The Lawyers’ Tales: Legal Casuistry and the Spanish Golden Age Novella (Cristóbal Suárez de Figueroa, Alonso de Castillo Solórzano)

Abstract

This contribution examines the relationship between casuistry and narrative literature in the Siglo de Oro with particular attention to legal contexts. In this respect, El pasajero (1617) by Crist ó bal Su á rez de Figueroa proves to be an ideal object of research, since the author, as a jurist, displays casuistic thinking, argumentation and procedure. The rather pragmatic and didactic character of this hybrid text is contrasted with novellas from the collection Huerta de Valencia (1629) by Alonso de Castillo Sol ó rzano, whose intradiegetic storytellers are likewise characterized by their academic professions, including a lawyer.