Familia y parentesco en la Inquisición portuguesa: el caso del Consejo General (1569-1821)

Abstract

This paper analyses the family ties that linked the ministers of the General Council of the Portuguese Inquisition from its beginning to its end. During almost three centuries, a considerable number of relatives joined this supreme institution. In most cases, they were uncles and nephews, although there were some cousins too. Moreover, family ties were not limited to the members of the General Council, but they extended vertically for all the Holy Office. And, in addition, during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries, due to the increasing of the number of familiares, it became common that deputies of the General Council would come from families already linked to the Holy Office as familiares.