The Cult of Relics in Portugal in the 16th and 17th Centuries: Context, Norm, Function, and Symbolism

The research work we present here focuses on the analysis of the cult of relics in Portugal throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. A cultural phenomenon traditionally associated with popular religiosity that endures to this day. Domains of human subjectivity, such as beliefs, were addressed in this project.
Our objective was to interpret and understand the image of the world that its actors constructed in a specific context, attributing meaning and significance to a sacred object such as relics, from which a symbolic order emanates that can be analyzed. Finding contexts of meaning, identifying models of sensitivity, and understanding the collective representation of the power of relics in the context under study were some of the issues that guided this project. To this end, we examined the social dimension of the beliefs that live around this cultural phenomenon and delved into the analysis of its individual dimension, its mental locus, exploring the rational and emotional cognitive strategies that sustain it.

Author: Rosa Capelão

Graphic design: Helena Lobo Design | www.hldesign.pt
Cover: Panel of the Relic − Panels of São Vicente de Fora, Portugal, 15th century, attributed to Nuno Gonçalves. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Pagination, printing and finishing: Sersilito-Graphic Company, Lda. 

Co-edition: CITCEM – Transdisciplinary Research Center Culture, Space and Memory; Museum of São Roque / Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa within the scope of the project reliquiarum

Year of Publication: Porto, December 2022
ISBN: 978989021693

This work is funded by National Funds through the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UIDB/04059/2020.