The "Lutheran heresy" in Portugal of the 16th century: echoes of humanism and religious Reforms

Abstract

During the 16th century, Portugal, as well as much of european christianity, experienced a broad process of religious reformulation. In portuguese lands, the crisis experienced by the Catholic Church in its practices and prerogatives resounded in the circulation and adherence to Erasmian humanism, in the impact of the schism arising from the Protestant Reforms and in the measures sought by the Counter-Reformation. In this context, and especially since the middle of the century, inquisitorial processes whose contents denounced "lutheran heresies" were relatively frequent. The postures and beliefs of most of the accused seem to reveal, rather than a close adherence to Luther's theology, sympathy for the humanism advocated by Erasmus and his adherents. The purpose of this article is to offer a look at such processes and their contents in order to understand them within this sphere of intense religious transformations.