A Tale of Two Cities (and Three Men): Armenians in Rome and Ancona, 1560s‑1580s

The essay examines the settlement patterns of members of an Eastern Christian diaspora, the Armenians, in late 16th‑century Ancona and Rome. The commercial appeal of the former is illustrated by the case of the Armenian merchant Giorgio Moratto, while the diplomatic and cultural centrality of Rome i...

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Main Author: Cesare Santus
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses Universitaires du Midi 2025-06-01
Series:Diasporas: Circulations, Migrations, Histoire
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/diasporas/17226
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author Cesare Santus
author_facet Cesare Santus
author_sort Cesare Santus
collection DOAJ
description The essay examines the settlement patterns of members of an Eastern Christian diaspora, the Armenians, in late 16th‑century Ancona and Rome. The commercial appeal of the former is illustrated by the case of the Armenian merchant Giorgio Moratto, while the diplomatic and cultural centrality of Rome is embodied by Marco Antonio Abagaro, the son of an Armenian ambassador to the Pope, who later became an interpreter, translator and printer for the Roman curia. These two types of mobility came together thanks to the representative of a third, main vector of circulation, which was primarily religious in nature: Giulio Antonio Santori, cardinal of Santa Severina, used Moratto’s money and Marco Antonio Abagaro’s work to build a church and hospice for Armenian pilgrims in Ancona (1580), on the model of the one established in Rome a few years earlier. By comparing the common features and the different developments of the Armenian hospices in Rome and Ancona, this article aims to stimulate reflection on the characteristics of early modern Catholic confessional mobility and its relationship with other channels of mobility in the early modern Mediterranean.
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series Diasporas: Circulations, Migrations, Histoire
spelling doaj-art-30dcc24a24cf4cd59b8a73d28c9fd11c2025-08-20T03:23:26ZengPresses Universitaires du MidiDiasporas: Circulations, Migrations, Histoire1637-58232431-14722025-06-0143719410.4000/144eaA Tale of Two Cities (and Three Men): Armenians in Rome and Ancona, 1560s‑1580sCesare SantusThe essay examines the settlement patterns of members of an Eastern Christian diaspora, the Armenians, in late 16th‑century Ancona and Rome. The commercial appeal of the former is illustrated by the case of the Armenian merchant Giorgio Moratto, while the diplomatic and cultural centrality of Rome is embodied by Marco Antonio Abagaro, the son of an Armenian ambassador to the Pope, who later became an interpreter, translator and printer for the Roman curia. These two types of mobility came together thanks to the representative of a third, main vector of circulation, which was primarily religious in nature: Giulio Antonio Santori, cardinal of Santa Severina, used Moratto’s money and Marco Antonio Abagaro’s work to build a church and hospice for Armenian pilgrims in Ancona (1580), on the model of the one established in Rome a few years earlier. By comparing the common features and the different developments of the Armenian hospices in Rome and Ancona, this article aims to stimulate reflection on the characteristics of early modern Catholic confessional mobility and its relationship with other channels of mobility in the early modern Mediterranean.https://journals.openedition.org/diasporas/17226Santa Maria EgiziacaSant’Anastasiahospitalitypilgrimagereligious mobilityconfessional control
spellingShingle Cesare Santus
A Tale of Two Cities (and Three Men): Armenians in Rome and Ancona, 1560s‑1580s
Diasporas: Circulations, Migrations, Histoire
Santa Maria Egiziaca
Sant’Anastasia
hospitality
pilgrimage
religious mobility
confessional control
title A Tale of Two Cities (and Three Men): Armenians in Rome and Ancona, 1560s‑1580s
title_full A Tale of Two Cities (and Three Men): Armenians in Rome and Ancona, 1560s‑1580s
title_fullStr A Tale of Two Cities (and Three Men): Armenians in Rome and Ancona, 1560s‑1580s
title_full_unstemmed A Tale of Two Cities (and Three Men): Armenians in Rome and Ancona, 1560s‑1580s
title_short A Tale of Two Cities (and Three Men): Armenians in Rome and Ancona, 1560s‑1580s
title_sort tale of two cities and three men armenians in rome and ancona 1560s 1580s
topic Santa Maria Egiziaca
Sant’Anastasia
hospitality
pilgrimage
religious mobility
confessional control
url https://journals.openedition.org/diasporas/17226
work_keys_str_mv AT cesaresantus ataleoftwocitiesandthreemenarmeniansinromeandancona1560s1580s
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