Due centri una periferia. Strutture ecclesiastiche e dinamiche istituzionali nella Sicilia spagnol, in edited by Giulia Sfameni Gasparro - Augusto Cosentino - Mariangela Monaca

The institutional triangle (Judge of Monarchy, Inquisition, Bishops), complicated by the important supplement of the Tribunal of the Crusade on which the ecclesiastic organization and significant quotes of the Sicilian religious background depend on, is built through a long period of strict, political dialectics, where the centre-periphery pre-eminent relation is complicated by the centre bifurcation: Madrid and Rome, which the Sicilian province refers to. This institutional system exercises the right of jus patronato over all the diocesis, configuring the same bodies as instruments that induce the Spanish centre to adopt an appropriate ecclesiastic politics for a modern public entity, including fiscal and political advantages. Therefore, since 16th century, Sicily acquires a greater religious and ecclesiastic jurisdiction (in addition to the pastoral authority that involves bishops and religious orders), with a rigid disciplinary competitiveness that has remarkable effects on people’s lives. Besides, at the same time, a chronic struggle between the two capitals (Madrid and Palermo) and the Roman seat, complicated by the removal of power that marks the Sicilian periphery in comparison to the opposite monarchy core, causes an instable balance, doomed to become more and more evident during 17th century. This precariousness is dramatically broken at the beginning of 18th century, during the harshest conflict between State and Church in the whole Modern Age, known as “Liparitana controversy”.