AVVOCATO, POLITICO, INQUISITO GIOVANNI BATTISTA LADERCHI E L'INQUISIZIONE TRA XVI E XVII SECOLO.

The analysis of the events and dynamics that characterized the Este duchy in the years following the devolution of Ferrara to the Holy See in 1598 did not dwell sufficiently upon the crucial role of the principal secretary of the duke, Giovanni Battista Laderchi. The essay offers a new reading of the politician, focusing on his relations with the local court of faith. These relationships show the extent of the jurisdictional conflict in which the political authority, albeit at a disadvantage, claimed its prerogatives in various areas, first of all on the nobles close to the court and, above all, on Jewish subjects. This did not escape Laderchi's detractors, both from the members of the city corporations, as from the Capuchin preachers hostile to the Jews and, in general, to those who saw their interests threatened by the "jurisdictionalist" policy of the ducal secretary. The bond and protection granted to Jewish subjects could offer an opportunity to formulate accusations of irreverence towards papal authority, magical practices and atheism, used instrumentally to hit Laderchi on a political level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]