Establishment of the Spanish Inquisition

Timeline

1. 1477–1478Seville · SevilleWhile Isabella was in Seville, Dominicans such as Alonso de Ojeda claimed secret Judaism among converts in Andalusia. Reports from Archbishop Mendoza of Seville and confessor Torquemada reinforced this judgment, and the Catholic Monarchs petitioned the Holy See for a new inquisition with royally appointed inquisitors.
2. 1478St. Peter's, Rome · RomeSixtus IV issued Exigit sincerae devotionis affectus, allowing the Catholic Monarchs to select three bishops or priests in Castile as inquisitors to prosecute those keeping Jewish customs after baptism. The power of appointment rested with the monarchs, marking the new institution as legally subordinate to the crown rather than the papal permanent system.
3. 1478Castilian court · Castile and LeónAfter the bull arrived, the Spanish Inquisition was legally established, though the crown did not appoint its first inquisitors until September 1480 at Medina del Campo. The key consequence of 1478 was handing heresy-trial power to the monarchs, creating a nationalized institution distinct from the medieval papal inquisition and prefiguring the later opening of the Seville tribunal.