Most of this book is a commentary on the trial records of Mennochio, a sixteenth century Italian miller, who was charged by the Inquisition with the dissemination of heretical beliefs. The book is a complex exploration of religious thought, both Mennochio’s and in the region, the legal process of inquisition, the relations of peasants to their lords in a society still holding to feudal economic structures, and a microcosm of early print culture. There are so many interesting historical concepts that collide in this book, it is endlessly fascinating, especially for myself as I am very interested in print culture.
The form of writing is mostly verbatim excerpts from the trial, followed by their analysis, comparison to other texts. Chapters are composed with varying proportions of these three elements. This goes until the last five chapters, where the author looks away from Mennochio and draw links to other individuals who shared his particular qualities and beliefs. His point would have been improved if there were more chapters like the last few, but it is understandable that evidence is scarce for his stated reasons, most of all the fact that an oral culture is poorly preserved in writings when the population is mostly illiterate, and those who are aren’t part of this culture.
It’s difficult to make a case for these ideas being part of a longer cultural history. The evidence at least suggests that in this period of time there were extraordinarily reactionary religious ideas, but the idea that it is passed down through a line of peasant thought is not well supported enough. Nonetheless, the book invites us to wonder at this idea and its possibility. And it may not be so unlikely, as I recall even a trace of this idea in a medieval English poem ‘The Dancers of Colbek’, predating Mennochio by hundreds of years, where it says.
“Þe nere þe cherche, þe fyrþer fro God”
“The nearer the church, the further from God.”
Expressions of disdain for the clergy are among the accusations levied at Mennochio, but we can above that critique of them has been present in cultural works long before the printing press. This is a key point, as print culture was a catalyst for revolt against the established church. The church was the exclusive origin of teachings in a time when the production of books was limited and expensive, but after Gutenburg it was possible for anyone to access teachings without any involvement of the church, making it possible for any person (who can read) to become able to learn religious matters. But as seen above, it’s clear there was some incidence of dissatisfaction with the church as a means to know God.
Mennochio was quite accomplished. Though he was a sort of peasant, he had the ability to read, and took advantage of early print culture to buy some copies of books, where many of his ideas were sourced. What would it look like to have the personality of Mennochio in the present day I wonder?
The book was a joy to read, in seeing these aspects of history collide, and to read the words of a peasant from this time period, even in translation, was fascinating.