Dissertation Fellow 1998-99
Benjamin A. Ehlers (History)
Johns Hopkins University
Juan de Ribera and Counterreformation
religious reform in Valencia
My dissertation research focuses on the Counter Reformation in
Valencia, a prosperous archdiocese on the Mediterranean coast of
Spain. The unusually long tenure of Juan de Ribera, archbishop of
Valencia between 1569 and 1611, provides an excellent opportunity
to examine the role of the bishop in the process of reform. Born
of the Sevillian nobility and educated in Castile, Ribera initially
occupied a precarious position in Valencia, a kingdom with its own
laws, language, and traditions, as well as a large community of
partially-converted Muslims -- 30,000 homes, or one third of the
total population. In his efforts to edify the Valencian people,
however, Ribera demonstrated a remarkable openness to lay initiatives:
he fostered an introspective brand of mysticism despite growing
official skepticism of interior prayer, and he promoted relics and
works of art as an integral part of urban religiosity, often working
in conjunction with popular impulses. The Moriscos, on the other
hand, presented Ribera with an ultimately insurmountable challenge.
The racial and ethnic diversity of this community complicated efforts
to instruct them in the rudiments of Catholic doctrine, and after
decades of failed attempts at evangelization Ribera became one of
the most outspoken advocates of the expulsion of the Moriscos from
Spain. In my thesis I will argue that these two facets of Ribera's
episcopacy are interrelated, in that his responses to both of these
communities of believers illustrate the extent to which he had come
to identify with Valencian interests over time, as well as the dynamism
and innovation which could characterize the Spanish episcopate in
the Golden Age.
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