This book aims at providing scholars with a reference tool on prominent intellectual and erudite Lodovico Antonio Muratori, featuring contributions of both distinguished and young international scholars on his vast production, that spans from eighteenth-century politics to culture, philosophy, history, law, medicine and society.
Lodovico Antonio Muratori (1672-1750) was one of the most prominent intellectuals of eighteenth-century Europe. His scholarship spanned from aesthetics to literature, from philosophy to jurisprudence, from history to epigraphy, from theology to medicine, and his political and social vision was regarded as the manifesto of the prevailing politics on the Peninsula in the first half of the eighteenth century (the so-called “Muratorian age”), precursing the Age of Enlightenment. However, despite his undisputed importance, there is not adequate awareness of Muratori’s work and personality outside of Italy. Lodovico Antonio Muratori: An Intellectual in the Republic of Letters aims at providing scholars with a reference tool on Muratori’s life and works, featuring contributions of both distinguished and young international scholars on all the main aspects of his production, taking into account European politics, culture, philosophy, history, law, medicine and society of the first half of eighteenth century.
List of Contributors
Matteo Al Kalak, Marco Capriotti, Gianvittorio Signorotto, Introduction
History / Antichità
Gianvittorio Signorotto (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), Muratori
and History
Lorenzo Calvelli (University of Venice) Tatiana Tommasi (University of
Venice), Muratori and Epigraphy: The Novus thesaurus veterum inscriptionum
Religion / Divozione
Matteo Al Kalak (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), The Essence of
Christianity: Muratori and the Role of Charity in Religious Reform
Marco Rochini (Istituto di Storia dellEuropa Mediterranea Università
Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), Immoderate Devotions and Ideal Christianity:
Muratori and the Jesuits
Luca Sandoni (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), In Defence of the
Mass. Muratori, Protestants and the Catholic Liturgy
Society / Governo
Elio Tavilla (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), Administering Justice:
Muratori and the Defects of Jurisprudence
Luigino Bruni (LUMSA University of Rome), The World as a Fair of Benefit and
Love
Franco Arato (University of Turin), Ruling the Plague, Ruling Society
Philosophy / Morale
Andrea Lamberti (University of Cagliari), The Limits of Reason, the Power of
Imagination: Muratori and Philosophy
Alviera Bussotti (University La Sapienza of Rome), The Prince, the Citizen
and the Man: The Virtues in Muratoris Thought
Aesthetics / Buon gusto
Corrado Viola (University of Verona), Tradition and Innovation in Muratoris
Literary Canon
Riccardo Castagnetti (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), Emotions and
Virtues for the Public Benefit: Muratori and Music
Network / Repubblica letteraria
Pierre Musitelli (École Normale Supérieure de Paris), Muratori and the
Republic of Letters
Maria Lieber (Technische Universität Dresden) Ralf Michael Christoph
(Technische Universität Dresden), A Long Relationship: Muratori and the
German World
Heritage / Memoria
Marco Capriotti (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), Shaping Memory.
Muratori and his Archive
Alexander Meyer (Universität Wien) Thomas Wallnig (Universität Wien),
Muratori in the Digital Sphere: A Computational Approach to the
Correspondence
Bibliography
Index
Matteo Al Kalak is Full Professor of Modern History at the Department of Linguistic and Cultural Studies and Director of the Interdepartmental Research Center on Digital Humanities (DHMoRe) at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. His research is primarily focused on religious history, encompassing institutional aspects as well as manifestations related to dissent, reformism, and protest. A significant portion of his research has also addressed the erudite tradition of the eighteenth century and its connections with religious reformism and jurisdictionalism. In this context, he has conducted extensive research on the figure and work of Lodovico Antonio Muratori and the Este political-cultural tradition. He is responsible for the media library project Lodovico (www.lodovico.medialibrary.it), dedicated to the digitization of cultural heritage from various institutions, in a federative and innovative key.
Marco Capriotti is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. His research mainly focuses on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Italian literature and culture, including Giacomo Leopardi, Pietro Metastasio, Paolo Rolli and Arcadian poetry. In 2022, he published a study on the phenomenon of erudite poetic improvisation in eighteenth-century Italy (Limprovvisazione poetica nellItalia del Settecento, 2 vols., Rome 2022). He is an editorial board member of the journal per Leggere.
Gianvittorio Signorotto held the position of Full Professor of Modern History in the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia from 2002 until 2016. His research focuses on the relationship between political power and religious authority in early modern Europe (particularly from sixteenth to eighteenth century). His work has addressed the historiographical tradition related to the so-called age of decline, considering the construction of Italian identity from the end of the Ancien régime to the crisis of modernity. He has also explored the relationship between foreign policy and constitutional and social dynamics in Italian and European states of the early modern period.
