The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Volume 02: a Cleric in Naples

In Short

This volume follows a young, penniless, and irrepressible protagonist as he navigates the social, ecclesiastical, and romantic currents of mid-18th-century Italy. Traveling from the isolation of a quarantine hospital in Ancona to the corridors of power in Rome and the intrigues of Naples, he survives through wit, impetuousness, and a knack for finding trouble. Part travelogue, part picaresque confession, the narrative survives because of its unfiltered intimacy, capturing the sensory details of a vanished world and the persistent, unashamed vitality of a man determined to experience everything at once.

The Story

The narrative begins with a young man’s departure from Venice as part of a small, ill-equipped ambassadorial retinue. After a period of confinement in the lazaretto of Ancona—where he finds himself smitten by a beautiful Greek captive—he embarks on a series of disjointed journeys across Italy. His initial goal is to join a bishop in Naples, but the plan collapses into a chaotic odyssey. He finds himself traveling alongside a bizarre, inept clergyman named Father Stephano, whose performative piety and cruelty eventually force the protagonist to abandon him in favor of walking toward his destination on foot.

Once he arrives in Rome, the tone shifts from the struggles of a vagabond to the sophisticated maneuvers of a protégé. Under the patronage of Cardinal Acquaviva, he begins to immerse himself in the social and sexual hierarchies of the Roman elite. He navigates these circles with a blend of youthful vanity and genuine intellectual curiosity, learning French, composing poetry, and engaging in high-stakes romantic liaisons. His most significant attachment is to the beautiful Lucrezia, a married noblewoman with whom he shares a series of illicit, passion-filled encounters in hidden villas. This relationship serves as the emotional and moral center of his Roman sojourn, highlighting the tension between his desire for genuine connection and the ephemeral, often perilous nature of his social standing.

As his influence grows, so does the risk of scandal. His involvement with the marchioness and other figures of interest begins to attract unwanted attention from the authorities, culminating in a near-arrest. He is eventually forced to flee the city, though not before he has secured a modicum of financial stability. His journey continues toward Ancona and Rimini, where he becomes entangled with a mysterious figure named Bellino. Through a sequence of misunderstandings and shifting identities, the protagonist realizes that Bellino is, in fact, a woman named Therese. Their relationship, marked by a mixture of intense physical desire and a surprising, almost domestic tenderness, briefly promises a form of stability. However, the protagonist’s characteristic lack of caution resurfaces when he loses his passport. His inability to provide proper identification leads to another series of brushes with military authorities and arbitrary arrests. The volume concludes with him in Bologna, separated from Therese, waiting for the bureaucratic wheels of the Roman Church to turn while he contemplates his next move, ever the architect of his own precarious circumstances.

How It Unfolds

The confinement begins. The protagonist starts his journey in the stifling atmosphere of a quarantine station in Ancona, where his boredom is broken only by his fixation on a beautiful captive girl.

The walk to Naples. Abandoning his inept clerical companion after a public confrontation, he attempts to traverse the Italian countryside on foot, relying on his wits and the kindness of strangers to survive.

The Roman ascent. Upon reaching Rome, he secures the support of a powerful cardinal and begins to live a life of refined social engagement, poetry, and clandestine romance.

The villa intrigue. His illicit affair with the noblewoman Lucrezia leads to a series of high-stakes trysts in secluded villas, exposing him to the constant threat of discovery by jealous husbands and religious authorities.

The flight from Rome. After a failed attempt to detain him, he is forced to leave the city, carrying a significant sum of money and a reputation that precedes him.

The discovery at Rimini. While traveling, he encounters a mysterious companion whose true identity as a woman he eventually uncovers, leading to a profound, if temporary, romantic bond.

The bureaucratic trap. A lost passport leads to his detention by military officials, forcing him to rely on the distant influence of his Roman patrons to regain his freedom.

The People

The protagonist is the driving force of the book, defined by his relentless curiosity, vanity, and a refusal to be constrained by social convention. He views his life as a series of adventures and is consistently surprised when his impulsiveness results in hardship.

Father Stephano serves as a cynical foil to the protagonist early in the journey. A corrupt and ignorant clergyman, his hypocritical behavior highlights the protagonist's own burgeoning moral sense, prompting the first of many necessary separations.

Lucrezia, the noblewoman in Rome, represents the object of the protagonist's most genuine desire. She is intelligent, trapped in a loveless marriage, and willing to risk her reputation for the sake of a passionate, albeit temporary, connection.

Therese (alias Bellino) occupies the later chapters as a figure of mystery and transformation. Her shifting identity challenges the protagonist's perceptions, and their mutual affection reveals a softer, more introspective side to a man otherwise driven by superficial triumphs.

Cardinal Acquaviva acts as the remote but essential benefactor. He provides the protagonist with the resources and legitimacy required to move through Roman society, though he remains a distant, authoritative presence who views the young man with a mix of amusement and skepticism.

In Its Own Voice

"It is thus, very likely, that when the gods inhabited this earth, the voluptuous Arcadia, in love with the soft and pleasing breath of Zephyrus, one day opened her arms, and was fecundated."

The protagonist reflects with flowery, mythological grandeur on the sexual initiation of a young woman who joins him and her sister in an intimate encounter.

"It has always been my weakness to compose the four-fifths of my enjoyment from the sum-total of the happiness which I gave the charming being from whom I derived it."

While reflecting on his relationship with Bellino, he articulates his idiosyncratic philosophy regarding the reciprocity of pleasure.

"A passport is not so easily lost."

An officer in Pesaro dismisses the protagonist's attempt to explain his lack of travel papers, marking the beginning of the legal trouble that concludes the volume.

What It's Really About

The book is a study of the interplay between human agency and arbitrary fortune. The protagonist repeatedly treats his life as a game of skill, believing that his intellect and charm are sufficient to navigate the rigid structures of the 18th-century Church and aristocracy. Yet, time and again, he is thwarted by the simplest of obstacles—a lost piece of paper, a jealous husband, or a sudden change in political favor. Beneath the picaresque plot lies a fundamental question about whether a life lived entirely for the satisfaction of the senses can ever achieve true stability. The narrative argues that freedom is not an inherent state but something that must be constantly negotiated, often at the cost of one's own peace of mind.

Why Read It Today

Reading this volume feels like stumbling into a conversation with someone who is both profoundly unreliable and impossible to look away from. It offers a rare, sensory-rich glimpse into the daily life of 18th-century Europe, from the stifling atmosphere of a quarantine ward to the opulence of Roman villas. Modern readers may find the protagonist’s relentless objectification of women and his casual entitlement jarring, as these attitudes are presented as natural and entirely beyond reproach. The book requires a certain patience; its pacing is erratic, mirroring the chaotic life it describes, and the prose—while warm and engaging—carries the weight of its period. However, those who appreciate a narrative voice that is both deeply vulnerable and completely unbothered by its own moral failures will find much to consider here. It is not a book for those seeking a polished hero, but for those interested in the raw, messy, and often humorous pursuit of a life fully lived. It leaves you with a lingering impression of a man who, despite every setback, remains fundamentally convinced that the next adventure will be the one that finally settles his debt to the world.