In the Room of the Circles

The Inquisition and Books of Magic in Early Modern Venice

Federico Barbierato

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040434338
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Early Modern History
• Index: History

This book investigates the circulation, regulation, and interpretation of magical texts, focusing on the Clavicula Salomonis (Key of Solomon), one of the most sought-after and feared books of the time. Drawing on inquisitorial records, trial proceedings, and archival sources, Federico Barbierato uncovers how these texts were read, copied, and exchanged, illuminating the blurred boundaries between religious orthodoxy, scientific inquiry, and the occult.

The Early Modern period was marked by a deep ambivalence toward books of magic, which were revered as sources of hidden knowledge yet condemned as dangerous and subversive. Nowhere was this tension more evident than in Venice, a city where inquisitorial censorship clashed with a vibrant book culture. At the heart of this volume lies a detailed exploration of the people who interacted with magical writings—monks, exorcists, book dealers, artisans, and even suspected heretics—revealing how these texts served multiple purposes, from spiritual protection to financial speculation. By examining how authorities sought to suppress, reinterpret, and sometimes co-opt magical knowledge, the book provides fresh insights into the dynamics of censorship, literacy, and power. Barbierato moves beyond the history of forbidden books to reconstruct a network of exchanges that shaped Early Modern attitudes toward magic and heterodox knowledge.

In the Room of the Circles will appeal to scholars and students of Early Modern history, book history, religious studies, and intellectual history, as well as readers interested in the history of censorship and the relationship between knowledge and power.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of abbreviations
• Note on transcripts
• Archival note
• Main Venetian magistracies referenced in the text
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 The possibilities of the text
• 2 Readers
• 3 Exchanges and censorship
• 4 The Clavicula in the cloister: the trials against Friar Ignazio Verigola and Friar Giuseppe Bregolati
• 5 Reading and writing
• 6 In the room of the circles: rabbis and tailors