Marranos and Other Heretics: Varieties of Heresy in the Iberian World

Catalog description

This course examines the interaction between the Spanish Inquisition and a wide range of its targets. Beginning with a brief history of the Inquisition in the Iberian world, the focus shifts to a series of individual testimonies presented before the Inquisition. These individuals were accused of a variety of religious crimes, from bigamy and witchcraft to adhering to varying manifestations of Jewish and Protestant heresies. The course is particularly interested in the ways that individual 'heretics' present themselves to their inquisitors and how they transform their interrogations into acts of self-fashioning. In addition to inquisitorial records we will examine literary and visual interpretations of the Inquisition including contemporary cinema. This multidisciplinary course challenges the students to analyze a wide range of primary texts, Inquisitorial documents, spiritual autobiographies, Responsa, and visual media in order to explore a complex sociocultural phenomenon.