The Inquisition Trial of Jerónimo de Rojas, A Morisco of Toledo (1601-1603): (5 Heterodoxia Iberica)

This book includes the whole transcription of the trial of a converted Muslim (Morisco) from Toledo, condemned to die at the stake at the beginning of the 17th century. In their study of the trial, the authors address the question of how and to what extent Inquisition documents can be used as an historical source by contextualizing and analysing its multifaceted aspects as well as its protagonists and participants, victim, witnesses, and inquisitors. The authors elucidate the beliefs and practices of the culprit, situating his ordeal in the framework of Morisco life and its connections with North African Islam. By so doing they shed light on questions of Inquisitorial procedure, witnessing and testimony, the extent of confession, the effects of life in prison, the relations of trust between inmates and the consequences of isolation.

About the Author :
Mercedes García-Arenal, Ph.D. (1979), is a Research Professor at the CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) in Madrid. She is a cultural and religious historian specialised in religious minorities on which she has published and edited many books, such as The Orient in Spain. Converted Muslims, the Forged Lead Books of Granada and the Rise of Orientalism (Brill, 2013) and The Expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain. A Mediterranean Diaspora (Brill, 2016). Rafael Benítez Sánchez-Blanco, Ph.D. (1976), Universidad de Valencia (Spain), is Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History at that university. He has published monographs, editions, articles and chapters of books on Moriscos and the Spanish Inquisition, for example Heroicas decisiones. La Monarquía Católica y los moriscos valencianos (Alfons el Màgnanim, 2001).

Review :
"[Jerónimo de Rojas’s] sentence to the stake was opposed by the most senior and experienced of his interrogators, but the Supreme Council of the Inquisition overrode his opinion. As García-Arenal and Sánchez-Blanco point out, this was a moment when the attitude of the Spanish government to the Moriscos was hardening while preparations were being made for their expulsion in 1609. The execution of Jerónimo de Rojas is one of a number of dramatic episodes pointing towards the final tragedy, and the edition of his trial is an important contribution to our knowledge of a grim moment in Spanish history." - Alastair Hamilton (Warburg Institute, London). Journal of Ecclesiastical History 74 (2023): 193–4.