Faith and Heresy in The Familiar: Miracles, Masks, and the Inquisition

Throughout Leigh Bardugo’s The Familiar, the Spanish Inquisition forces characters to perform a dangerous dance between devotion and damnation. In the world of 16th-century Madrid, faith is never private; it is a public performance scrutinised by spies, priests, and the ever‑present threat of the auto‑da‑fé. The novel’s central thematic claim is that faith and heresy are not fixed opposites but shifting identities shaped by power, survival, and the Inquisition’s gaze. What the Church calls a miracle can be dismissed as a demonic pact, and what it labels heresy can be a lifeline for the oppressed. Bardugo uses her characters’ struggles with magic, lineage, and hypocrisy to expose the arbitrary line between divine grace and mortal sin.

Luzia’s Split Identity: Two Religions, Neither Complete

From her first appearance in the torneo preparations, Luzia Cotado is aware that she lives a double life. In Chapter 33, she thinks: “Ze was altijd al twee personen tegelijk geweest met twee religies, hoewel geen van beide compleet.” She has been baptised, attends Mass, and knows the Paternoster and Ave Maria by heart, yet her magic – the refranes her mother taught her – feels like “een ketting die haar aan het verleden ketende, en aan elke jood in elke synagoge.” This internal conflict is the novel’s first example of the faith‑heresy paradox: Luzia performs Christian devotion flawlessly while harbouring a power that the Inquisition would call esticho (witchcraft). Her body is the site of the tension; she sweats in her black dress at the torneo, acutely aware that the bishop’s gaze could reduce her to a heretic at any moment. The symbol of the rosemary she carries – used by Hualit for protection – underscores that even protective acts are freighted with suspicion.

Hualit’s Secret: The Converso’s Necessary Heresy

The clearest articulation of faith as a survival mask comes from Luzia’s aunt, Hualit Catalina de Castro de Oro. In Chapter 22, Hualit reveals that she is a conversa – a Jew forced to convert under threat of death. She tells Luzia: “Anusim, noemden ze degenen die de doop boven de dood verkozen. Gedwongenen. Maar wat zijn wij, hun nakomelingen, die valse gebeden uitspreken en in de kerken van hun moordenaars knielen?” Her claim reverses the Inquisition’s logic: heresy is not the secret Jewish practice but the forced Christian performance. Hualit keeps a private confessor who shares her secrets, celebrates Shabbat when possible, and sends money to a rabbi in Salonika. Her faith is hidden, yet it is the only authentic one she has. The Ladino proverbs that Luzia uses for her “miracles” are themselves a heritage of exile and resistance – a language of survival that the Church cannot control. Hualit’s story demonstrates that the Inquisition does not eradicate heresy; it drives it underground, forcing the faithful to become actors.

The Torneo and the Demonic Shadow: When Miracles Turn

The third major exploration of faith and heresy occurs during the mystery play at the torneo in Chapter 35. The contestants are asked to defend the Christ child using their gifts. Luzia kneels and recites the Ave Maria, but in her mind she speaks the refrán that makes white roses grow into a wall of thorns. The audience applauds a miracle – but then the shadows of the marionettes take on a life of their own. The shadow of Queen Elizabeth becomes a clawed demon; the shadow of John Dee grows horns and a tail. The bishop and clergy flee, crying “Het is de duivel!” What was meant as a pious display becomes heresy, proving that the line between divine and diabolic is determined not by the act itself but by the interpretation of authority. The shadow puppets are manipulated by an unseen force, possibly Santángel or Luzia’s uncontrolled power, but the Church instantly labels it demonic. This scene crystallises the novel’s theme: any miracle that cannot be controlled by the clergy is suspect.

The Climax: Choosing Heresy as Freedom

The climax of the faith‑heresy arc comes in Chapter 54, when Luzia and Santángel face the Inquisition tribunal. Luzia declares that Santángel is a demon, and Santángel himself claims: “Ik ben in dienst van de duivel.” In doing so, they embrace the accusation that the Inquisition would have made anyway. By claiming the demonic pact, they take ownership of the narrative. In Chapter 58, Luzia stands at the stake, clutching rosemary, and prepares to use her refrán one last time. She thinks: “Als het lied gevaarlijk en ontembaar wilde zijn, sterker en verschrikkelijker dan zou mogen, wie was zij dan om dat tegen te houden?” She sings aboltar kazal, aboltar mazal, and the world breaks open. Her death is officially recorded as an execution by fire, but the aftermath in Chapter 59 suggests she and Santángel escaped or transformed – no remains were found. Her final act is both a miracle and a heresy; it transcends the Inquisition’s categories entirely. Luzia refuses to be defined by anyone else’s faith or accusation; she creates her own ending.

Fortún’s Collapse: The Talisman and the Loss of Orthodoxy

Fortún Donadei’s fate in Chapter 59 provides a counterpoint. After Luzia’s execution, his powers desert him. The talismanic smaragd in his crucifix is cracked – broken by Luzia’s magic at the stake. Without it, he can no longer perform milagritos. The novel implies that his power came not from God but from a magical object that the Church would also deem heretical if examined. Víctor de Paredes, now terrified, plans to take Fortún to the south to find a “wise man” who can restore his gift – a journey that echoes the Inquisition’s own pursuit of forbidden knowledge. Fortún’s loss symbolises the fragility of sanctioned miracles: when the Church’s approved tools fail, the user becomes useless and suspicious. In contrast, Valentina Ordoño, who was on the margins of the torneo, turns her home into a sanctuary for artists and outcasts – a space where faith is not policed.

Complexity and Contradiction

The novel refuses to offer a simple heroism of heresy crime. Luzia’s magic is real and dangerous; she kills a man accidentally in Chapter 22. Santángel truly serves Víctor, and his servitude may involve demonic bonds. The Inquisition’s brutality is undeniable, but some of its targets – like Hualit – are genuinely devout in their hidden faith. The symbol of the pomegranate (associated with Persephone and the underworld) appears throughout as a reminder that seeds of truth can be buried and still bear fruit. The refranes themselves are neither holy nor satanic; they are cultural artefacts that become heretical only when used outside Church oversight. Bardugo shows that in a world of religious terror, everyone must decide which parts of themselves to hide and which to proclaim. The true heresy is not practising another faith but claiming the right to define your own.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does Luzia’s identity as a “two people at once” reflect the novel’s view of faith?
   Luzia has been raised Christian but her magic stems from her Jewish heritage. She performs Catholic devotion while carrying the Ladino proverbs that connect her to her mother’s lineage. The novel suggests that faith is not singular; it can be a layering of traditions forced into conflict by persecution.

2. Why does Hualit call herself an anusim (forced one) rather than a heretic?
   Hualit rejects the Inquisition’s label because her conversion was coerced, not chosen. She argues that the true crime is not her secret Judaism but the Church’s forced baptisms. By naming herself “forced one,” she reclaims agency and exposes the system’s hypocrisy.

3. What role does the mystery play in Chapter 35 play in defining heresy?
   The play is supposed to display divine miracles, but when uncontrollable shadow puppets appear, the clergy immediately declare it demonic. This shows that heresy is a label applied by authority to any phenomenon it cannot explain or control, regardless of its source.

4. How does Luzia’s final act in Chapter 58 challenge the Inquisition’s categories?
   By singing the refrán at the stake, she transforms her death into an escape (or transformation) that leaves no remains. The Church cannot definitively kill her, and the lack of a body creates ambiguity – was she a witch or a saint? She refuses to let the Inquisition have the last word.

5. What does Fortún’s broken talisman reveal about the nature of “miracles” in the novel?
   Fortún’s power depended on a magical gem, not divine grace. Once the talisman cracks, he loses his gift. This reveals that the miracles performed by the torneo contestants are often technical, not spiritual – they rely on objects and knowledge that the Church would condemn if discovered. The talisman’s fragility mirrors the precariousness of any faith built on external props.