Carlo Borromeo. Cultura, santità, governo

The relevance of the figure of Carlo Borromeo and the impressive trace left by him in the history of modern Catholicism amply justify the consideration still devoted to his figure. The fourth centenary of his canonization (1610-2010) is a further incentive to studies on Borromeo and is answered by a set of studies on single crucial aspects of his action: his use of cultural tools, his involvement in the production and dissemination of books, his relationship with lay society, his guidance of collective life in the framework of a unitary perspective. Borromeo’s canonization was the solemn juridical legitimization of his already well-established fame of holiness and spread a local, Milanese and Lombard worship, into the world. The commemoration of this event becomes an occasion to appraise again the meaning of the reformer archbishop’s religious experience; the cultural project he undertook immediately after the Council of Trent; the methods he adopted for a widespread diffusion of an exacting and vigorous programme in the whole society; and finally, the manifold reactions to his agenda, as it met with the mentality, established customs and power positions in the society of that age.