Religion and Superstition

The Catholic Church, represented by Friar Jerome, is intertwined with supernatural beliefs, prophecies, and relics, reflecting the tension between faith, superstition, and the manipulation of religion for political ends.

The preface discusses the use of miracles, visions, and necromancy as faithful to the manners of the dark ages, and suggests the author may have been a priest reinforcing superstition against Reformation ideas.

Friar Jerome invokes divine will and church authority to oppose Manfred's incestuous and adulterous plans, while Manfred manipulates religious scruples for his own ends.