Gritos del más allá. La defensa del purgatorio en la España de la Contrarreforma

Abstract

The characteristic fighting spirit of the Counter-Reformation was fully displayed in Spain by the resolute defence of Purgatory. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the number of treatises aimed to demonstrate the reality of Purgatory —a complicated concept which took shape only gradually as it was written and preached about— greatly increased. Nevertheless, despite the powerful campaign designed to make the intercession of the Church the only method of establishing an appropriate link with the uncertain life beyond the grave, other possibilities for direct communication between the living and the departed remained open.