ABSTRACT
In 1603 and 1604, Barthelemy Joly, a lawyer and self-styled “almoner and counsellor to the king of France,” visited Spain in the company of the Abbot General of Cîteaux, most likely Edmond de la Croix, in order to inspect the various Cistercian houses in Aragón and Catalonia and reunite a fractured order. Given the nature of his mission, it is not surprising that Joly had much to say about Spanish religious practices. And here, the contrast between Joly the disgruntled traveller and Joly the fair-minded observer is most apparent. He acknowledged the beauty of the churches but credited “the splendour of this nation” to its obsession with “outward appearance.” Spain is different. Such at least was the consensus in early modern Europe. The Reformations imposed radical changes on believers throughout Europe, forcing them to rethink their rituals, social patterns and even the traditional ordering of the annual calendar.
