What does this research mean for the field?

The Rocío hallazgo legend and its recording in the 1758 Libro de Reglas utilized the narrative of divine self-placement to transform the legally ambiguous, contested marshlands of Las Rocinas into a legitimized devotional commons. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how the Virgin of El Rocío discovery legend transformed territorial ambiguity in the Las Rocinas marshlands into sacred, institutionalized stewardship.

September 8, 2026Journal of Religious HistoryOpen Access

Divine Self‐Placement, Sacred Placemaking: The Virgin of El Rocío and Territorial Custodianship in Early Modern Spain

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Authors

ADAdriano Duque

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Implication

Historical analysis reveals how Virgin Mary apparition legends settled territorial disputes in early modern Spain, highlighting the role of sacred narratives in commons governance.

Key Points

To examine how the Virgin of El Rocío discovery legend transformed territorial ambiguity in the Las Rocinas marshlands into sacred, institutionalized stewardship.
Analyzed the 1758 Libro de Reglas de la Hermandad Matriz de Almonte as both a devotional manuscript and a legal instrument produced after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
Evaluated the narrative using Roman property categories (res nullius and res communis), Elinor Ostrom's commons governance model, and the anthropology of Andalusian brotherhoods.
Contextualized the text within fourteenth-century southern Iberian reconquest shrine traditions and regional sacred historiography.
The legend of the Virgin miraculously refusing to move converted legally ambiguous marshland into an acknowledged religious and territorial commons.
The 1758 Libro de Reglas mobilized Christian spatial memory and ritual narrative to establish the Hermandad Matriz de Almonte's legal custodianship over contested land amid inter-village rivalries.

Cite This Study

Adriano Duque (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9fd82058e84d0ff5b4759a https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9809.70111

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Implication

Historical analysis reveals how Virgin Mary apparition legends settled territorial disputes in early modern Spain, highlighting the role of sacred narratives in commons governance.

Divine Self‐Placement, Sacred Placemaking: The Virgin of El Rocío and Territorial Custodianship in Early Modern Spain

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Divine Self‐Placement, Sacred Placemaking: The Virgin of El Rocío and Territorial Custodianship in Early Modern Spain

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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