overcoming the inquisition

8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition

1/21

1

Joe Martinez

Hist 498

Overcoming the Inquisition

The Spanish Inquisition, an era in which King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella

of Castile set up tribunals to uphold the Catholic sanctity of their kingdom, saw many different

persecutions of people who were not Christians. Lasting from 1480 and officially ending in

1834, Jews were especially discriminated against during this time. They were faced with threats

of death if they did not convert to Christianity or leave Spain for good, so in light of these

pressures some Jews left the country to find places of acceptance while others converted to

Christianity, now called conversos, so that they could stay in the places that had served as their

homes for generations. However, the real conflict came when converted Jews did not stop

practicing their original religion despite the possible consequences. Many Jews became Crypto-

Jews meaning they secretly continued to practice their original faith.BachillerAndres

Bernaldez, who was a chronicler and parish priest in Spain, wrote a book entitledRecollections

of the Reign of the Catholic Kings, within it he states The baptized Jews who stayed were called

conversos; this is the origin of the name converso, which means those converted to the Holy

Catholic Faith. The conversos observed the Faith very badlyfor the most part they were secret

Jews. In fact, they were neither Jews nor Christians, since they were baptized, but were heretics,

and [yet] without the Law [of Moses].1

Despite the conversions and secrecy, hundreds of Jews

were still convicted of being heretics during the time of the Inquisition. Many trials were held

that contained overwhelming evidence that there were indeed many Crypto-Jews in existence.

1Andres Bernaldez, Recollections of the Reign of the Catholic Kings. In The Spanish Inquisition 1478-1614: An

Anthology of Sources, trans. and ed. Lu Ann Homza, 3. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2006.


2/21

2

Even when Jews converted, in the eyes of the Christians this was not enough to alleviate the

aggression and conflict that was present between the two religious sects. In most cases the

tensions that permeated every society were elevated leading to a suspicion that there were

different underlying causes for the resentment towards the Jews.

Whether it was stubbornness, pride in their faith, or their passionate belief in their values,

some Crypto-Jews openly challenged, purposely or accidentally, the dominant standards during

the time which further angered the Church, and in spite of the severe persecution and

discrimination, some Jewish people still boldly clung to their beliefs. By observing this tension

through the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition, this paper aims to analyze how the King

and Queen of Spains desire for a united kingdom enabled the Church to fully manifest their

hatred towards Jews due to the fact that they were facing a potentially threatening group that

opposed many of their own religious ideologies. This tension will be unraveled starting with the

policies of Thomas de Torquemada (1420-1498), working through the rift he caused through the

Expulsion Edict of 1492, and by examining the different trials and several personal documents.

To say that throughout Spains history, its religious affiliations were a little muddled

would be a complete understatement. The back-and-forth of tolerance and intolerance for

different religions was tiring to follow, keeping non-Christians and Christians alike constantly on

their toes for who would be accepted and who would not. Jews seemed to have the hardest time

when it came to religious tolerance because even at the best of times they were merely tolerated

as opposed to accepted by society. In order to properly and officially target Jews throughout this

whole ordeal, there had been multiple definitions produced by varying authorities leading up to

and during the Inquisition of what a Jew is considered. Under Title 7 Section 24 Law 1 of the


3/21

3

thirteenth century law-code of Alfonso X of Castille, not only is a proper definition given but

also a reasoning of why Jews had been tolerated to that point. Someone is called a Jew who

believes in and adheres to the law of Moses as it is stated literally, and is circumcised and does

the other things that Law of theirs commands.2

This is a very broad outlook on what a Jewish

person is, possibly using the other things as a very general term that could be used against any

Jewish person if not enough evidence was found against them to label them as a heretic. The

first condition also is not very specific and would need eye witness evidence in order to properly

prosecute. The second stipulation however, is much more specific seeing as how a circumcision

would be hard to hide if the Church demanded answers, although, this condition would be moot

if a converso from Judaism tried defending himself as a newly adamant follower of Christianity,

or more obviously for women who do not receive circumcisions at all. The reality of this

definition is that it is purposely broad as to let the overseers of the trials, or any other authority,

ultimately decide whether or not to prosecute a Jew as a heretic. There is no clear factor that

could be used to state with complete certainty what a Jewish person is.

The reasoning that this law describes for Christian toleration of Jews states that they

suffered the Jews to live among the Christiansthat they might live in captivity for ever and

that they should be a reminder to everyone that they come from the lineage of those who

crucified Our Lord Jesus Christ.3

The language used here emphasizes the bitter feelings and

tensions that Christians had held on to for an incredibly long time. The first word suffered

marks the attitude that Christians were actually being hurt because they were seemingly forced to

2Alfonso X of Castile, Siete Partidas, in The Jews in Western Europe 1400-1600, trans. and ed. John Edwards

(Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994), 34.3

Alfonso X, Siete Partidas, 34


4/21

4

live with Jews among them. This section then goes on to describe how Christians appeared to

find solace in the belief that Jews would one day suffer for their unforgivable sin of crucifying

Jesus Christ. Until then, Jews would be merely tolerated as a stigmatized outcast group. This

passage defines where a lot of the hatred towards Jews came from dating all the way back to

what Christians deemed as an unforgivable sin over a thousand years ago. This combined with

the monarchs desire for a completely united kingdom drove the discrimination of the Jews for a

more pure Church.

Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon married on October 19, 1469,

where soon after the reign of the Catholic Monarchs began.4 This started the process for these

empires to unite into what is known as Spain today, but uniting the two political entities into one

superpower caused sweeping changes over the slowly consolidating kingdom. To clear this up,

the Catholic Monarchs stepped in with their desire for a truly united kingdom which they

thought could only be done with one established religion.5

The vehicle they would use to achieve

this would be the Inquisition.

The establishment of the Spanish Inquisition stumbled to find firm ground, King

Ferdinand and Queen Isabella wanted an organization that was completely under their control as

opposed to previous inquisitions that only answered to the Papacy. To work towards a firmer

establishment a council, nicknamed la Suprema, was created to oversee all activities that related

to faith. This council needed an Inquisitor General who would have total control over all other

inquisitors, popes in milder terms, of the kingdom who would make cases against and oversee all

4Henry Kamen,The Spanish Inquisition (New York: The New American Library, 1965), 1

5Jean Plaidy, The Spanish Inquisition (New York: The Citadel Press, 1967), 86


5/21

5

the trials of suspected heretics. The decision of who would be the Inquisitor General was where

the success of the Inquisition would be ultimately decided.6 Ferdinand was able to solidify this

institution when he appointed Thomas de Torquemada to this position in 1483, and with

Ferdinands sanctioning Torquemada now had power over the whole kingdom of Spain.7

The beginning period of the Inquisition is marked at 1480 and ends in 1516 with the

death of King Ferdinand. There is only a rough estimate of how many people were burnt at the

stake during this time because the Holy Office should be seen as an unreliable source for these

statistics. There are territories, however, that have sources such as the diocese of Seville that

claim there were around 600 people burnt at the stake around this time within the city alone,

while there are even claims that there were around 700 burnt at the stake while 5000 were able to

resolve the issues with the Church. Cordoba had 263 Jews burned at the stake, but that number

could have added 24 others if the victims were found.8

These judgments were all decided in

ceremonies called autos de fe, which translates to acts of faith. A heretic was judged either way

where he or she could either reconcile with the church or be handed over to the secular arm to be

burnt.

Granada was a city that was also faced with trials of the Inquisition. In an account that

documents the people who appeared at an auto de fe on Sunday, March 18, 1571, there is much

detail of the who was sentenced for what crimes. One of the descriptions is of a Portuguese

converso named Gonzalo Baez. It states that he completely confessed all of the following claims

that he did not have to believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ was the true Messiah as promised in

6Henry Lea,A History of the Inquisition of Spain (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1906), 174.

7Kamen, The Spanish Inquisition, 138.

8Michael Alpert, Crypto-Judaism and the Spanish Inquisition, (London: Palgrave, 2001), 23.


6/21

6

the Lawwhen the true Messiah came, he would liberate the Jews, and that he was to follow

the Law of Moses because God had written it with His finger, with no need to believe the

evangelical law because some fisherman wrote it.9

This description seems bias in the way it is

presenting the information because although it gives the facts of Baezs confessions, it makes

him seem like he is trying to mock Christians, specifically with the words some fisherman. It

is as if the Church is trying to make him seem absurd in the eyes of the public with the feeling

of: how can he say these things about our Lord?

The account goes on to describe all the evidence and daily routines that Baez confessed

to which provides an insight into the lifestyle ofconversos. It states Every Saturday had to be

observed as a feast day, and no work was to be performed on them at allOne had to fast and

keep a great feast on September 10One also had to observe the Passover, about the flight from

Egypt[and] One has to believe that Mosaic Law is good and better than the law of

Christians.10

There were many observances that Baez had to abide by, and he was not ashamed

by any of this as he made a full confession of adhering to all of these rituals. The Church was

able to gather a lot of evidence against Baez because of all of these rituals, putting his life in

danger, but what is worse for him is the fact that taught Mosaic Law to many people, promoting

it...Baez taught one person that Our Lord Jesus Christ had been a whip sent by God to punish

menHe also taught that they should not believe in Our Lady or in any other saint, and that Our

Lady had not been a Virgin when she gave birth, because it was impossible for a virgin to give

9Jose Maria Garcia Fuentes Auto de fe Celebrated in Granada, March 18, 1571. In The Spanish Inquisition 1478-

1614: An Anthology of Sources, trans. and ed. Lu Ann Homza, 241. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.,

2006.10

Ibid, 241.


7/21

7

birth, and thus what the Christians believed was a complete lie.11

These would be very bold

statements to make during this time, coming off as very insulting for the Church, and these are

the types of claims that the Church wanted to put a stop to. It should be noted that this auto de fe

only sentenced Baez to Monastic habit and reclusion in a monastery for one year,12

most likely

for the sole reason that Baez was willing to confess all of his errors. The same can not be said

for some of the other people who were held on trial. The document goes on to describe three

more people Catalina Mendez and Hernando Lopez, who were both Portuguese conversos, and

were sentenced to perpetual prison after facing similar charges as Baez, and Ysabel de Ayora

who was represented in effigy, in the form of someone reconciled, at the auto.

13

It seems that

there were only a few that were willing to confess to the Church, while many more were faced

with perpetual prison.

Another example of a city that was hit incredibly hard by the Inquisition was Ciudad Real

where there were fifty converso families. By 1485, two years after the tribunal was established,

there had been seventeen autos de fe and all fifty families had been affected. Ten of these autos

de fe led to a sentencing for people to be burnt. Over two hundred people were put on trial and

fifty-two were executed.14

Toledo was another city that saw its Jewish population dwindle when

the Inquisition arrived. In a span of five years 2,791 people were put on trial and 1,096 of them

were burnt. Five hundred more people, who were able to escape or had died during the time,

were burned in effigy. For the whole of the Spanish kingdom, a rough estimated total of about

11Fuentes, Auto de fe Celebrated in Granada, March 18, 1571, 241-242.

12Ibid, 242

13Ibid, 243

14Alpert, Crypto-Judaism and the Spanish Inquisition, 25.


8/21

8

50,000 people were condemned during this early period of the Inquisition.15

The Inquisitor

General had undoubtedly created a powerful force for the church.

Torquemada was a critical choice for the monarchs, but he was chosen wisely as he

showed an unwavering attitude and sense of duty. For him, there would be no negotiation and

his pursuit for justice would be unyielding in the name of the Church.16

Under Torquemada, the

full force and power of the Inquisition was realized. For the most part tribunals, which acted like

a court, were set up to examine cases of suspected heretics. These were established all over the

kingdom of Spain to ensure a presence for the Inquisition in all of the territories. Torquemada

produced very strict instructions for the Inquisition and how to run these tribunals which were

compiled in 1627 by Gaspar Isidro, who was a member ofla suprema entitledInstructions of the

Holy Office of the Inquisition, Handled Summarily, Both Old and New, Part 1. These instructions

detail several different processes on how to handle the Inquisition in numerous locations. Upon

arrival in a district the inquisitors shall call the whole population and the clergy togetherto

hear a sermon on the FaithThe inquisitors shall explain their license, authority, and

intentionAt the end of the sermon, all faithful Christians must be ordered to raise their hands; a

cross and the Gospels should be put before them, so that they may swear to favor the Holy

Inquisition and its ministers, and not impede them directly or indirectly.17

Torquemada wanted

to ensure that it was unmistakably clear for the reason the inquisitors were there. He wanted all

15Alpert, Crypto-Judaism and the Spanish Inquisition, 25.

16Lea, History of the Inquisition of Spain, 174.

17Tomas Torquemada, Compilations of Instructions of the Office of the Holy Inquisition. In The Spanish

Inquisition 1478-1614: An Anthology of Sources, trans. and ed. Lu Ann Homza, 63. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing

Company, Inc., 2006.


9/21

9

the people to publicly state that they would not do anything to cause difficulty in the

investigations because there would be no room for excuses if punishments were enacted.

After the sermon an Edict of Grace was given stating that a period of grace of thirty or

forty daysso that all peoplewho find themselves guilty of any sin of heresy or apostasy, or

of keeping and performing the rituals and ceremonies of the Jewsmay come to disclose their

errors before the inquisitors18

This gave Jews or any other heretic a chance to come forward

without fear of severe punishment. This is ironic however as the directions go on to state that the

inquisitors should then judge whether or not the confessor should renounce his or her heresy

publicly or privately. Restrictions are then placed upon the confessor where the instructions state

they may not possess public offices or benefices; nor may they be advocates, landlords,

apothecaries, spice dealers, physicians or surgeons, or bleeders or public criers. They may not

carry gold, silver, coral, pearls, or other things, nor precious stones; they may not wear any sort

of silk or camlet19

For the reconciled it seems that there were still heavy punishments to bear,

although none were life threatening, there were still many restrictions that were placed upon

them that prevented them from proceeding with a standard lifestyle.

However the penalties for those who are seized and imprisoned, after the criminal has

been denounced or accused of the crime of heresy and apostasy and a trial has legitimately been

undertaken against himthe inquisitors must receive him to reconciliation with penalty of

perpetual prison other circumstances led to relax[ing] him to the secular arm.20

This means

that the criminal either faced life in prison or would be burned at the stake. The instructions also

18Torquemada, Compilations of Instructions of the Office of the Holy Inquisition, 64.

19Ibid, 65.

20Ibid, 67.


10/21

10

go on to describe how torture can be used in cases that are half proven where if the accused

confesses the crime under torture, and afterward ratifies or confirms his confession on the next or

third day, he shall be punished as convicted. If, after torture, he revokes the confession(and if

the crime is still not completely prove), the inquisitors must order him to publicly abjure the

error of which he is defamed and suspectedinquisitors shall give him some arbitrary penance

and treat him mildly.21

This shows the level of severity to which the Holy Roman Church was

willing to go to in order to completely rid or denounce the kingdom of heretics. The Church

turned to torturing people in order to force confessions that may not have held up substantially

after thorough investigations.

What these instructions do try to establish, however, is that there is room for forgiveness

and no extreme measures are taken without solid evidence. The Church wanted to be as fair as

possible, under the circumstances, in order to make sure no person was wrongfully accused or

treated unfairly with extra care provided with minors or orphans of burned heretics. By doing all

of this Torquemada was able to maximize the efficiency of the Inquisition without overly

publicizing the proceedings of individuals that were taking place. This was done by informers

who established within any given community. They would spy on their neighbors and report

back to the tribunal causing Jewish people to spy against Jewish conversos, although it was

sometimes voluntarily because of the bitterness that resided among them towards traitors of their

faith, and the population in general was taught how to spot secret Jews that may have been

hiding among them.22

21Torquemada, Compilations of Instructions of the Office of the Holy Inquisition, 67-68.

22Kamen, The Spanish Inquisition, 163


11/21

11

A document that highlights the amount of spying that went on during the Inquisition is

the Case of Isabel, wife ofbachillerLope de la Higuera, which was written on February 24, 1484

by Pedro Diaz who acted as an ordinario, which was a judicial presence for tribunals. This

document summarizes the evidence leading up to the case and the aftermath of the trial against

Isabel which denounced her as a heretic and an apostate. The evidence is the main focus of this

document discussing the testimony that led to the belief that Isabel was still practicing Judaism.

It also gives a detailed insight into Jewish practices and the types of behaviors that Christians

expected within their community.

This document is very detailed with the evidence that is used against Isabel, such as one

quotation from the document She does not do any sort of work on Saturday, but instead puts on

clean undergarments and clothing, and shaves [sic] and dresses up on those days.23

In cases

such as these, it can be seen that neighbors or people of the community were asked to bring forth

any evidence that could have built a case, and the extent of the personal information that was

used, such as knowing if Isabel had worn clean undergarments, is a very personal matter that can

be attributed to spying. On the other hand just from this same quotation one can see that Isabel

did not really try to hide the fact that she was practicing Judaism. The amount of spying makes it

difficult to tell how private these peoples lives were to the entire community; in this case it did

not seem very private at all with the amount of evidence that was presented. From the

perspective of the community members, however, if Isabel constantly did not work on Saturday

and dressed up that day as well, it would not take long for someone to notice that she was

23Diaz Pedro, Case of Isabel, wife of bachiller Lope de Higuera. In The Spanish Inquisition 1478-1614: An

Anthology of Sources, trans. and ed. Lu Ann Homza, 13-17. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2006.


12/21

12

secretly still practicing Judaism. Isabel clearly did not completely alter her behavior in light of

the Spanish Inquisition and the persecutions that were taking place.

A lot of the evidence that was built up around her blatantly pointed to one assumption

and this is especially telling from a quotation summarizing the evidence, And when she had to

swear an oath, she said Hebrew words. She did everything in the style of a Jewish woman and as

the Jews do them.24

It is not said within the document over how long of a period of time this

evidence was gathered, but it seems as if it would not take long at all, especially if she made it as

obvious as actually speaking Hebrew when she took an oath. In light of her actions though, this

was most likely a common occurrence for Jews during the Inquisition. Some Jews were quite

content with their lives and did little to change when the Inquisition started. The document later

states that Isabel was sentenced to death after the trial, but regardless of the looming death that

threatened her if she continued her actions, she still went ahead with practicing Judaism. The

fact that Isabel was possibly a proud Jewish woman could explain a lot of this; she may have

been a woman who would not renounce her faith in light of persecution and conversion.

Many Rabbis spoke out on their feelings of converts as well and while there most likely

were not many who spied on the conversos they still had strong beliefs on the subject. Rabbi

Shamah ben Shlomo Duran (1450) wrote his thoughts about the conversosprior to the 1492

Expulsion Edict stating We even presume to say that not only forced converts but also forced

apostates, even in the case of incest, continue to be part of Israel. Their marriages are

marriagestheir legal rites are legalIsrael, even when uncircumcised [physically], is

24Pedro, Case of Isabel, wife of bachiller Lope de Higuera. 13-17.


13/21

13

circumcised mahul[spiritually].25

Duran believed that conversion could not take away the

Jewish heritage within his people. He believed that all those who converted were still seen as

Israelites in Gods eyes. He does not express any bitter feelings towards the converted, but only

wanted them to know that conversion would not change them spiritually. Although, after the

1492 edict, there was a slight shift in this perspective. Rabbi Shmuel de Medina stated that

Every converso who had the opportunity to abandon Spain or Portugal to return to Judaism and

did not do so is [nonetheless] considered a Jewif there are any among them who had the

opportunity to emigrate and did not take advantage of it, but rather, being forced at the

beginning, afterwards moved away from Torah and [now] voluntarily practice Gentile customs,

these, and those like them, have no part with the God of Israelthey are lower than the

Gentiles.26

Shmuels reaction is far more bitter showing his resentment to those who betrayed

their original faith. He even has possibly disappointed feelings for those who did not leave Spain

so that they could practice their faith openly, telling them that they had the chance to leave but

they decided not to take it. Although he still states that they are Jews in spirit. He does not share

these feelings for those Jews who abandoned their faith completely. This shows why so many

Jews would be willing to spy on theirconverso neighbors, to truly seek out whether or not they

had really betrayed the Law of Moses.

While great tensions within the Jewish faith built, tension between faiths continued to

grow as the Catholic order was in power and the Jews were left to wonder what would happen

next. Persecutions took place centuries before, but none were nearly on the level of severity as

25Shamah ben Shlomo Duran The Rabbis on conversion, in The Jews in Western Europe 1400-1600, trans. and ed.

John Edwards (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994), 69.26

Shmuel de Medina The Rabbis on conversion, in The Jews in Western Europe 1400-1600, trans. and ed. John

Edwards (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994), 69-70.


14/21

14

the Inquisition.27

So for Jews, being discriminated against was nothing new. They faced

everything from expulsions to riots to massacres. With room for peace or compromise

dwindling fast the Catholic Church thought that the best thing to do would be to forcefully

convert as many Jews as possible. Some Jews felt the pressure and converted on their own, but

some were coerced into becoming conversos. This action taken by the Jews, that could be seen

as a last, desperate attempt to attain peace within society, still did very little to alleviate the anger

from the Christians. In most cases it actually exacerbated the feelings of the Catholic Church as

it started to focus the hatred on these conversos instead of the Jews that remained in the

kingdom, calling them out for not actually being true Christians.

28

There were still added

frustrations due to Christians suspicions that these conversos were secretly practicing Judaism,

or acting as Crypto-Jews. The stage was set for a crucial step in the Inquisition to take hold as

Queen Isabella was convinced, with her desire for an all Catholic kingdom, to call for the end of

the spread of Judaism through conversos.29

The King and Queen made an official decree during the Inquisition to put their will into

action with the Expulsion Edict of 1492. This decree gave the Jewish people an ultimatum:

either convert to Christianity or leave the Spanish kingdom. This document gives a prime insight

into the feelings towards the Jewish people during time. The document starts off by saying We

[the King and Queen] were informed that in these our kingdoms there were some bad Christians

who Judaized and apostatized from our holy Catholic faith, this being chiefly caused by the

communication of the Jews with the Christiansin the year 1480, we ordered that the said Jews

27Plaidy, The Spanish Inquisition, 104.

28John Edwards, Inquisition (Great Britain: Tempus, 1999), 69.

29Plaidy, The Spanish Inquisition, 111.


15/21

15

be separated in all the cities, villages, and places of our kingdoms30

The Catholic church and

the Monarchs were trying everything to keep the Jews and Christians separate so that there was

no interaction whatsoever. Jews were forced to live in Ghettos, marginalizing them from society

stemming from the Queens overarching desire for a united kingdom with the belief that there

needed to be one unifying religion. With Christians converting over to Judaism, she thought that

her kingdom would never be a cohesive empire.

This decree goes on to say that from the Inquisition that was established it had become

evident and apparent that the great damage to the Christians has resulted from participation,

conversation, and communicationwith the Jews, who try to always achieve by

whatevermeans possible to subvert and to draw away faithful Christians from our holy

Catholic faith and to separate them from it, and to attract and pervert them to their injurious

belief.31

The great damage this decree speaks of is never made clear. Not many records show

how many Christians converted to Judaism to hurt the Church so badly, but obviously it was

enough for the King and Queen to take notice and try to put an end to it. To say that the church

may have been over exaggerating, however, is in all likelihood. The church most likely was

using the perversion of Christians as a guise in order to rid their kingdom of Jews for good.

The Inquisition barely scratched the surface for solving the Churchs Jewish problem

even with the efficiency that Torquemada had established, the Christian hatred of the Jews was

not alleviated and the following quotation from the decree highlights this very well. Because

we are informed thatthe punishments meted out to some of those said Jews found culpable in

30James Gerber, The Edict of Expulsion in The Jews of Spain, ed. James Kerber (New York: The Free Press, 1992),

286.31

Ibid, 286.


16/21

16

the said crimes and transgressions against our holy Catholic faith, will suffice as a complete

remedy to obviate and to terminate such great opprobrium and offense to the Christian

religion.32

The Inquisition was not enough for the Christians even with the fact that thousands

of Jews were murdered up to the time when this Edict was announced. The deaths of all those

people were not enough for the Catholic Church, even with all the suffering that came from the

inquisitors and all of the autos de fe that were had. So executing a major portion of the Jewish

population within their kingdom, The King and Queen of Spain then decided that the Jews who

remained would no longer be welcome within any of their territory. The council resolve[s] to

order all and said Jews and Jewesses out of our kingdoms and that they never return nor come

back to any of themof whatever age they may bewho by whatever manner or whatever

reason may have come or are to be found in them, that by the end of July of the present year, that

they leave the said kingdomsand they dare not return unto themupon punishment of

deathwithout trial, sentence, or declaration.33

The Monarchs wanted to make it very clear

that the Jews were not to be in any part of the kingdom, even as travelers or otherwise, or they

would face the penalty of death. The urgency and seriousness of this decree is highlighted in this

section as there would be no trial for Jews to even try to defend themselves if they had a

legitimate reason for being there. To the Monarchs, there would no longer be any valid reason

for Jews to be in any part of their kingdoms no matter what the grounds for their presence. The

reasoning for the deadline at the end of July was so that all of the Jews had enough time gather

up all their belongings and finish up any other matters that they needed to attend to. It acted as a

32Gerber, The Edict of Expulsion, 287.

33Ibid, 288.


17/21

17

grace period for Jews where they were not punished right away and had time to flee to wherever

they needed to go.

The Jews were seen as a contaminant within their society. The powerful language that is

used within this decree shows the true emotions and feelings of the Christians towards the Jews.

those who pervert the good and honest living of the cities and villages, and that by contagion

could injure others, [should] be expelled from among the peoples, and even for other lighter

causes that are harmful to the states, and how much more so for the greatest of the crimes,

dangerous and contagious as is this one.34

For the church, there was a severe disgust for the

Jewish people. The Jews were a poison to the Christians in the eyes of the Monarchs and an

extreme fear that the Jews would damage the beliefs of the Church. It is remarkable that the

level of intense hatred was so high and can even be surprising that the Jews were given a grace

period at all. The Church among all things wanted to protect its Christian followers and so it

decided that the best way to take care of this situation was to completely remove what it deemed

the problem to be in the first place. The Jews were expelled and that would seemingly solve the

Churchs crisis at hand.

Some of the reasoning that the Christians may have used for this expulsion could come

from the many Jewish stereotypes that pervaded Spanish societies. Once again, in Andres

BernaldezsRecollections of the Reign of the Catholic Kings written shortly after the Jews were

expelled from the kingdom, he presents these stereotypes in a matter-of-fact certainty.

Specifically referencing conversos, Bernaldez writes not believing in or fearing

excommunicationRather, they did it all to injure Jesus Christ and the Churchthey had no

34Gerber The Edict of Expulsion, 287.


18/21

18

conscience when buying or selling with Christians.35

The thought process of blaming the Jews

actions immediately on trying to bring hurt to the church, and more specifically Jesus Christ,

shows the little faith that Christians had in Jewish people at the time. Jewish people were

stereotyped to be without a conscience and a group of people who act in defiance of the lord at

every turn of their lives and would do this whenever they could because they did not believe in

the sanctity of the Catholic Church. It is interesting to see how at the end of the quotation,

Jewish actions can be taken to have hurt Christians in general.

A document that shows some other reasoning for the hatred ofconversos can be seen by

Niccolau Eymerich in 1379 from hisLe manuel de lInquisiteurHe states Christians who

have converted to Judaism, and Jews who, having converted to Christianity, return to the

atrocious Jewish sect are [indeed] heretics and must be considered as such. Both [categories]

have renounced the faith of Christ which they had embraced by baptismthey will be pursued

like impenitent heretics by bishops and inquisitors, who will hand them over to the secular arm

to be burnt.36 This section describes how, above all things, Catholics believed that someone

who renounced the Christian faith, especially to follow the faith of those that crucified Jesus

Christ, was utterly unacceptable. In the eyes of the Catholic Church this was clearly punishable

by death. This is only reinforced by the fact that attention of persecution switched focus from

the remaining Jews over to the conversos. This is what the Catholic Church feared, more people

turning away from Christianity and gravitating towards Judaism for what can not only be seen as

a betrayal but a powerful insult to God himself. The document even goes on to say that anybody

35Bernaldez, Recollections of the Reign of the Catholic Kings. 4.

36Nicholau Eymerich, Le manuel de lInquisiteur, in The Jews in Western Europe 1400-1600, trans. and ed. John

Edwards (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994), 32.


19/21

19

who sought counseling from a Christian, converso or not, that began to follow Judaism, would be

seen as an aider or abettor.37 Even the thought of socializing with Jews angered the Church.

This latter section was most likely written to instill fear in Christians to not interact with Jews at

all in the chance that they may be labeled as a heretic for aiding a heretic. In some cases this

would prevent Christians from even risking the idea of intermingling with Jews, so that the

Church would not have to worry as much about losing followers.

This reaction from the church, the fear of Jews gaining a more powerful following, a

following that could potentially challenge the church itself is emphasized in many inquisitors

manuals. In another manual written by Bernard Gui in 1323-4, he embodies that fear and hatred

of the Jews. He describes the Jews as perfidious stating they struggle, where and when they

can, secretly to pervert Christians and draw them into the Jewish perfidy.38

As Eymerich had

written, Gui also goes on to say that similar punishments would be given to supporters,

protectors, and defenders of heretics.39

This perversion that Gui describes makes Judaism

sound like a vile act that nobody should be a part of. With so many authorities of the Church

speaking out against the debauchery that is Judaism, it can easily be seen who was fanning the

flames. Inquisitors were denouncing Judaism as a wicked temptation that had the sole purpose

of corrupting faithful Christians.

The Jews faced severe persecution at the end of the 15th century. They were given little

opportunities to continue their faith because in the eyes of the Church, they were heretics. Bitter

feelings towards Jews resided among Christians because of the built up tension from long ago.

37Eymerich, Le manuel de lInquisiteur, 32

38Ibid, 31-32.

39Ibid, 32.


20/21

20

The Jews were a constant reminder of everything the Christians resented with rituals and beliefs

that directly disagreed and insulted the Christian ideology. The fact that the Catholic Monarchs

wanted a truly united kingdom under their new reign only built upon this belief, and with the fear

of Jews threatening to drive this apart by gaining a strong support of people only further fueled

the Churchs hatred. Extreme measures were taken to make sure that the Jewish contaminant

was stopped or removed from the Spanish kingdom. The underlying cause manifested itself

when the Inquisition was used to fulfill the monarchs wishes. The documents and memoirs

truly show the bitterness that was felt towards from all the years of toleration of the Jews and it

was all finally fully realized during this period of persecution. While the Jews suffered from

discrimination and hatred most were still able to overcome the Inquisition in spirit, never fully

losing their faith, continuing on in the face of prejudice.


21/21

21

Works Cited

-Henry Kamen,The Spanish Inquisition (New York: The New American Library, 1965).

-Henry Lea,A History of the Inquisition of Spain (New York: The Macmillan Company,

1906).

-Jean Plaidy, The Spanish Inquisition (New York: The Citadel Press, 1967).

-John Edwards,Inquisition (Great Britain: Tempus, 1999), 69ss, 1994).

-John Edwards, ed. and trans., The Jews in Western Europe 1400-1600 (Manchester:

Manchester University Pre

-Michael Alpert, Crypto-Judaism and the Spanish Inquisition, (London: Palgrave, 2001).

-Lu Ann Homza, ed. and trans., The Spanish Inquisition 1478-1614: An Anthology of

Sources (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company Inc., 2006).

overcoming the inquisition

Documents