Between Portugal and Naples: The Converso Question in a Letter of Ferdinand the Catholic (1510)

Abstract

In a letter written in October 1510 addressed to the viceroys of Sicily and Naples, King Ferdinand the Catholic expresses his concerns regarding the passage of Iberian conversos through the Strait of Messina, and orders the officials in charge of the Strait to watch for the ships and bring the passengers before the Holy Office (presumably, the tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition in Sicily). These conversos, probably of Castilian origin, had found refuge in Portugal several years before. The letter also refers to King Ferdinand’s prior correspondence with King Manuel I of Portugal on this topic, stressing his displeasure at Manuel’s lenient or negligent policy on the question of these conversos. The letter has interesting implications for both King Ferdinand’s relationship with Portugal and his religious policies in his Italian dominions. The present article attempts to shed light on King Ferdinand’s religious policies with a close examination of his attitudes towards the converts of the Kingdom of Naples, which so markedly differ from his policy towards the conversos of his Iberian kingdoms or even the Sicilian neofiti. King Ferdinand’s letter, which is preserved in the Archivo Histórico Nacional (Madrid), is published as an Appendix to the article.