On NOVEMBER 1, 1478, Pope Sixtus IV issued the papal bull Exigit Sinceras Devotionis Affectus. He declared, “We are aware that in different cities in your kingdoms of Spain many of those who were regenerated by the sacred baptismal waters of their own free will have returned secretly to the observance of the laws and customs of the Jewish [faith]…because of the crimes of these men and the tolerance of the Holy. See towards them civil war, murder, and innumerable ills afflict your kingdoms.”
To eliminate this menace, the Pope gave Ferdinand and Isabella the permission to establish the authority of the Spanish Inquisition, first in Castile. Aragon soon followed.
The Inquisition would unite the nation with one common religion, Christianity, and with a common purpose, eradicating hidden Jews and Judaism within its borders. An added benefit: Conversos accused by the Inquisition had their property and wealth automatically confiscated.
The Pope’s edict launched the Spanish Inquisition, and authorized Ferdinand and Isabella to appoint inquisitors to investigate converts who were suspected of Judaizing, and to bring them and their accomplices to justice.
According to Professor Benzion Netanyahu’s The Origins of the Inquisition, between tens of thousands to as many as 600,000 Jews had converted by force or voluntarily in Spain by the period of the Inquisition. Whichever number is correct, Spain had found a common enemy that could be focused upon for quite a while (about 400 years), plus a substantial source of income to fund its continued wars, its adventures, and expeditions.
The papal bull led to a royal decree two years later that reaffirmed the Inquisition’s role to search out and punish converts from Judaism who secretly kept Jewish beliefs in their heart.
And in 1483 the plan came to fruition with the appointment of one the cruelest, most malevolent men in history, Grand Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada.
The Inquisition was underway.

Christians began to call Jewish converts "the new Christians" in order to distinguish them from the "old Christians," that is, from themselves. Jewish converts to Christianity were derogatorily called "converts" or, worse still, "marranos," meaning "pigs".
The basic accusation was that these Jews were not real converts to Christianity, since they practiced Judaism clandestinely. And that actually used to be what happened. There were large numbers of Jews who appeared to be Christians but continued in secret with the practice of Judaism.

All over the American continent there are people descended from Spanish or Portuguese settlers who have strange customs that they cannot explain. For example, despite being Catholic, on Friday night they go to the attic to light candles. They don't know the origin of the custom, but they do it anyway. It is clear that these people are descended from Jews who pretended to be Christians but continued to practice Jewish rituals clandestinely.
The aim of the Inquisition was to find these people, torture them until they admitted their crime and then kill them.

The use of the capirote or coroza was prescribed in Spain and Portugal by the holy office of Inquisition. Men and women who were arrested had to wear a paper capirote in public as sign of public humiliation. The capirote was worn during the session of an Auto-da-fé. The colour was different, conforming to the judgement of the office. People who were condemned to be executed wore a red coroza. Other punishments used different colours.

During Easter and other festivities like November 1st "new christians" lived in terror because they were often victims of catholic fanatism and usually enclose themselves home not to be seen, hoping no fanatic group would pretext anything to go after them.

Credits: By Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición - Enciclopedia Española, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2448614
www.aishlatino.com/judaismo/historia/curso-rapido/La-Inquisicion.html

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FORTUNATELY THIS IS PAST...

I AM ONE OF THEIR DESCENDENTS AND EVEN IF I DO NOT BELIEVE IN ANY GOD I LIGHT MY CANDLE EVERY FRIDAY EVENING IN MEMORY AND RESPECT FOR MY ANCESTORS WHO PUT THEIR LIVES AT RISK BY DOING SO.

IN OUR PRESENT TIMES WERE INTOLERANCE IS RAISING UP AGAIN WE SHOULD LOOK BACK AT HISTORY AND DO WHAT WE CAN IN ORDER TO AVOID SUCH A DARK FUTURE...


The little figure of the capirote is 10 cm tall