Spanish women mobility in Naples in front of the Sant’Ufficio Court. 16th-17th centuries

Abstract

Between the second half of the 16th century and the first years of the 17th century, Lavinia Pedralbes, Beatriz and Livia Fernández siblins, Mariana de las Cuevas and other Spanish women had to face trials and complaints before the Sant'Ufficio court in the city of Naples. Although the crimes for which they were accused were not the same, all of them were main characters of a series of dynamics that help us to understand from different points of view the experience of the women who emigrated from Spain to Naples. Based on the documentation that is preserved mainly in the Archivio Storico Diocesano di Napoli, a comparative analysis of this phenomenon is carried out, also taking into account the elements that facilitated the circulation, encounter and knowledge between women with different geographical origins, beliefs and status.