Mad for God: Bartolomé Sįnchez, the Secret Messiah of Cardenete [Paperback]

Sara Tilghman Nalle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2001

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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 )

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: University of Virginia Press (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813920019
• ISBN-13: 978-0813920016
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #530,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars (Mad for) Mad for God, September 20, 2003

By 

John P. Mackenzie "--john" (Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mad for God: Bartolomé Sįnchez, the Secret Messiah of Cardenete (Paperback)

The Spanish Inquisition evokes an image of inquisitors bringing innocent people to trial, rendering them guilty of heresy and burning them at the stake. Torture, confessions made under duress, and the murder of large numbers of Protestants are visualized. Inquisitors and their informants were everywhere, and watched everything. These perceptions of the Spanish Inquisition have come from numerous sources, including books, articles, movies, and are ingrained in many people's view of the Inquisition. The question raised, then, is how historically accurate are these portrayals? Was this the way thing were always done, or is there another side to the story?

While not attempting to take on the challenge of the Spanish Inquisition in its entirety, Sara Nalle presents us with a very different picture of the Inquisition and the inquisitors than are normally seen in the literature. Nalle introduces us to Bartolomé Sánchez, a man who condemned the Catholic Church, the priesthood, the Holy Trinity, and then announcing that he was the second savior, sent to finish Christ's work. Sánchez was taken before the Inquisitor, Cortes for trial.

Cortes is atypical of the traditional view of the inquisitors as bloodthirsty men driven to exterminate those who did not profess the beliefs of the Catholic Church. Sánchez's claim that the Holy Spirit was not part of the Trinity, but that rather Mary was, certainly disturbed Cortes. Sánchez also refused to show deference to the cross, which he stated was evil, because it was a tool of those that killed Christ. Yet, through all of those things, Cortes, the inquisitor, sought a way for Sánchez to escape a death sentence.

Nalle constructed Mad for God from the trial records of Sánchez, and therefore she derived the account from the official records of the Inquisition's offices. While the possibility exists that there were omissions, the record appears to give a balanced view of the events that transpired in the courtroom.

This is very well written book, that sheds some light on the Spanish Inquisition, and provides a different view than is often seen in books and movies. It is easy to read, very well noted, and you may very well finish it in only one or two sittings.