L’importanza di un incontro. Lucia da Narni, María de Santo Domingo e la circolazione della profezia nell’Italia e nella Spagna del xvi secolo

The treatise on Girolamo Savonarola’s miracles, circulating in various manuscript and printed versions throughout the sixteenth century, reports about the encounter between the Italian “living saint” Lucia da Narni (1476-1544) and a Spanish nun who has been identified as the beata María de Santo Domingo (1486-1524c.), known for their prophetic charisma and stigmata and connected through political and religious networks. This encounter, which exemplifies the transnational circulation of female prophecy, is the occasion that allows Maria to witness in Italy the spread of Savonarola’s fame in Spain, making his miracle a “public instrument” for the praise of God and the consolation of the Christian people. Starting from the analysis of the lives and political and theological reflection of the two Dominican women, this article argues that their prophetic encounter represents for Savonarola’s followers a tool to foster a Christian public sphere, that is governed not according to earthly laws, but to the laws of God enshrined in Savonarola’s doctrine. In the light of the encounter between Lucia and María, the use of the phrase “public instrument” might allude to a meaning that goes beyond the classic legal and notarial definition.