In the 1560s and 1570s, Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Commendone (1524–1584) and his secretary Antonio Maria Graziani (1537–1611) were entrusted with important papal commissions in German and Polish lands, gaining a deep understanding of the political and religious situation of Central-Eastern Europe. The role of these two papal diplomats is highlighted by their political archives, an extraordinary collection of documents which has been the subject of the research project The Nuncio’s Secret Archives: Papal Diplomacy and European Multi-denominational Societies Before the Thirty Years’ War (NSA), financed by the Italian Ministry of University and Research. This rich documentation, in particular, under- scores the importance of Padua in the network of relationships established by Commendone and Graziani. They frequently returned to the university city during breaks in their Alpine missions, taking part in circles and gatherings, and meeting with Venetian patricians, professors, and foreign students. In this context, the correspondence between Graziani and the Polish student Mikołai Tomicki —the son of a prominent nobleman who had embraced the Reformation —is of particular significance. A parallel reading of the letters written by Graziani and those written by Tomicki reveals the educational project offered to the young Pole by the two papal envoys. Moreover, it sheds light on the perspective of Commendone and Graziani, in which diplomacy and culture were closely intertwined.
Educating the Catholic Nobleman. Projects and Models in Padua and Poland
Antonella Barzazi
2025
Abstract
In the 1560s and 1570s, Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Commendone (1524–1584) and his secretary Antonio Maria Graziani (1537–1611) were entrusted with important papal commissions in German and Polish lands, gaining a deep understanding of the political and religious situation of Central-Eastern Europe. The role of these two papal diplomats is highlighted by their political archives, an extraordinary collection of documents which has been the subject of the research project The Nuncio’s Secret Archives: Papal Diplomacy and European Multi-denominational Societies Before the Thirty Years’ War (NSA), financed by the Italian Ministry of University and Research. This rich documentation, in particular, under- scores the importance of Padua in the network of relationships established by Commendone and Graziani. They frequently returned to the university city during breaks in their Alpine missions, taking part in circles and gatherings, and meeting with Venetian patricians, professors, and foreign students. In this context, the correspondence between Graziani and the Polish student Mikołai Tomicki —the son of a prominent nobleman who had embraced the Reformation —is of particular significance. A parallel reading of the letters written by Graziani and those written by Tomicki reveals the educational project offered to the young Pole by the two papal envoys. Moreover, it sheds light on the perspective of Commendone and Graziani, in which diplomacy and culture were closely intertwined.
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