A Natureza do Tribunal do Santo Ofício em Portugal

“À Conversa” com o Prof. José Pedro Paiva He has been teaching at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Coimbra since 1986 in the following subjects: Modern Portuguese History, Portuguese Culture and Post-Graduate seminars on the Inquisition. He concluded his Doctorate at the European University Institute (Florence) and since then he has shown interest in Comparative History. He is a researcher at the History of Society and Culture at the University of Coimbra, at the Religious Study Centre at the Portuguese Catholic University and academic by correspondence of the Portuguese Academy of History. He is since 2005 a member of the International Scientific Committee that coordinated and wrote the Dizionario Storico dell´Inquisizione (Pisa, 2010) and he is the scientific coordinator of Portugaliae Monumenta Misericordiarum (eight volumes edited). He is the author of Práticas e crenças mágicas. O medo e a necessidade dos mágicos na diocese de Coimbra (1650-1740) [“Magic practices and beliefs. Fear and the need for mágicos in the diocese of Coimbra (1650-1740)”], (Coimbra, 1992), Witchcraft and superstition in a country without witch hunt: 1600-1774, (Lisboa, 1997 and 2002), Religious ceremonials and images: power and social meaning (1400-1750), (Coimbra, 2002) and various chapters of The Religious History of Portugal (Lisbon, 2000). Coimbra University Press published his latest book: Os bispos de Portugal e do Império (1495-1777) [“Portuguese bishops and the Empire (1495-1777)”] (Coimbra, 2006).