Pope Paul III formally established the Portuguese Inquisition on 23 May 1536, by the bull Cum ad Nihil Magis, at the long-standing request of King John III. It operated three mainland tribunals: Lisbon, from 1540 to 1794; Coimbra, from 1541 to 1781; and Evora, from 1536 to 1781, each holding its own autos-da-fe over more than two centuries. Its principal target was the Conversos, New Christians converted from Judaism, chiefly forcibly, in 1497, and thereafter suspected of secretly continuing Jewish practice. The institution was formally abolished on 31 March 1821, in the constitutional reforms following the Liberal Revolution. It is distinct from the crown's own overseas tribunal at Goa in Portuguese India, and from the separate Spanish and Roman inquisitions it is sometimes loosely grouped with.
Facts
Consequences
What It SettledSourced to the subject's own accountThe institution was formally abolished on 31 March 1821 amid Portugal's Liberal Revolution and constitutional reforms. Its three centuries of activity left the Conversa community it targeted permanently diminished in Portugal, with many families having fled to more tolerant states in the intervening period, and it remains, alongside the separate Spanish and Roman tribunals, one of the standard reference points for early modern religious persecution in European historiography. 1 Death TollSourced to the subject's own accountThe number of persons executed in person across the three mainland tribunals' documented autos-da-fe, 1540 to 1794, per the historian Fortunato de Almeida's compiled sentence table, the most cited statistical source for the institution's mainland record. Death TollSourced to the subject's own accountThe 1,118 executed in person plus a further 578 sentenced and burned in effigy, typically for those who had died in custody, fled or otherwise escaped direct execution, Almeida's combined figure for both categories of death sentence across the same 1540 to 1794 documented span. Displaced (Low Estimate)Sourced to the subject's own accountThe number of persons penanced, meaning sentenced short of execution, in Almeida's same documented tribunal table for the three mainland tribunals, 1540 to 1794; a headcount of those tried and sentenced rather than the smaller number executed. The Event
When It HappenedSourced to the subject's own accountEstablished 1536; Evora tribunal operated 1536 to 1781, Lisbon 1540 to 1794, Coimbra 1541 to 1781; formally abolished 1821. 1 PeriodSourced to the subject's own account Principal PartiesSourced to the subject's own accountPope Paul III, whose 1536 bull established the tribunal, and King John III of Portugal, at whose long-standing request it was granted; the three mainland tribunals at Lisbon, Coimbra and Evora each operated under their own inquisitors general across the institution's three centuries. 1 Victim GroupSourced to the subject's own accountConversos, New Christians converted from Judaism under the 1497 forced conversion and thereafter suspected of secretly Judaizing; a smaller number of Old Christians accused of other heresies, bigamy, sorcery or moral offenses also appeared before the tribunals as the institution's activity broadened over its three centuries. 1 Perpetrator RegimeSourced to the subject's own accountThe Portuguese crown, which petitioned Rome for the tribunal's establishment under King John III and thereafter maintained it as a royal institution operating in the crown's name across its three mainland seats. 1 Status
Official RecognitionSourced to the subject's own accountNot formally recognized by any body 1 Recognition BasisSourced to the subject's own accountNo state or international body has issued a genocide or crimes-against-humanity determination specific to the Portuguese Inquisition's mainland tribunals. The Vatican's 1998 symposium and 2000 apology addressed the Inquisition as a family without a Portugal-specific finding, the same limitation noted for the Spanish and Roman tribunals and for the Goa tribunal in Portuguese India. 1 Disputed
Displaced (High Estimate)Sourced to the subject's own accountA broader estimate of total judicial processes across the institution's full 1536 to 1821 span, distinct from and less precisely sourced than Almeida's own documented tribunal table above: secondary accounts converge on a range running from roughly 40,000 to 50,000 total processes, sometimes rounded to approximately 45,000, and this figure is kept apart as the wider, debated estimate rather than merged with the narrower documented count. In Other Languages (19 names)
- محاكم التفتيش البرتغالية
- Португалска инквизиция
- Inquisició portuguesa
- Inquisición portuguesa
- تفتیش عقاید پرتغالی
- Inquisition portugaise
- האינקוויזיציה הפורטוגזית
- पुर्तगाली इंक्विज़िशन
- Portugál inkvizíció
- Inquisizione portoghese
- Inkisizion Portugeza
- Anquesiçon pertuesa
- Den portugisiske inkvisisjonen
- Inkwizycja portugalska
- Inquisição portuguesa
- Португальская инквизиция
- Portugisiska inkvisitionen
- போர்த்துகீசிய திரிபுக் கொள்கை விசாரணை
- Португальська інквізиція
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Portugal, Countries The perpetrating crown; the tribunal was established at the Portuguese king's own request and operated in the crown's name across its three mainland seats.
The tribunal enforced Catholic orthodoxy against suspected Judaizing among the Converso population; this is an Associated With edge to the enforcing tradition, not a perpetrator-tradition edge, since the perpetrator was the Portuguese crown's own institution acting under papal authorization.
Related To
The same Portuguese crown's overseas tribunal at Goa in Portuguese India operated under the same royal patronage but is recorded as its own entity, distinct in jurisdiction, targets and documented record.
The Portuguese Inquisition's mainland tribunals are part of the same wider family of Catholic ecclesiastical tribunals against heresy the aggregate Inquisition entity covers, alongside the separately recorded Spanish and Roman phases.
Malagrida's 1761 trial and execution were carried out through the same Portuguese Inquisition recorded as its own entity, its final heresy execution.
Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.