ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the life and work of Giovanni Battista De Luca, (1613–83), an Italian jurist and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. After graduating, Giovanni Battista De Luca settled in Rome (1644) and became familiar with important personalities in the Church and civil society. For about thirty years he worked as a lawyer at a very high level. A collection of discursus extracted from court practice constitutes his masterpiece (Theatrum veritatis et iustitiae, vols. 1–19, 1669–78). The years from 1673 to 1676 marked the period of De Luca’s commitment in the public sphere. Pope Innocent XI appointed De Luca auditor and secretary of memorials and used his legal expertise in drafting provisions for the moralization of public life, the restriction of privileges of clergy, the abolition of nepotism, and financial adjustment. De Luca began to publish a number of works in Italian, and his practical profile was complemented by a political and cultural commitment: he selected the interlocutors from outside the circle of legal professionals, intending to have an impact on civil society. At the end, De Luca’s government activity met with curial resistance and popular discontent engendered by the decorum-oriented politics and the restriction of expenses.
