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Professor Wickersham is writing a book on the Italian
Inquisition, specifically an examination of the Inquisition’s
characterization of heresy and how the Catholic Church’s
understanding of the Protestant message evolved in the
decades after 1520. This undertaking involves a knowledge
of error as defined by the Roman Catholic Church historically,
the varieties of Protestantism that had emerged by the
mid-sixteenth century, and the circulation of Protestant
ideas in Italy. To get at these questions, Professor
Wickersham’s study will offer a detailed analysis
of inquisitorial manuals, works that explained the theoretical
underpinnings of prosecution, as well as an examination
of the practical realities of inquisitorial trials,
as revealed by inquisitorial trials conducted in different
Italian settings. The work will demonstrate that inquisitors
developed a prosecutorial culture capable of identifying
and punishing an elusive crime by joining a well-established
intellectual tradition of anti-heretical writings to
a newly developed focus on heterodox acts, the kinds
of acts that might be observed within the community
by neighbors, friends, even relatives. Professor Wickersham’s
recent classes include a new course on Modern Italy,
as well as courses concerning the Reformation, the Renaissance,
Inquisitions, and religious violence in early modern
Europe. She received her Ph.D. from Indiana University,
and was Assistant Director of the Center for Renaissance
Studies at the Newberry Library in Chicago.
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