A sailor in the library: philosopher, Dominican theologian and librarian from Casanatense
The general consultation room of the Casanatense Library is dedicated to the Dominican Father Alberto Guglielmotti (Civitavecchia 1812 – Rome 1893), who was its librarian from November 1850 until 1859, the year in which he was promoted to Casanatense theologian.
To pay homage to this singular figure of a religious man who can be considered the historian and philologist of the Italian Navy, in this same room the officers of the Royal Navy placed in 1894, a few months after his death, a commemorative plaque on which stands out a bronze frieze in the shape of a sea trophy: the prow, wrapped in laurel, of an ancient warship, armed with cannons, around which are a trident, oars, an anchor, and a rudder.
At the top, the frieze is crowned by an eagle with outstretched wings, a symbol of intelligence, while below the frieze there is a scroll that recalls the title of Guglielmotti’s most famous work: History of the Papal Navy.
Born in a seaside town, from a noble family with ancient seafaring traditions, since he was a boy he was
strongly interested in “sea things”, an interest further increased by the education received from his family and from his teacher, whose name is unknown, who used to lead his students to listen to the stories of old sailors: “…from an early age, between the second and third decades of this century, I was able to collect the last memories of our veterans, actors and witnesses of the previous century; and I still keep the memory of them very vivid”.
Likewise, his religious vocation manifested itself very early, desiring to wear the Dominican habit at only fifteen years of age. In Rome, in Santa Sabina, he took his vows and changed his secular name from Francis to Alberto, in honor of St. Albert the Great, teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Father Guglielmotti subsequently completed his cultural and theological education first in the Minerva convent in Rome, then in Viterbo and Perugia, in a moment of particular renewal for the Dominican Order which, after the upheavals brought by Napoleon, aspired to regain the intellectual primacy that had always been recognized in previous centuries.
Back in Rome, where in 1838 he graduated in philosophy and theology, he was entrusted with the chair of Physical and Natural Sciences at the College of St. Thomas Aquinas and in carrying out this task Guglielmotti was guided, as always, by his strong and enterprising spirit: in fact, since there was no laboratory for experiments in the college, he turned directly to Father Ancarani, general of the Dominicans, from whom he obtained 200 scudi to prepare the necessary instrumental apparatus, to which were also added the astronomical instruments that belonged to the prefect of Casanatense Father Giovanni Battista Audiffredi (1714-1794) and others that he himself built using commonly used materials.
From this period are the Memoirs of the Catholic missions in the kingdom of Tunchino or brief news of the acts of the martyrs and of the persecutions… (Rome, 1844) and other works. He also edited the posthumous work of Archbishop Annovazzi on the history of Civitavecchia, adding the Municipal Statute.
With the appointment as prior of the convent of Minerva and in 1860 as Roman Provincial, 
this phase of his life ends. In 1863, driven by his adventurous spirit, he undertook some trips to directly know the places where the notable events for naval history took place: Lepanto, Constantinople, Rhodes, Jerusalem, Egypt, Malta. He noted his impressions in six small manuscripts that make up the Travel Journal.
For his great erudition, then, and for his vast knowledge, once he returned to Rome, he was added to the College of Philosophers at Sapienza and to the most important academies. These are the years in which his main work was elaborated, which aroused wide consensus among contemporaries, firstly for the critical method followed by Guglielmotti in producing the rarest news of our history, collecting them from ancient writers, supporting them with authoritative documents; secondly for the lucid examination of the problems relating to tactics and strategy and finally for the strong sense of history that becomes almost an act of faith.
The other work of fundamental importance, the Vocabolario Marino Militare, defined by Temistocle Mariotti as a “historical and psychological monument”, was published only in 1889 by Voghera, thanks to the interest of Pope Leo XIII. Many men of arms, generals, admirals of any faith were his friends and greatly esteemed him; Nino Bixio, for example, defined him as “the greatest writer of maritime matters that I know in Italy”.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the Italian Navy, among other recognitions, has wanted to remember the sailor friar over the years 
by giving his name to two submarines: Guglielmotti I, launched in 1916 and sunk by mistake by the British unit Cyclamen in 1917, and Guglielmotti II, launched in 1938 and sunk by the British submarine Unbeaten in 1942. Even in difficult moments in Italian history, the name of Guglielmotti has meant and testified to the tenacious and courageous affection of the Dominican father for the sea and for sailors.
The text of this editorial was published on the occasion of the exhibition entitled “Il rancio di bordo” set up in Casanatense for World Food Day 1992 sponsored by F.A.O.
To learn more:
Il rancio di bordo. Storia dell’alimentazione sul mare dall’antichità ai giorni nostri, Gaeta, Il Geroglifico, 1992