The Cheese and the Worms
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| - | '''''The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller''''' (Italian: ''Il formaggio e i vermi'') is a [[history book]] by [[Carlo Ginzburg]] which examines the beliefs of an Italian heretic, [[Menocchio]], from [[Montereale Valcellina]]. | + | '''''The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller''''' (1976, Italian: ''Il formaggio e i vermi'') is a [[history book]] by [[Carlo Ginzburg]] which examines the beliefs of an Italian heretic, [[Menocchio]], from [[Montereale Valcellina]]. |
| - | == The Cheese and the Worms == | + | |
| - | During the preliminary questioning Menocchio spoke freely as he felt he had done nothing wrong. It is in this hearing that he explained his cosmology about The Cheese and the Worms, the title of [[Carlo Ginzburg]]'s Micro History of Menocchio and source of much that is known of this 16th century miller. | + | ==On Menocchio== |
| + | During the preliminary questioning, Menocchio spoke freely because he felt he had done nothing wrong. It is in this hearing that he explained his [[cosmology]] about "the cheese and the worms", the title of [[Carlo Ginzburg]]'s book. | ||
| <blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
| - | Menocchio said: "I have said that, in my opinion, all was chaos, that is, earth, air, water, and fire were mixed together; and out of that bulk a mass formed- just as cheese is made out of milk- and worms appeared in it, and these were the angels. The most holy majesty decreed that these should be God and the angels, and among that number of angels there was also God, he too having been created out of that mass at the same time, and he was named lord with four captains, Lucifer, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. That Lucifer sought to make himself lord equal to the king, who was the majesty of God, and for this arrogance God ordered him driven out of heaven with all his host and his company; and this God later created Adam and Eve and people in great number to take the places of the angels who had been expelled. And as this multitude did not follow God's commandments, he sent his Son, whom the Jews seized, and he was crucified." | + | Menocchio said: "I have said that, in my opinion, all was chaos, that is, earth, air, water, and fire were mixed together; and out of that bulk a mass formed – just as cheese is made out of milk – and worms appeared in it, and these were the angels. The most holy majesty decreed that these should be God and the angels, and among that number of angels there was also God, he too having been created out of that mass at the same time, and he was named lord with four captains, Lucifer, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. That Lucifer sought to make himself lord equal to the king, who was the majesty of God, and for this arrogance God ordered him driven out of heaven with all his host and his company; and this God later created Adam and Eve and people in great number to take the places of the angels who had been expelled. And as this multitude did not follow God's commandments, he sent his Son, whom the Jews seized, and he was crucified." |
| </blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
| - | <br /> | ||
| - | Warned to denounce his ways and uphold the beliefs of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] by both his inquisitors and his family, Menocchio returned to his village. Because of his nature, he was unable to cease speaking his ideology with those who would listen. | ||
| - | ==Italian text== | + | Menocchio had a "tendency to reduce religion to morality", using this as justification for his [[blasphemy]] during his trial because he believed that the only sin was to harm one's neighbor and that to blaspheme caused no harm to anyone but the blasphemer. He went so far as to say that Jesus was born of man and Mary was not a virgin, that the Pope had no power given to him from God (but simply exemplified the qualities of a good man), and that Christ had not died to "redeem humanity". Warned to denounce his ways and uphold the beliefs of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] by both his inquisitors and his family, Menocchio returned to his village. Because of his nature, he was unable to cease speaking about his theological ideas with those who would listen. He had originally attributed his ideas to "diabolical inspiration" and the influence of the devil before admitting that he had simply thought up the ideas himself. |
| - | '''''Il formaggio e i vermi''''' è un [[saggio]] storico di [[Carlo Ginzburg]] edito da [[Einaudi]] per la prima volta nel [[1976]]. | + | |
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| - | Il saggio ha ad oggetto la vita e soprattutto i due processi per eresia sopportati da [[Menocchio|Domenico Scandella]], contadino e mugnaio di [[Montereale Valcellina|Montereale del Friuli]] nato nel [[1532]]. | + | |
| - | Il libro si inserisce nel filone della ricerca sulla storia delle classi subalterne; non per niente l'ampia prefazione si apre con la citazione da [[Bertold Brecht]] "Chi costruì Tebe dalle sette porte?". | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Il protagonista della vicenda narrata, infatti, pur sapendo leggere e scrivere, non appartiene certamente né al clero né alla nobiltà e fa parte dello sterminato numero di persone di cui la storia spesso non si occupa. Il titolo del libro è tratto da un verbale del processo nel quale l'imputato descrive come crede si sia formato il cosmo. In un caos primordiale i [[quattro elementi]] (acqua, aria, terra e fuoco) erano tutti fusi insieme. Il caos si va poi condensando in una massa come il formaggio nel latte e dentro di esso, proprio come si creano i vermi nel formaggio, nascono gli angeli e Dio, per volontà della Santissima Maestà. Nel corso del libro, l'autore mostrerà come dietro a questa descrizione della [[Cosmogonia]] si celino influssi della [[Bibbia]] e di altri libri conosciuti dal mugnaio friulano, ma anche elementi della cultura popolare, alcuni dei quali presumibilmente di origine antichissima. L'idea della nascita del vivente dal non vivente (i vermi dal formaggio), peraltro, era in quel periodo appannaggio della cultura ufficiale e non solo delle credenze popolari, e paradossalmente era considerata un'idea di tipo scientista in quanto contrapposta all'idea di creazione da parte di un essere superiore. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Il libro non si limita solamente a trattare la vicenda del mugnaio friulano, ma interviene autorevolmente su due grandi questioni storiografiche. | + | |
| - | # L'analisi del metodo, dell'importanza e delle finalità della "storia dal basso", sulla quale l'autore si intrattiene specialmente nella prefazione. | + | |
| - | # L'analisi del rapporto tra la cultura ufficiale, o cultura delle classi dominanti, e cultura popolare. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | In questo secondo tema, che costituisce probabilmente il frutto più affascinante dell'intero libro, l'autore analizza la cultura popolare per capire, in primo luogo, se si possa parlare veramente e in che senso di cultura popolare, dopodiché per comprendere quali sono i prodotti della cultura popolare, come essa si sviluppa e come si tramanda tra generazioni, quali sono gli influssi reciproci tra cultura popolare e cultura ufficiale ed infine quali le ripercussioni politiche e sociali della cultura popolare. | + | |
| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | *[[Witchcraft in Italy]] | ||
| + | *“[[Who built Thebes of the Seven Gates?]]” | ||
| + | *''[[The Return of Martin Guerre]]'' (1983), a similar work of microhistory | ||
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The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller (1976, Italian: Il formaggio e i vermi) is a history book by Carlo Ginzburg which examines the beliefs of an Italian heretic, Menocchio, from Montereale Valcellina.
[edit]
On Menocchio
During the preliminary questioning, Menocchio spoke freely because he felt he had done nothing wrong. It is in this hearing that he explained his cosmology about "the cheese and the worms", the title of Carlo Ginzburg's book.
Menocchio said: "I have said that, in my opinion, all was chaos, that is, earth, air, water, and fire were mixed together; and out of that bulk a mass formed – just as cheese is made out of milk – and worms appeared in it, and these were the angels. The most holy majesty decreed that these should be God and the angels, and among that number of angels there was also God, he too having been created out of that mass at the same time, and he was named lord with four captains, Lucifer, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. That Lucifer sought to make himself lord equal to the king, who was the majesty of God, and for this arrogance God ordered him driven out of heaven with all his host and his company; and this God later created Adam and Eve and people in great number to take the places of the angels who had been expelled. And as this multitude did not follow God's commandments, he sent his Son, whom the Jews seized, and he was crucified."
Menocchio had a "tendency to reduce religion to morality", using this as justification for his blasphemy during his trial because he believed that the only sin was to harm one's neighbor and that to blaspheme caused no harm to anyone but the blasphemer. He went so far as to say that Jesus was born of man and Mary was not a virgin, that the Pope had no power given to him from God (but simply exemplified the qualities of a good man), and that Christ had not died to "redeem humanity". Warned to denounce his ways and uphold the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church by both his inquisitors and his family, Menocchio returned to his village. Because of his nature, he was unable to cease speaking about his theological ideas with those who would listen. He had originally attributed his ideas to "diabolical inspiration" and the influence of the devil before admitting that he had simply thought up the ideas himself.
[edit]
See also
- Witchcraft in Italy
- “Who built Thebes of the Seven Gates?”
- The Return of Martin Guerre (1983), a similar work of microhistory
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "The Cheese and the Worms" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
