Faith Read: The Historical Catechism of Claudio Fleury Translated into Spanish by Fray Juan Interian de Ayala (Madrid, 1718)

Claudio Fleury's Historical Catechism (1683) had an extraordinary im-pact from the time of its initial publication in France and merited a significant number of translations. Influenced by Jansenism, it soon found itself listed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Its influence was only minor in Spain at the end of the seventeenth century, but it gained greater prominence throughout the following century. This article analyzes the 1718 Spanish translation of the Mercedarian preacher fray Juan Interian de Ayala (1656-1730), one of the founders of the Spanish Royal Academy. The article also studies the work's impact in Spain of its time, particularly on pedagogy, and its influence on the reformation of preaching, in the search for an enlightened Catholicism grounded in the traditional Church.