Project description DEENESFRITPL Recovering a significant corpus of superstitious prayers widely used in Early Modern Europe EU-funded FORPRAL focuses on the analysis of vernacular prayers prohibited in Spain, Portugal and Italy between the 16th and 18th centuries. These prayers were used as protection against adversity or illness, and were effective whether they were read, carried or worn around the neck like talismans. Because of the variety of uses, they were widely, but not exclusively, used by uneducated people, implying consideration in the category of text-object. FORPRAL will explore this pan-European heritage of piety by recovering preserved or indirect testimonies and will perform a rigorous analysis of the censorship policies aimed at regulating simple forms of religiosity. The project will culminate with the compilation of the Forbidden Prayers Digital Library, an open-access digital repository. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, the Indexes of prohibited books alone included more than seventy prayers in the vernacular, all deeply rooted in the daily practice of everyday piety and widely disseminated in pamphlets and books of hours. These prayers were mainly used to ask for favours: curing sickness, seeking protection from sudden death or controlling the will of a lover and were effective whether they were read out, worn round the neck like reliquaries or amulets, in contact with the diseased part of the body or used with herbs or other elements. For this reason, they were widely disseminated among the uneducated and represent a hybrid category of text-object. Taking into account the nature of the prayers as a whole, the Indexes tried to eradicate objects, practices and forms of piety looked upon as vain or superstitious. The effectiveness of these prohibitions in the countries of the so-called Counter-Reformation was such that many texts and pamphlets were, or were thought to have been, lost for ever. This project proposes to fill the bibliographical gap in this corpus neglected by the studies on early modern censorship, to consider extending the prohibitory categories of the text to include the devotional object, to restore this pan-European heritage of piety by recovering preserved or indirect testimonies of forbidden prayers, and to perform a rigorous analysis of the censorship policies aimed at regulating simple forms of religiosity. The use of a corpus unexplored to this day and the approach to the study of prayers in their historical, symbolic and material dimensions are some of the novelties of this proposal. The action will culminate with the compilation of a digital repository, the Forbidden Prayers Digital Library: a catalogue raisonné and a space of open access to the text and object that will contribute to the recovery of a part of the European religious culture erased by the effects of Inquisitorial censorship. Fields of science humanitiesphilosophy, ethics and religionreligions Keywords Censorship Inquisitions Indexes of Prohibited Books Private piety Spain Portugal Italy Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2018 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2018 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA Net EU contribution € 172 932,48 Address EDIF A CAMPUS DE LA UAB BELLATERRA CERDANYOLA V 08193 Cerdanyola Del Valles Spain See on map Region Este Cataluña Barcelona Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 172 932,48
