San Carlo e la tradizione milanese del Seicento. Osmosi, identità civica e conflitti

The collective memory built around Carlo Borromeo's reputation for saintliness did not emerge in an entirely peaceful way, on the basis of unanimity dominated by the strength of unblemished consensus without reservations. On the contrary, Borromeo's reform proposal challenged the continuity of a consolidated tradition, and pushed many to react, thereby advancing different needs. The reform proposal generated criticism and opposition, particularly among certain sectors of the ecclesiastical class and in their relationship with social elites and civilian powers. After san Carlo's death, however, his strategy of innovation gained broader appeal, at the same time that it renounced some of the more intransigent aspects of its original approach. San Carlo's canonization process and the taking off of his cult have become the focal point that has favored the rapprochement of conflicting visions, contributing to the creation of a new urban osmosis whose basic orientation is reflected in the cultural policy of the new archbishop, Federico Borromeo.