Spirit in a Carafe : Treasure Hunting Rites of a Castilian Hermit in Early Modern Catalonia

Smid, Mária Bernadett (2024) Spirit in a Carafe : Treasure Hunting Rites of a Castilian Hermit in Early Modern Catalonia. ACTA ETHNOGRAPHICA HUNGARICA, 69 (1). pp. 139-165. ISSN 1216-9803

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Abstract

In the early modern period, accusations of treasure hunting became increasingly common in Inquisition trials in the Principality of Catalonia. The reason for this shift was the Church's attitude towards judicial astrology, most notably after the bull of Pope Sixtus V, Coeli et terrae creator , was issued. This paper presents the facts and contexts of a treasure hunting trial that took place between 1641 and 1644 at the Tribunal of the Inquisition at Barcelona, with a special focus on various European practices of catoptromancy. Through contemporary parallels, we can see side by side the diversity of divination methods, witness the circulation and reproduction of manuscripts, and the popularization and practical use of an earlier, written body of knowledge.

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