Inquisition

The Inquisition was an ecclesiastical tribunal that was used to persecute heretics. It was initiated by the Catholic Church, established by Pope Gregory IX in the 13th century, and lasted for centuries. Officials of the Inquisition, or inquisitors, targeted suspected Jewish converts to Christianity who relapsed to Judaism and Christians who converted to Judaism. They were tortured and punished with death.

Its extension in Spain, the Spanish Inquisition, which lasted from 1478 to 1834 and was established by the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, contributed the most to persecuting Jews. The Edict of Expulsion in 1492 forced Jews to convert or leave Spain. Due to the expulsion and persecution in previous years, thousands of Jews converted to Christianity, and thousands were expelled. Jews who converted back to Judaism were killed. In New Spain, the Spanish Empire in the New World, many Jews were executed for practicing the Jewish religion.

Many Spanish Jews left Spain for Portugal and were persecuted there too. An edict of expulsion in Portugal forced Jews to be expelled or convert to Christianity. During the Portuguese Inquisition that started in the 16th century, Jews who converted to Christianity and were suspected of secretly practicing Judaism were killed.

Victims of the Inquisition
During the first year of the Spanish Inquisition, over 300 Jews were killed. 37 Jews from Mallorca were killed.

Some of the Jewish victims that were killed included:
 * Cornelio de Montalcino, 1554
 * Francisca Nuñez de Carabajal with her children, Isabel, Catalina, Leonor, and Luis, 1596
 * Francisco Maldonado da Silva, 1639
 * Isaac de Castro Tartas, 1647
 * Rafel Valls and siblings Caterina and Rafel Benet Tarongí, 1691
 * Maria Barbara Carillo, 1721
 * Ana de Castro, 1736
 * Antonio Jose da Silva, 1739