Instruction and conversion in the world of Iberian exempla: pillars of christian morality

Abstract

This project aims to create an international and interdisciplinary research nucleus - with a double head office, the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and the University of Fribourg - dedicated to the studies on the edifying functions of vernacular sermon collections produced or compiled in Iberian Peninsula from the 13th to the 16th century. Involving researchers from Brazilian and European universities - such as the University of Genebra (Switzerland), the University of São Paulo (Brazil), Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), University of León (Spain), and the São Paulo State University (Brazil) - the proposal is to examine the games implied in the learning of Christian morals, in which moralizing short stories have become key pieces to facilitate the memorization of types of recommended or blamed behavior, by means of the exemplification of virtues and vices. Through the analysis of the role played by the exemplum in the teaching of the behavior promoted in royal courts and in popular preaching, this research will approach the process of naturalization of Christian beliefs in the Iberian soil, by taking into account its target audience and its means of circulation. In the analysis of those conduct guides, the research nucleus will measure the extent to which the exempla reinforced a discipline that teaches the Christian to take care of himself, of his own body and soul, and of his social group. In this sense, the researchers will scrutinize the narratives that sought to establish a criterion to action, in two domains of life: the self-relationship and the relationship with others. (AU)