The Cheese And The Worms: The Cosmos Of A Sixteenth-Century Miller

Compare The Cheese and the Worms with another early work of microhistory, such as The Return of Martin Guerre (1982) by Natalie Zemon Davis. What do these studies have in common, and where do they diverge? Do you discern any defining characteristics of early microhistorical research?

What questions can microhistory answer that more traditional methods of historical study cannot, and how does The Cheese and the Worms demonstrate this potential?

Read one of the eleven texts Menocchio is known to have read (see Chapter 12), then compare the text to Menocchio’s interpretation of it. Do you agree with Ginzburg’s analysis of how Menocchio read the text? Explain.

Analyze the relationship between narrative history and historical analysis within the book. How do these two methods of thinking about history generate a unique product when used in tandem? Are there any ways in which the narrative and analytical registers of the text ever come into conflict with one another?

In the Translator’s Note, John and Anne C. Tedeschi describe Menocchio as a “quixotic protagonist” (xvii). What do you think is meant by this comparison to Don Quixote, and do you find any resemblance between Menocchio and other famous literary characters? How does Ginzburg’s treatment of Menocchio as his “protagonist” reinforce this sense of literariness in the text?

Ginzburg does not include an account of Menocchio’s execution in the book, despite its centrality to the story of the miller’s life. Why do you think he made this decision, and what might have been gained by discussing the execution, if anything? How does the process and outcome of Menocchio’s trial compare to other famous heresy trials of the time?

Examine the fragmentary information provided about Menocchio’s home life and community throughout the text. What is the significance of Menocchio’s familial and interpersonal relationships in his life and ideas? What do his experiences reveal about various social, economic, religious, and/or cultural aspects of 16th-century life in small cities and villages?

If the Cheese and the Worms was related from the perspective of the Inquisitors, with Menocchio situated as an antagonist, what key differences in narrative structure and emphasis might emerge? How does Ginzburg depict the religious orthodoxy of the time, and how does this orthodoxy relate to the text’s key themes and ideas?