Timeline of Key Events - Inquisition

• Late 14th century – Anti-Jewish riots and forced conversions spread across Spain, creating a large population of conversos (Jews who converted to Christianity, often under duress).

• 1478 – Ferdinand and Isabella establish the Spanish Inquisition to investigate conversos suspected of secretly practicing Judaism.

• 1481 – The first inquisitorial trials begin in Seville, with executions of alleged heretics.

• 1492 – The Alhambra Decree orders all Jews to either convert to Christianity or leave Spain. Around 40,000–100,000 Jews are expelled, many resettling in North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, and Portugal.

• 1497 – Portugal follows Spain’s example, forcing Jews to convert or leave, further scattering Iberian Jewish communities.

• 16th–17th centuries – The Inquisition continues to monitor conversos, with trials, confiscations, and executions. Jewish identity survives underground but is heavily suppressed.

• 1834 – The Spanish Inquisition is officially abolished, centuries after its devastating impact on Jewish life in Spain.

  
  

This timeline shows how the Inquisition transformed Spain from a center of Jewish culture into a place of exile and fear, while also shaping Sephardic Jewish diaspora communities worldwide.