Joaquín Lorenzo Villanueva and the polemic about Bishop Gregoire’s 1798 letter against the Spanish Inquisition

Abstract

In the Spain of the last third of the 18th century, a general opinion against the permanence of the Inquisition develops. This movement is intensified as a result of the French revolutionary thinking. In 1798, the sworn Bishop of Blois, Henri Grégoire, publis­hes a Letter addressed to the general inquisitor. In this letter, he calls for the dissolution of the Santo Oficio. Several answers were published to defend the absolute monarchy and the inquisitorial court, all following a clear regalist trend. One of them was written by Joaquin Lorenzo Villanueva, qualificator and royal chaplain, whose work, despite being in defense of the Inquisition, was denounced to the same court. In this article we analyse the Letters of Villanueva and the denunciation of his work before the inquisitorial court. Furthermore, a complex anonymous text, which is both a manifesto and an attack on Villanueva’s work, as well as an exalted praise by the French bishop, are considered.