Între Liga Sfântă și misionariatul apostolic: Cariera franciscanului Angelo Gabriele Gautieri din Nisa (1653–1709)
Between the Holy League and Apostolic Missionary Work: the Career of the Franciscan Friar Angelo Gabriele Gautieri from Nice (1653–1709)

Summary/Abstract: Angelo Gabriele Gautieri’s name is largely unknown to contemporary historians, despite the notable prominence he attained during his lifetime. A Franciscan friar of Savoyard noble origin, Gautieri distinguished himself through his expertise in pyrotechnics, serving the Austrian Habsburgs on the anti-Ottoman front in Hungary for over a decade following 1683. His military contributions earned him bureaucratic appointments and, eventually, an episcopal nomination brokered by Emperor Leopold I.This article focuses on recovering the second phase of Gautieri’s career, marked by his reintegration into clerical life and his efforts to secure a diocesan appointment through appeals to the Holy See. Drawing on unpublished records from the papal archives and those of the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, the study reveals significant biographical details and brings into view the interaction between Vienna and Rome. Initially considered for the role of apostolic vicar in Wallachia, Gautieri was instead granted a titular bishopric in 1705, with an ambiguously defined jurisdiction over Habsburg Transylvania. Although consecrated with a delay of two years, in 1707, he was never to assume control of the designated territory. Ultimately, the case of Gautieri invites broader reflection on Catholic political strategies in East-Central Europe at the turn of the eighteenth century, and on the epistemic limitations faced by actors attempting to control these frontier regions.

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