Haim Beinart, THE SPANISH INQUISITION AND A CONVERSO COMMUNITY IN EXTREMADURA*
THE SPANISH INQUISITION AND A CONVERSO COMMUNITY IN EXTREMADURA* Haim Beinart HE Spanish National Inquisition spread its net very slowly and carefully. Not until two years after Pope Sixtus IV had sanctioned its establishment in 1478 were Miguel de Murrillo and Juan de San Martin appointed as inquisitors, and only on 2 January 1481 did they issue their first decree to the relevant authorities in Seville.! The court was granted jurisdiction not only over Seville but over all Castile as well; Seville was its seat and the main locality for which it was responsible. As is well known, the initiative to establish this court was taken as a result of the hue and cry that was raised against the so-called judaizing heresy which had spread through the kingdom. Not a year had passed before Cordova had its own Inquisition tribunal. The next step was the appoint- ment of twelve inquisitors, approved by the pope, among them Tomas de Torquemada. Another year went by and th...

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