FERDINAND II (1452-1516) AND ISABELLA I OF SPAIN (1451-1504). Letter signed (“Yo El Rey” & “Yo La Reyna”) to Don Juan de Ribera [dates unknown], Cordoba, 2 May 1486.

FERDINAND II (1452-1516) AND ISABELLA I OF SPAIN (1451-1504). Letter signed (“Yo El Rey” & “Yo La Reyna”) to Don Juan de Ribera [dates unknown], Cordoba, 2 May 1486.

In Spanish. One folio page, 850 x 590mm, addressed on verso to Don Juan de Ribera. With later archival note added “For Don Juan de Ribera to go to Tudela of Navarra and effect the surrender of all the heretics there to the Inquisitors”. Matted and framed.

A lengthy letter describing the earliest activities of the Spanish Inquisition and the unwavering course of religious intolerance pursued by Ferdinand and Isabella. Composed shortly after the establishment of the Inquisition in Aragon, the letter details what the king and queen have heard of Inquisitors being run out of town—or in one case accosted by 30 horsemen while escorting a train of prisoners out of the city—in nearby Tudela (Navarre). For “the honor of our holy Catholic faith”, Ferdinand and Isabella are furious at this treatment and order Don Juan de Ribera to enforce the Inquisitors’ activities and prosecutions in that city and in neighboring Zaragoza and Barbastro. The monarchs' further express their annoyance at reports of ‘false information’ being deliberately propagated by malefactors – including false edicts – concerning the Inquisition and the treatment of heretics. Note: this is a "traslado" or copy, presumably for official purposes.

Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY FROM THE ROGER D. JUDD COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL LETTERS, DOCUMENTS & MANUSCRIPTS