Plague and Superstition in the Canary Islands: Inquisitorial Trials (1523-1532)

Abstract

From 1523 to 1532, the plague ravaged the islands of Tenerife and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, in a tragic decimation of the population, already afflicted by wideíread hunger and misery caused by Spanish and Portuguese colonization. This essay discusses how the Catholic Church reacted to the plague by blaming minorities. The Spanish Inquisition, to defeat the plague and ward off what is perceived as the wrath of God, held two ceremonies of propitiatory auto da fé. This article uses Inquisitorial sources to construct a kaleidoscopic view of peoples and inserts new micro-stories into the global context of early modern history.