Conversos - not without opposition - managed to attain high positions in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, at times becoming severe detractors of Judaism. Among many others, physicians Andres Laguna and Francisco Lopez Villalobos (Ferdinand's Court physician), writers Juan del Enzina, Juan de Mena, Diego de Valera and Alonso de Palencia, and bankers Luis de Santangel and Gabriel Sanchez (who financed the voyage of Christopher Colombus) were all conversos. Many conversos attained important positions in fifteenth century Spain. By converting, Jews could not only escape eventual persecution, but also obtain entry into many offices and posts that were being prohibited to Jews through new, more severe regulations. But from the 15th century, a new social group appeared: conversos, also called new Christians, who were distrusted by Jews and Christians alike. Before this date, conversions were rare, more motivated by social than religious reasons. One of the consequences of these disturbances was the massive conversion of Jews. The number of victims was equally high in other cities, such as Cordoba, Valencia and Barcelona. The pogroms of June 1391 were especially bloody: in Seville, hundreds of Jews were killed, and the synagogue was completely destroyed. Nevertheless, in some parts of Spain towards the end of the fourteenth century, there was a wave of anti-Judaism, encouraged by the preaching of Ferrant Martinez, archdeacon of Ecija. Jews occupied many important posts, religious and political. Ferdinand's father John II named the Jewish Abiathar Crescas to be court astronomer. There was a long tradition of Jewish service to the crown of Aragon. The reconquest produced a relatively peaceful co-existence - although not without periodic conflicts - among Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the peninsular kingdoms. Granada to the south, in particular remained under Moorish control until 1492, and large cities, especially Seville, Valladolid, and Barcelona, had large Jewish populations centered in juderias. However, the reconquest did not result in the full expulsion of Muslims from Spain, but instead yielded a multi-religious society made up of Catholics, Jews and Muslims. Much of the Iberian peninsula was dominated by Moors following their invasion of the peninsula in 711 until they were expelled by means of a long campaign of reconquest. The Spanish Inquisition was motivated in part by the multi-religious nature of Spanish society following the reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from the Moors. However, in Castile during the Middle Ages, little attention was paid to heresy. Members of the episcopate were charged with surveillance of the faithful and punishment of transgressors. There was never a tribunal of the Papal Inquisition in Castile. With time, its importance was diluted, and, by the middle of the 15th century, it was almost forgotten although still existing in law. Its principal representative was Raimundo de PeƱafort. In the Kingdom of Aragon, a tribunal of the Papal Inquisition was established by the statute of Excommunicamus of pope Gregory IX, in 1232, during the era of the Albigensian heresy. There were a number of tribunals of the Papal Inquisition in various European kingdoms during the Middle Ages. The Inquisition was created through the papal bull Ad abolendam, issued at the end of the 12th century by Pope Lucius III as a way to combat the Albigensian heresy in southern France. However, since religious freedom did not exist in Spain during a large part of its history, jurisdiction of the Inquisition extended in practice to all the royal subjects. The Inquisition, as an ecclesiastical tribunal, had jurisdiction only over baptized Christians. It was not definitively abolished until 1834, during the reign of Isabel II. The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1478 by Ferdinand and Isabella to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and was under the direct control of the Spanish monarchy. Related subjects: General history Religious disputes
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