Fathers and Godfathers: Spiritual Kinship in Early-Modern Italy

by Guido Alfani, Giorgio Caravale, Ralph Keen, J Christopher Warner

Overview

In medieval Europe baptism did not merely represent a solemn and public recognition of the 'natural' birth of a child, but was regarded as a second, 'spiritual birth', within a social group often different from the child's blood relations: a spiritual family, composed of godfathers and godmothers. Exploring the changing theological and social nature of spiritual kinship and godparenthood between 1450 and 1650, this book explores how these medieval concepts were developed and utilised by the Catholic Church in an era of reform and challenge. It demonstrates how such ties continued to be of major social importance throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but were often used in ways not always coherent with their original religious meaning, and which could have unexpected social consequences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781409480402
Publisher:	Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	06/28/2013
Series:	Catholic Christendom, 1300-1700
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Guido Alfani is Assistant Professor of Economic History at Bocconi University, Milan, Italy. The majority of his lectures cover the subject of history and demography. He is a Fellow of the Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics. From 2002-2003 he was Visiting Scholar at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France. In 2006 he was Visiting Research Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland. Also in 2006 he became Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Glasgow, Scotland. In 2008 he was Visiting Professor at the University of Bordeaux-3, France and also Visiting Researcher at the Centre for Population Studies, University of Umea, Sweden. He is Head of the RDB Bocconi research project 'Distribution and Concentration of Wealth in Historical Perspective'. He is also a member of the international research project 'Mobilités, Populations et Familles' (MPF). Furthermore, he is co-founder and organizer, with Vincent Gourdon, of the international scientific network 'Patrinus'.

Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction; Godparenthood and spiritual kinship: the origins of a distinctive social institution; Godparents and compari between the 15th and 16th centuries: a wide variety of local customs; Godparenthood, literature and family records: from perception to interpretation; Godparenthood in the 16th century: from the Reformation to the Council of Trent; The application of the decrees of the Council: resistance and compromise: 3 lines of enquiry; The social impact of the reform; Newborn babies and spiritual kinship: equal opportunities or discrimination?; Godfathers and godmothers: the case of Ivrea; Godparenthood as an instrument of social alliance; Godparenthood from the 17th century to the present day: a history of decline?; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'... Alfani's work presents a concrete, deeply researched set of data and conclusions about a particular region that will allow for fruitful comparative work in the future.' Catholic Historical Review 'Guido Alfani here offers a statistically-rich study of practices of godparenthood in early modern Europe, with an eye to comparing practices before and after the Reformation. ... The numbers are impressive, and they are crunched rigorously.' Worship

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