The Emotions in Sixteenth‐Century Spanish Spirituality

This article examines discourses on emotion produced and circulated in the context of spiritual reform in sixteenth‐century Spain as teleological methods of self‐interpretation which nonetheless stressed the individuals’ responsibility in actively recognising, displaying, and directing their emotions to a spiritual purpose. Paying particular attention to key devotional books such as Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises , Francisco de Osuna's Third Spiritual Alphabet , Bernardino de Laredo's Ascent of Mount Sion, and Teresa of Avila's Book of her Life and The Way of Perfection as a framework of beliefs and guidelines which helped to shape actual cultural practices such as self‐examination and meditation, it seeks to show the complexity of sixteenth‐century understandings of emotion, rationality and the role of the will. It thus aims to challenge the narrow approach taken by recent philosophers like Ronald de Sousa and Robert Solomon in their critique of the historical role of emotion within religion.