The Ecclesiastical Censorship of Books, 1400–1800
An Exhibition at Bridwell Library, September 20 – December 17, 2010
THE
SPANISH INDEX
32.
[Spanish New
Testament. Pérez de Pineda Version].
El testamento nuevo
de nuestro señor y
salvador Iesu Christo. Nueva
y fielmente traduzido del
original Griego en romance
Castellano.
“Venecia: Juan Philadelpho” [Geneva: Jean
Crespin], 1556.
As in pre-Reformation England, vernacular versions of the Bible were prohibited in sixteenth-century Spain for fear that such translations would give rise to unauthorized interpretations. Although the Inquisition effectively prevented Spanish printers from producing vernacular Bibles, printers in Protestant countries succeeded in making Spanish Bibles available to readers abroad. In addition, some copies were smuggled into Spain.
As the Inquisition could
pursue Protestant agitators outside of Spain, the
Swiss publisher of this Spanish New Testament
concealed his identity by using the pseudonym “Juan
Philadelpho” and claiming Venice as the place of
publication. The small size of the New Testament
allowed copies to be transported secretly by
smugglers such as Julianillo Hernández, who carried
wine casks filled with copies into Seville.
Nevertheless, the Inquisition soon captured and
executed Hernández, burned an effigy of the
translator Juan Pérez de Pineda (c. 1500-1567), and
destroyed all confiscated copies of the book.
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