Mad for God: Bartolome Sanchez, the Secret Messiah of Cardenete / Edition 1

by Sara Tilghman Nalle

Overview

Convinced he was the Elijah Messiah, the Spanish peasant Bartolomé Sánchez believed that God had sent him in divine retribution for the crimes committed by the Inquisition and the Church. Sánchez's vocal and intolerable religious deviance quickly landed him in the very court he believed he was sent to destroy. Fortunately for him, the first inquisitor assigned to his case came to believe that Sánchez was not guilty by virtue of insanity, and tried to collect the proof that would save his life.

For seven years, Sánchez shuttled between jails, hospitals, and his home village while his fate hung in the balance. Nalle convincingly evokes the compassion of Sánchez's first inquisitor, Pedro Cortes, as he struggled to save his prisoner's life, and argues that the Spanish, compared to other Europeans of the day, were remarkably rational and humane when dealing with the mentally ill.

A gripping tale of madness and religious conviction, Mad for God offers new historical insight into the ongoing debate over the nature of religious inspiration, insanity, and criminal responsibility.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813920016
Publisher:	University of Virginia Press
Publication date:	12/29/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sara Tilghman Nalle is Associate Professor of History at William Paterson University and the author of God in La Mancha: Religious Reform and the People of Cuenca, 1500-1650, winner of the 1993 Roland Bainton Prize.

Table of Contents

	List of Illustrations	viii
	Acknowledgments	ix
	List of Abbreviations	x
	Introduction	1
1.	The Breakdown	9
2.	In the Secret Prisons	26
3.	The Elijah-Messiah	39
4.	Lessons Learned at Home	55
5.	Trial Motions	73
6.	Acts of Faith	93
7.	Deja Vu	110
8.	Madman	138
	Conclusion: Forgotten Endings	163
	Note on the Editing of the Spanish Texts	169
Appendix A	Excerpts from Bartolome Sanchez's Trial	171
Appendix B	Sanchez's Prayers	183
	Notes	187
	Bibliography	213
	Index	223

What People are Saying About This

"Mad for God is microhistory at its best, and it succeeds on multiple levels: it is a riveting narrative that has much to reveal to specialists and amateurs alike, and it is the first study to bring this case to light. Moreover, though it is focused on Sánchez exclusively, this study places the case in the context of similar contemporary phenomena in Spain and Europe, while, at the same time, revealing much about the inquisitorial process itself. Expertly accomplished, and elegantly written, there is nothing else quite like Mad for God in terms of content, form, or purpose, and it should prove to be a prime exemplar of a particular genre of history." -- Carlos M. N. EireYale University, author of From Madrid to Purgatory: The Art and Craft of Dying in Sixteenth-Century Spain

Carlos M. N. Eire

Mad for God is microhistory at its best, and it succeeds on multiple levels: it is a riveting narrative that has much to reveal to specialists and amateurs alike, and it is the first study to bring this case to light. Moreover, though it is focused on Sánchez exclusively, this study places the case in the context of similar contemporary phenomena in Spain and Europe, while, at the same time, revealing much about the inquisitorial process itself. Expertly accomplished, and elegantly written, there is nothing else quite like Mad for God in terms of content, form, or purpose, and it should prove to be a prime exemplar of a particular genre of history.

William A. Christian

What a pleasure to read a book that is so well prepared and has such an engaging story to tell! Mad for God is exceptionally clear, readable, original, and substantial. Nalle interests us in the story of a man with what for his time and place were crazy ideas about God and Catholicism, and in the process teaches us much about sixteenth-century Spanish Catholicism, the Inquisition, contemporary ideas about madness, and the social control of speech and dissenters.

Carlos M. N. EireYale University

Mad for God is microhistory at its best, and it succeeds on multiple levels: it is a riveting narrative that has much to reveal to specialists and amateurs alike, and it is the first study to bring this case to light. Moreover, though it is focused on Sánchez exclusively, this study places the case in the context of similar contemporary phenomena in Spain and Europe, while, at the same time, revealing much about the inquisitorial process itself. Expertly accomplished, and elegantly written, there is nothing else quite like Mad for God in terms of content, form, or purpose, and it should prove to be a prime exemplar of a particular genre of history.

Editorial Reviews

What a pleasure to read a book that is so well prepared and has such an engaging story to tell! Mad for God is exceptionally clear, readable, original, and substantial. Nalle interests us in the story of a man with what for his time and place were crazy ideas about God and Catholicism, and in the process teaches us much about sixteenth-century Spanish Catholicism, the Inquisition, contemporary ideas about madness, and the social control of speech and dissenters.

William A. Christian

Mad for God is microhistory at its best, and it succeeds on multiple levels: it is a riveting narrative that has much to reveal to specialists and amateurs alike, and it is the first study to bring this case to light. Moreover, though it is focused on Sánchez exclusively, this study places the case in the context of similar contemporary phenomena in Spain and Europe, while, at the same time, revealing much about the inquisitorial process itself. Expertly accomplished, and elegantly written, there is nothing else quite like Mad for God in terms of content, form, or purpose, and it should prove to be a prime exemplar of a particular genre of history.

Carlos M. N. Eire

"What a pleasure to read a book that is so well prepared and has such an engaging story to tell! Mad for God is exceptionally clear, readable, original, and substantial. Nalle interests us in the story of a man with what for his time and place were crazy ideas about God and Catholicism, and in the process teaches us much about sixteenth-century Spanish Catholicism, the Inquisition, contemporary ideas about madness, and the social control of speech and dissenters. "—William A. Christian, Jr., author of Local Religion in Sixteenth-Century Spain

"Mad for God is microhistory at its best, and it succeeds on multiple levels: it is a riveting narrative that has much to reveal to specialists and amateurs alike, and it is the first study to bring this case to light. Moreover, though it is focused on Sánchez exclusively, this study places the case in the context of similar contemporary phenomena in Spain and Europe, while, at the same time, revealing much about the inquisitorial process itself. Expertly accomplished, and elegantly written, there is nothing else quite like Mad for God in terms of content, form, or purpose, and it should prove to be a prime exemplar of a particular genre of history. "—Carlos M. N. EireYale University, author of From Madrid to Purgatory: The Art and Craft of Dying in Sixteenth-Century Spain

From the Publisher

Mad for God is microhistory at its best, and it succeeds on multiple levels: it is a riveting narrative that has much to reveal to specialists and amateurs alike, and it is the first study to bring this case to light. Moreover, though it is focused on Sánchez exclusively, this study places the case in the context of similar contemporary phenomena in Spain and Europe, while, at the same time, revealing much about the inquisitorial process itself. Expertly accomplished, and elegantly written, there is nothing else quite like Mad for God in terms of content, form, or purpose, and it should prove to be a prime exemplar of a particular genre of history.

Carlos M. N. EireYale University

Part courtroom drama, part adventure story, part debate over the natures of religious inspiration, insanity and criminal responsibility, this is the story of Bartolom<'e> S<'a>nchez's 16th-century descent into religious madness. S<'a>nchez's story has been reconstructed from seven years of Inquisition trial records<-->the only records of the sacrilegious wool carder. Appendices include selections in Spanish from the trial transcript documenting S<'a>nchez's messianic beliefs and his versions of standard Catholic prayers. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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