Piety, Practices of Reading, and Inquisition. A Catalan Saint Cyprian Prayer from 1557 and Its Context

AbstractThe author of this article focuses on a defendant of an Inquisition trial (1641–1644) and its sources, namely a healing hermit and the Saint Cyprian prayer, published in Catalan in 1557 and used by the hermit as a verbal charm. Beyond the philological and folkloristic study of the prayer text, this paper presents the vulgarisation of reading skills and the realization of reading practice in a specific social context in the Principality of Catalonia. The author uses the most important and relevant theological literature of the period and the attestations of the trial as keys of reading. She pays special attention to the context of prayer and its actual social use. Her aim is to analyse the textual elements and gestures of the healing rite; hence, she investigates the probable readings of the healing specialist, which makes possible to reach a deeper understanding of the hermit’s role as a cultural mediator.