La formazione del clero veronese dopo Trento: le origini del seminario diocesano e la riforma della Scuola degli accoliti

In order to address the serious problem of reform of the secular clergy, the Council of Trent took action in relation to the education of future priests, by decreeing the foundation of a seminary in every diocese. The burden of the work lay with the bishops who were particularly active in Italy in the early post-conciliar period, under the example of the Archbishop of Milan, Carlo Borromeo. However the process of establishing the seminaries was uneven, with timescales and methods varying widely from one diocese to another. There were many problems which the bishops had to address to ensure the stability of this new institution, not least relationships with the pre-existing schools and practices in the education of the priesthood. This was the case of the seminary of Verona which was founded by Bishop Agostino Valier in 1567 and came up against the ancient School of the Acolytes and the Cathedral Chapter. This article is the first comparison of these two institutions. Based on the main field studies and available archival sources it analyses their educational projects and internal management processes. In particular, the first period of seminary activity is analysed (1567-1606), together with the parallel process of reform of the School of the Acolytes, with a specific focus on the role of Bishop Valier and two other important bodies in the history of the education of the clergy of Verona: the Cathedral Chapter and the Society of Jesus.