I padrini: patroni o parenti? Tendenze di fondo nella selezione dei parenti spirituali in Europa (XV-XX secolo)

Before the Council of Trent (1545-1563), in Italy as in the most of Europe godparenthood connected social groups in a complex way, with a mix of horizontal and vertical ties. The Council, forbidding social customs based on the selection of many godfathers per baptism, caused an unvoluntary verticali...

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Main Author: Guido Alfani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre de Recherches sur les Mondes Américains 2008-03-01
Series:Nuevo mundo - Mundos Nuevos
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/30172
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author Guido Alfani
author_facet Guido Alfani
author_sort Guido Alfani
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description Before the Council of Trent (1545-1563), in Italy as in the most of Europe godparenthood connected social groups in a complex way, with a mix of horizontal and vertical ties. The Council, forbidding social customs based on the selection of many godfathers per baptism, caused an unvoluntary verticalization. At the beginning of 17th Century godparenthood acquired a clientelar character which did not disappear until when a second crucial  transformation began. If, until the Early Modern Age, selection of godparents was systematically made outside the kinsmen group, during 18th and 19th Century relatives began to become the most chosen godfathers so that today in most of Catholic Europe it is common to select an uncle, a cousin or a grandfather. This double movement of transformation involved all of Catholic Europe but, if in the case of the first transformation the chronology of the change shows just small variations, for the second we find significant differences whose causes and effects have still to be explained. Beginning with the case of Ivrea in Northern Italy and making use of information found in historiography, the article formulates hypothesis about grand transformations of godparenthood as a social institution, from the Middle Ages up until today.
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spelling doaj.art-4c9c64fb50e04b109e4f18507e4061742024-02-14T16:43:01ZengCentre de Recherches sur les Mondes AméricainsNuevo mundo - Mundos Nuevos1626-02522008-03-0110.4000/nuevomundo.30172I padrini: patroni o parenti? Tendenze di fondo nella selezione dei parenti spirituali in Europa (XV-XX secolo)Guido AlfaniBefore the Council of Trent (1545-1563), in Italy as in the most of Europe godparenthood connected social groups in a complex way, with a mix of horizontal and vertical ties. The Council, forbidding social customs based on the selection of many godfathers per baptism, caused an unvoluntary verticalization. At the beginning of 17th Century godparenthood acquired a clientelar character which did not disappear until when a second crucial  transformation began. If, until the Early Modern Age, selection of godparents was systematically made outside the kinsmen group, during 18th and 19th Century relatives began to become the most chosen godfathers so that today in most of Catholic Europe it is common to select an uncle, a cousin or a grandfather. This double movement of transformation involved all of Catholic Europe but, if in the case of the first transformation the chronology of the change shows just small variations, for the second we find significant differences whose causes and effects have still to be explained. Beginning with the case of Ivrea in Northern Italy and making use of information found in historiography, the article formulates hypothesis about grand transformations of godparenthood as a social institution, from the Middle Ages up until today.https://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/30172godfathergodmothergodparenthoodspiritual kinshipbaptism
spellingShingle Guido Alfani
I padrini: patroni o parenti? Tendenze di fondo nella selezione dei parenti spirituali in Europa (XV-XX secolo)
Nuevo mundo - Mundos Nuevos
godfather
godmother
godparenthood
spiritual kinship
baptism
title I padrini: patroni o parenti? Tendenze di fondo nella selezione dei parenti spirituali in Europa (XV-XX secolo)
title_full I padrini: patroni o parenti? Tendenze di fondo nella selezione dei parenti spirituali in Europa (XV-XX secolo)
title_fullStr I padrini: patroni o parenti? Tendenze di fondo nella selezione dei parenti spirituali in Europa (XV-XX secolo)
title_full_unstemmed I padrini: patroni o parenti? Tendenze di fondo nella selezione dei parenti spirituali in Europa (XV-XX secolo)
title_short I padrini: patroni o parenti? Tendenze di fondo nella selezione dei parenti spirituali in Europa (XV-XX secolo)
title_sort i padrini patroni o parenti tendenze di fondo nella selezione dei parenti spirituali in europa xv xx secolo
topic godfather
godmother
godparenthood
spiritual kinship
baptism
url https://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/30172
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