L'Inquisizione spagnola nelle Isole Canarie: tracce di stregoneria africana (secoli XVI-XVIII)

In this thesis, I sought to reconstruct the ritual practices of enslaved women from the African continent and the Canary Islands who were accused of witchcraft and superstition. The paper briefly focuses on historiographical aspects and presents the results of research conducted at the Canary Museum on inquisitorial papers. These sources have so far been studied only from an essentially Eurocentric perspective-undoubtedly important and indispensable. The same sources, when interpreted from a global perspective, are able to provide unprecedented information on the construction of identity of both enslaved and colonized people, to fit into the Black Atlantic historiographical debate. The thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter reconstructs the history of the inquisitorial archives and some objects preserved at the Museo Canario through unpublished correspondence between Gregorio Chil y Naranjo (the founder of the museum) and a number of European scholars interested in the rich documentation. The second chapter is a historiographical discussion of the overseas Inquisition and new issues related to slavery in the Atlantic. The third chapter advances the hypothesis of the existence of "Atlantic magic" in the areas of Macaronesia and the Caribbean. The intense cultural exchange between the archipelagos in the early modern age fostered the formation of such knowledge. The Canary Islands assume a central role in this exchange; to demonstrate this theory, the full version of the trial of Ana Pérez was specifically analyzed. The fourth and final chapter shows how the objects used in ritual practices in the Canary Islands are the result of an extremely multicultural society, influenced by the very close African continent.