Morandi's Last Prophecy and the End of Renaissance Politics

256 Pages·2002·26.767 MB·English

by  Brendan Dooley

Morandi's Last Prophecy and the
End of Renaissance Politics

Morandi's Last Prophecy and the
End of Renaissance Politics
Brendan Dooley
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON AND OXFORD
COPYRIGHT © 2002 BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PUBLISHED BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 41 WILLIAM STREET,
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY 08540
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS,
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
DOOLEY, BRENDAN MAURICE, 1953-
MORANDI'S LAST PROPHECY AND THE END OF RENAISSANCE
POLITICS / BRENDAN DOOLEY.
P. CM.
INCLUDES BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES AND INDEX.
ISBN 0-691-04864-9 (CLOTH : ALK. PAPER)
1. MORANDI, ORAZIO, D. 1630. 2. ASTROLOGERS—ITALY—BIOGRAPHY.
3. ASTROLOGY—HISTORY—17TH CENTURY. 4. EUROPE—INTELLECTUAL
LIFE—17TH CENTURY. I. TITLE.
BF1679.8.M59 D66 2002
133.5'0945'63209032—DC21 2001045848
THIS BOOK HAS BEEN COMPOSED IN SABON
PRINTED ON ACID-FREE PAPER. ~
WWW.PUP.PRINCETON.EDU
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1 3 5 79 10 8 6 42
"Me, poor man, my library was dukedom large enough."
—Shakespeare, The Tempest, I, ii, 109-10
"Nihil utilius in vita comperiet quisquam quam noscere
ordinem et finem sui status."
—Barthelmy de Chassoneux, Catalogus gloriae mundi (1529)

CONTENTS
LIST OF III USTRATIONS ix
PROLOGUE xi
Introduction 1
ONE
Crime and Memory 6
TWO
The Road to Vallombrosa 14
THREE
Ad Astra per Aspera 22
FOUR
The Astrologer's Books 35
FIVE
The Sun Pope 46
SIX
The Widening Circle 59
SEVEN
Heavenly Bodies 74
EIGHT
Clean Teeth, Pure Souls 83
NINE
The Harmony of the Universe 92
TEN
Charting the Firmament 101
ELEVEN
The Science of the Stars 112
TWELVE
The Business of Astrology 125
viii CONTENTS
THIRTEEN
De Re Publica 132
FOURTEEN
Occult Politics 144
FIFTEEN
The Last Prophecy 154
SIXTEEN
The Vendetta 162
SEVENTEEN
The Body of the Accused 172
EPILOGUE 181
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 187
NOTES 189
INDEX 225