Gian Rinaldo Carli (1720–1795), also known by other names, was an Italian economist, historian, and antiquarian. Name "Gian Rinaldo Carli" is the modern Italian form of his name, which may also appear as "Gianrinaldo Carli" or "Gian-Rinaldo ...

. The equivocation such a position entailed was first refuted by Bonelli in 1751.

Works

Abbot Tartarotti's
Three Books
on the Nocturnal Congress of the Lamia''—composed in 1748 but delayed from publication by the

Venetian Inquisition Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...

until 1750—proposed that witchcraft was an organized religion descended from the Romans'

cults In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

of Diana and Erodiade. This was an unpopular and heterodox idea, and he was obliged to restate some points in an apologia two years later.. He had the sermons of the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Georg Gaar Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 * Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: People * George (given name) * ...

, one of the clerics responsible for Sister Maria's execution, translated into Italian so as to publish his own attacks against the man's points.. He defended the existence of witchcraft, however, and won the vast majority of Italian academics to his side of the debate. *''Ragionamento intorno alla poesia lirica toscana'' (1728) *''Idea della logica degli scolastici e dei moderni'' (1731) *''Delle disfide letterarie, o sia pubbliche difese di conclusioni'' (1735) *''De origine Ecclesiae tridentinae et primis eius episcopis'' (1743) *''Memorie istoriche intorno alla vita e morte de' santi Sisinio, Martirio ed Alessandro'' (1745) *''De versione Rufiniana Historiae ecclesiasticae Eusebii Caesariensis dissertatio, in qua Valesianae interpretationis dignitas et praestantia vindicatur'' (1748) * . *''De auctoribus ab Andrea Dandulo laudatis in Chronico Veneto'' (1751) * . *''Lettera di un giornalista d'Italia ad un giornalista oltramontano sopra il libro intitolato: Vindiciae Romani Martyrologii uscito in Verona'' (1751) *''Memorie antiche di Rovereto e dei luoghi circonvicini'' (1754) *''Apologia delle Memorie antiche di Rovereto'' (1758) *''Dell'origine della Chiesa di Aquileia'' (1759) *''Lettera seconda di un giornalista d'Italia ad un giornalista oltramontano sopra il libro intitolato: Notizie istorico-critiche intorno al b.m. Adalpreto Vescovo di Trento ''(1760) Published in ''Raccolta d'opuscoli scientifici e filologici'' edited by

Angelo Calogerà Angelo Calogerà, also known as Domenico Demetrio Calogerà, (circa 7 September 1696, Padua - 29 September 1766, Isola di San Michele) was an Italian Benedictine monk and writer, active in popularizing literature and science. Life Angelo was born ...

: *''Relazione d'un manoscritto dell'Istoria manoscritta di Giovanni Diacono veronese'' (1738) *''Dissertazione intorno all'arte critica'' (1740) *''Lettera intorno all'Eloquenza italiana di mons. Fontanini'' (1741) *''Lettera al sig. N.N. intorno alla sua tragedia intitolata il Costantino'' (1741) *''Lettera intorno a detti o sentenze attribuite ad autori di cui non sono'' (1741) *''Lettera intorno alla differenza delle voci nella lingua italiana'' (1745) *''Lettera intorno ad una particolare significazione degli avverbi fere e quasi nelle lingue italiana e latina'' (1748) Published posthumously: *''Osservazioni sopra la Sofonisba del Trissino con prefazione del cav. Clementino Vannetti'' (1784) *''Rime scelte dall'abate Girolamo Tartarotti'' (1785) *''La conclusione dei frati francescani riformati'' (1785) *''Dialoghi della lingua latina'' *''Annotazioni al Dialogo delle false esercitazioni delle scuole d'Aonio Paleario'' (1795)

Legacy

Leo Martello Leo Martello (September 26, 1930 – June 29, 2000) was an American Wiccan priest, gay rights activist, and author. He was a founding member of the Strega Tradition, a form of the modern Pagan new religious movement of Wicca which drew upon his o ...

revived the concept of witchcraft (specifically the Italian Stregheria) as a survival of the

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

of Diana in the 1970s.

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* , translated from the German by J.C. Grayson & David Lederer, 1997. * . * .

External links

La ricostruzione della biblioteca di Girolamo Tartarotti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tartarotti, Girolamo 1706 births 1761 deaths 18th-century Italian male writers Witchcraft in Italy