Speaker Rafaela Acevedo-Field: E.C.

On October 17th, Professor Rafaela Acevedo-Field spoke about her dissertation regarding the inquisition of Mexico as well as introduce the Medieval and Early Modern Studies Minor. The introduction to the lecture was poorly structured in that after introducing herself, she dove right into speaking about Spain and Portugal colonialism and its relation to the Spanish Inquisition. I found it completely fascinating because like many, I never expected the Spanish Inquisition to have happened because I was oblivious to how many Jews lived in Mexico. Having come from descendants of both Spain and Mexico, I was especially curious about a history that I had never gone to great lengths to study. Judaism was not the religion my ancestors kept, to me they were always devoted Catholics. But I wondered if during the Spanish Inquisition, if they were some of the many families that were forced to recant their Jewish faith or if they had always been Catholic. These questions will probably never be answered when concerning my family, but Professor Acevedo-Field had done extensive research into three specific families and their involvement in the Spanish Inquisition. Deciphering between the families is inconceivable when looking at my notes because I lost track of when she switched from family to the next. But what I did learn is that many younger generations rebelled against their elders and when arrested, the young became incriminating witnesses against their parents and older relatives as a resonance against Judaism. Sources included Inquisition trials which are located in the archives in Mexico and also research was conducted from financial records of commerce between Spain and the New World. Looking back at all the works we have read through, the authors we have looked at, and the presentations given, Galileo, Milton and Marlowe specifically relate to the victims of the Spanish Inquisition. Whether it was religion, a question of loyalty, or sexual preference, all victims were forced to recant their beliefs because it went against the common law that was in place by the crown.