Um espaço de oração na Época Moderna

Abstract

Several literary testimonies (particularly spiritual works) from the late 15th century to the end of the 16th century were the basis for this study in which the author seeks to establish the traditions associated to the oratory as a private and reclusive space for prayer. According to those testimonies the number of oratories increased significantly during that period, and, according to other testimonies, particularly from preachers and moralists, this situation led to serious misuses of those spaces. Simultaneously, there was an attempt to establish their function, as places of prayer and penitence, as well as how they should be decorated.