In this paper I focus on the analysis of the jurisdictional function of the clerics of the Hispanic churches during the period of Visigothic domination in the Iberian Peninsula (ss. VI-VII). Based on the study of the secular, conciliar and literary sources that have been preserved to us, emphasis is placed on the important intervention of the clergy in the jurisdiction of the kingdom, both of the bishops, its hierarchical elite, and also of the presbyters and deacons, these latter two orders in their capacity as rectors of the rural churches. On the other hand, the specific work of the clergy in cases of ecclesiastical asylum is also investigated. In addition to the relevance of the judicial function of bishops, it is noted that the jurisdictional tasks that could also involve priests and deacons, and therefore the leaders of rural churches, were very notable. This confirms the importance that the institution of the asylum came to acquire in the group of churches scattered throughout the geography of the kingdom throughout this historical period examined.

This article analyzes the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Alliance for Progress, within the framework of this regional assistance body dedicated to achieving economic development and institutional strengthening, with the aim of avoiding guerrilla warfare experiences such as the one experienced in Cuba. In this context, it can be considered that the development of the Alliance project in Chile was influenced by the Catholic Church’s lines of thought and action dating back to the 1930s and fostered by the social conditions of the time, coupled with the impact of social encyclicals addressing the labor and social issues. For this purpose, the study draws on contemporary Catholic publications, pastoral letters from the Chilean Episcopal Commission, speeches and documents from the Alliance for Progress, as well as speeches, and writings by Monsignor Manuel Larraín Errázuriz.

The text offers a historiographical overview that seeks to highlight the main works that have been devoted to the study of the figure of the provisional judge and vicar general in New Spain, as well as a related institution: the Tribunal del Provisorato. The main contributions of Mexican historiography, as well as the advances and tendencies of historiographical studies in the Iberian Peninsula and the Lusitanian world will be addressed. In this way it will be possible to make a comparison between different regions and latitudes. Finally, the existing gaps and the possibilities of study around the provisional judge and the provisorates, as well as the administration of ecclesiastical justice.

This paper will review the situation of ecclesiastical dependents (servi, mancipia, ancillae, liberti) in the Visigothic kingdom. In the main normative sources on these groups (conciliar canons, monastic rules, civil legislation), their insertion in the broader scheme of ecclesiastical property, in the moral and regulatory scheme of the Church's conduct and, above all, their regulation under the omnipresent principle of inalienability, whose objective was to avoid the subtraction of slaves or freedmen to the domestic structure of each church and especially to the patronage of the Church –the patroness that "never dies"– as an institution, becomes evident. This feature, increasingly, made it difficult for these groups of people to escape the networks of servitude and patronage of their sees. In spite of this, the sources attest that certain members of the clergy wished to grant greater freedoms to their subordinates, sometimes through actions that went beyond what was permitted by canon law, thereby realizing an illegitimate alienation of the res ecclesiae. These episodes created tensions that have already been pointed out, but, to conclude, we will outline another point of view from which we can perhaps better understand the ambiguities of the sources regarding what was an admissible alienation and the different treatment that these events and their resolutions had in the sources.

This paper analyses, through a series of case studies, the role played by pagan sanctuaries as spaces of social interaction and of power construction in the societies of Roman Hispania. It examines the conditions that explain the proliferation of monumental temples and how these spaces served as epicentres of urban life throughout the Early Imperial period. To this end, this paper explores how the temples became places of power and of both individual and collective memory, shaped by the accumulated religious practices of devotees. Furthermore, it examines how these temples functioned as genuine economic centers, hosting market activities and serving as custodians of public and private goods. Additionally, some cases are presented that demonstrate how the temples served as political and administrative centres, temporarily or permanently hosting decurional assemblies, and as places where extraordinary sensory experiences occurred, where the body and consciousness became fundamental tools of learning, allowing community members to understand their situation in the world. Finally, this paper addresses the circumstances leading to the premature abandonment of the temples in Hispania and the possible causes of their disappearance, emphasising the precarious economic bases that supported them throughout the Early Imperial period, and the ideological changes that altered the activities of the Iberian elites from the third century onwards.

This paper analyses the social dimension of churches as gendered spaces in the context of late-antique Iberia. It therefore studies the different dimensions of women’s historical experience of churches from an intersectional perspective, combining gender with other categories of social hierarchisation, such as personal legal and economic status, and taking as a basis for analysis and information the written or literary sources of the period (5th-7th centuries AD) and archaeological and epigraphic sources. It identifies and defines the role that women of the socio-economic elite played as a focus of attraction for Christian matronage and charitable behaviour, financing the construction and restoration of religious buildings or the donation of objects for worship, in a behaviour characteristic of their level of social excellence and no different from that of men of the same rank. Likewise, the possible feminine link to the micro-networks of social and symbolic power that emerge in these religious spaces is investigated, as well as the subaltern involvement of women of lower social ranks in the personal relationships that are woven around the churches. Finally, this study also consider the symbolic dimension of the relationship between women and the Church, mainly through the allegories or feminine metaphors of the Church, which are by no means rare in the written sources of the period, linking both, woman and Church, on a plane of metaphorical meanings, trying to determine their connection with the socio-cultural references of late-antique Iberian society.

This paper analyses the social assistance, mediation and conflict resolution activities carried out by the Iberian churches in the final centuries of the Roman Empire’s rule in the West. The sources used for its elaboration, mainly ecclesiastical, date from the mid-third to the fifth century. This study highlights how the charitable prerogatives offered by the Church provided greater spiritual, political and economic well-being to the Hispanic-Roman population. It also shows that, in order to act with authority, to impose discipline and to put an end to irregularities and disagreements of various kinds, the Iberian Church and her leaders had the support of civil legislation. The Church had also at her disposal own instruments, such as the episcopal audience, councils and external charismatic authorities, e.g. the Roman papacy. Thanks to the application of these strategies, most of the conflicts that arose within the Iberian churches were able to be regulated peacefully.

In 1914, the Society of Jesus began the construction of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Havana. The neo-Gothic style temple constituted the effort of religious to strengthen their ties with the local elites. The main objective of this work is to analyze the construction process of the property, as well as to verify the economic supports that favored its conclusion. To achieve the proposed research goals, the collaboration and contact networks built between clerics and a group of members of the wealthy classes have been studied. In turn, the analysis of documentary sources has made it possible to determine how the architectural complex in question constituted a Jesuit effort to situate itself in a political and symbolic panorama dominated by liberalism. Furthermore, the scope of the social legitimation proposal offered by the priests to the Catholic-oriented Cuban bourgeoisie that rewarded the ignatians with the consumption and support of their religious proposal was evident.