Local Religion in Sixteenth-Century Spain

by William A. Christian Jr.

The description for this book, Local Religion in Sixteenth-Century Spain, will be forthcoming.

Genres: History, Religion

296 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1989

Reviews

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Local Religion in Sixteenth-Century Spain is an in depth look at religion in rural Spain. The author William A. Christian, Jr. explains that local practice of catholic religion was often tailored to that town’s specific needs. Religion played a significant role in people’s lives. Saint’s days were also very important to rural towns; it was the time they celebrated a certain saint and asked them to protect the town from disaster. Small town religious practices were different than in the larger cities and that of the Catholic Church.

Towns found solace in their saints. Each town had its own patron saint that represented the community to God and advocated on their behalf. Feast days were held to celebrate and honor saints. Vows to saints were often sworn in exchange for a good harvest and protection from certain disasters. In Buges, there was a feast on Saint Anne’s Day to help prevent hail (33). In some villages, citizens did not work on specific saint’s days to prove their devotion. In the town of Castejón, people ceased working on Saint Anne’s Day after a log stood upright and caught on fire (37). They saw this as a sign that the saint was angry at them for working. Villagers in San Sebastián were so devout that they would not eat meat or any other animal products on the day before Saint Sebastian Day to prevent pestilence (41).

In the larger cities such as Toledo, religious manners differed from those of smaller towns. In rural communities the critical places of devotion, the Marian shrines, were located miles outside of the town. In larger cities, places of devotion were cathedrals or miraculous images, which were located inside the city (149). This reveals that bigger towns placed more focus on society rather than nature. While larger towns were still concerned about agriculture, they did not have to worry as much about pestilence and natural disasters destroying crops because if crops failed in the local area, they could buy goods from other villages. These bigger towns were more connected with the Catholic Church and the monarchy. They had month-long celebrations when saints were canonized, and monarchies would ask for prayers from larger city chapters in crucial moments such as when a member was in childbirth or before a major battle (151).

Rural religion was not as structured as the Catholic church. Each town adapted their local parish practices based on their own needs and disaster concerns of the area. Confession in rural communities was not as rigorous as it was in larger cities. In many villages, confession was only held once a year and was often perfunctory. Their priorities were on what they could see rather than their life beyond the grave.

Christian examines answers to two questionnaires sent out by royal chroniclers in 1575 and 1578. The questionnaire’s purpose was to create a history of the kingdom by collecting the stories of villages. The questionnaires had about fifty questions that asked about the town’s history. These questions included how the town got its name, the population of the town, and what its resources were. The author focuses on the answers that deal with religion.

He also points out what historians have studied in this field and what his book can add to the understanding of religion in 16th century Spain. Christian states that other historians studying 16th century religion tend to focus on the clergy whereas he has focused on the lay people. Throughout his book he contrasts small town religion with that of the Church Universal and larger cities. Historians can learn about what was important to small towns in the 1500s; most were agricultural towns and were concerned about their crops and natural disasters. Historians can also extrapolate estimated population from tables provided in the book. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about rural religion in Spain.

3 Stars

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Any book with this sentence is worth glancing at: "Flagellation was not accepted quickly everywhere." William A. Christian surveys the documentation of local parishes in the Spain that sent so many of its sailors across the ocean to propagate the faith. That migration seems not to have affected the inland towns much, persisting as they did in devotion to local images, appeals to the intervention of the Virgin and of saints, traffic in relics, and, yes, the devotion of brotherhoods to flagellation. Yet confession was infrequent, sometimes less than once a year, which is perhaps why the larger Church was so concerned about what happened in the parishes, validating and redistributing relics, and granting indulgences. Another classic of religious history: "By the end of the sixteenth century so many indulgences, real or counterfeit, were in circulation that the currency had been debased." Or course, the Church had concerns not just about questionable piety but also skepticism, as evinced by a list of the sins of the "alumbrados", the ones with light, who followed Erasmus, for believing that "exterior acts of devotion are beside the point and unnecessary,... it is wrong to dress up the image of Our Lady and take it out in the streets in procession, and that it was idolatry,... they (do) not take pains to venerate the image of Our Lord or Our Lady; that they were sticks... that one should not ask God for anything in particular, that it was unnecessary to say, 'Pray to God for me.' for God cares for everyone."

[Andreína · Rating 4 out of 5]

Analysis of local religion and forms of devotion in the region of New Castille by the late-sixteenth century. Christian studies the response of towns and villages of New Castille, between 1575 and 1580. They answered a questionnaire used for Phillip II’s chronicles (the documents were not used and archived instead). The author argues these reports provide a way of studying systematically the imports and local changes in the forms of devotion.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting look at religion on a local level through a very unique source, namely census records. Great discussion on how saints were utilized by the common people regardless of the Catholic church's approval or disapproval of them doing so.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had alot of useful information but tried to accomplish to much.