Propaganda Fide against the Hispanic hegemony: supports in the courts of Madrid and Brussels to the creation of the Congregation of Cardinals

Abstract

The foundation of the Congregation Propaganda Fide, in 1622, constituted the suppression of the rights which had been granted by the previous pontiffs (the expansion and defense of Christianity) in which the Hispanic Monarchy justified its territorial expansion. From then on, the Church of Rome assumed the expansion of Catholicism through preaching and dialogue with the natives, suppressing all the violence lent by the princes. Of course, such creation was a difficult task for Rome (and its development was slow), since such an institution limited the interests in which the Monarchy of Philip II had been forged. Religious like Gracián, Vives or Domenico della Scala, as well as outstanding nobles such as the Duke of Feria or the Marquis of Leganés, and various members of the royal family like the Cardinal Infante Fernando, the Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia or the Archduke Alberto, formed a network that helped the Papacy in this hard task, both from the Madrid court and from the Brussels court, as will be analyzed in this article.

Keywords

• Propaganda Fide
• Monarquía Hispana
• Papado
• Corte de Madrid
• Corte de Bruselas