[Writer’s Name]
Ginzburg's book is a prime example of a micro-history that deals with the life of a seemingly unknown, and mostly, forgotten individual in 16th Century Italy. In the book, Ginzburg talks about a character named Menocchio; a peasant with a life of obscurity, but one that was filled with quite amazing and capable ideas. Menocchio was a sort of a deviant, and he had little respect for the norms established by the Church. Of course, Menochhio's behavior had him get noticed by the Church, and the book discusses the events that unfolded then in detail, including his questioning by the Inquisition, and the his death.
Unlike other writings, the book “The Cheese and the Worms” deals with an isolated iconoclastic individual rather than a community. The book revolves around nonconformist ideas of a Roman Catholic Society. Ginzburg wrote in the Middle Ages the “age of faith” as it was known, since, most of the writings were published under the authority of priests and monks and censorship was solely controlled by these priests. Therefore, divergent views were never streamlined and it appeared as if everyone was a supporter of the mainstream orthodoxy.
Carlo Ginzburg’s main character known as Menocchio lived from the mid-sixteenth to early seventeenth century. What set him apart from the norm of the Venetian people was his profession. Menocchio was a miller. Where he worked- the mill was a place where people were allowed to express their ideas, which was unusual outside the mill. It was a place of social gathering unlike the closed and static world outside. Menocchio’s personality did not allow him to blindly accept what was told to him; hence, the characteristics of the mill was a perfect place for him because people were amenable to new ideas and wanted to put forth these ideas into action. The significance of miller’s was prominent in medieval iconoclastic sixteenth century Anabaptists. Apart from Menocchio, Ginzburg described another miller similar to Menocchio living in the mountains of Modena.
During the 17th Century, Venice was regarded as one of the most liberal states in Italy, and Venetians were deemed 'Honorary Protestants' by the English. The hostility that existed between the nobles and the peasants of Friuli was exploited, to the full, by the government, which openly supported the peasants. The Friuli was unlike anything else in Europe; it represented the peasants and also consisted of a Parliament for their betterment. Menocchio himself benefited from the state's anti clerical views, with the need for a secular official at the trials a must requirement. Therefore, it is fair to remark that Menocchio enjoyed life in a free society. He was a rebel, regularly going against the Church's views, and brining in ideas of his own. The trial that Menocchio underwent was in fact, a process to identify the rebellious views that Menocchio possessed.
Menocchio had a number of heresies that have been described during the course of the book. Amongst these, is the questioning of virgin birth, and most of the problems he had were related to this very subject. For instance, Menocchio questioned the use of Latin during service, and deemed it a process that had been designed to keep everyone under the control of the Church. Still though, the heresy that had the Church fuming the most was Menocchio's comparison of God, the world, and the angels, to cheese and worms. The reason why Menocchio compared the three to cheese and worms was due to his belief that when the world was created, everything was a mess. Similarly, when cheese is created out of milk, a similar situation unfolds. Moreover, Menocchio believed that God was created from the same mass and at the same time as were the angles. The only difference was that God went on the become the leader of the angels. Menocchio's views were certainly a rarity at the time. His views got their ideas from a variety of books that he used to read. However, it should be noted that Menocchio himself was quite a learned man. His knowledge gave him the ability to think out of the box; and make up his own ideas to those of the Church. In fact, being a miller, Menocchio was unusually learned and possessed high levels of literacy. While this point is not stressed on in the book a lot, being a miller, Menocchio travelled a lot. He met a lot of people, and had the experience of seeing how different societies behaved. However, it was not always that Menocchio understood what he read. The author states that Menocchio misunderstood some of the text he read, and that too led to the formation of his 'different' views. Ultimately, it was Menocchio's out of the box thinking that led to his demise. The author is quick to state that the trial Menocchio underwent was normal for the times, and even the torture practices were nothing out of the ordinary. As a matter of fact, Menocchio was provided with a legal counsel, and he got off easy if he chose to. However, Menocchio, determined to speak out against the Church, declined to give in, and was burned to death. A sad ending for an incredibly learned man, yet, one that was all too normal for the times.
Ginzburg's book provides readers with a fascinating insight into the life of an incredibly interesting man. Menocchio was, what many remark today, to be a free thinker. He was different to the rest, yet, that was what made him stand out and get noticed by the Church. Sometimes, though, Menocchio seemed a little too confused. He seemed a little a too sure of himself, and what could be at one point labeled as his genius, could be, at another instance, labeled as stupidity. While most of the content that Ginzburg obtained for his book was through historical records, the author used some of his own ideas and imagination as well. It would be fair to remark though, that Ginzburg focuses a bit too much on the amount of information, but the evidence backing that information is not always there. Still, the book serves as a powerful reminder of a time were religion reigned supreme, and the Church had the ultimate power. At a time where Italy and most of Europe exercised a sort of restraint against the state, one man decided to speak up and question the way things were. Although Menocchio had his fate sealed from the very beginning of the trail, his actions must have surely sent shockwaves to those who were in power.
Works Cited
Ginzburg, Carlo. The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. Print.
