overcoming the inquisition
TRANSCRIPT
-
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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.
-
8/3/2019 Overcoming the Inquisition
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).