CORDARA, GIULIO CESARE. - Jesuit, b. at Alessandria in Piedmont on 16 Dec. 1704, d. there on 6 March 1785. Having devoted himself to literary studies, after a period of teaching in various colleges, he was entrusted with the continuation of the history, in Latin, of the Society of Jesus, already begun and carried on for several volumes by Frs. F. Sacchini and J. Jouvaney; then, overtaken by the suppression of the Order (1773), he returned to his homeland and there continued to the end his art as a writer.

His output in Italian and in an exquisite Caesarian Latin is very abundant: history, biography, poems, satires, dramas; the satires especially raised a great stir throughout the 18th century; but the two most important works are: Historiae Societatis Iesu pars VI (2 vols., covering the whole generalate of Fr. Muzio Vitelleschi [1615-33]; of which the first was published at Rome in 1750; the second, left unfinished, was brought to completion and published by Fr. P. Ragazzini [ibid. 1859]) and De suis ac suorum rebus, aliisque suorum temporum usque ad occasum Societatis Iesu commentarii, published posthumously, first in extracts by various hands, then in full by G. Albertotti and A. Faggiotto (Turin 1933). From this work C. himself had extracted the passages and chapters concerning the suppression of the Jesuits and, having suitably linked them together, had formed from them as it were a separate work: De suppressione Societatis Iesu commentarii, edited by G. Albertotti (Padua 1923). In the Historia there is greater elegance than in his predecessors, but less critical sense; in the Commentarii, together with much precious information about himself, his confreres and the times, the author appears inconstant and incoherent, and although he shows a spirit of understanding for the painful episodes of the Order, he does not always pronounce equitable judgments on persons and events; his whimsical spirit in fact drives him to paradox and not rarely to open contradiction. His letters too are noteworthy for the wealth of information and judgments on the works and figures of the time, part of which were published by G. Albertotti.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: On his life and writings, see the op. cit. of G. Albertotti and A. Faggiotto, Introduzione, with bibl., pp. V-XXVI, and G. Albertotti, Lettere di G. C. C. a Francesco Cancellieri (1772-83), Modena 1912. Also: Sommervogel, II, coll. 1411-32; E. Rosa, G. C. C. nella sua vita e nelle sue lettere, in Civ. Catt., 1913, IV, pp. 453-70; id., Gli ultimi anni di G. C. C. e documenti sulla soppressione dei Gesuiti, ibid., 1927, III, pp. 540-50; Pastor, XVI, II, pp. 163-67.

Celestino Testore

@incollection{ec4_cordara_giulio_cesare, author = {Testore, Celestino}, title = {Cordara, giulio cesare}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IV}, pages = {534}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/cordara-giulio-cesare} }

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.

Cordara, Giulio Cesare

About this entry