"Carlo Maranta: The Forgotten Bishop-Jurist of Puglia's Counter-Reformation" by Carlo Coppola
La versione italiana di questo articolo di Carlo Coppola si trova su "In Città Giovinazzo" diretto dal prof. Antonio Calisi al seguente indirizzo:
A powerful defender of ecclesiastical immunity, Bishop Carlo Maranta shaped 17th-century Southern Italy through law, faith, and armed resistance
By Carlo Coppola | February 22, 2025A Dynasty of Legal Minds
Born into a dynasty of Neapolitan jurists—his father Roberto, uncle Fabio, grandfather Pomponio, and great-grandfather Roberto, author of the celebrated Speculum aureum—Bishop Maranta absorbed the atmosphere of courtrooms from childhood. After earning his law degree in 1611, he practiced as an advocate at the prestigious tribunal of the Fabbrica di San Pietro and quickly became vicar and consultor in important offices of the Roman Curia.
His ecclesiastical career was rapid and marked by delicate assignments: in 1624, Pope Urban VIII sent him to Rutigliano as consultor of the Holy Office. There he distinguished himself not only for his inquisitorial zeal but for employing an armed squad in operations—a sign of the resolute character that would accompany him throughout his life.
The Bishop of Giovinazzo: Reform and Conflict
In 1637, the pope appointed him bishop of Giovinazzo, a see vacant for a decade. Maranta immediately set to work: he consecrated churches, reorganized the clergy, celebrated two diocesan synods, and published the Constitutiones to restore dignity to a diocese in crisis. But the bishop-jurist was not one to limit himself to ordinary pastoral care.
He entered into conflict with the archpriesthood of Terlizzi, which claimed autonomy from the diocese, and responded with weighty treatises—the Apologeticus (1639) and the Tutamen iuris Ecclesiae Iuvenacensis (1640)—in which he forcefully reasserted episcopal rights.
Armed Defense of Church Privileges
The clashes were not merely doctrinal. In 1639, the fiefdom of Giovinazzo passed to the powerful Prince of Cellammare, Niccolò Giudice, and tensions between ecclesiastical and feudal power intensified to the point of forcing Maranta to temporarily leave the diocese. Even then, his response was through writing: in 1644 he published in Rome the Apologeticus tractatus pro iuribus Ecclesiae, a true manifesto of ecclesiastical immunity, in which he even claimed the right to employ forty armed men—the "affidati"—to protect episcopal prerogatives.
A Monumental Legal Legacy
Parallel to his jurisdictional battles, Maranta constructed a monumental legal opus. His Responsiones (1637-1652), five volumes of forensic controversies dedicated to popes and cardinals, constitute a precious repository of ecclesiastical jurisprudence in the Baroque South. To these were added allegations, treatises, and canonical compilations, including the Medulla decreti (1656), in which he continued to fight for the autonomy of ecclesiastical law and the priority of lex divina.
He even added a touch of patriotism: in the same year, he published an allegation supporting the primacy of Saint Januarius as patron of Naples.
Final Years in Tropea
In 1657, upon recommendation of Philip IV of Spain, he was appointed bishop of Tropea, where he continued his pastoral activity by inaugurating monasteries, promoting devotions, and guiding the community through the earthquake of 1659. He died on January 26, 1664, leaving a diocese still marked by his battles and an imposing body of legal writings.
A Forgotten Legacy
Maranta's memory, however, soon faded. Jurists like Francesco D'Andrea criticized his dry and pedantic style, and subsequent historiography has neglected his profile. Yet he represents the vitality of a Puglian environment that, though far from the great tribunals of the capital, managed to produce "repertorial literature" of great significance.
A reformer when necessary, a zealous inquisitor when required, a combative advocate when challenged, Carlo Maranta was truly a man of his time: a bishop who armed the Church not only with legal arguments but also—literally—with squads of "affidati." His controversial and multifaceted figure embodies the tensions of the Puglian Counter-Reformation and deserves to be rediscovered as one of the forgotten protagonists of the southern 17th century.
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