Religiosidad - History Lab

The parish as a central space of social life

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:18 +0000

Once the Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula for Catholicism was over, new churches and parishes were founded, some where there was already a mosque, others in the central areas of the new population centres that arose. This process of parochialisation had the greatest impact on the configuration of the new Christian society. In the Modern Age, rural communities had the parish as their geographical and social centre, a space that reflected, on the one hand, the political and religious order and, on the other hand, the central point from which to orientate themselves: being in the world. The drawings shown are examples that the author of the resource proposes as forms of representation of the local community, that is, of the very conception of space in the form of churches. Gójar and Calicasas (Granada) were depicted in the Ensenada Cadastre (1753-1754) in the same way that Tomás López, as early as 1786-1789, received a sketch for his Relaciones Geográficas: a church surrounded by houses which, like satellites, mark the form of the structure of the space of the municipality or place. All this reflects the prevailing profound mentality of modernity, which imprinted its everyday values on society.

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The plague of 1679 in Antequera, Málaga

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:12 +0000

The plague, one of the greatest threats to public health, struck Antequera in 1679. After the strong impact it had on the city of Seville, reflected in an anonymous painting dated 1649, the city of Malaga followed the same fate. The painting, an anonymous oil painting dated 1723, depicts the religious nature of these episodes: the Virgin of the Rosary appears in the upper left-hand band as part of the religious programme. On the right is a rainbow, symbol of God’s mercy, above a pious procession. Below, the city, under a rain of arrows representing the plague, the action unfolds. The dead are piled into mass graves while objects and personal belongings are burnt. The living are assisted by doctors and surgeons, who perform precarious medicinal work for healing (bloodletting, draining buboes, gauzing with ointments or cauterising wounds with hot irons). In short, the author depicted the tragedy of the plague, its social implications and its connection with the religious mentality.

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Tarasca of the Corpus Christi procession

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:33 +0000

The image shows a drawing of a Tarasca in the Corpus Christi procession, by Leonardo Alegre. The Tarasca is a mythological creature of French origin that represents an allegory of how good triumphs over evil. The Tarasca was described as a kind of devastating dragon that lived in Provence and destroyed everything. Saint Martha managed to subdue the monstrous beast with her prayers, so that the inhabitants of the city were able to put an end to it. St. Martha then preached a sermon that converted many of the inhabitants to Christianity and provoked repentance for killing the monster. During the Modern Age it was present in the religious celebrations of the Corpus Christi festival, although during the reign of Charles III all profane elements were forbidden in these festivities. Nowadays, it continues to appear in various Corpus Christi processions, accompanied by big-headed figures and giants.

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Tarasca of the Corpus Christi procession in Madrid

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:33 +0000

The image shows a Tarasca for the Corpus Christi procession of 1744 in Madrid. The Tarasca is a mythological creature of French origin that represents an allegory of how good triumphs over evil. The Tarasca was described as a kind of devastating dragon that lived in Provence and destroyed everything. Saint Martha managed to subdue the monstrous beast with her prayers, so that the inhabitants of the city were able to put an end to it. St. Martha then preached a sermon that converted many of the inhabitants to Christianity and provoked repentance for killing the monster. During the Modern Age it was present in the religious celebrations of the Corpus Christi festival, although during the reign of Charles III all profane elements were forbidden in these festivities. Nowadays, it continues to appear in various Corpus Christi processions, accompanied by big-headed figures and giants.

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The Venerable Mother Jerónima de la Fuente

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000

Velázquez’s portrait of Jerónima de la Fuente was painted just prior to her departure on a long journey that would last a year and three months and take her to the farthest reaches of the Spanish empire to found the first convent of Poor Clares in Manila (Philippines). In the numerous convents in Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries, women of different aspirations and conditions coincided. Many of them were forced to profess because their families did not have the resources to provide them with sufficient dowries for marriage, but the convent could be an opportunity to develop a personal project outside marriage and motherhood, as well as to learn to read and write. Some of them, through their work, foundations and evangelisation, managed to become an active part of the culture of the time, such as Mother Jerónima de la Fuente. On her arrival in the Philippines, she fought to defend the admission of mestizas and women without dowry into the convents, gaining the appreciation of the people by putting the evangelising aim above all considerations of race, creed or economic resources.

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Drawing of the ball game

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000

The ball game was a sport with ritual and religious connotations, played by the pre-Columbian peoples of Mesoamerica since at least 1400 B.C. It was practised both in everyday life and in religious celebrations, and it seems that it sometimes served to resolve land disputes or trade relations, among other things. The sport has evolved over time in various forms. It is still practised today in some parts of Mexico. Although with variations, it seems that the most widespread version of the game involved players hitting the ball with their hips, elbows and knees, without letting it fall to the ground. Over time, stone hoops were also introduced, which the ball had to be touched or passed through. The weight of the ball was considerable, as it was made of rubber and is thought to have weighed up to 4 kg. The playing fields may have varied in their characteristics, but all had long narrow courts with side walls used to bounce the ball. The winner of the game was protected and supported by the gods, although it is not known whether the winners were sacrificed or whether it was the losers who offered their lives to the deities. The game had an important religious and ritual component, even, as has been noted, including human sacrifice, although it also retained a character of enjoyment and leisure, for the recreation of children and women.

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Geographical origin of the seminarians of San Pelagio (Cordoba, 17th century)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:48 +0000

Session XXIII of the Council of Trent (1545-1563) agreed to the creation of centres dedicated exclusively to priestly formation. The centres were to be controlled by the bishops of each diocese and the financial endowment was to come from episcopal and capitular revenues. The loss of income on the part of the diocesan councils, and the opposition of the existing colleges and universities that also trained the clergy, meant that the new seminaries were only slightly established. In the case of the diocese of Cordoba, the Seminary of San Pelagio was established between 1583 and 1600. Where did the new seminarians come from? Of the 352 students that the institution had in the 17th century, the vast majority, 315, were born in the diocese and province of Cordoba (89.49%), followed by the towns also belonging to the bishopric of Cordoba, but not to the civil province (23, 6.54%). A further 13 pupils (3.69%) were born in neither the jurisdiction of the bishopric nor the civil province of Cordoba, and only 1 pupil (0.28%) was from a town in the province, but whose ecclesiastical jurisdiction differed. By origin, the vast majority came from rural areas (294 pupils, 86.73%), and 13.27% were from the city of Cordoba. The author notes that, although the capital of Córdoba accounted for 13.27% of the total, the 45 pupils from that city constituted the largest number of pupils from the same nucleus, followed by rural areas such as Castro del Río (21) and Pozoblanco (18).

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Testamentary practices of Salamancan servants (1601-1650)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:13 +0000

Attitudes to death are a reflection of the mentality of the time. Between 1601 and 1650, the 106 wills compiled by the author for the socio-professional group of servants in Salamanca give us a clear picture: the majority of servants were women (75% as opposed to 25% men). Despite the predominance of women, only 2.5% were able to sign, while in the male group this rises to 23%. Women were more likely to make offerings (47.5%), to leave their master as executor (57.7%) and their soul as heir (57.5%). The deep religiosity that permeated Ancien Régime society was also evident among male servants. Indeed, up to 38.5% offered their inheritance to their soul to ensure their welfare beyond the earthly life through masses and offices for the souls. It was also common for them to ask to be accompanied at their funeral by a clergyman or by a religious institution, such as the confraternities.

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Burial place of the Salamancan servants (1601-1650)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:13 +0000

The servants of Salamanca between 1601 and 1650 were predisposed to be buried in the church, followed by places not yet determined, convents or hospitals. This attitude to death is conditioned both by the mentality of the time and by the socio-economic characteristics of the group to which they belonged. Why in the Church? The motivations identified by the author reflect, firstly, the family conscience, as their ancestors were buried there, and secondly, the lower economic cost, as it was cheaper than the other options. Those buried in convents either had a relationship of dependence on them, being servants of these institutions, or had devotions to certain religious orders, which is why there was a higher percentage of men than women who chose this option: 26.9% compared to 22.5%. However, many of the testators (23.75% of women and 34.6% of men) did not specify the place of burial, leaving the choice to their executors, where relatives and masters were the most common choices.

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The amount of inheritances destined for religious purposes. Sahagún and the city of León in the 18th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:40 +0000

Resource oriented to the analysis of the expenses that were made, within the wills, for the burial, funeral and the salvation of the soul of the deceased. These items came out of the fifth of free disposal. The author investigates these deductions by means of the percentage that these expenses represented with respect to the inheritance received by their children. At first, it is noticed that the higher the legitimate, the lower the funeral expenses would be in relation to it. The group of merchants and financiers in the city of León showed the average legitimate per child to be 134,295 reales, with the average funeral expenses being 5,530 (1%). This figure was 1.8% for the administrative and liberal professions bourgeoisie. Finally, the peasantry, with the amount of legitimate patrimony they had at their disposal, the deduction for religiosity was 10%. Thus, the most precarious family economies saw how these expenses affected to a greater extent their capacity for social reproduction and the forging of new family nuclei.

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