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  • Servants of Satan and Masters of Demons: The Spanish Inquisition's Trials for Superstition, Valencia and Barcelona, 1478-1700
  • Julie Davies
Knutsen, Gunnar W. , Servants of Satan and Masters of Demons: The Spanish Inquisition's Trials for Superstition, Valencia and Barcelona, 1478-1700 (Late Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 17), Turnhout, Brepols, 2010; hardback; pp. xviii, 228; 5 b/w illustrations, 3 b/w tables, 1 b/w line drawing; R.R.P. €60.00; ISBN 9782503528618.

This book is a comparative study examining the differences between the magical and demonological cultures of Valencia and Catalonia. Gunnar W. Knutsen builds on the work of Gustav Henningsen and Jaime Contreras who first catalogued the relaciones de causas, one of the main bodies of archival evidence for the trials undertaken by the Spanish Inquisition. Like Henningsen and Contreras, Knutsen focuses his study on the years 1478 to 1700, that is, from the time of the Inquisition's founding until a modification in reporting protocol changed the nature of the archive. However, one of the fundamentally important contributions of this book is the incorporation of a series of previously uncatalogued Valencian relaciones, or case reports, and secular case records as well as a smaller number of additional relaciones from Barcelona. It also brings to the English corpus the fruit of additional regional studies of witchcraft trials undertaken in secular courts, previously only available in Spanish. By bringing this material together, Knutsen successfully demonstrates both the value of, and need for, further investigation into different Spanish regions.

The reader who is less familiar with Spanish witchcraft will appreciate the first portion of the book, which provides an accessible collation of background material relating to both the Inquisition itself and to relevant aspects of Spanish history. In the second half of the book, the author presents an insightful analysis that addresses the nature of the Valencian archives and how this material both challenges and supports various aspects of the established scholarship. Knutsen focuses his comparison of the two regions on two main issues. Firstly, he addresses the differences in the balance of power between the Inquisition and the secular courts of each region. Secondly, he examines the influence of elements of Morisco tradition and culture (that is the influence of Spanish Muslim communities who were forced to convert in the sixteenth century) on Valencian magical traditions (p. 41).

Knutsen's investigation into the power and influence of the Inquisitorial bodies in the two regions, while largely reinforcing current scholarship, [End Page 242] nevertheless enhances our understanding of the dynamic between the religious and secular courts in a number of ways. The new body of detailed Valencian relaciones allows Knutsen to gauge the influence of numerous factors on a group of Inquisitors who, unlike the much-studied Inquisitors in Barcelona, were successfully able exert their authority over cases involving witchcraft, superstition and sorcery. The Valencian Inquisition effectively took control of cases raised in secular courts both earlier and more frequently than the Inquisition in Barcelona. Knutsen is also able to comment on the dynamics between the members of the Inquisition in Barcelona and those in Valencia, demonstrating that the Inquisitors were themselves aware of these inconsistent levels of effectiveness. His sensitive reading of the cases as they relate to the Inquisitorial approach to, and use of, confessions facilitates Knutsen's innovative investigation of the magical culture of Valencia.

Knutsen shows that there were a number of confessions made in Valencia which did not result in convictions, despite having many characteristics of those which inspired witch-hunts in Barcelona and other areas. Rather than focusing his attention on the traditional question of what made Barcelona susceptible to witch-panics, access to Valencian materials has enabled Knutsen to ask the question: why were there no trials for witchcraft in Valencia? In doing so, he lays open before us the rich and intriguing tapestry of Valencian magical culture.

Here, Knutsen challenges the traditional view that the mere presence of Morisco populations negated the need for witch-trials by providing an alternative group of social scapegoats. Instead he presents a richer and more complex view of the relationship between Muslim, Morisco and Christian cultures in Valencia, presenting evidence...

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