Queen Isabella I of Castile & The Spanish Inquisition

The Spanish Inquisition was established by King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile in 1478. They were given a Papal Bull by Pope Sixtus IV, and they first used to appoint two inquisitors in 1480 in Seville to seek out heretics.

It focused mainly on those who had been forced to convert from Islam or Judaism and who were under suspicion of continuing to follow their old faith. All the Jews who did not wish to convert were expelled from Castile in 1492 following the Alhambra Decree. Similar orders followed for all Muslims starting in 1501.

Queen Isabella certainly believed that there were those who were still practising their old faith. She wrote, “I have been told that there are certain graveyards beside the monasteries of St Bernard, the Holy Trinity and St Augustine in which the conversos of the city used to bury their dead and that they were buried with Jewish rites and ceremonies, seeking out virgin land, in Jewish clothing, with their arms laid straight and not in a cross, insulting and casting opprobrium on our ancient Catholic faith.”¹

The first victims were burned on 6 February 1481. It was reported, “At the first burning, they brought six men and women out into [the Plaza de] Tablada and burned them: and Friar Alonso [Hojeda], a jealous defender of the faith of Jesus Christ and the person who worked hardest to bring the inquisition to Seville, preached there. Neither their wealth nor favours could help them.”²

Those who confessed and repented could be given a fine after a public ceremony of humiliation. One  oberserver wrote, “The inquisitors would take people out of prison and put sanbenitos on them – with red crosses in front and behind – and they had to walk around in those sanbenitos for a long time.”³

The Pope tried to calm Isabella’s fears that the Inquisition would be seen as a moneymaking scheme. He wrote, “The doubts you seem to have about whether we think that, by taking measures to proceed so severely against those perfidious people, under Christian disguise, blaspheme and, with Jewish insidiousness, crucify Christ… that you are motivated more by ambition and a desire for worldly goods than for defence of the faith and Catholic truth or fear of God; you should know that we have never entertained the slightest suspicion than this might be the case.”⁴

There is no precise data on the number of executions performed in the name of the Inquisition. One estimate of those being burnt between 1481 and the death of Queen Isabella stands at 2,000. According to another source that estimates the years between 1481 and 1488, 2,000 were sentenced to death, and 15,000 were reconciled.⁵ Of course, the Inquisition continued after Isabella’s death and would have many more victims.

For Isabella, the Inquisition had been a necessity. She urged Joanna to “Always support the things that the Holy Inquisition does against the depraved heresy.”⁶

Queen Isabella has been recognised as a “Servant of God” by the Vatican since 1974, which is the first step towards a possible canonisation. These proceedings were halted in 1991 due to her expulsion of the Jews. However, in 2020, Pope Francis requested that her case be reopened.⁷

1. Isabella of Castile by Gilet Tremlett p.178
2. Isabella of Castile by Gilet Tremlett p.183
3. Isabella of Castile by Gilet Tremlett p.184
4. Isabella of Castile by Gilet Tremlett p.192
5. The Spanish Inquisition: a history by Joseph Pérez p.171
6. Isabella of Castile by Gilet Tremlett p.467
7. Pope Pleads the Cause of Isabelle the Catholic