Bidspirit auction | Abjuração em Forma

Abjuração em Forma - HOLY OFFICE (Portuguese Inquisition). Formula of Abjuration. N.p. [Portugal]: n.p., n.d. [late 18th / early 19th century]. Printed form (typographic template to be read before the inquisitors), 280 mm tall, single-column setting with large opening initial; printed blanks for the penitent’s name and for the reigning pope; contemporary ink strokes cancelling personal data; minor spots and edge nicks; very good overall. Official abjuration text used by the Portuguese Holy Office: the penitent swears on the Holy Gospels, renounces “every kind of heresy, ” promises to uphold the Catholic Faith and obey “our most Holy Father … and his successors, ” accepts canonical penalties in case of relapse, and asks the notaries of the Holy Office to draw up the instrument. An ephemeral procedural document, bearing witness to reconciliation rites and the legal-religious culture of the Inquisition at the close of the Ancien Régime.