Ferdinand and Isabella Demonstrate the Primary Goal of the Inquisition, Confirming the Sentence of a Converted Jew to Being Burned at the Stake, and Seizing His Land for the Use of Their New Royal Monastery, Which Still Exists and Sits on the Same Land in the Hills Outside Cordoba

“We have been informed that Alfonso de Baeza, neighbor of the town of Cordova, has been condemned by penalty of fire for the crime of Heretical Depravity, for which all his belongings were and are confiscated to be used by our royal house…”

 

It is also signed by perhaps the most famous Converso [converted Jew] at their court, the scribe to the Monarchs Alfonso de Avila

 

This document is recorded at having sold at Parke Bernet, now part of Sothebys, in 1965

 

It is very rare to find a document directly relating to the Inquisition and burning at the stake of a Jewish Converso. In all our decades in the field, this is the first we have ever had. And a search of two databases going back over forty years fails to turn up even one other example.

 

Reference for research, publication, and institutions: Raab M13.069

When medieval people used the word “inquisition,” they were referring to a judicial technique, not an organization. There was, in fact, no such thing as “the Inquisition” in the sense of an impersonal organization with a chain of command. Instead there were “inquisitors of heretical depravity,” individuals assigned by the Pope to inquire into heresy in specific areas. They were called such because they applied a judicial technique known as inquisitio, which could be translated as “inquiry” or “inquest.” This involved torture of the accused to get a confession, and the methods of torture were many, and included the strappado and the rack. inquisitors often applied other torture devices to the victims’ bodies, such as heated metal pincers, thumbscrews, boots, or other devices designed to burn, pinch or otherwise mutilate their hands, feet or bodily orifices.

This was a European-wide phenomenon, but its broadest manifestation was in Spain. Bernard Gui wrote the influential guidebook for Inquisitors called “Conduct of the Inquisition into Heretical Depravity” in the early 14th Century. In the late 15th Century, King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain believed corruption in the Spanish Catholic Church was caused by Jews who, to survive centuries of anti-Semitism, had converted to Christianity. Known as Conversos, they were viewed with suspicion by old powerful Christian families. Conversos were blamed for a plague and accused of poisoning peoples’ water and abducting Christian boys. Christians who “turned in” Conversos for secretly practicing Judaism, or acting inconsistent with Catholicism were rewarded. One common accusation was that a Converso was seen refusing to eat or swallow pork. That got the Converso arrested, fast.

In 1478, under the influence of clergyman Tomas de Torquemada, the Catholic Monarchs, as Ferdinand and Isabella were (and remain) known, created the Tribunal of Castile to investigate heresy among Conversos. The effort focused on stronger Catholic education for Conversos, but by 1480, the Inquisition was formed.

That same year, Jews in Castile were forced into ghettos separated from Christians, and the Inquisition expanded to Seville. A mass exodus of Conversos followed.

In 1481, 20,000 Conversos confessed to heresy, hoping to avoid execution. Inquisitors decreed that their penitence required them to name other heretics. By the year’s end, hundreds of Conversos were burned at the stake. In the end, tens of thousands of them were burned.

The Royal Monastery of San Jerónimo de Valparaíso is an old monastery in the municipality of Córdoba ( Spain ) that is located in the Sierra Morena, near Medina Azahara. The monastery was founded at the end of the 14th century by the Portuguese hermit, Fray Vasco de Sousa, who was determined to establish the Order of Saint Jerome in Castile, where it still had no representation. Work began on the building in 1408. It is considered the first Gothic Cordovan work. In 1478, Isabella took San Jeronimo under Royal authority and supervision and at the same time, looked to expand it.

One Converso had the unlikely distinction of owning an orchard adjacent to the new monastery. His name was Alfonso de Baeza. Baeza was accused of heresy for and convicted of “heresy provided”, using the very language of heretical depravity of the inquisition. The Monarchs then ordered his land seized and given to the growing monetary.

One of Torquemada’s regional agents was Tristan de Medina.

Document signed, August 31, 1485, signed by Ferdinand and Isabella (Yo el Rey and Yo la Reyna), as well as other royal figures, including Alfonso de Avila, a prominent aide to the Monarchs who was himself a Converse, albeit one who managed to avoid the wrath of the inquisition. The document repeats the crime of heretical depravity, again using the very language of the inquisition. It notes that Baeza has been convicted of this and sentenced to penalty of death. And it orders Tristan de Medina to seize those lands on behalf of the “friars and convent” of the Monastery of San Jeronomio de Valparaiso.

The very lengthy document begins with a statement of the Kingdom of the Catholic Monarchs. “Don Fernando and Dona Isabelal, by the grace of God, King and Queen of Castille and Leon, of Aragon, of Seville, of Secilia, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Galicia, of Mallorcas, of Seville…. We have been informed that Alfonso de Baeza, neighbor of the town of Cordova, has been condemned by penalty of fire for the crime of Heretical Depravity, for which all his belongings were and are confiscated to be used by our royal house and finances, for this, in our devotion that we have for the monastery of San Geronimo de Valparaiso which is near the said city of Cordoba and to give grace and mercy and alms to the friars and convent of the said Monastery de San Geronomio…. we give them this grace and mercy by donation pure and irrevocable… of the third part of the orchard previously held by the said Alfonso de Baeza….”

The document continues with a description of the land, a stream that runs through it and will feed the Monastery.

Continuing, “We send this letter to Diego Tristan de Medino, our receiver of the goods of the condemned for the crime of heretical depravity of this city of Cordova, who with this letter letter is to… take possession, actual and physical, of the said third of the said orchard which belongs to us [and give] to the said friars and convent of the said monastery…”

The archives of the Monastery note the inclusion of Baeza’s land and other documents confirm his sentence of burning at the stake.

Although documents signed by Ferdinand and Isabella appear from time to time, it is very rare to find one directly relating to the Inquisition and burning at the stake of a Jewish Converso. In all our decades in the field, this is the first we have ever had. And a search of two databases going back over forty years fails to turn up even one other example.