The Faculty of Theology Saint Isidore of Seville, through its Magna Hispalensis Chair of Faith, Art and Culture, and in collaboration with the Chapter of the Cathedral of Seville, will hold a new edition of its Conference next November, which on this occasion will be dedicated to
The Magna Hispalensis Chair was created by the San Isidoro Faculty of Theology of Seville on June 28, 2023, with the sponsorship of the Cathedral Chapter, in accordance with the aims established in the Faculty’s Statutes. Its main objective is to value, research and raise awareness of the Cathedral of Seville as a reference point for the relationship between faith, art and culture. The Chair is also working on the creation of a specialized bibliographic collection, in collaboration with the Benedict XVI Library and the Faculty’s publications, as well as promoting cooperation with other institutions -universities, dioceses, religious congregations, seminaries and archives- that promote studies on faith, art and culture.
Registration will be through the QR code before November 1, 2025, by WhatsApp at 699 604 973 or directly at the reception of the Cathedral from Monday to Saturday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm, the deadline being Saturday, November 1, 2025.
Those who wish to receive a certificate of attendance must attend all three sessions and request it by mail:
catedramagna@catedraldesevilla.es
PROGRAM: (Download)
November 10 at 18:30h: “Between courtyards and streets: the Seville of the imperial wedding of Charles V and Isabella of Portugal”.
Town planning and urban development in 1526. The City .
In 1526, Seville became the setting for the wedding of Charles I of Spain and Isabella of Portugal, welcoming the court and numerous visitors. The city, a center of Atlantic trade, offered a diverse urban landscape and a town planning inherited from its Islamic and medieval past. Through documents from the Cathedral Archive and historical images and visual reconstructions, this conference proposes a journey through the streets, squares and houses that made up the Seville that saw the emperor pass through.
It will be in charge of Mrs. María Núñez González. Architect, she has dedicated her doctoral thesis to this topic. PhD in Architecture from the University of Seville, member of the Expregráfica research group. Interim professor in the Department of Architectural Graphic Expression. Collaborates in research projects on life and domestic architecture in Spain in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries of the Univ. Granada, Dept. of Art History, directed by Dr. Mª Elena Diez. Master in Architecture and Historical Heritage. Project Coordinator at Proyectos de Ingeniería y Arquitectura del Sur SL (PRIASUR). Specialized in housing, forms of habitation and rehabilitation of buildings (adaptations to other uses).
The conference will be complemented with a guided visit to the cloak of Emperor Charles V, by Ms. Ana Isabel Gamero González, Curator of Movable Goods of the Cathedral.
November 11 at 6:30 pm: “The Church and the Cathedral Chapter of Seville in the time of Emperor Charles V”. The Chapter
An initiation in the history of the Cathedral Chapter of Seville in a relevant period of its history that we will frame in the reign of Charles V (1517-1558). These dates will serve as a reference because they will allow us to move with a certain chronological freedom. The subject is not a minor one. Necessarily, its treatment extends to the history of the Church of Seville and its prelates, all of them at this time men of a very strong personality. The Sevillian Cabildo, moreover, was only second in the Spain of its time in wealth and power at this time to that of Toledo and was in a city that was undergoing a prodigious expansion. It is no exaggeration to say that its capitulars were protagonists of the profound cultural and religious changes in the Europe of their time.
Lecture by Mr. José Antonio Ollero Pina. Professor of Baccalaureate and, until his recent retirement, Professor of Modern History in the Department of Modern History at the University of Seville. His doctoral thesis, Los colegiales de Maese Rodrigo y la Universidad de Sevilla en los siglos XVI y XVII, read in 1991, received the Focus prize that same year and was published in 1993 under the title y la Universidad de Sevilla en los siglos XVI y XVII (Seville, University of Seville-Focus). His studies have been oriented towards research in the fields of university history, cultural and social history in the modern centuries. He is the author of numerous works on ecclesiastical history of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, including economic aspects, resources, taxation and revenue, especially in relation to the church and the cathedral chapter of Seville in those same centuries.
The talk will be complemented with the projection of the audiovisual “The Wooden Gospel” in front of the High Altar, which narrates passages from the life of Jesus through the more than 200 polychrome carvings of the majestic altarpiece of the Cathedral of Seville.
November 12 at 6:30 p.m.: “From liturgical codices to printed humanism: The Chapter Library in the time of Charles V and the prelude to the Columbine“. The Library.
It marks the transition between a traditional ecclesiastical library and the arrival of Renaissance thought with the legacy of Hernando Columbus. The union of both collections gave rise to one of the most unique libraries in Europe during the European Renaissance. We will explore the state and relevance of the Chapter Library of Seville at that time (inventories and their creators), as well as its subsequent transformation. We will analyze the figure of Hernando Colón as a visionary bibliophile, his relationship with Charles V – who partially supported his bibliographic project with a significant grant – and the process by which, after Hernando’s death in 1539, his monumental collection of more than 15,000 volumes passed into the hands of the Cathedral Chapter.
Lecture by Ms. Pilar Jiménez de Cisneros Vencelá. Graduate in Documentation and Diploma in Library and Information Science from the University of Granada. She has developed her professional career in institutions such as the Museo Casa Natal de la Fundación Picasso (Málaga) and the Library of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid). Since 1999 she has been a member of the technical team of the Institución Colombina, assuming the position of Head of the Libraries Department in October 2023. During these years she has specialized in the manuscript section, also working in the organization and description of the antique printed collection. She has actively participated in projects of digitization and dissemination of documentary heritage, reference service and development of bibliographic description tools.
The conference will be complemented by the performance of musical works from the 15th and 16th centuries by the group Ministriles Hispalensis.
Access will be through the Puerta de San Miguel of the Cathedral at 18:00 hours.
Each day, a carefully selected selection of books and documents referred to in the lectures will be exhibited in a display.
