The Refugee-Diplomat by Diego Pirillo

Author:Diego Pirillo [Pirillo, Diego]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Europe, Renaissance, Political Science, History & Theory, Social Science, Emigration & Immigration
ISBN: 9781501715327
Google: TYJQDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 2018-12-15T22:26:34+00:00

Several contemporary marginal annotations confirm that Castelvetro gave particular attention to the controversy over the oath of allegiance. In annotating Campanella’s Discorsi ai Principi d’Italia, for example, Castelvetro questioned the author’s belief that the pope is at the same time prince and pastor and that “by discharging the subjects from the oath, he has the power to dethrone any mighty prince on earth.”85 In contrast to Campanella, Castelvetro claimed that the pope could do nothing against “Elizabeth, of blessed memory [di felicissima memoria], the Kings of Denmark, Sweden and today our king James.”86 In another passage, while Campanella argued that the pope “creates and overthrows kings and gives law to the universe,” Castelvetro replied sarcastically in the margin by asking, “Why didn’t the pope depose the kings of England, Denmark, Sweden and all the princes of Germany?”87

Circulating pamphlets in support of James’s oath of allegiance was only one of many occasions on which Castelvetro brought the views of the English king to Italian readers. In 1615 Castelvetro translated James’s Remonstrance for the right of kings, and the independence of their crowns, written against the French Cardinal Jacques Davy du Perron.88 In the dedication Castelvetro pointed out that his translation intended to present James “before the Princes and the Lords of Italy, because they are ignorant of any other language that is not their own” and to show them “how unreasonably the popes usurped the power to deprive princes of their reigns and kings of their crowns (at their will).”89 These examples suggest that while attending the English embassy in Venice, Castelvetro was employed as a translator and language teacher but he in fact performed a precise diplomatic function. Participating alongside Wotton and Sarpi in the war of words stirred by the Venetian Interdict and James I’s oath of allegiance, Castelvetro acted as a cultural go-between, introducing the ideas of his former student James I into Italy.

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