Women in the Inquisition

Spain and the New World

Bibliographic Data

ID2840277
AuthorsPedro Manuel Guibovich (Columbia University, corresponding author)
Year2000
Volume80
Issue2
Pages349-350
Publication date2000-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHispanic American Historical Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-2168 • E-ISSN: 1527-1900
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/00182168-80-2-349
OpenAlexW1578841677
LanguageEN
Citations received19

Although numerous women were prosecuted or investigated by the Spanish Inquisition for almost four centuries, we are only aware of the life stories of a few prominent writers, visionaries, or heretics. The cases of the nuns Teresa de Avila y María de la Anunciación, and the beatas Isabel de la Cruz, and María de Cazalla, for example, have attracted the interest of modern scholars. Women in the Inquisition constitutes an innovative and ambitious work because it offers a broader portrait of women—from different social classes, races, geographical areas, and cultural backgrounds—brought before the Inquisition between the late fifteenth century and the end of the seventeenth century.Women in the Inquisition consists of three parts. The first section focuses on the policy of the Inquisition towards Jewish converts. As Henry Kamen has pointed out, the Spanish Inquisition was established to resolve the ambiguous religion of that group. Some authors at the time of the Inquisition maintained that conversos were secret Jews who needed to be punished. The repression against women conversos is illustrated by Gretchen Starr-Lebeau, Renée Levine Melammed, and Haim Beinart, respectively, in their study of the biographies of Mari Sánchez, María López, and Inés of Herrera del Duque.The second part of the book examines another aspect of the action of the tribunal: the preservation of the Catholic Orthodoxy. In the early sixteenth century the Inquisition had to deal with alumbradismo, a movement of religious spirituality considered heretical because of its supposed resemblance to Protestantism. The followers believed that the Holy Spirit inspired them and illumined their way to God. Both men and women, lay and religious, learned and uneducated, emerged as spiritual leaders to teach interior prayer and interpret Sacred Scripture. The cases of Francisca Hérnández and María Cazalla, who were honored as beatas and visionaries, are analyzed by Mary E. Giles and Angel Alcalá.In the middle of the sixteenth century the Council of Trent marked the beginning of a new period in the history of the Inquisition. As it is well known, the Council entrusted the Inquisition with the task of re-evangelizing the people. As a part of its strategy of instruction, the Tribunal was directed to punish people for heresy and blasphemy, among other “offenses.” Thus we need to contextualize the repression of the mystic visionaries whose religious experiences and pious practices were sometimes considered heretical. The articles by Gillian T.W. Ahlgren, Elizabeth Rhodes, Clark Colahan, and Mary Elizabeth Perry, respectively, focus on the biographies of Francisca de los Apóstoles, Ana Domerge, María Jesús de Agreda, and Beatriz de Robles, and illustrate the power and authority of women who claimed to be God’s agents and mediators. Another important element in the Counter Reformation program was the defense of sacraments. Inquisitors prosecuted men and women for bigamy because it denigrated matrimony. Allyson M. Poska’s study of Gallegan women accused of bigamy explores the personal and social dimensions of that “offense.”The third part of this book examines the action of the Inquisition in the New World. In 1569 King Philip II established, by royal decree, the Inquisition in the viceroyalties of Mexico and Peru. As on the Peninsula, the colonial Holy Office had to prosecute Jews, Protestants, and Muslims, and comply with the Council of Trent’s provisions. The articles by Jacqueline Holler, Kathryn Joy McKnight, Linda A. Curcio-Nagy, and Kathleen Myers, respectively, contextualize and explain the processes against the beata Marina de San Miguel for her devotional practices, the African slave María Blanca for blasphemy, Rosa de Escalante for promoting a private oratory, and the censure of the hagiography of Catarina de San Juan.Although there are many historical aspects to consider in this important book, I wish to comment on two as particularly remarkable. First, the devastating effect of the inquisitorial machinery. Once the inquiry began, betrayal and suspicion destroyed familiar and communal life. Second, the active role of women. Despite the severe conditions of imprisonment, some women demonstrated enough skill to defend themselves from their enemies and this inquisitorial machinery.This collective portrait of women, however, presents two significant omissions. First, it does not take into consideration sorcery, a practice which, in some contexts, was as or more important than heterodoxy to the inquisitors. For instance, the Holy Office records of the seventeenth century contain a great number of cases of women prosecuted for sorcery. Second, the analysis of the inquisitorial experiences of women in the New World is limited to Mexico. It is important to remember that there were two more tribunals: Peru and Cartagena, established in 1569 and 1610, respectively. Although the primary sources on Cartagena tribunal are scarce, sources on the Lima tribunal are abundant. Moreover, there exists an extensive bibliography on Peruvian beatas, sorcerers, and visionaries published in the last few years. Regardless of the limitations above mentioned, Women in the Inquisition is a highly recommended text for readers interested in the cultural history of the Hispanic world

Art history · Fifteenth · Judaism · Orthodoxy · Political science · Portrait · Sociology · Spirituality · Tribunal · Classics · Early Modern Women Writers · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies

Tools

Open DOI