Office of Ceremonies and Advancement in Curial Rome, 1466–1528

Jennifer Mara DeSilva, Ph.D. (2007, University of Toronto) is Associate Professor of History at Ball State University. She has published a range of articles on early modern Europe and has edited several collections, including The Borgia Family: Rumor and Representation (Routledge, 2019).

• AcknowledgementsList of Figures and TablesList of AbbreviationsList of Pontificates, 1420–1605A Note on NamesIntroduction1 The Papal Court: Both Foreign and Familiar2 Tracing Advancement in the Office of Ceremonies3 The Development of Masters of Ceremonies and Politica Festiva4 Onwards1 The Curia and the Office of Ceremonies1 Historiographical Traces2 Physical Traces2 The Development of the Office of Ceremonies1 The Work and Structure of the Office of Ceremonies before 14662 The Work and Structure of the Office of Ceremonies after 14663 The Economics of Office-Holding4 Provision to Office: It’s Who You Know5 Professionalizing by Decree: Pastoralis officii (1513) and Santi Celso and Giuliano3 The Office-Holders: Origins and Strategies1 Agostino Patrizi, 1466–14882 Johann Burchard, 1483–†15063 Paris de’ Grassi, 1504–†15284 Conclusion4 The Office-Holder’s Great Goal: A Bishopric1 Papal Patronage2 Agostino Patrizi, Bishop of Pienza and Montalcino (1484–†1495)3 Johann Burchard, Bishop of Orte and Civita Castellana (1503–†1506)4 Paris de’ Grassi, Bishop of Pesaro (1513–†1528)5 Conclusion5 Tools of the Profession: Ceremonial Diaries and Guides1 The Diaries as Signs of Professionalization2 The Diaries as Commonplace Books3 Where Did All the Diaries Go?4 Diaries before 1483: Lost or Fragmentary5 Codifying Practice: Liber Pontificalis (1485) and Caeremoniale Romanum (1488)6 Johann Burchard’s Liber Notarum7 Paris de’ Grassi: Continuing the Tradition8 Diaries after 1521: Continuity and Curation9 Conclusion6 Curial Authors1 Agostino Patrizi: Humanist and Ceremonialist2 Johann Burchard: Collaborator and Benchmark3 Paris de’ Grassi: Advocate and Revisionary4 Conclusion7 Clerical Ambition in the Papal Chapel1 Preaching as a Part of Career Advancement2 Sermons in the Papal Chapel3 Preachers as Curialists4 ConclusionConclusionBibliographyIndex

"This book provides a rich, compelling, and vivid account of the careers of three Roman curialists: Agostino Patrizi, Johann Burchard, and Paris de’ Grassi. [...] The Office of Ceremonies provides a valuable foundation for future studies of papal ceremony and the Renaissance papacy." - Elizabeth M. McCahill, University of Massachusetts Boston, in: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 76, No. 4 (Winter 2023), pp. 1521–1522