Chapter 6 - The Library of Iberian Resources Online

More documents

Recommendations

Info

picaresque novel Lazarillo de Tormes. (12) In the midst of all the accusations and countercharges it is not surprising that one poor beggar of the city, Bartolomé Fuentes, declared that God would not lower Himself to the hands of undignified clergymen. This was too much for the Inquisition, which subjected him to public penance in an auto de fé on December 22, 1560. (13) Clerical reform might "purify" the clergy, but it also served political purposes. Both Church and Crown were concerned with controlling ideology, and the Church was a strong competitor that showed disturbing tendencies to act independently. Recognizing that clerical reform could curb this competitor, Philip II readily came to the assistance of Cardinal Archbishop de Castro when he needed help reforming his clergy in Seville. Clerical dissension was a timely excuse for the Crown's imposition of restraint on the power, wealth, and independence of the Church. To many people clerical reform was simply an extension of central control over more members of the clergy, a device to ensure that the Church would be a tool of the secular government. Cynicism about priests as intermediaries increased in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as Seville became a major center of an heretical sect, the Alumbrados. These religious mystics taught that direct union with God was possible without [123] a priestly intermediary. The nuns, monks, and secular clergy who belonged to the sect acted as spiritual counselors rather than intermediaries. Mysticism was also an important part of the devotional exercises of Jesuits and followers of Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross, but these groups accepted the discipline of the Church and did not pose the serious Alumbrado challenge to priests. Churchmen like Pedro de León tried to distinguish the "false mysticism" of the Alumbrados from the "true mysticism" of loyal Christians, but their arguments seemed mere hair-splitting to many people. (14) The Alumbrados also increased cynicism about priests because they provided such tantalizing stories about sexual irregularities accompanying religious ecstasies. Tongues wagged about the Alumbrado monk, Brother Juan de Jesús María, who convinced another monk and a young girl that he could communicate the spirit and love of God to them through his embraces and kisses. Asserting that they could not be guilty of sin because they were in a close state with God, he urged that the three make a spiritual union through the flesh. Francisco Mendez, an Alumbrado preacher, provided another juicy tale when the Inquisition charged him with dancing with a group of beatas after Mass and working them up into such a frenzy that they fell down with their legs uncovered. The Inquisition attempted to root out salacious heretics like these, but their prosecutions also helped to publicize the scandalous tales. (15) Alumbrados held a special appeal for the women of Seville. Many noble women of the city were followers of Padre Mendez, who may be the Francisco Mendez mentioned above. He stayed at the Franciscan monastery in the city, and on some mornings more than thirty carriages waited there for women who had come to pray and consult with him. An anonymous letter from Seville in 1623 asserted that the greater part of the city was infected with the Alumbrado heresy, "and especially the women." [124] Though some of these women were nuns and beatas, many were the wives and daughters of respectable local aristocrats. It was reported that when the Church offered pardons to all who would denounce themselves as Alumbrados, so many women responded that twenty notaries and twenty inquisitors were not enough to handle all the confessions. More than 5000 pardons were issued in 1624 for this heresy in the Archbishopric of Seville. (16) The mass confession revealed not only the extent of the heresy but also the willingness of many to conform ideologically to the teachings of the institutional Church. It suggests that the ladies of Seville gained attention by indulging in a little mysticism and confession of heresy. Religious mysticism was one of the few ways they could protest the priestly and secular authorities who so rigidly controlled their lives. In addition, mystical experiments and confession of heresy offered the emotional intimacy and adventure so lacking in the lives of these
women. Some well-born women in the city must have felt that they were regarded seriously as people only when they engaged in heresy. In this period of the Inquisition, heresy literally involved playing with fire. Facing this danger could reaffirm for many women a sense of self that was otherwise smothered in their sheltered lives. (17) Folk practitioners posed another challenge to the priests' monopoly on the role of intermediary. Some priests specialized in exorcizing the devil, but the people of Seville were as likely to call upon a lay expert in the occult arts to vanquish the devil by magic. Folk practitioners spoke a more appealing language than the priests. "The Evil Eye," for example, explained a misfortune more clearly than "God's will," the clergyman's explanation. The spells and charms of the neighborhood wise woman appeared more potent and concrete than a priest's plea to a God whose will seemed so capricious. A saludador (folk faith-healer) who applied his saliva to heal an infected arm performed a specific physical act, while the priest who prayed over the infected arm [125] seemed only to mutter. (18) Popular support protected many folk-practitioners from prosecution as sorcerers by the Inquisition. Underworld people favored folk-practitioners not only for their traditional wisdom, but also because the occult arts offered so many profitable opportunities for tricking unsuspecting believers. Although they were challenged by folk-practitioners, attacked by heretics, and besmirched by internecine quarrels, monks and priests retained their role as intermediaries in Seville. This suited the purposes of a secular government which relied on these intermediaries to sanctify its rule. Secular officials were very much in evidence at the public autos de fé at which the Inquisition subjected some people to penance and handed others to the secular authorities for execution. (19) On the other hand, churchmen took a prominent role in the secular public executions. The partnership of Church and government bolstered the legitimacy of the secular order and assured the continuance of the Church as intermediary. Another reason why the Church retained this role was that the people of the city needed religion as a verbal and symbolical language. Although the Church was a social, economic, and political institution, with worldly concerns far removed from matters of the spirit, it was also a religious institution. In Seville during this period the Church was the major interpreter and preserver of religious beliefs, for it had successfully stifled most popular religious groups and all contemporary religious challengers. Holding a monopoly on religion, it became a depository for the traditional metaphors and imagery by which people expressed ideas and attitudes about themselves, their city, indeed all of life. The populace explained public executions as the consequences of sin and believed that their city government was acting justifiably, as God did when he punished His erring children. In addition, the rituals of the Church were a common language understood by all the people. Religious rites marked the significant [126] events in an individual's life, and all the community could recognize his birth, first communion, marriage, and death. Through religious processions and festivals, people of the city expressed collective unity, common fears, and aspirations. Everyone could participate in these familiar rituals, if only as a spectator observing this demonstration of community. Ironically, the very dependence on religion as a language and on priests as spokesmen resulted in a form of anticlericalism that is apparent in underworld vocabulary. Just as common people of the city hated the lawyers and legal language on which they had to depend, they disliked the priestly intermediaries and religious language. Priests were hated for revealing the impotence and ignorance of less educated people, an attitude expressed in the underworld vocabulary that gave the religious title "bishop" to the cock. (20) Underworld people used the phrase de San Martín el dormido (of sleeping Saint Martin) to describe the crime of robbing or killing a sleeping victim. The poor box of a church was Juan, and a Juanero was a thief who specialized in robbing poor boxes. Underworld
Page 1 and 2: THE LIBRARY OF IBERIAN RESOURCES ON
Page 3: immorality. The more formal courts
Page 7 and 8: a particular chapel in the Cathedra
Page 9 and 10: nobles as patrons. When the Duke of
Page 11 and 12: eligious rituals with modern [137]
Page 13: describes some irreverent ruses of

Chapter 6 - The Library of Iberian Resources Online

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?