Crimes, marriage and ecclesiastical authority. A view through the pastoral visit to the town of San Joseph de Cagua in the time of Bishop Diego Antonio Diez Madroñero (1765).

Abstract

The institution of marriage during the Hispanic period was under ecclesiastical jurisdiction. With the advent of the
Bourbon dynasty in the 18th century, the Catholic Church became more dependent and subordinate to the Crown, so that the bishops, in addition to their own tasks, fulfilled functions of social control in which both powers coincided. This is the case of marriage. On the basis of the analysis of a document corresponding to the pastoral visit to the town of San Joseh de Cagua, in the time of Bishop Diez Madroñero, the author approaches the crimes against marriage and their moral implications in a specific portion of Venezuelan society in the second half of the 18th century.