Latest / The History of Portugal: The Small Nation That Built a Global Empire — Fexingo History / The Portuguese Inquisition: Faith, Power and Persecution in the Empire
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Portugal's global reach — the caravels, the feitorias, the battles across three oceans. But there's an institution that touched every corner of that empire in a more intimate, often terrifying way, and we haven't really discussed it yet: the Portuguese Inquisition. Luna: You mean the same Inquisition as in Spain, but Portuguese version? Lucas: Exactly — but with its own timeline and focus. It was formally established in 1536, under King João III, almost sixty years after the Spanish one. But Portugal had its own deep history of religious tension. In 1497, King Manuel I had forced the mass conversion of Jews — about 200,000 people — creating a class of so-called New Christians, or Cristãos-novos. These were people with Jewish ancestry who were now Catholic by law, but many secretly maintained their faith. The Inquisition was created specifically to hunt them down. Luna: So it was about targeting crypto-Jews from the start? Lucas: Primarily, yes. Though later it expanded to target Protestants, Muslims, Hindus, and even Catholic mystics accused of heresy. The tribunal was called the Tribunal do Santo Ofício, and its power was immense. It could arrest anyone, confiscate property, torture confessions, and hand down sentences ranging from public penance to execution by burning — the auto-da-fé, or 'act of faith'. The first auto-da-fé in Portugal was held in Lisbon in 1540, with dozens of New Christians paraded through the streets in pointed hats called sanbenitos. Luna: And this went on for centuries? Lucas: Until 1821, officially. But its peak was in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. One of the most notorious inquisitors-general was Cardinal Henrique, who later became king — Henrique I, the last king before the Iberian Union. He was a devout, ascetic man who oversaw thousands of cases. Under his watch, the Inquisition became a state within a state, with its own prisons, its own court system, and its own spies. Denunciations were encouraged — neighbors, family members, even children were pressured to report suspicious behavior. Luna: That sounds like a society of fear. Lucas: It was. And the Inquisition's reach extended across the empire. In 1560, the Goa Inquisition was established, targeting both New Christians who had emigrated to India and native converts from Hinduism and Islam who were suspected of backsliding. The Goa Inquisition was especially brutal — it conducted over 16,000 trials between 1560 and 1774. The records show that many Hindu and Muslim converts were accused of secretly practicing their old rites. Torture was routine, and the sentences often included confiscation of all property. Luna: Did anyone ever escape? Lucas: Some did — by fleeing. There's a famous case of a New Christian merchant named Diogo de Valadares, who was arrested in Lisbon in 1618, tortured, and then released after paying a huge bribe. He promptly escaped to the Netherlands, where he wrote a scathing account of his experiences. His story is one of many that circulated in Europe, fueling anti-Portuguese sentiment. But most victims had no such luck. The Inquisition kept meticulous records, which are now invaluable to historians — they list names, ages, professions, and even the food they ate or the clothes they wore. It's a dark window into everyday life. Luna: So the Inquisition actually preserved a lot of social history. Lucas: Exactly. The trial records are some of the richest sources for understanding the lives of ordinary people in the Portuguese empire. You can read about a New Christian tailor in Porto who was denounced for not eating pork, or a Hindu convert in Goa who was caught performing a puja. The Inquisition also censored books — it maintained a rigorous Index of Prohibited Books. Even the great poet Camões had his epic Os Lusíadas placed on the Index in 1581, though a modified version was later allowed. The censorship shaped Portuguese intellectual life for generations. Luna: Wait — Camões? The national poet of Portugal? What could be heretical about his work? Lucas: The Inquisition objected to some of his praise for pagan gods and his critical portrayal of the clergy. They also didn't like his sympathy for Jewish and Muslim figures. So they ordered certain passages removed. It's a reminder that even the most celebrated cultural figures were not above suspicion. The Inquisition's power was such that no one was immune — not even the nobility, though they often received lighter sentences. The whole system was designed to enforce orthodoxy and, not coincidentally, to confiscate wealth. Lucas: Confiscation was a huge motivator, wasn't it? Lucas: Absolutely. The Inquisition financed itself largely through the property it seized from condemned heretics. This created a perverse incentive to convict. Accusations were often motivated by envy or greed. A successful New Christian merchant might be denounced by a rival who coveted his business. The Inquisition's tribunals became commercial enterprises in their own right. In Goa, the Inquisition even owned slaves and leased out confiscated estates. Luna: So it was a tool of economic control as much as religious purity. Lucas: Exactly. And that's why the Inquisition persisted so long. It was deeply intertwined with the Portuguese state. Even after the Iberian Union ended in 1640, the Inquisition continued. It wasn't until the Enlightenment ideas began to take hold in the 18th century that the institution started to weaken. The Marquis of Pombal, under King José I, curtailed its powers in the 1770s, banning the use of torture and the publication of autos-da-fé. But it wasn't formally abolished until 1821, after the Liberal Revolution. Lucas: And by then, how many people had been killed? Lucas: Estimates vary. About 40,000 trials were conducted in Portugal alone, with around 1,200 to 1,500 executions. In Goa, about 60 were burned at the stake. But thousands more died in prison or were ruined by confiscation. The Inquisition's legacy is a complex one — it represents a dark side of Portugal's Golden Age, a period of global exploration and cultural flourishing that was also marked by intolerance and fear. Luna: It's sobering to think about that duality — the same country that produced the caravels and the padrões also produced the auto-da-fé. Lucas: It really is. And you know, that duality is something we try to explore in this show — not just the triumphs, but the human costs. And I guess, in a small way, that's why we keep making these episodes. It takes a lot of time and research to dig into these stories, and honestly, we couldn't do it without the support of listeners who chip in. If you've been enjoying these conversations, there's a way to help keep them going. Luna: Yeah, it's a small thing, but it really makes a difference. Lucas: A handful of listeners already support us through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that literally funds the research and production. No ads, just people who love history. So if you're able, it's a way to keep these stories alive. Luna: And it goes directly to making more episodes like this one. Lucas: Right. So, back to the Inquisition — one more thing I find striking is how the Inquisition's records have become a vital resource for genealogists. Many descendants of New Christians, especially in Portugal, Brazil, and even the United States, have used trial documents to trace their Jewish roots. The Inquisition tried to erase that heritage, but in a way, its own archives preserved it. Luna: That's a kind of poetic justice, isn't it? Lucas: It is. The very institution that sought to destroy Jewish identity ended up documenting it for posterity. And today, those records help people reclaim a history that was stolen from them. It's a reminder that even the darkest chapters can yield unexpected light. Luna: Thanks for this, Lucas. It's a part of Portuguese history that doesn't get talked about enough. Lucas: My pleasure. It's a tough subject, but an important one. Next time, we'll look at something a bit lighter — maybe the Portuguese culinary revolution, how they brought spices and techniques from Asia to Europe.