The Laughter of the Saints: Parodies of Holiness in Late Medieval and Renaissance Spain

Between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries in Spain, a large number of parodic works were produced that featured depictions of humourous, satirical, and comical saints. The Laughter of the Saints examines this rich carnivalesque tradition of parodied holy men and women and traces their influence to the anti-heroes and picaresque roots of early modern novels such as Don Quixote.

The first full-length treatment of the ways in which Spanish writers imitated religious depictions of saint...