From Madrid to Purgatory

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Focusing on Spanish attitudes toward death and the afterlife during the Counter-Reformation, this study explores sixteenth-century Madrid's death rituals through testaments and examines the "good" deaths of figures like King Philip II and St. Teresa of Avila. It delves into Spanish Catholic piety amidst significant cultural transformations, employing both quantitative and qualitative methods. By analyzing the interplay between popular piety and elite theology, it situates Spanish beliefs within the broader context of the European Reformation and attitudes toward death.