Intermediate groups in the Portuguese dominions: the 'familiares' of the holy Office (c. 1570-1773)

The aim of this project is to analyse the ways in which the intermediate groups (those situated between the popular groups and the nobility) struggled to obtain the right to serve as ‘familiares’ of the Inquisition; how they capitalised on this singular distinction in different contexts, and what kind of social profiles they have. 

We would like to stress 5 core objectives:

 1.To increase existing knowledge on intermediate groups during the Portuguese Ancien Régimen. Research in modern social history has been lately focused on the nobility or on the elites, both in Portugal and in the rest of Europe, and we would like to contribute for a renewed attention towards the lower groups.

2.To investigate in depth one of the most important institutions in Italian and Iberian societies, the Inquisition, where all social strata played a part. Rather than investigating the institution itself, our aim is to study the way in which members of the intermediate groups who served the Inquisition used it for their own purposes. 

3. To answer the question of how the right to apply for a ‘familiatura’ could be obtained in Portugal, by carefully looking at different periods. Was it important to have a close connection with the General Inquisitor, or was it a case of venality, as often occurred in other political bodies of the Iberian Peninsula? Was the process conducted on the initiative of the institution itself?

4. To trace the social profile and the activity of the ‘familiares’ of the Holy Office, by comparing different areas of Portugal with some of its colonies, and with Spain and her empire.

5. To increase the knowledge on prosopography, network analysis, mapping geo-referenced data in the historical area.