El Auto de la residencia del Hombre como proceso judicial del pecador

• Main Author: Jean Canavaggio
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Civilisations et Littératures d’Espagne et d’Amérique du Moyen Âge aux Lumières (CLEA) - Paris Sorbonne 2021-02-01
• Series: E-Spania
• Subjects: auto; eucharist; grace; justice; mercy
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/e-spania/38998

The Auto de la Residencia del Hombre is a play that can be found in the Códice de Autos Viejos manuscript. The play puts on stage a character called Hombre (Man, Everyman) that has to go to court, presided by Justicia (Justice). The judicial character acts in tandem with Misericordia (Mercy), and this combination of two of God’s attributes makes pardon possible. The final exaltation of Encarnación (Incarnation) and Redención (Redemption), so characteristic of the Procès de Paradis, is replaced here by the Eucharist. As regards Hombre, after having accepted a sentence that delivers him from a feared condemnation, he declares himself convinced that Grace's help is enough for him to reach salvation. Thus, the debate between Liberty and Grace is implicit here, without there actually being a strong echo of the final 16th-century polemic between Jesuits and Dominicans.