A History of Persecution

The Spanish Inquisition is often thought of as a singular and unique event that persecuted all Spanish citizens who were not devout Catholics. The Mexican Inquisition, although an extension of the Spanish, is less well known. There has been much debate regarding the victims of the Inquisition, in particular which groups were more aggressively targeted. Many recent works focus on how minority groups were treated under the Inquisition, or how women fared compared to men. This book examines specifically the role of the Jewish converts, or conversos, in the beginning of the Spanish Inquisition throughout the Mexican Inquisition to 1650, since the New World Inquisition was an extension of Spanish policy to their colonies.