The diocese of Barcelona was the second most important and oldest ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the ecclesiastical province of Tarragona during the modern period. The bishops of Barcelona, like their counterparts in other parts of the monarchy, were important agents of cohesion and loyalty to the Crown. The good harmony between the throne and the altar fostered social order, an order in which litigation and crime were not exempt. Analysing the latter, we place ourselves in the period of the Counter-Reformation, after the Council of Trent (1545-1563). The author specifies 873 diocesan processes between 1570 and 1650, of which 106 belonged to the clergy of the diocese of Barcelona. The majority of the offences were for physical aggression (21.69%), followed by adultery (15.09%), carrying weapons (14.15%) and verbal aggression (8.49%). The typological distribution of offences may be related to the structural nature of violence in the Principality of Catalonia in the early modern period. The clergy, no stranger to these dynamics, trained and sometimes collaborated with bandits. This led to the appearance of crimes of assault, rape, fraud and robbery. Also, within the clergy themselves, they had disputes over issues related to parish benefices or the non-return of ornaments and sacred vestments left on loan. Despite the provisions promulgated at Trent, the parish clergy were more immersed in local than doctrinal issues.

Collection: Statistics

Project: 3. Rural world and urban world in the formation of the European identity., 7. Persecuted by justice and powers: rebels, political dissidents and criminals in the history of Europe.

Chronology: XVI, XVII

Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University

Link: https://revistas.usal.es/index.php/Studia_Historica/article/view/shhmo2018401185232/18988

Resource type: Statistics

Format: Table

Source: Beltrán, J. L. (2018). "Entre el orden y el desorden: el clero diocesano barcelonés de la contrarreforma (1564-1700)", en Studia Historica, vol. 40, nº 1, p. 219.

Language: Spanish

Date: 2018

Owner: Pablo Ballesta Fernández (Modernalia)

Copyright: ©Studia Historica ©José Luis Beltrán

Abstract: The nature of offences committed by the clergy of the diocese of Barcelona in a post-Tridentine context

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