The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio: The True Story of a Convent in Scandal (72 page)

22.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XVI: Esame di Sr. Maria Giuseppa, April 2, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

23.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XXVI: Esame di Sr. Maria Giacinta, March 21, 1861; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

24.
Sommario del Ristretto dei Costituti Sr. Maria Veronica Milza, no. VI: Estratto dagli esami di Sr. Maria Ignazia; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 d.

25.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XXVII: Esame di Sr. Agnese Celeste, March 27, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

26.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XXVII: Esame di Sr. Maria Giuseppa, March 9, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

27.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XXVI: Esame di Sr. Maria Giacinta, March 21, 1861; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

28.
Faiola and the surrounding mountains were notorious in Italy as the home of bands of robbers. See Hermann Reuchlin, “Das italienische Brigantentum,” in
Unsere Zeit. Deutsche Revue der Gegenwart. Monatsschrift zum Conversationslexikon
New Series 6 (1870), pp. 145–66; Heinrich Wilhelm Thiersch,
Friedrich Thiersch’s Leben
. Vol. 1: 1784–1830 (Leipzig, 1866), p. 247.

29.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XXVII: Esame di Sr. Agnese Celeste, March 28, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

30.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XXVII: Esame di Sr. Maria Giuseppa, March 9, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

31.
Sommario del Ristretto dei Costituti relativi a Sr. Maria Veronica Milza, no. VI: Estratto dagli esami di Sr. Maria Ignazia; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 d.

32.
Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo XI: Avvelenamento; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text.

33.
Sommario del Ristretto dei Costituti relativi a Sr. Maria Veronica Milza, no. VI: Estratto dagli esami di Sr. Maria Ignazia; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 d.

34.
Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo XI: Avvelenamento; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

35.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XVII: Esame di Sr. Agnese Celeste, March 28, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

36.
See Judith 13:8. Judith decapitated the warlord Holofernes to save the besieged people of Israel.

37.
Opium was administered to Katharina in two different forms. First she was given opium tincture, then raw opium, shaped into balls—called opium pills in the source material. In both these forms, opium tastes bitter enough to be disgusting. The two ounces of raw opium that Franceschetti was told to procure is a huge amount, given the fact that the daily dosage should be a maximum of 500 milligrams, any higher dose being lethal. Mixing the opium with cassia was a promising strategy, because the pureed flesh of the
cassia fistula
pods was both very pleasant-tasting and the same color as raw opium. Katharina had been given cassia several times as a laxative for her digestive problems, and the cassia made an excellent base for the opium because it was impossible to taste the
drug in this mixture—particularly when it also had tamarind mixed with it. The “sour date” was taken for a “lovely sister” to the cassia, and also had a laxative effect.

38.
Sommario del Ristretto dei Costituti relativi a Sr. Maria Veronica Milza, no. VI: Estratto dagli esami di Sr. Maria Ignazia; ACDF SO St. St. B7 d. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text unless otherwise stated.

39.
Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo XI: Avvelenamento; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

40.
Esami del Dr. Marchi, December 3 and 5, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 m, fol. 81–87.

41.
Esame del Dr. Riccardi, December 5, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 m, fol. 85.

42.
In the nineteenth century, illnesses like neuralgia and “weak nerves,” which could lead to mental and physical breakdown, were increasingly treated with strong stimulants or sedatives. Chloroform, which was used as a narcotic for the first time in 1847, was used both for these cases and in women’s medicine, where it was frequently used to treat menstrual cramps. In many cases, medicinal use turned into addiction, as for Georg Trakl, who turned to chloroform in periods of nervous tension. Cf. Mike Jay,
High Society: Mind-Altering Drugs in History and Culture
(London, 2010); “Report of the Committee on Chloroform,”
The Lancet
, July 1864, pp. 49–50.

43.
Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo XI: Avvelenamento; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text.

44.
Cf. John 13:1–17; Thomas Schäfer, “Fußwaschung,” in
LThK
, 2nd ed., vol. 4 (1960), pp. 476–78.

45.
Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo XI, Sallua’s introduction to this charge; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

46.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XXVIII: Esame di Sr. Maria Ignazia, March 2, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text.

47.
Veronica Giuliani lived from 1660 until 1727, and received the stigmata in 1696. It was only after a long struggle, against opponents including the Roman Inquisition, that the Capuchin nun was beatified in 1804, and canonized in 1839. Maria Luisa was drawing a parallel with a female mystic whose recognition from the Church had been the result of a long fight. On Veronica Giuliani, see Ekkart Sauser, “Giuliani,” in
BBKL
12 (1997), p. 1277.

48.
The Lives of S. Veronica Giuliani, Capuchin Nun: And of the Blessed Battista Varani, of the Order of S. Clare, the Saints and Servants of God, Second Series
(London, 1874), pp. 126–
27
. (Text taken from the original Italian by the Abate Filippo Maria Salvatori, Rome, 1839.)

49.
Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo XI: Avvelenamento; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

50.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XXIX: Esame di Sr. Maria Ignazia, March 7, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

51.
Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo XI, from the subtitle: Sr. M. Luisa tenta con veleni ed in altre maniere procura ed influisce nella infermità e morte
di altre religiose; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text.

52.
This was probably Vincenzo Stocchi, who was born in Sinalunga in 1820, entered the Jesuit novitiate, and was ordained as priest in 1851. Stocchi spent three years teaching rhetoric in Senigallia, was later employed in practical pastoral care, and died in 1881. Cf. Sommervogel,
Bibliothèque
, vol. 7, pp. 1582–83.

53.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XXVII: Esame di Sr. Maria Giuseppa, March 10, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

54.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XXIX: Esame di Sr. Maria Ignazia, March 5, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

55.
Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo XI: Avvelenamento; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

56.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XXX: Esame di Sr. Giuseppa Maria, April 3, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

57.
Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo XI: Avvelenamento; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text.

58.
Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo XIII: Sr. Maria Luisa più volte ha fatto comparire somme di denaro ricevute miracolosamente dal Cielo; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text.

59.
A Scudino is a gold coin from the Duchy of Modena, worth two thirds of a Roman scudo. Cf. Oskar Ludwig Bernhard Wolff,
Neues elegantestes Conversations-Lexikon für Gebildete aus allen Ständen
, vol. 5 (Leipzig, 1842), p. 369.

60.
Sommario della Relazione informativa, no. XXXI: Esame di Franceschetti, September 12, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

61.
Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo XIV: I Padri Confessori Leziroli e risultano fautori, complici e conniventi; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text. On the role of the Jesuits as confessors for nuns, see Moos,
Disziplinierung
, pp. 82–86.

62.
Relazione informativa con Sommario, Titolo XI: Avvelenamento; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c.

63.
Relazione informativa con Sommario; ACDF SO St. St. B 7 c. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text.

64.
Decision by the Assembly of the Cardinals, Feria IV, February 27, 1861; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 w f.

65.
Cf. ACDF SO St. St. B 6 z, fol. 1. Bambozzi, who was born around 1795, was director general of all prisons in Rome from 1856. He died in 1863. See Wolf (ed.),
Prosopographie
, pp. 103 and 1609.

66.
The assessor’s private audience with the pope, and the latter’s decision, Feria IV, Febraury 27, 1861; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 w f.

67.
Decision by the cardinals, Feria IV, March 6,1861; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 w f.

CHAPTER SIX
“It Is a Heavenly Liquor”

1.
Decision by the pope, December 6, 1859; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 wf. Fascicolo dei Decreti, Decretum Feria III. Loco IV, December 6, 1859; ibid., B6 wf.
Relazione sommaria degli atti principali, Sua Santità ordina che Sr. M. Luisa sia traslocata in altro monastero; ibid., B 6 e1. The convent of Purificazione was a former nunnery with a church attached. The Roman nobleman Mario Ferro Orsini bought the land from the Carthusian monks of Santa Maria degli Angeli alle Terme, and had the church and convent built. The sisters of Saint Clara of Assisi moved in in 1600. Cf. “Purificazione della B. V. Maria. Congregazione di monache,” in Moroni,
Dizionario
56 (1852), p. 99.

2.
Ristretto dei Costituti di Sr. Maria Luisa con Sommario, Parte I: Atti spontanei emessi da Sr. M. Luisa durante la sua dimora nell monastero della Purificazione; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 u. Cf. also Esami di Sr. Maria Luisa, March 20 and 26, 1860; ibid., B 6 f. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text unless otherwise stated.

3.
Costituto di Sr. Maria Luisa, June 11, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 n, fol. 1–4.

4.
Cf. ACDF SO St. St. B 6 w l.

5.
The source material doesn’t specify which feast of the Madonna this was. The following feasts are likely candidates: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (January 1); the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25); the Feast of the Assumption (August 15); the Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary (today on September 12; then on September 8); the Immaculate Conception (December 8). The first of the churches mentioned, San Silvestro, is on the Quirinal Hill and was most recently renewed under Pope Gregory XIII. San Quirico is at 31, Via di Tor de’ Conti, and is dedicated to the three-year-old Quiricus and his mother, Julitta, who suffered martyrs’ deaths under Emperor Diocletian. Cf. Alfred von Reumont,
Römische Briefe von einem Florentiner. vol. 3: Neue Römische Briefe 1837–1838, Erster Teil
(Leipzig, 1844), pp. 386–87.

6.
Cf. Morichini,
Istituti
, vol. 2, pp. 88–89;
http://pallottinespirit.org/charism/congregational-history/
(5/2/2012).

7.
“Si dotano 3 zitelle povere ogni anno, una dalla collegiata, l’altra dalla confraternita del ss. Rosario, la 3a dalla confraternita della SS. Annunziata e del Carmine.” “Viterbo,” in Moroni,
Dizionario
102 (1861), pp. 3–421, here p. 65.

8.
Archpriest Pastacaldi was secretary to Cardinal Vincenzo Macchi. Cf.
Giornale arcadico di scienze, lettere ed arti
, vol. 68 (Rome 1836), p. 366.

9.
The Basilica lies on the street of the same name in Rione Celio, halfway between the Colosseum and the Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano. The buildings also include a convent, occupied by Augustine canonesses since 1560. The church and convent are known for the impressive frescoes depicting the legend of Saint Sylvester. See Maria Giulia Barberini,
I Santi Quattro Coronati a Roma
(Rome, 1989).

10.
Ristretto dei Costituti di Sr. Maria Luisa, Part 1, summary of Maria Luisa’s own handwritten report; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 u. Subsequent quotations also taken from this text.

11.
Cf. Feldbauer,
Geschichte
, pp. 30–36; Traniello and Sofri,
Weg
.

12.
Cf. Behringer,
Hexen
; Schwaiger (ed.),
Teufelsglaube
.

13.
On impurity through menstruation, see Angenendt,
Pollutio
, pp. 52–93.

14.
Cf. Müller,
Dogmatik
, pp. 680–713.

15.
Fascicolo dei Decreti, Decretum Feria IV, May 2, 1860; ACDF SO St. St. B 6 w f. Buon Pastore lay on the Lungara, and was founded by a Barefoot Carmelite in the first half of the seventeenth century. It was known as La Scalette. In 1838, this correctional institution for women was handed over to the Sisters of the Good Shepherd (Religieuses de la Congrégation de Notre-Dame-de-Charité du Bon Pasteur d’Angers). They took in those who entered freely and showed the will to reform. Women whose husbands wanted them locked away, to which the cardinal vicar had to give his assent, also found themselves in La Scalette. However, the institute also served as a prison for women under investigation. “A stay in this house is supposed to work wonders, and the Good Shepherd sets many lost sheep back on the right track. In Rome, many touching stories are told about it. Apart from those women who are sent there, they also take in those who go of their own accord and wish to live apart from society. Both are released when, as a result of their good conduct, it appears suitable. The way of life there is semi-nunlike: retreats; prayer and song; work, the profit from which the women keep; readings during the midday and evening meals. Talking is only permitted during leisure hours. Only visits from fathers, mothers, guardians or husbands are received. Most pay an annuity, which varies according to their circumstances. The nuns are all French: Italians would scarcely do so well. The number of these is twelve; the penitents number up to 70. It is said that the nuns of Notre Dame de Charité will be charged with the rest of the penitentiaries and correctional facilities for women: judging by the successes in this limited area to date, such a measure can only be for the best.” Alfred von Reumont,
Römische Briefe von einem Florentiner
. Vol. 3:
Neue Römische Briefe 1837–1838, Erster Teil
(Leipzig, 1844), pp. 188–89. See also “Conservatorio di S. Croce della Penitenza alla Longara detto del Buon Pastore,” in Moroni,
Dizionario
17 (1842), pp. 20–21.