TOBY GREEN
INQUISITION
THE REIGN OF FEAR
PAN BOOKS
FOR IAN,
ALWAYS AN INSPIRATION
FOR ALL THOSE WHO SUFFERED
AT THE HANDS OF THE INQUISITIONS
OF PORTUGAL AND SPAIN
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Pastor Martin Niemöller
PICTURE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Credits are by page number in order from left to right and top to bottom.
I – Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid / The Bridgeman Art Library; British Library. 2 – Mary Evans Picture Library. 3 – Libro Rojo, Archivo General de la Nación (Mexico) / Cambridge University Library; Mary Evans Picture Library. 4/5 – Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid / The Bridgeman Art Library. 6/7 – Mary Evans Picture Library (all). 8 – Mary Evans Picture Library (both). 9 – British Library; Mary Evans Picture Library. 10 – Brown University Library, Providence, Rhode Island / The Bridgeman Art Library. II – Mary Evans Picture Library; British Library. 12 – British Library. 13 – Libro Rojo, Archivo General de la Nación (Mexico) / Cambridge University Library (all). 14 – Bonhams, London / The Bridgeman Art Library. 15 – Prado, Madrid / The Bridgeman Art Library (both). 16 – Bibliothèque des Arts Décoratifs, Paris / The Bridgeman Art Library; Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris / The Bridgeman Art Library
Acknowledgements
This book is the fruit of over four years’ research, and almost fifteen years of living, travelling in and thinking about the Iberian worlds in Africa, America and Europe. Countless people have contributed directly and indirectly to it, and to my sadness I can only give thanks to a few of them here.
This book would never have been written without the consistent support of my wonderful agents Jamie Crawford and Maggie Pearlstine. They believed that I could write it before I did, and spent many hours working with me to make sure that it became a reality. This was crucial input at a stage where I still struggled with the idea.
At Macmillan, Richard Milner has proved again what a wonderful editor and friend he is. Not everyone would have dragged themselves through a bout of tonsillitis to make sure we could work together on this idea. In the editorial process he has contributed key suggestions which have fundamentally improved the book. I know how lucky I am to have had him steering this difficult ship. I would also like to thank Lorraine Baxter, Georgina Difford and Bruno Vincent for helping to move the book towards publication, and Hugh Davis for a very helpful copy-edit.
Two of my biggest debts are to my teachers and friends Paulo Farias and Tom McCaskie. Their comradeship, wit and generosity guided me through difficult patches. They have always succeeded in imparting their intellectual honesty and showing me in countless ways how to become a historian.
For a variety of reasons, the writing of this book occurred at a difficult moment in my life. I would like to thank Bob Fowke, Fuschia Fowke and Caroline Glanville for giving up some of their time so that I could get it done. The Arts and Humanities Research Board provided funding during which some of the relevant research was undertaken; Rahul Jacob commissioned my articles on southern Europe and so helped me to fund some more of it; Mark Epton came up with a great idea at an important moment.
My work has benefited greatly from discussion of ideas with the historians Michael Alpert, Francisco Bethencourt and Philip Havik, among others. A big thank you too to the many librarians and archivists who have helped me locate the relevant information: to the staff of the British Library and the Main Library of Birmingham University; and at the archives of the Archivo Histórico Nacional in Madrid, the Archivo Generalde las Indias in Seville, the Instituto dos Arquivos Nacionais da Torre do Tombo and the Biblioteca da Ajuda in Lisbon, and the Archivio Segretto Vaticano; also to the staff at the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Museu Nacional da Arte Antiga and the Gabinete de Estudos Olisiponenses (both in Lisbon) and Argelía Martínez at Editorial Patria Cultural in Mexico City for helping in my search for illustrations.
While I have made every effort to trace copyright holders for permission to quote, in one case this has proved impossible. Any omissions brought to my attention will be rectified in any future edition.
Ian Rakoff is always a great friend to me through the writing process. This time, however, he has surpassed even his high standards of generosity, reading each chapter as it has come hot off the press and sharing with me the benefit of his many years in the business of making ideas and stories accessible. It has been a remorseless process for both of us. The readability of this book owes more to him than to anyone.
My greatest and most lasting debt, however, must be to my family. Emily, Lily and Flora always bring light and life where before there may be furrowed brows. They were always there for me when I returned from my research trips, and without their love I could never have finished this book.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Chronology
Maps
PROLOGUE
One – THE END OF TOLERANCE
Two – SREADING THE FIRES
Three – TORTURED JUSTICE
Four – ESCAPE
Five – THE ENEMY WITHIN
Six – TERROR ENVELOPS THE WORLD
Seven – THE ISLAMIC THREAT
Eight – PURITY AT ALL COSTS
Nine – EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE
Ten – THE ADMINISTRATION OF FEAR
Eleven – THE THREAT OF KNOWLEDGE
Twelve – THE NEUROTIC SOCIETY
Thirteen – PARANOIA
Fourteen – THE FAILURE OF FEAR AND THE FEAR OF FAILURE
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Glossary
alfaqui – fortress
alfaqui – Islamic scholar
alfaqui – term given to communities of Muslims and Jews in Iberia
alfaqui – term for a religious sect which concentrated on internal devotion rather than ritual. Alumbrados became increasingly associated with sexual excesses
auto-da-fé – literally ‘trial of faith’ – ceremony of the punishment of heretics
alfaqui – secular holy woman living in the community and frequently attracting a large following
alfaqui – the fate of those convicted heretics who had died or escaped – their bones or an effigy were burnt at the stake
alfaqui – a person charged with assessing the orthodoxy of published books, and whether they should be censored by the Inquisition
alfaqui – income from a post in each diocesan cathedral of Spain which was given to the Inquisition and became a crucial part of the institution’s funding
commissary – paid official of the Inquisition resident in larger towns
alfaqui – name given to those who rebelled in Castile against Charles IV in 1521–22
alfaqui – descendant of Jews who converted to Christianity
alfaqui – the centuries of shared Christian, Jewish and Muslim life in Iberia
Cortes – parliament
crypto-Judaism – term for the faith of those who abandoned Catholicism and lived as secret Jews in lands governed by Portugal and Spain, from which the Jews had been expelled
alfaqui – mystic of the 16th century who held that giving oneself to God was enough for mystical union
edict of faith – pronounced by inquisitors on arri
ving in a town, giving people 30 days to come forward and confess their lack of orthodoxy or denounce the failings of others
alfaqui – zone of Portuguese control in the Indian Ocean, including parts of east Africa, Arabia, India and the Far East
familiar – spy of the Inquisition in towns and villages expected to keep an eye on behaviour and help with arrests and manhunts
germanías – name given to the brotherhoods which led the revolt in Aragon against Charles V 1520–22
alfaqui – cleanliness of blood – the absence of any Jewish or Muslim ‘impurities’ in lineage
alfaqui – descendant of Muslims who converted under duress to Christianity
Old Christian – ‘pure’ Catholic who had no Jewish or Moorish ancestry
alfaqui – someone who refused to confess their ‘crimes’ to the inquisitors
alfaqui – form of torture involving strapping victims to a trestle and forcing water down their throats
alfaqui – mystic of the 16th century who sought to find peace and union with God through contemplation
alfaqui – one who underwent more minor penances at the hands of the Inquisition such as lashing, imprisonment, the galleys and confiscation of goods, and was ‘reconciled’ to the Church
alfaqui – literally ‘relaxed’ – term used by the Inquisition for someone to be transferred to the secular authorities to be put to death, either through burning or by being garrotted and then burnt
alfaqui – the ‘Catholic Monarchs’, Ferdinand and Isabella, who united the kingdoms of Spain at the end of the 15th century
alfaqui – garb of a penitent of the Inquisition – usually a white shirt decorated with demons, and worn even after the penitent had been reconciled. Sanbenitos were then hung up in the parish church of the penitent as a warning to parishioners and often remained there for centuries
alfaqui – supreme council of the Spanish Inquisition
alfaqui – a form of head covering inherited from the Moors and used in Spain in the 15th century by all and in the 16th century by moriscas
alfaqui – a hole through which a torture victim’s legs were swung
alfaqui – charitable giving by Jewish people, regarded as a moral obligation
ultramontane – term used to describe those who support absolute papal authority
Chronology
711
Moors invade and conquer most of the Iberian peninsula.
1085
Christians recapture Toledo.
1236–48
Key cities of Andalusia such as Cordoba (1236), Murcia (1241) and Seville (1248) recaptured by the Christians.
1391
Riots against the Jews of Spain, beginning in Seville and spreading elsewhere in the country; many Jews convert to Christianity.
1449
Riots against the conversos of Toledo; the authorities in Toledo issue a statute barring conversos from official positions.
1453
Turkish forces capture Constantinople from the Christians.
1474
Henry IV, king of Castile dies; his half-sister Isabella and purported daughter Juana ‘la Beltraneja’ fight for the crown. Juana is supported by the Portuguese, but the faction behind Isabella wins at the Battle of Toro in 1476.
Sixtus IV issues a papal bull permitting the establishment of the Inquisition in Spain on 1 November.
1480
The first inquisitors of Castile, Miguel de Murillo and Juan de San Martín, are appointed.
1481
First autos-da-fé held in Seville.
1483
Jews expelled from Andalusia.
1484
Torquemada issues the first instructions for the operation of the Spanish Inquisition.
1485
Assassination in Zaragoza of Pedro de Arbues, inquisitor of Aragon; large numbers of autos follow over the next few years.
1492
In January Ferdinand and Isabella conquer the last Moorish kingdom of Spain, Granada. The Jews are expelled from Spain in August, and many of them go to Portugal. Columbus ‘discovers’ America.
1494
Treaty of Tordesillas divides the world of the discoveries between Spain and Portugal, with Spain responsible for most of America and Portugal for Africa and Asia.
1497
Forcible conversion of the Jews of Portugal.
1502
Expulsion of all Muslims from Granada.
1504
Tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition founded in the Canaries.
1504–6
Inquisitor Lucero sentences hundreds of people to death for Judaizing in Cordoba; riots break out and Lucero is forced to flee.
1506
Approximately 2,000 conversos killed by mobs in Lisbon.
1510
Portugal conquers Goa under Afonso de Albuquerque.
1517
On 31 October Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses on the door of the castle in Wittenberg.
1520–2
Civil wars in Aragon and Castile led by comuneros and germanías against the court of Charles V; in Aragon and Valencia the germanías forcibly baptize many Muslims.
1522
Charles V of Spain bans conversos or moriscos from legally emigrating to the New World.
1524
First alumbrado arrested by the Spanish Inquisition.
1525
Spanish Inquisition issues first edict of faith regarding alumbrados.
1526
Expulsion of all Muslims from the kingdom of Aragon. A meeting in Granada draws up a series of repressive measures to be directed at the cultural practices of moriscos.
1528
First auto in the New World: two conversos burnt in Mexico City.
1529–36
Purges of the followers of Erasmus by the Inquisition in Spain.
1536
Papacy gives permission for a Portuguese Inquisition with reduced powers.
1540
First auto-da-fé in Lisbon.
1543
First burning ordered under inquisitorial law in Goa.
1547
Papacy gives permission for a Portuguese Inquisition with full powers. A statute of purity of blood is promulgated in the cathedral of Toledo.
1547–66
1551
Jurisdiction of the Tribunal of Lisbon is expanded toencompass Portugal’s Atlantic islands (Azores and Madeira), Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea and São Tomé.
1553
Inquisitor-General Valdés introduces the Concordia, which standardizes the use of familiars across Spain.
1557
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V retires as king of Spain and is replaced by his son Philip II.
1559
Great autos in Valladolid and Seville. Archbishop Carranza of Toledo is arrested by the Inquisition. The most detailed index of censorship to date is published in Spain.
1560
First inquisitors appointed to Goa by the Portuguese Inquisition.
1561
Inquisitor-General Valdés issues General Instructions which standardize inquisitorial procedures.
1566
The measures drawn up in Granada in 1526 on the moriscos are implemented.
1568–70
Uprising of the moriscos of Andalusia; after their defeat, most are dispersed throughout the rest of Spain.
1569
Foundation of the Tribunal of the Inquisition in Lima, Peru.
1571
Foundation of the Tribunal of the Inquisition in Mexico City.
1576
Carranza is finally sentenced to abjure in Rome in April, and dies 18 days later.
1580
The crowns of Portugal and Spain are united under Philip II.
1591–5
Inquisitorial officials dispatched
to the Azores, Brazil and Madeira from Lisbon to perform trials and receive denunciations.
1609
Foundation of the Tribunal of the Inquisition in Cartagena de las Indias, in modern Colombia.
1609–14
The moriscos of Spain are expelled, beginning in Valencia (1609) and ending in Murcia (1614).
1610
Grand auto in Logroño sees the last ever burning of witches by the Inquisition in Spain.
1618, 1627
Further inquisitorial visits to Brazil.
1633
Philip IV of Spain orders the Council of the Inquisition to create two courts, one of which deals solely with handling proofs of genealogy.
1636–49
Portuguese communities throughout Latin America are persecuted by the Inquisition. Great autos in Lima (1639) and Mexico City (1649).
1640
Portugal begins its war of independence against Spain.
1648
Spain recognizes the independence of the Dutch United Provinces.
1650–1700
Decline of Portuguese power in the Estado da Índia.
1668
Spain recognizes Portugal’s independence.
1680
Grand auto of Madrid, perhaps the most lavish auto in the history of the Inquisition.
1700–46
Reign of Philip V of Spain. Rekindling of the Inquisition, with 54 autos and 79 people ‘relaxed’.