THE INQUISITION ….contd…

      The baptised  JEW ,-the converso, was treated as a Christian heretic, and not as a  Jew in any sense of the word, from whom he was segregated. Tensions between the “new Christians” ( the conversos) and the old Christians, who were the traditional Roman Catholics,led to killings in Toledo and Cordoba. The result was the introduction of the office of the Inquisition into Spain from its origin in Rome, where it was in force from 1233.

     Heretics were invited to surrender within 30 days under an “edict of grace.” The exposure of divided loyalties in the conversos was followed by confiscation of property by the crown, public humiliation by wearing the “sambenito” ( a garment of shame and exclusion), flagellation and removal frrom any responsible office. Following this elimination, heretics were identified under 37 points of practice,-e.g.- the celebration of Jewish holidays, or the adherence to their dietary laws. A small proportion of the Jewish conversos who refused to abandon their old practices and views were executed in a religious ceremony ,- the auto-da—fe. Most accepted a “reconciliation “with the church and a lifetime of imprisonments and humiliations, such as , the loss of property and exclusion of their offspring from any public office.

    Relapsed heretics endured the fires of the auto-da-fe, and by 1570 almost all  conversos or secret Jews had been “ eliminated”,-e.g. in Castile 2000 were burned, in Seville 700 were burned and in Toledo 200 were burned before that year.

    During the whole reign of the Inquisition in Spain from 1480 to 1834  not less than 100,000 “heretics” died in the burnings, most of whom were the descendants of Jews who had accepted baptism as conversos many years earlier. The last great burning took place in Madrid in 1721-27 when 75 “heretics “ were burned.

     The expulsion of the Jews in 1492 was the result of a royal decree that all Jews should convert to Christianity within 4 months or leave the country. Approximately 200,000 Jews left for countries in the east of the Mediterranean area, and others “converted”. Of course, Jews and other “ heretics” were not allowed entry into the new Spanish colonies in the Americas.

    Jews were expelled from Portugal in 1496; prior to that time they had been subject to the same treatment as Spanish Jews. The expulsions from Spain and Portugal marked the onset of the decline in both countries of their naval, economic and colonial powers. The missionary impetus of Christianity also moved to northern Europe with the expansion of the Reformation there.