Moral y control social: el tribunal de la Inquisición de Sevilla (1560-1700)

Abstract

The survey of the activity of Inquisition Tribunal of Sevilla from 1560 to 1700 reveals the manner in which the institution promoted the values of the counter-reform in western Andalusia. If the Holy Office had been at the service of the crown's diplomatic policy and combated sociocultural minorities, most of the persons it prosecuted were Spanish «cristianos viejos». The court acted as an instrument of disciplining the social body within the context of confessionnal policy of the Spanish kings. To prevent the extension of reformist practices against which a decisive offensive had been carried out between 1557 and 1563 with repression of the communities of Seville and Valladolid, the court led a series of campains against minor heresies or ethical or moral deviancies. In spite of the diversity of the prosecuted offences, these offensives coincided in one respect: they aimed at convincing the faithful that salvation henceforth depended on the knowledge of the articles of faith and attachment to the values as redefined at the council of Trent. The sociological study of the accused persons and of the court activity over 150 years reveals the aim of shaping behaviour and of laying out the contours of popular piety and morals. It also shows the limits of the repressive action among the classes affected by repression as well as within the territories controled by the court.