Inquisition

Around the mid-sixteenth century, one of the largest Italian heterodox communities developed in Modena: the community of 'Brothers'. At the beginning of the century, a flourishing humanistic tradition had inspired protests against the authority of the Church and had led many of the city's prominent figures to sympathize with Luther and the Reformation. Over the following decades, such positions became more extreme: most of the 'Brothers' held radical convictions, ranging from belief in predestination to contestation of the Antichrist pope. In some cases, the 'Brothers' even went so far as to deny the value of baptism.

Esta proposta de discussão é fruto do desenvolvimento das pesquisas originadas do Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso, que objetivou analisar a construção do imaginário acerca da figura do Diabo na sociedade católica europeia no século XV. Dentre esta perspectiva, debruçou-se sobre o Malleus Maleficarum (1487), importante obra que serviu para instruir o processo de caça as bruxas, na passagem do século XV para o XVI, para a realização desta análise. Buscou-se orientar a interpretação de nosso objeto de pesquisa, o Diabo, sob a perspectiva complementar: o estudo do objeto enquanto imaginário . Nossa proposta concerniu em perceber como a intrínseca relação entre a cultura popular e a cultura erudita, colaboraram para que o Diabo e seus seguidores ocupassem o cenário principal no imaginário europeu, através desta amálgama de comportamentos e tradições.

Sul profilo biografico di Cecco d'Ascoli, al secolo Francesco Stabili, gravano secoli di leggenda che si è frammista alla storia. Le scarse notizie sulla sua formazione, la rapida e fortunata carriera universitaria, i processi inquisitoriali e la tragica fine sul rogo a Firenze  hanno alimentato una pluralità di notizie a suo carico che devono fare i conti con le fonti storiche. Il presente lavoro tenta innanzi tutto di chiarire quali siano queste fonti e, quindi, di tracciare un profilo biografico attendibile.
Nel secondo capitolo, invece, viene analizzata quella che per diverse ragioni può essere ritenuta come l'opera più rappresentativa dell'autore: il Commento alla Sfera del Sacrobosco. La lettura del manuale di astronomia più diffuso del medioevo, diviene nel corso stabiliano occasione per intrecciare astrologia, negromanzia e magia.
L'ultima parte dell'elaborato, infine, è più ricca di domande che di risposte. Dopo aver analizzato in chiave diacronica e sincronica il contesto dello studium bolognese, vengono espresse alcune suggestioni in merito alle problematiche poetico-letterarie e alcuni indirizzi di ricerca futuri sulle questioni stabiliane.

Manuel Cardoso de Macedo (1585–1652) is a man of multiple worlds, as his Azorean Catholic youth, his years living as a protestant in England, his encounter with crypto-Judaism and his eventual embrace of normative Judaism in Amsterdam’s Sephardic community certainly attest. Cardoso wrote an eloquent and carefully crafted spiritual Autobiography during his time living as a Jew in Amsterdam, La Vida del buenaventurado Abraham Pelengrino. In this essay I look at the pivotal years Cardoso spent in England where he first encountered Protestant ideas and I interrogate the way some of those fundamental ideas continue to inform his self-understanding even after his embrace of Judaism. In this essay I examine his religious transformations and the ways he describes those transformations from the vantage point of the Calvinist ideas he encountered especially the concept of providence and grace. The essay asks in what ways is his religious journey fueled by particularly English Protestant sensibilities and concerns. How is his eventual embrace of Judaism informed by this encounter?

In early modern Venice, a city replete with professionals of intelligence conveniently located mid-way between East and West, pharmacies were amongst the most important centres where people met to exchange news, discuss current affairs and occasionally criticise political trends. Parallel to their main activities, many apothecaries sold illicit pamphlets and newsheets behind the counter, offering their premises as a convenient – and comfortable – shelter for those wishing to discuss the news. Medical shops hosted different kinds of sociable activities, as reflected in the arrangement of space and furniture, as well as in the timing of the shops’ activities. As can be traced in contemporary descriptions, in inquisitorial records, and in intelligence reports, political and religious topics combined with medical ones in the pharmacy conversation of elites as well as ordinary people. The study of pharmacies reveals a different centre for the exchange of news than the coffee-houses made famous in Jurgen Habermas’ study of the “public sphere” – and it also allows us to revise that famous account by grounding communication and the exchange of ideas in their material context.
Contents:
Pharmacies and the Inquisition
The Inquisitors of State and the Pharmacy at the Sign of the Sun
Well-Known Meeting Places
A Socially Diverse Clientele
Information and the Apothecaries’ Business"

Despite their numerous similarities, Marranos in inquisitorial Spain and Recusants (and the so-called ‘Church Papists’), English Crypto-Catholics, in the wake of the English religious reforms, have rarely been studied concurrently. In this paper I will argue that secrecy was a central feature of the daily lives of both these minorities, and it helped them function as groups despite their internal diversity, experiencing a wide array of expressions of belonging. The elasticity of the groups’ religious practices clearly contributed to the rise of new forms of worship and to the creation of new ritual objects which could be validated by diasporic belief systems. As a consequence, beyond criticisms, these communities functioned as significant vectors of change in how their entire religious groups practiced their faiths. Ultimately, it appears that both Crypto-Jews and Crypto-Catholics existed as cohesive groups as much because their members shared religious practices as due to the diasporic culture of martyrdom.

Published and available here https://www.edi-colibri.pt/Detalhes.aspx?ItemID=2576&fbclid=IwAR0bbUK8NXDjQkWS3DSShW9Yd1XFHspVar0837GuVAP37CMKugl-42MfeyQ    "In the year of 1496, a new breed of men was created after the
expulsion and forced conversion of Jews from Portugal. Many of those men
emigrated, others, lacking the financial means or convinced of their power
and social importance, stayed as New-Christians – at least apparently.
In the course of time, some of those men became real Christians
but much more maintained their ancestral faith, now hidden. However, and
regardless their true belief, they were not seen neither as fully Christians
nor as Jews in the rabbinical sense. In this dim universe, traditional
classifications are not completely suitable – something always is missed.
The only thing in common those men have is their Iberian Jewish origins.
They were sefarditas.
Caught between two competing and simultaneous allied forces –
King and Church – the sefarditas tried to find a way to survive, prosper and
ascending in a society of orders where each group had their own laws,
privileges and limitations.
Like all the Portuguese Society, they rely on family, friends and on
each other to do business, to marry and to practice the faith. In an
economical perspective, the sefarditas were transversal to all society,
ranging from the poorest to the richest. Nevertheless, the most notable of
them were merchants and financiers and they were in the beginning of
modern capitalism and in the take-off of the world commerce with their
houses and correspondents in all the major trade emporia."

El más famoso de todas los libros sobre brujería, Malleus Maleficarum (El martillo de los brujas) fue escrito en 1486 por dos monjes dominicos inquisidores a los que el Papa Inocencio VIII concedió la bula  Summis desiderantes affectibus a través de un decreto papal del 5 de diciembre de 1484, en el que se reconoció la existencia de las brujas, derogando así el Canon Episcopi de 906, donde la Iglesia sostenía que creer en brujas era una herejía.

Pasó a convertirse en el manual de todo buen inquisidor durante el Renacimiento y fue el mayor best-seller durante los siglos XVI y XVII, sólo superado por La Biblia.

Más que tratarse de las brujas, se refería a todas las mujeres, en general, todas sospechosas y potenciales brujas. Con el Malleus Maleficarum es la primera vez en la historia que aparecen integrados en un mismo escrito la criminología, (el origen del mal), con el derecho penal, (las manifestaciones del mal) y la criminalística, o sea, los datos necesarios para descubrir el mal en la práctica.

La inquisición usó ese manual durante toda su existencia y en todos los lugares donde tuvo vigencia, incluyendo las colonias americanas,  donde se registran juicios hasta el siglo XIX.

Il saggio intende dimostrare che, subito dopo la pubblicazione, da parte di Alberico Gentili, dei De iuris interpretibus Dialogi sex (1582) e delle Lectiones et Epistolae (1583-1584) i rapporti fra Jean Hotman e il giurista di San Ginesio divennero molto difficili e burrascosi. Lo dimostrano alcune epistole scritte da Hotman ad autorevoli giuristi (ad es. Bodin), e ad alcuni umanisti (Bergmann, Payne, Cuffe, Th. Savile) contenenti critiche molto dure e severe ai Dialogi gentiliani. Malgrado ciò, e malgrado le opposizioni dei puritani, Gentili riuscirà ad ottenere la cattedra di Civil Law a Oxford.Il saggio contiene anche notizie circa il tentativo compiuto, dal Gentili, di ottenere un insegnamento a Tubinga nel 1580.

In this article, I analyze the religiosity of Bompietro of Bologna as reported in the register of the inquisition of Bologna, 1291-1310. I attempt to show that Bompietro’s religiosity was above all practical; its doctrinal content seems to be scarce, and it was not focused on support of any church (Roman or Cathar). Bompietro’s case reveals a non-confessional type of religiosity, one still underrepresented in the image of medieval Christianity. This case also encourages wider reflection on the relations between beliefs, practices and membership. Far from having direct causal links, these relations can sometimes prove quite intricate.

Keywords: Bompietro of Bologna; inquisition; practical religiosity; non-confessional religiosity; concept of religion; concept of membership; heresy and orthodoxy; Catharism.

João Dique de Souza nasceu em 1647 em Lisboa, Portugal. Mas foi no Brasil, na Freguesia de São Gonçalo do Amarante que conseguiu poder. Poderoso na região, foi senhor de escravos e do Engenho Vera Cruz. Intolerante, internou todas as filhas no
Convento de Odivelas para que estas não se casassem com "mazombos". Atraiu inveja e inimizades que se converteram em denúncias junto ao Tribunal do Santo Ofício. Preso, foi torturado durante dois anos. Sempre negou tudo. Foi morto em 14 de outubro de 1714 em um auto-de-fé em Lisboa, sua terra natal. O presente trabalho tenta entender os motivos que levaram João Dique de Souza a lutar uma luta perdida contra os
Inquisidores e, por meio desse rastro, compreender um pouco da sociedade da Freguesia de São Gonçalo do Amarante durante o início do século XVIII.

La fantasia popolare è stata sempre affascinata dalla possibilità che tra le pagine di antichi manoscritti si celassero arcani segreti, la cui rivelazione potesse conferire poteri occulti. Libri costati enormi sacrifici, che erano stati per i loro autori una ragione di vita e, al tempo stesso, la fonte di mille pericoli. La “Magia Naturalis” di Giovan Battista Della Porta fu uno dei testi più diffusi fra XVI e XVII secolo. Attorno ad esso ruotò per decenni un ampio dibattito, che spaziava dalla magia alla scienza, dalla filosofia alla teologia.

Popular imagination has always been fascinated by the possibility that arcane secrets were hidden among the pages of ancient manuscripts, the revelation of which could confer occult powers. Books that required enormous sacrifices, which had been a reason for living for their authors and, at the same time, the source of a thousand dangers. Giovan Battista Della Porta's “Magia Naturalis” was one of the most widespread texts between the 16th and 17th centuries. A wide debate revolved around it for decades, ranging from magic to science, from philosophy to theology.

This poster is part of a group of posters created by historians on the theme of "Les Cathares : une idée reçue" for a travelling exhibition for the general public sponsored by the national organisation "Fête de la Science".

This poster discusses in broad terms the origins of the inquisition into heresy and complex position of early inquisitors. Readers are challenged to some source criticism: looking for evidence of Cathars via a folio from Bibliothèque de Toulouse MS 609, the registry of the Great Inquisition at Toulouse.

La reconstrucción de la vida privada en las sociedades del Antiguo Régimen ha supuesto un desafío para los investigadores. Las fronteras entre lo público y lo privado eran difusas, y las prácticas propias del ámbito de lo privado se presentaban sin que sus espacios estuvieran claramente definidos. En ocasiones lo privado se reservaba para contextos que no eran susceptibles de documentar; por lo tanto, leer entre líneas y rastrear cualquier vestigio de las expresiones individuales o colectivas es fundamental al momento de abordar la vida privada y cotidiana de la época.

Trata-se de um fragmento, modificado no que respeita ao estilo, da tese de doutoramento do autor (não submetida a provas académicas) sobre a Inquisição e os cristãos-novos do Rio de Janeiro na primeira metade do século XVIII.
Como se indica no subtítulo deste pequeno trabalho, ele corresponde a uma tentativa de aproximação relativamente às perspetivas, inquietações e sofrimentos dessas vítimas da repressão, utilizando um tipo de fontes pouco abundante mas muito elucidativo;  e serve de contraponto ao estudo das motivações e procedimentos dos inquisidores e de quem os legitimava e estimulava, que empreendi no âmbito da mesma tese,  em diferentes capítulos, como se pode constatar pela leitura de diversos textos que tenho vindo a divulgar publicamente em Academia.edu.

This paper focuses on how thirteenth- and fourteenth-century inquisitors conceived of the beliefs, practices, and workings of non-conformist Christian groups. The inquisitors’ view of what constituted a heretical sect and how it worked was remarkably modern in at least three respects. First, it was strikingly historical and geographical: the inquisitors were interested in the historical and geographical dimensions of heretical sects, including the changes that particular heretical rituals, doctrines, and communities underwent over time. Second, the inquisitors were deeply interested in distinguishing different groups and subgroups, and produced elaborate classifications and comparisons. Finally, the inquisitors, driven by their need for hard evidence meeting procedural requirements, somewhat shifted the notion of heresy from inner beliefs to observable rituals and habits. At the same time, however, inquisitional trial records abundantly demonstrate that they were well aware of how precarious it is to draw a straightforward causal link between inner beliefs, words, and outer actions. Based on examples from three early inquisitorial descriptions of heresy, including the Practica inquisitionis heretice pravitatis by Bernard Gui, this paper examines how medieval inquisitors conceived of heretical sects, their changes over time, and the relationship between religious beliefs and actions, and how they headed towards a peculiar, and in many ways familiar, religious theory of religion.

There has been little interest in the Inquisition in Norwegian historiography. The only major study on heresy in medieval Norway has been an article by Church historian Oluf Kolsrud published nearly a century ago. Kolsrud concluded that Norwegians were remarkably loyal to the Catholic faith during the Middle Ages, and that the development of inquisition on the continent had little relevance for medieval Norway. This article challenges Kolsrud’s conclusion. During the fifteenth century at least three heresy inquisitors were named for Scandinavia, and hence also Norway. All were Franciscans, and the sources show both papal and episcopal appointments. There are no known traces of activity from these inquisitors in the form of heresy trials in Norway in the Middle Ages, but the inquisitorial process as a judicial method had become established by the time of the Reformation.

Resumen La finalidad del presente trabajo es constatar la presencia de conversos al frente de oficios relacionados con la medicina en la Córdoba de finales del siglo XV, para lo cual se han consultado fuentes inquisi-toriales y notariales. En el estudio se ha llevado a cabo un detallado análisis prosopográfico de todos ellos, estudiando, en primer lugar, a los profesionales de la medicina –físicos y cirujanos–, algunos de los cuales estuvieron en posesión de títulos universitarios y fueron personas eminentes dentro del sector sanitario cordobés. En segundo lugar, se ha tenido en cuenta también a los barberos, que como es sabido también desempeñaban cometidos de tipo médico, y, por último, a los boticarios, dada su estrecha relación con el mundo sanitario. Todo ello ha permitido sacar a la luz numerosos datos hasta ahora inéditos, entre los que se encuentra también una prueba documental del origen judeoconverso de Miguel de Cervantes.
Abstract This paper tries to prove the presence of jewish converts at the head of jobs in relationship with medicine in Cordova at the end of the 15th century. For this purpose we have consulted inquisitorial and notarial sources carrying out a detailed prosopographic analysis firstly of professionals of Medicine –physicians and surgeons–, some of them with university degree and eminent doctors in the sanitary sector of Cordova. Secondly, we have also taken into account the barbers, who had performed medical tasks as it's well known, and finally the apothecaries, for their close relation with health. Such an analysis allowed us to bring out a large amount of information unknown before, like for instance a documentary evidence about Miguel de Cervantes' converted jewish extraction.
Résumé Le but de notre travail est de constater la présence à Cordoue, à la fin du XV e siècle, de convertis en tête des métiers rapportés à la médecine. Pour ce faire, on a consulté des sources inquisitoriales et notariales. Notre étude part d' un minutieux analyse prosopographique de tous en étudiant d'abord ceux qui étaient profesionnels de la médecine –physiques et chirurgiens–, dont quelques-uns possédaient des diplômes universitaires et qui étaient même considérés des personnages insignes dans le secteur

Why did Giordano Bruno let himself be led to the stake by the Holy Office on 17 February 1600? A new, compelling and documented reconstruction that reopens one of the most celebrated court cases in our history.

Perché Giordano Bruno si lasciò condurre al rogo dal Sant’Officio il 17 febbraio 1600? Una nuova, avvincente e documentata ricostruzione che riapre uno dei casi giudiziari più celebri della nostra storia.

This is an open call to invite papers for the Special Issue of "Religions", which deals with witchcraft, demonology and magic in their interactions with popular and institutional religion (preaching, inquisition, demonology, the role of monks and priests in performing occult sciences and ritual magic; religious images and elements, such as the sacramental bread, in witchcraft and magic rituals; ceremonial magic and Sabbat as an inversion of Catholic rituals).

Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Middle Ages were divided in many ways. But one thing they shared in common was the fear that God was offended by wrong belief. Medieval Heresies: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam is the first comparative survey of heresy and its response throughout the medieval world. Spanning England to Persia, it examines heresy, error, and religious dissent - and efforts to end them through correction, persuasion, or punishment - among Latin Christians, Greek Christians, Jews, and Muslims. With a lively narrative that begins in the late fourth century and ends in the early sixteenth century, Medieval Heresies is an unprecedented history of how the three great monotheistic religions of the Middle Ages resembled, differed from, and even interrelated with each other in defining heresy and orthodoxy.

Les articles précédents ont montré les très nombreuses erreurs et les mensonges d'Oleg de Normandie sur les Celtes et les Vikings. L'auteur complotiste invente une histoire fantasmée des mondes celtes et vikings. dans cet article, nous mettons en avant les autres erreurs, concernant notamment sa construction d'une occultation de l'esclavage par l'Inquisition.

Testificaciones escogidas de la visita inquisitorial a Priego de 1588. Tomadas del Libro XIII de testificaciones del obispado de Cuenca que comiença desde el año de MDLXXXVIII (ACD, Inq, L-326). Apéndice documental para William P. Childers, "Los libros de testificaciones de la Inquisición de Cuenca. La vista inquisitorial a Priego (Cuenca) de 1588", en Juan Ignacio Pulido Serrano y William Childers (dirs.), La Inquisición vista desde abajo: Testificaciones de gente corriente ante el Santo Oficio, Madrid y Frankfurt: Iberoamericana/Vervuert, 2000, págs. 161-232. Nota: Aquí se reproduce el apéndice documental que originalmente propuse para mi capítulo del libro La Inquisición vista desde abajo. Cuando Ignacio Pulido y yo empezamos a trabajar en ese libro, hace ya varios años, hablamos de incorporar para cada uno de los estudios un apéndice documental "amplio" como botón de muestra para ayudar a los lectores a tomarle bien el sabor de esta documentación poco conocida y peor aprovechada por los estudiosos del Santo Oficio. Por motivos de espacio, tuvimos que prescindir de estas transcripciones en el libro impreso. He pensado que podría ser útil la publicación online de estas transcripciones mías como suplemento al estudio pormenorizado que hice de la visita a Priego (Cuenca) del inquisidor Francisco Arganda en 1588.

Women, Witchcraft, and the Inquisition in Spain and the New World investigates the mystery and unease surrounding the issue of women called before the Inquisition in Spain and its colonial territories in the Americas, including Mexico and Cartagena de Indias. Edited by María Jesús Zamora Calvo, this collection gathers innovative scholarship that considers how the Holy Office of the Inquisition functioned as a closed, secret world defined by patriarchal hierarchy and grounded in misogynistic standards.

Ten essays present portraits of women who, under accusations as diverse as witchcraft, bigamy, false beatitude, and heresy, faced the Spanish and New World Inquisitions to account for their lives. Each essay draws on the documentary record of trials, confessions, letters, diaries, and other primary materials. Focusing on individual cases of women brought before the Inquisition, the authors study their subjects’ social status, particularize their motivations, determine the characteristics of their prosecution, and deduce the reasons used to justify violence against them. With their subjection of women to imprisonment, interrogation, and judgment, these cases display at their core a specter of contempt, humiliation, silencing, and denial of feminine selfhood. The contributors include specialists in the early modern period from multiple disciplines, encompassing literature, language, translation, literary theory, history, law, iconography, and anthropology.

By considering both the women themselves and the Inquisition as an institution, this collection works to uncover stories, lives, and cultural practices that for centuries have dwelled in obscurity.

十六世紀半ばから十七世初頭にかけ、日本イエズス会により、日本語の教理書が出版されたということは周知の通りだ。世俗のヨーロッパ文学である『イソップ物語』の和訳、そして天草版『平家物語』、『太平記抜書』の存在もよく知られている。しかし、日本語で書かれたオリジナルのキリスト教説話が現存するということは案外知られていない。近年、このテキスト群を「異文化接触」というレベルで取り上げた研究が現れているが、漢訳仏典や漢籍の影響を受けた『日本霊異記』『今昔物語集』などとは対照的に、室町末期にラテン語文脈から国語に翻案されたキリスト教文学は、残念ながらこれまで国文学として扱われてこなかった。その理由をここで詳しくは追究できないが、日本精神というものが（漢文脈との関連性ではある程度まで認められている一方で）キリスト教との関係性については根本的に異質で相容れないものと一般的には理解されていることが、その背景にあると考えられる。しかし、キリスト教説話を聞いた織豊期の日本人がこのように日本精神とキリスト教を両極的なものとして捉えていたということは、資料からは読み取れない。本稿では、キリスト教も日本精神も信仰していない筆者が日本中世キリスト教の代表的な説話集をバレト写本という資料の中から取り上げ、その原典が何であったかを明らかにし、さらに、同時代の日本文学との関係性を探る。その結果、この説話集は当時の武士階級によって評価された軍記・語り物文学、取り分け幸若舞と最も関連性が深いということを示す。