Lo racional en el culto de las reliquias : la función taumatúrgica. La necesidad de creer

The aim of this study is to understand how people of a particular social space expressed his world view of giving meaning to a sacred object such as relics and from which emanates a symbolic order that is amenable to analysis. Our research universe is structured from very specific scenery: the practice of healing. The attribution of meaning to the way it processes the function of the relics miracle-working presumed belief in the existence of supernatural powers, which are invisible on which we can act. In this interpretive context, the superstitious nature attributed to these practices is based on a competition for a plot of power in the field of manipulation of the sacred. We will focus on continental Portugal XVI-XVII centuries, where it encouraged the role of advocates in the sequencing of reform dictated by Trent.