Demonios ibéricos. Los rasgos idiosincráticos de la Demonología hispana en el siglo XV

Abstract

This paper proposes a contextualized understanding of the idiosyncratic nature of the Hispanic demonology, usually characterized as «moderate» because of its skepticism towards the witchcraft phenomenon. Based on the study of the major writings on the devil of the 15^th Century (especially, the Fortalitium fidei of Alonso de Espina), I argue that the Iberian demonological discourse’s particularities can be well understood in light of two fundamental issues, which even preexisted to the establishment of the Inquisition in Iberia: first, the importance of the presence of religious and cultural minorities in the Hispanic world of the time. In that regard, I study to what extent Jews and judaizers, in particular, operated as a sort of «substitutes» of the witch on the Iberian Peninsula. Secondly, this paper emphasizes the weight to be attached to the rumor, the regional folclore and the vox communis when it comes to understanding the original features of the demon’s war against the ecclesia in the Hispanic kingdoms.