L’inquisitore generale Francesco Del Giudice e il Pedimento di Melchor De Macanaz

Abstract

The present study examines some aspects of the already well-known events that have arisen around the Pedimento of the Fiscal Melchor de Macanaz, a document in which he called, among other things, for the abolition of the Spanish Holy Office. Particular attention is devoted to the political-diplomatic aspects around which the action of pontifical diplomacy manifested itself, motivated by the double need to maintain firm apostolic authority in Spain and at the same time to rebuild the network of relations and ties that had been severely put to the test by the war of succession. The study therefore takes into account both the internal dimension of the new Spanish monarchy, crossed by winds of renewal not always welcomed by the sovereign himself, and the international level, focusing in particular on the action of the support offered by Rome to the Inquisitor General Francisco Del Giudice, who at this particular time of Spanish history represented, more than any of his predecessors, the interests of the Holy See at the Spanish court. The international relevance of the question and its consequences emerge clearly from the funds of the Inquisition and of the Secretariat of State for Spain, which are preserved in the Archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and in the Vatican Secret Archives and which have been consulted for this study.