Spain is regarded as the Counter-Reformation country par excellence, yet the reforms there have not received the attention they deserve. Numerous recent studies have examined the Spanish Inquisition and its persecution of religious minorities; but this book is the first systematic study of how the Catholic Reformation affected ordinary Spaniards. Sara Nalle traces the impact of the Council of Trent (1545-63) on religious life in the diocese of Cuenca, located about one hundred miles east of Madrid in Castile’s heartland. Her study is based on Cuenca’s ecclesiastical and secular archives, which are among the most complete in Spain for the early modern period.
In pre-Tridentine Cuenca, as elsewhere in Europe, the common people were pitifully ignorant of Catholic doctrine. Their religion was a blend of misinformation and superstition. Parish priests were often ignorant and corrupt; bishops and archbishops exercised little control over local religious life. Ferdinand and Isabela’s religious reforms had primarily affected the religious orders and the upper clergy. But after Trent, reformers turned their attention to ordinary parish priests and the laity as well. As a result, the educational and moral standards of Cuenca’s parish priests improved dramatically during the late 1500s. What’s more, the church sponsored an effective program of mass religious instruction. The inhabitants of the diocese responded by expressing their faith in new ways, consistent with the latest church teachings.
The reformed religion was more vigorous and more personal than the old one. But in the early 1600s, demographic and economic reversals and the church’s harping on the doctrine of purgatory caused the faithful of Cuenca to become obsessed with guaranteeing the prompt release of their souls from purgatorial agony. They lavished their dwindling economic resources on masses and church-related good works. While the general population declined, the clergy grew ever more numerous. This “cult of the dead” deprived Cuenca of capital that might have stimulated economic recovery. Ultimately it appears to have undermined the country’s spiritual vitality, as religion became increasingly self-seeking and mechanical.
Nalle’s treatment is methodologically sound, clearly organized, and even-handed, conveyed through readable, direct, and jargon-free prose. The book provides fascinating anecdotes with useful details about local religious life. But Nalle is careful always to place Cuenca in the Spanish and European context. The book is well edited and visually pleasing, thanks to numerous tables, graphs, maps, and plates. It includes an appendix on methodology, as well as others containing tabular data.
Nalle’s book is an important contribution to early modern Hispanic religious history. It should be read by ah who are interested in Spain during this period, including Latin Americanists seeking the Iberian roots of Spain’s religious policies in America.
