In an age of uncertainty: inquisition in Castile and Aragón (1425 1504)

Thesis

This thesis investigates the origins of the Spanish Inquisition in fifteenth-century Castile and Aragón in the period from 1425 to 1504. The historiography of the period commonly views the Holy Office as either the result of long-standing anti-converso attitudes or a consequence of Spain’s unificatory push under the absolutism of the Catholic Monarchs. This thesis contends that the interpretative key for the Inquisition’s origins is actually to be found in a mixture of three cumulative circumstances: the development of a particular anti-converso heresiological discourse in Castile; the increasing recourse of the Castilian Crown to papal-delegated authority to deal with heresy from 1425 onwards; and the absolutist nature of the political changes implemented by the Catholic Monarchs from 1480 onwards.

Chapter 1 explains how the converso identity, a minority group in Castilian culture, was constructed as heretical tainted with what this thesis terms ‘genealogical behaviour.’ Chapters 2 and 3 note how this peripheral discourse, initially on the edge of mainstream political rhetoric, began resonating in Castile’s requests for extraordinary apostolic delegations of inquisitors from 1425 onwards. Chapter 4 analyses the attention given by regular episcopal pastoral visits to crypto-Judaism in both Castile and Aragón before the Inquisition. Chapter 5 explores the degree to which the Holy Office aided in the expansion of the Crown’s control over the operations of local government after 1480. Chapter 6 delves into a rarely discussed type of reaction to the Inquisition: seeking papal absolution at the Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary.

Overall, this thesis draws attention to fifteenth-century understandings of crypto-Judaism as a heresy with ‘genealogical’ implications. It reveals the existence of spontaneous inquisitions in medieval Castile by examining papal letters through the lens of the discipline of Applied Diplomatics. Finally, it reconsiders collaboration with and resistance to the Holy Office, shown both in the relationship between Inquisition and urban government and in individual appeals to Rome.

Authors: Benítez-Inglott y Ballesteros, E

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-j5krxmd1q
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Subjects: History of doctrines--Middle Ages, 600-1500; Judaism (Christian theology)--History of doctrines; Spain--Church history; Inquisition--Spain; Jews--Conversion to Christianity; Spain--History--711-1516