Cercare la Grazia a Roma: la Dataria Apostolica nel Seicento

On Thursday 14 May, in Room F007 at 5 pm, the final session of the annual series of the permanent seminar on the History of the Papacy will take place. On this occasion, Bertrand Marceau of the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne will give a lecture entitled “Seeking Grace in Rome: the Apostolic Dataria in the 17th Century”. The lecture aims to explore from within one of the most sophisticated and influential systems of government of the early modern period: the complex institutional architecture of the papal “regimes of grace”. The analysis is set against one of the most turbulent and crucial periods in European history, an era marked by the profound divisions triggered by the Protestant Reformation and the vigorous institutional, theological and pastoral response of the Catholic Reformation, culminating in the sessions of the Council of Trent. In this delicate context of a realignment of continental balances, the Roman Curia was called upon to redefine and consolidate its instruments of power. The session will highlight how the true political and institutional driving force of the papal monarchy was founded on the polysemy of the concept of “grace”. The term will be deconstructed and analysed in its dual nature: on the one hand, its theological and spiritual meaning, intrinsically linked to the salvation of souls, the internal forum and forgiveness; on the other, its distinct bureaucratic, administrative and legal significance, through which the curial offices dispensed privileges, absolutions, dispensations and blessings.Understanding this dual approach means unravelling the workings of the 17th-century curial machinery, demonstrating how the administration of pardons served not only as a formidable instrument of religious discipline, but also as the diplomatic and jurisdictional linchpin of the Papacy in the modern era.