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Fray Martín de Castañega’s 1529 Treatise on Magic and Superstition: Demonology, Reform, and Authority in Pre-Tridentine Iberia
Pereira-Lopez, Isabel
Pereira-Lopez, Isabel
Abstract
Fray Martín de Castañega’s 1529 treatise on magic and superstition, commissioned by Bishop Alonso de Castilla of Calahorra-La Calzada, was the first demonological treatise published in Castilian. This paper places the treatise into a broader discourse of magic and superstition within Western Europe and Iberia. Evidence attests to a growing body of Iberian anti-superstitious literature in the decades leading up to its publication and a growing monarchical concern for heresy, including magic and superstition. This monarchical interest in magic and superstition in turn influenced secular, inquisitorial, and ecclesiastical responses to these practices. As such, Castañega’s treatise can be seen as one manifestation of monarchical pressure to address magic and superstition in the diocese of Calahorra-La Calzada. A close reading of the treatise indicates its desire to assert Bishop Castilla’s authority primarily over Calagurritan clerics under the guise of clerical education, the management of clerical behavior, and the use of Church authority to buttress Castilla’s own. Lastly, the juxtaposition of the treatise and a court case contemporary to its publication demonstrates how Castilla’s authority was being challenged by parishioners and clergy alike, and monarchical authorities’ desire to bolster Castilla’s authority under these threats.
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2024-05-01
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2034-05-06
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History