Presentation of the book "Genealogies of the Inquisition of the Canary Islands"

Details

2 July 19:00 Municipal Library of San Brígida Fernando Bruquetas de Castro, Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, has carried out an exceptional study of the inquisitorial holdings preserved in the Canary Islands, focused on lineages, blood purity records, and mechanisms of social control exercised by the Tribunal of the Holy Office over the island population during the first centuries of the Early Modern period. The result of this research is embodied in the work "Genealogías de la Inquisición de Canarias", published by Editorial Genealógica Canaria, a two-volume study that systematizes and analyses documentation of great historical value from the archive preserved at El Museo Canario, one of the main documentary repositories on the social history of the archipelago. The first volume, which will be presented this Thursday in Brígida, will feature the presence of the mayor of Santa Brígida, José Armengol, and the Councillor for Culture of the Santa Brígida Town Council, Avelina Fernández Manrique de Lara. The book focuses on the texts of the inquisitor Martín Jiménez dated 1525, intended for the internal use of the inquisitorial court. These documents contain testimonies from people converted to Catholicism on the island of Gran Canaria and constitute a direct source for the study of the population subjected to religious and social surveillance. Bruquetas de Castro’s work is not limited to a narrative reconstruction of inquisitorial activity. His approach is fundamentally documentary, as he compiles, transcribes, and organises information on Canarian families investigated by the Tribunal of the Holy Office, including data on origins, kinship ties, mobility, and background. This makes the work a reference tool for researchers, genealogists, and scholars of the social history of the Canary Islands. More info: santabrigida.es