I Nunzi di Papa Urbano VIII nella Rzeczpospolita dei Waza

Abstract

The bibliocard aims to present the book entitled "I nunzi di papa Urbano VIII nella Rzeczpospolita dei Waza", published in 2024. The volume is the result of an international conference organised by Istituto Nazionale di Studi Romani, under the scientific direction of Professor Gaetano Platania director of the same institute, and Professor Massimo Carlo Giannini, president of the "Comitato Nazionale per le celebrazioni del IV centenario dell’elezione papale di Urbano VIII (1623–2023)", established by the Italian Minister of Culture. The conference and the subsequent volume are part of the initiatives promoted by the Committee with the support of public and private cultural institutions, with the aim of “restoring to Italian citizens a knowledge and a re-reading of the papacy as the keystone of a century – the 17th century – that has only been re-evaluated in recent decades and that deserves to be brought to light”. Pope Urbano VIII, who lived in an era of religious conflicts, wars and censorship – but also of great artistic and linguistic flourishing – played a key role in the Seventeenth century in Europe. The celebration of the 400th anniversary of his election to the papacy (1623) allows us to rediscover the complexity of this character, his court and the Modern Age, overcoming stereotypes and hagiographic readings. In this perspective, I nunzi di papa Urbano VIII nella Rzeczpospolita dei Waza is helpful to take a closer look at the complex relations between the Pontiff and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, led by the Waza family, in the years of Barberini’s pontificate. It was a critical moment characterized by intense relations that showed a specific interest of Pope Urban VIII and the court of Rome in Central and Eastern Europe against the backdrop of important events affecting Continental Europe, above all, the Thirty Years’ War. The hope is to open a new season of research on the figure and politics of Urban VIII, integrating the traditional historiography of Pope Barberini with modern studies on papal diplomacy and Central and Eastern Europe, being able to count on the number of documents relating to the Barberini family preserved in the Vatican Library and the Vatican Apostolic Archive.