The Familiar

The Spanish Golden Age refers to the decades in which Spain reached the peak of its power and influence across the world and was a leader of European culture, producing some of the greatest art, literature, and music of this time. King Phillip II (1527-1598) was arguably the most influential ruler of this period, reigning as king of Spain as well as Portugal, Naples, and Sicily.

The start of the Golden Age is generally placed at 1492, a year of several singular events for the nascent Spanish empire. This was the year the rulers Ferdinand II and Isabella financed the voyage of Christopher Columbus, whose ships landed in what he would call the West Indies, discovering a world new to Europeans. This was also the year of the final military triumph of the Spanish Reconquista, in which the Spanish forces reclaimed Granada, the last stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula still under the dominion of a Muslim ruling dynasty. In the same year, building on centuries of oppression and massacres of Jewish people, the Alhambra Decree authorized the expulsion of all practicing Jews from Spain.

A new Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition had been authorized by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1478 to eradicate heresy and enforce orthodox observance of the Catholic faith. Courts were established in the major provinces of Spain and staffed with officials chosen by the grand inquisitor and the Spanish government. The first inquisitor, a Dominican monk named Tomás de Torquemada, became legendary for the fanaticism with which he pursued so-called heretics and the brutal tortures he authorized to extort confessions. Accused prisoners were sentenced at public gatherings called an auto de fé (“act of faith”) and execution typically involved burning. After Jewish and Muslim belief was nearly eradicated, the Inquisition turned to punishing adherents of the Protestant Reformation, which began sweeping Europe in the early 16th century, and Roman Catholics who fell out of favor with ecclesiastic officials or the king. The Inquisition persisted throughout Spain and its colonies until it was finally dismantled in 1834.

Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) were called Sephardic Jews, after the Hebrew word Sepharad, meaning Spain. An estimated 300,000 Jews lived in Spain in the 15th century before the beginning of the Inquisition; over half fled the country after the edict of 1492. Those remaining were forced to undergo Christian baptism to retain their lives and livelihoods. These converted Jews were known as conversos. Muslims who underwent forced conversion were called moriscos. Antisemitic attitudes surfaced persistently in the teachings of the medieval Christian church, and while conversos continued to be regarded with suspicion, those called Marranos—who professed a Christian faith in public but continued to keep Jewish traditions and religious observances in secret—were considered a severe threat to the church and the Spanish throne, the Church’s champion.