Hello to all,

I would like to know where the records from the Spanish Inquisition trials (namely, those from the Courts of Seville and Granada) are kept today.

Additionally, I would like to know if there is some index of defendants' names.

Rui Pereira
rmfrp@hotmail.com

Hi Rui!

I hope your searches are going well and I still can't thank you enough for explaining your journey in locating your Sephardic ancestors.

Jeff Marka, a Sephardic researcher now from the United States, has a page that explains where the various inquisition records are located and also mentions that some records are catalogued, but much is not. He recommends a book: Juan Blazquez Miguel, La Inquisicion,( Ediciones Penthalon, Bustos, 11. Telef 552 43 31, 28038 Madrid-- a cheap little paperback).

Marka's webpage address for Sephardic records is http://www.orthohelp.com/geneal/inquis.htm .

I hope this helps.

Cheers,
Donalyn

Thanks for the link, Donalyn. Also want to mention census records in Spain as possible places to check for connections. I looked through them in Segovia, Spain in 1990--received access to archives in the local public library.Post expulsion census records showed listings for the Jewish quarter in Segovia as, for example, House #3, Jose Gonzalez Garcia, formerly belonging to Abram ben Yosef. Very sad--the whole town seemed to be emptied of Jews and their homes taken over. Could be a good research tool though...
Vicky

Thanks so much, Vicky! Would you know about records in Barcelona records in the early 1700s during the Catalonian rebellion?

Donalyn

Hi Donalyn,

Thank you very much for your reply.

I have seen Jeff Marka's page, and if the information he provides is correct the records I am searching for (Courts of Seville and Granada) are - if they still exist - at the Archivo Historico Nacional in Madrid. But without some sort of index it will be almost impossible to find them.

These records I am searching are from the Lopez family I discussed some time ago.

In Portugal, all court case records from the Inquisition (courts of Lisbon, Coimbra, Évora and Goa), some 40,000 in all, are at the Portuguese national archive (Torre do Tombo) in Lisbon. There is a computer index for defendants' names, (and, for part of people especially from the Court of Évora which covered southern Portugal, additional info such as birthplace, parents' names, and so on), avaliable there.

Even a simple name search is very effective (unless the people you are searching for have names that are local versions of "John Doe"). Spelling variations are a problem, since most names have been entered to the index in their modern spelling (a good decision, since spellings changed throughout the centuries, and in the old days there was no uniform spelling for a given name), but some were not, and there are spelling mistakes. I wonder how the first name of one of my ancestors became Rodrigues (a surname) in the index instead of Rodrigo.

Rui Pereira
rmfrp@hotmail.com

Hi Rui,

I understand some of the inquisition archives are catalogued so I am going to send a query under the Barniro and Barneiro name, also Abaneiro and a few other variants I have seen. Then too I've seen Beniro and Neira and Neiro. It's clear the Beniro name probably isn't immediately connected but the Neira and Neiro could either be an original name or shortened in the New World. I'm going to to do send a query with the Olivares variants too. I'll let you know what happens. The tip to check post-expulsion census records may also help. Did you read it on this thread?

I have found the address of the other person who was seeking the Rodrigues Rivera connection and will email her. I think however that hers is a double surname. I did do some checking on my Rodrigo Ribera name; it is the name of the man who married a sibling of my direct line. I learned that Rivera first came from Ribera on a Spanish surname origin site. The masculine versions like Ribeiro and Ribero apparently also come from this surname later on. I'll have to find the link again. As far as Rodrigues as a first name, it appears that Rodrigue was originally a first name, then became Roderigo and Rodrigo. The link for that is http://www.genealogie.org/famille/Rodrigue/english/surname_t.... At any rate, the first Rodrigo de Rivera I have seen is a reference to monies paid out by Queen Isabel in the 15th century.

Cheers,
Donalyn

The name I found in Queen Isabel's records is more properly Rodrigo de Ribero, not Rivera. It is not listed as a Jewish name and is at the turn of the century.

Hi Donalyn,

Thank you again for your help.

I have read the information on post-expulsion census records, but at this stage of my research I think I don't have enough data to link to them, because the earliest ancestors I have been able to trace were born around 1630, and since they wouldn't stay in the same place for a long time, I have absolutely no idea where their ancestors were living in 1492. Other problem is I only know Catholic names and they probably replaced Jewish names used pre-1492.

The situation I mentioned of a person named "Rodrigues" as a first name is a clear mistake from the person who made the index. My ancestor was surely named Rodrigo, I have seen his name many times. He's related to the Lopez/Rodriguez/Rivera family (his daughter married a Lopez descendant).

Spellings are not the same in different centuries or in different places. When I refer to my Rivera ancestor (born around 1661) as José Lopez de Rivera, I'm writing his name the way it would be written today. His name appears as:

Jozeph Lopez - in his own signature, where he didn't write the second surname (today that would be José Lopez).
Jossephe Lopez de Ribera - by the Spanish Inquisition - Court of Seville (today that would be José Lopez de Rivera).
Jozeph Lopes Ribeyra - by the Portuguese Inquisition - Court of Évora (today that would be José Lopes Ribeira) - they "translated" the name.

So, the name was probably "Ribera" at the time. In Spanish, or even in Portuguese, it's easy to change a B into a V. The Spanish spelling comes from a document that was sent from Seville after a request by the Portuguese Inquisition.

In Portugal, "Ribeira" is unusual, but "Ribeiro" is very common. I have several (non-Jewish, as far as I know) lines of ancestors with the Ribeiro surname.

Rui Pereira

Well that makes sense. I too am looking everywhere. It's good to know the Ribeira/Ribera name is uncommon. I did read somewhere now that the Ribeiro/Ribero name came later, having something to do with wine. My next step is Barcelona records during the Catalonian Rebellion in the early 1700s. I'm going to forward you some information on some Lopes in England in the 1600s who were practicing Sephardim. One never knows. Sure would love to have you as a Sephardim mailing list subscriber!

Warmest regards,
Donalyn

Can anyone enlighten me on the name "Ribeiro de Moura" because my wife name is "Ribeiro de Moura"and so was her sister and brother. The name "Ribeiro de Moura" was so important that her mother always signed school papers Augusta Ribeiro de Moura. Both the father and mother were from Jewish background because her father stated that he lost his birthright when he became a Protestant. Her mother was very superstitious but not the usual Brasilian superstitious but we have discovered long after her mother had died that the superstitions are all Jewish origins. She never knew her grandparents. Would like to make some connections to make sure the children know and can be proud of the background on that side of the family. Should I be looking for the name Ribeiro or Moura. Northeast Brasil is the territory (Recife, Joa Pessoa, Fortaleza). Believe family left Spain to Portugal and then Brasil. HELP Fathers first name was Euclydes... Thanks