Inquisición de Aragón
Item
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Country
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ES
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Name of institution (English)
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Provincial Historical Archive of Zaragoza
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Language of name of institution
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spa
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Contact information: postal address
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Calle Dormer 6-8, 50001 Zaragoza
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Contact information: phone number
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0034 976397566
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Contact information: email
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ahpz@aragon.es
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Reference number
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ES.50297.AHPZ/29
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Type of reference number
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Archival reference number
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Title (English)
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Inquisition of Aragon
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Title (official language of the state)
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Inquisición de Aragón
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Language of title
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spa
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Creator / accumulator
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Inquisición de Aragón
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Date(s)
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1440/1621
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Language(s)
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spa
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Extent
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115 boxes
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Physical condition
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Poor
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Scope and content
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The Inquisición de Aragón fonds comprises documentation produced by the Inquisition courts established in the territory of the Kingdom of Aragon. Initially, the inquisitorial authority was dispersed throughout various cities under the authority of different inquisitors, but it was later concentrated in the Tribunal of the Inquisition of Zaragoza.
This fonds preserved in the Archivo Histórico Provincial de Zaragoza comprises 891 judicial trials, of which 841 are inquisitorial.
Jewish minorities were particularly numerous in this territory. The Jewish converts and their descendants — along with the Moriscos (Muslim converts and their descendants) — became targets of fierce persecution by the Inquisition of Aragon. Thus, this fonds contains extensive processes related to conversos accused of carrying out Jewish-related practices.
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Archival history
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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 was completed by incorporating other inquisitorial documents stored in the Biblioteca Nacional de España (National Library of Spain) in 1914. However, the archive of the Inquisition of Aragon was not entirely transferred to the Archivo Historico Nacional. Part of its records remained in Zaragoza and are currently in the Archivo Historico Provincial de Zaragoza, and the other part was incorporated into the National Library in France.
The fonds that remained in Zaragoza was initially more extensive. However, in 1853, the Audiencia of Aragon carried out an expurgation that affected 450 Inquisitorial trials, of which only a list of contents was preserved.
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Sources:
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Bibliothèque Nationale de France
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DARA-Medieval
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PARES: Portal de Archivos Españoles
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Prosperi, A. 2010. “Zaragoza.” In Dizionario storico dell’Inquisizione, Adriano Prosperi, 3:1717–20. Pisa: Edizioni della Normale.
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Administrative / Biographical history
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The Inquisition of Aragon in Zaragoza was initiated around 1232 by Ramon de Penyafort (1175-1275). It was entrusted to the Dominican friars and the local bishop by then. Its original intent was fighting the Catharism.
After the creation of the new Spanish Inquisition by the Catholic Kings in 1478, the tribunal in Zaragoza was soon reformed, and, as in other district courts, the most persecuted targets soon became Jewish and Muslim converts. After all, Jewish and Muslim communities were particularly numerous in this area.
In Zaragoza, the (re)establishment of the Inquisitorial authority faced some challenges, as Aragon's juridical culture and laws created particular resistance to any judicial institutions acting with such ample powers. There were some well-known examples of public forms of resistance, namely when the city of Teruel closed its doors in the face of the new inquisitors. In September 1485, the Court faced new and fierce opposition in Zaragoza when a conspiracy was hatched, which led to the murder of the canon and inquisitor in the Zaragoza Cathedral. However, this episode had the opposite effects of what was expected. It ended up causing a popular uprising that threatened the community of conversos, who were blamed as responsible for that act. Indeed, the investigation that followed the conspiracy led to the punishment of hundreds of people. Furthermore, between 1484 and 1515, 614 trials were held against Judaizers.
In the Cortes of Monzón in 1512, an agreement was reached that obliged the Court to renounce more aggressive forms of repression and limited its tasks to the investigation against Judaizers. Other moral and religious crimes, such as bigamy, blasphemy, and perjury, were left to the ordinary ecclesiastical judges. In broader terms, the actions persecuted by the Inquisition were related to the fight against heresy. However, in practice, this Court mainly targeted conversos and moriscos, as well as suspected Calvinist immigrants from France.
On December 4, 1808, the Napoleonic regime suppressed the Inquisition of Zaragoza.
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(sources: Prosperi, A. 2010. “Zaragoza.” In Dizionario storico dell’Inquisizione, Adriano Prosperi, 3:1717–20. Pisa: Edizioni della Normale)
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System of arrangement
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Documents are organised chronologically.
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Access, restrictions
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Numerous documents are available online:
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DARA-Medieval
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Author of the description
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Kevin Soares, 2023
