Pallavicino, Sforza. Martyr Hermenegild. Ed. and trans. Stefano Muneroni

Pallavicino SJ (1607-67) is a valuable acquisition that enriches the global availability of a tragedy that is important for several reasons, including the fact that the author was a prominent member of the Society of Jesus; the fact that the text had an earlier performance life in the important Roman Seminary (Jesuit), followed by its printing (Rome: Eredi Corbelletti, 1644); and, perhaps its most remarkable aspect, the inclusion of a long treatise on the theatrical genre of tragedy.In the sixth century, Saint Ermenegildo, the eldest son of the Visigoth king Levigild of Spain of the Arian religion, converted to Christianity and came into conflict with his father.After various vicissitudes, including marrying a Christian woman, Ingund, and her attempts to save him, and various episodes of civil war, Ermenegildo was imprisoned and suffered martyrdom on 13 April 585 (his feast day).Ermenegildo, however, in spite of the news about him given by Gregory of Tours (c.538-94) and Pope Gregory I (c.540-604), disappeared from the radar of saints and martyrs and was only rediscovered and sanctified in the sixteenth century, first by Pope Sixtus V (for Spain), and then by Urban VIII Barberini, who extended the cult universally.The figure of a martyr at the centre of a religious war-or at least that is how the clash between Arians and Christians in Spain was partly presentedwas well suited to the Counter-Reformation climate of which Sforza Pallavicino was one of the ideological and theological pillars.With his history of the Council of Trent he intended to oppose that of Paolo Sarpi (servita, 1552-1623), who instead had strong points of criticism towards the Council fathers.Consequently, the restitution of this seventeenth-century baroque tragedy to an international audience represents an opportunity for readers to enter the world of religious dramaturgy at its zenith.Indeed, Pallavicino's Martyr Hermenegild is widely regarded as one of the most emblematic tragedies of its era, alongside those of Federico Della Valle (1560-1628).Notably, both Pallavicino and Della Valle