Tribunal de la Inquisición de Córdoba
Item
Country
ES
Name of institution (English)
National Historical Archive
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
spa
Contact information: postal address
Serrano, 115 28006 Madrid
Contact information: phone number
0034 917688500
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
ahn@cultura.gob.es
Reference number
INQUISICIÓN
Type of reference number
Call number
Title (English)
Inquisition of Córdoba
Title (official language of the state)
Tribunal de la Inquisición de Córdoba
Language of title
spa
Creator / accumulator
Tribunal de la Inquisición de Córdoba
Date(s)
1482/1834
Language(s)
spa
Extent
114 boxes and 20 books
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
The Tribunal de la Inquisición de Córdoba fonds comprises documentation produced by the Inquisition of Córdoba. This Court was founded with the primary objective of intensifying persecution against conversos in close proximity to the Inquisitorial Court of Seville.
The first actions of the Inquisition of Córdoba against conversos targeted certain elites of the territory. It was a particularly violent period, especially while Diego Rodríguez Lucero served as inquisitor. Lucero was directly involved in hundreds of trials that took place in the first decades of the court's activity. He was a fierce persecutor of what he perceived as "false Christians".
The large documentary gap in the Córdoba Inquisition fonds until 1558 makes it difficult to understand the rhythms of persecution against conversos during this period. However, it is accepted that "moriscos" (Muslims converted to Christianity and their descendants) became the most persecuted religious minority around the 1530s. At the end of the 16th century, attention towards conversos increased. This tendency remained in the 17th century. In the 18th century, the persecution against conversos gradually decreased. However, in the 1720s, a new phase of persecution against conversos began and lasted for some years, mainly targeting women.
Due to the destruction of its holdings during the French Invasions in the early 19th century, the current fonds only contains records regarding cases of "limpieza de sangre" (purity of blood, genealogical information aimed to prove that a particular individual had no Jewish ascendency) of officers and agents of the Inquisition, namely "familiares" and commissioners. Since it was common for conversos to apply for these positions, it is very likely to find information regarding this group throughout this fonds.
The PARES, the system of the Spanish Archives, provides researchers with important information related to the organisation of documentation of different inquisitorial courts and enables research of their fonds. In most cases, consultation of inquisitorial documents should be complemented with research on other district courts and the Consejo de Inquisicion (Inquisition Council) fonds, which contain documentation produced by the Suprema (Supreme Council of the Inquisition), which had jurisdiction over all inquisitorial courts in Spanish territories.
The first actions of the Inquisition of Córdoba against conversos targeted certain elites of the territory. It was a particularly violent period, especially while Diego Rodríguez Lucero served as inquisitor. Lucero was directly involved in hundreds of trials that took place in the first decades of the court's activity. He was a fierce persecutor of what he perceived as "false Christians".
The large documentary gap in the Córdoba Inquisition fonds until 1558 makes it difficult to understand the rhythms of persecution against conversos during this period. However, it is accepted that "moriscos" (Muslims converted to Christianity and their descendants) became the most persecuted religious minority around the 1530s. At the end of the 16th century, attention towards conversos increased. This tendency remained in the 17th century. In the 18th century, the persecution against conversos gradually decreased. However, in the 1720s, a new phase of persecution against conversos began and lasted for some years, mainly targeting women.
Due to the destruction of its holdings during the French Invasions in the early 19th century, the current fonds only contains records regarding cases of "limpieza de sangre" (purity of blood, genealogical information aimed to prove that a particular individual had no Jewish ascendency) of officers and agents of the Inquisition, namely "familiares" and commissioners. Since it was common for conversos to apply for these positions, it is very likely to find information regarding this group throughout this fonds.
The PARES, the system of the Spanish Archives, provides researchers with important information related to the organisation of documentation of different inquisitorial courts and enables research of their fonds. In most cases, consultation of inquisitorial documents should be complemented with research on other district courts and the Consejo de Inquisicion (Inquisition Council) fonds, which contain documentation produced by the Suprema (Supreme Council of the Inquisition), which had jurisdiction over all inquisitorial courts in Spanish territories.
Archival history
After the extinction of the Inquisition in Spain, most documents were sent to the Archivo General de Simancas. From 1896, the inquisitorial fonds held in Simancas and Alcalá were sent to the Archivo Historico Nacional, where the Inquisición section was created. This section has been completed by incorporating other series of inquisitorial documents stored in the Biblioteca Nacional de España (National Library of Spain) in 1914.
Manuel María Arjona Cubas and José Garrido set fire to the archives of the Inquisition of Córdoba on February 20, 1810, at the behest of the "commissario reale bonapartista conte di Casa Valencia" (Bonapartist royal commissioner Count of Casa Valencia). Only the "limpieza de sangre" (purity of blood) documents regarding "familiares" (local agents of the Inquisition) and commissioners of the tribunal were spared.
Manuel María Arjona Cubas and José Garrido set fire to the archives of the Inquisition of Córdoba on February 20, 1810, at the behest of the "commissario reale bonapartista conte di Casa Valencia" (Bonapartist royal commissioner Count of Casa Valencia). Only the "limpieza de sangre" (purity of blood) documents regarding "familiares" (local agents of the Inquisition) and commissioners of the tribunal were spared.
Administrative / Biographical history
The Inquisitorial Court in Córdoba was created two years after the appointment of the first inquisitors for the Seville Court in 1482. Its objective was to intensify persecution against conversos, who had influential communities in that region. After the conquest of Granada in 1492, the royal palace of Córdoba (Alcázar) was given to the Inquisition.
Until 1533, the Inquisition of Córdoba had jurisdiction over the area of the former "regno nazarí" (Nasrid kingdom). However, that area was successfully modified, partly due to the creation of the Inquisition of Granada in 1526. This Tribunal's geographical jurisdiction was also adjusted due to the suppression of the Tribunal of Jaén and the incorporation of the Vicariate of Beas de Segura and Archpriestate of Alcaraz into the Inquisition of Murcia. From 1533, the district of Córdoba became more stable, including the diocese of Jaén, except the county of Belalcázar and the city of Ecija.
The first trials of the Inquisition of Córdoba were particularly violent, and the number of accused conversos was particularly striking in all Iberian territories. Eventually, the city rebelled against the Spanish Inquisition, forcing King Fernando (1452-1516) to dismiss the Inquisitor-General Diego de Deza (1443–1523) and replace him with Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros (1436-1517), who was entrusted with leading a commission of inquiry into the trials that took place in the first decades of the Inquisitorial Court in Córdoba.
In the 1530s, the attention of the Tribunal turned to moriscos, Muslims who converted to Christianity and their descendants. By the end of the 16th and 17th centuries, conversos became the main target of the Court.
The Inquisitorial Courts in Spain were extinguished in 1834.
Until 1533, the Inquisition of Córdoba had jurisdiction over the area of the former "regno nazarí" (Nasrid kingdom). However, that area was successfully modified, partly due to the creation of the Inquisition of Granada in 1526. This Tribunal's geographical jurisdiction was also adjusted due to the suppression of the Tribunal of Jaén and the incorporation of the Vicariate of Beas de Segura and Archpriestate of Alcaraz into the Inquisition of Murcia. From 1533, the district of Córdoba became more stable, including the diocese of Jaén, except the county of Belalcázar and the city of Ecija.
The first trials of the Inquisition of Córdoba were particularly violent, and the number of accused conversos was particularly striking in all Iberian territories. Eventually, the city rebelled against the Spanish Inquisition, forcing King Fernando (1452-1516) to dismiss the Inquisitor-General Diego de Deza (1443–1523) and replace him with Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros (1436-1517), who was entrusted with leading a commission of inquiry into the trials that took place in the first decades of the Inquisitorial Court in Córdoba.
In the 1530s, the attention of the Tribunal turned to moriscos, Muslims who converted to Christianity and their descendants. By the end of the 16th and 17th centuries, conversos became the main target of the Court.
The Inquisitorial Courts in Spain were extinguished in 1834.
Sources:
Access points: locations
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The fonds is divided according to document type. Series are organised chronologically.
Access, restrictions
Digital copies of some records are available online:
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Kevin Soares, 2023
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| Archivo Historico Nacional (España) | Collections (official language of the state) |