A mão do Rei e a férula papal. Gabriel Pereira de castro, crítico de Francisco Suárez.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, when the limits of ecclesiastical and civil jurisdiction were discussed throughout Europe, Judge Gabriel Pereira de Castro questioned Francisco Suarez's theses on the Pope's supremacy in matters involving religious property and persons. His main criticism dealt with the limits of the independence of the Church's tribunals in the face of the King's power. Father Suarez responded by reaffirming his theses on the autonomy of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The controversy was interrupted with the death of the Jesuit in 1617. The analysis of the debate reveals the Portuguese dimension of an important tension that marked the formation of the Modern State throughout Europe.