«Loco agudo y ambiçioso». Il cardinal Filomarino nei giudizi dei contemporanei e della storiografia

Cardinal and Archbishop Ascanio Filomarino was one of the great protagonists of the history of the Kingdom of Naples in the 17th century. He has often generated controversy and conflict, since the years he spent in Rome, in the court of Urban VIII, and even more during the twenty-five years of his pastoral government. His clashes with the viceroys and the nobility, his attempts to introduce changes within the diocese of Naples and especially his controversial actions during the so-called Masaniello revolt attracted a lot of criticism. The article aims to reconstruct the discordant judgments formulated about Filomarino by those who had the chance to meet him, observing how these judgments were then received by 19th and 20th century historiography. Despite the number of studies already published on these issues, new elements emerge around one of the most enigmatic and charismatic characters of the Neapolitan Seicento.