Carmona Families from Sevilla, Cordoba, and the Canary Islands.
Author: Roger Martínez-Dávila, Ph.D.
Cite as: Sephardic Ancestry. "Carmona Families from Sevilla, Cordoba, and the Canary Islands." Sephardic Ancestry is a non-profit, educational, and research effort guided by Dr. Martínez-Dávila. These materials are shared via Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). https://sephardicancestry.org/carmona-families-from-sevilla-cordoba-and-the-canary-islands.
Origins of the Surname
The first indication of the origins of the Carmona family as Jewish or converso is from the latter part of the 15th century. In Seville, we find Iñigo de Carmona, who was investigated by the Holy Office of the Inquisition in 1487. Often, the family emigrated to the Canary Islands during the early part of the 16th century. For example, Diego de Carmona in 1512. Finally, we encounter a branch of the converso family, again investigated and penalized by the Inquisition in Córdoba in the latter part of the 16th century; for instance, Mencía de Carmona in 1595.
Discussion of Primary and Secondary Source Materials
Through the research of Prof. Dr. Guillén Claudio (who was a professor at Harvard University, Princeton University, and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, as well as a member of the Royal Spanish Academy), we know the history of the Carmona family. Their history began with the tragedy of 1390, the year of the assaults on the Spanish Jewish quarters and the preachings of Saint Vincent Ferrer. In less than ten years (1390-1400), Jews in Spain were targeted by Christians seeking their death, conversion, or expulsion. It is estimated that about 100,000 Jews were killed, 100,000 converted to Christianity, and another 100,000 fled to Muslim territories or went into hiding. Prof. Dr. Guillén Claudio recounts what happened in Seville:
The Jewish community of Seville, as is well known, had been decimated by the sack of 1391, leaving the Jewish element of the population severely diminished and the number of conversos increased. A few wealthy Jews…still dared the attempt of 1480: the so-called conspiracy of Seville. But these were only isolated cases, as shown by the distribution made under Henry IV by Jacob Aben-Núñez (of the contributions that various Jewish communities in Spain had to pay to the Crown).
Like many other Jews, the Carmona family converted to Christianity in the 15th century to survive, but with the clear intention of finding a safe passage out of Spain. Before they found safety, only two years after the establishment of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, in 1487, we understand that the Carmona family had already been investigated for relapsing into Judaism. In a document in the General Archive of Simancas, there is evidence that the family was penalized and reconciled with the church after it was discovered that they had returned to some aspect of their former religion.
In some letters from the Royal Chancery of the Kings of Castile in the Register of the Seal of Court, we find information about Iñigo de Carmona on December 19, 1487. The letters indicated that Iñigo was a converso Jew who had been reconciled by the Inquisition and that the authorities would not have arrested him for debts without prior sworn caution. Figure 1 of the original manuscript shows this fact. The document also indicates that Iñigo's possessions had been confiscated by the Inquisition. This was a typical practice of the Inquisition, as it used the financial resources of the people it investigated to operate and fund the institution. This document shows that the Inquisition had wrongfully taken his possessions, but the authorities still required Iñigo to take an oath.
The family was continually under attack by the inquisitors: in 1491, we understand that Alfonso de Carmona and his wife had been investigated and harmed. In another document from the Royal Chancery of the Kings of Castile, we understand that a special royal commission was appointed to ensure the return of the Carmona family's financial resources and possessions. The original documents (February 1491) also indicate that the Carmonas were Jews converted to Christianity. Figure 2 of the original manuscript shows the most important details.
Figure 1: Iñigo de Carmona, converted Jew, resident of Seville, reconciled to the Inquisition. Source: Archivo General de Simancas. Real Cancillería de los Reyes de Castilla. Registro del Sello de Corte. Legajo 148712, No. 85, Folio 1 recto.
Figure 2: Alfonso de Carmona and his wife. Source: Archivo General de Simancas. Real Cancillería de los Reyes de Castilla. Registro del Sello de Corte. Legajo 149102, No. 152, Folio 1 recto.
We can establish that the Carmona and other converso families were known and documented through a record taken in Seville in 1511 and later in 1518, which Prof. Dr. Guillén located and evaluated in a manuscript (16th century) in the National Library of France. The manuscript states that several conversos reconciled with the Christian faith and, in return, would pay a tax to confirm their return to the faith. Indeed, the abusive tax extended the traditional "cabeza de pecho" tax that had always been applied to Jews. Even after conversion, Carmona and dozens of families that were formerly Jewish continued to be treated and regarded as Jews. The relevant section of the manuscript reveals this important fact, as well as how much each person would pay. It reads:
Statement made by the New Christians of the district of the Inquisition of Seville with Queen Joanna. Year fifteen hundred and eleven years....
Given that, on your behalf, the residents and inhabitants of the city of Seville and its archbishopric, and the bishopric of Cadiz, Ecija and Fregenal, Lepe and Ayamonte and La Redondela, who were reconciled to our Holy Catholic faith from the crime of heretical depravity, and of the sons and grandsons of those condemned for the said crime, a report has been made: that for thirty years up to this point, the Holy Office of the Inquisition has been executed in the said city and its archbishopric and the aforementioned places, due to your said reconciliations and condemnations of your parents and grandparents, you have fallen and incurred in incapacity and notorious infamy of your persons, both by law and by the sentence of the inquisitors, you have been and are incapacitated and incapable of exercising and using the offices and honors that unblemished Catholic Christians use and exercise; and that since you thus incurred in the said incapacity, up to today you have maintained and continue to maintain, in unity and patience, without using or exercising the aforementioned that has thus been prohibited to you, being as you have been and are, after your reconciliations, good and Catholic Christians...
Census of the residents of the very noble and very loyal city of Seville, which was made for the distribution of the sixty thousand ducats of the two compositions with which they served our queen, the residents of the said city of Seville...
Andres de Carmona (clothier) 60 dineros [a Spanish coin]…
Alonso de Carmona, son of Iñigo de Carmona 6 dineros…
Alonso de Carmona (silversmith) 6 dineros…
Pedro de Carmona (tailor) 4 dineros…
Jhoan de Carmona (silk worker) 30 dineros…
Alonso de Carmona 3 dineros…
Pedro de Carmona (the apothecary) 20 dineros…
Jhoan de Carmona 1 dinero…
Hernando de Carmona (doublet maker) 1 dinero.
It seems that, with little hope of an end to the religious harassment and unjust taxes, the Carmona family left Seville for the Canary Islands. In fact, the family had begun their departure as early as 1512. The first to leave the peninsula was Diego de Carmona. According to Luis Alberto Anaya Hernández, author of Judeoconversos e Inquisición en las Islas Canarias (1402-1605):
Diego de Carmona, 60 years old and a silversmith by trade, had been reconciled in Seville along with his wife and participated in the composition made in the Canary Islands in 1512.
Diego and his wife's safe passage was followed by other family members fleeing the persecution in Seville. In 1513, “Juan Morcillo, son of Hernando Morcillo and Isabel de Carmona, residents of Seville,” moved to the Canary Islands. It was important for the family to leave Seville and seek the relative safety of the Canary Islands because the family was under investigation by the Inquisition.
For those who did not leave Seville, the consequences were difficult. In the monumental work of Prof. Dr. Juan Antonio Llórente, Historia crítica de la inquisición de España Volumen 3, we read:
[In the year 1521] Having caused various damages, Pedro de Villacís, receiver of goods for the Inquisition, harmed Francisco de Carmona, a resident of Seville, who complained to Cardinal [Adriano], who administered justice to him; but abusing his knowledge of the way the Holy Office processed, he arranged a certain conspiracy by virtue of which Francisco, Beatriz Martínez his mother, and other relatives were prosecuted and imprisoned, besides attempting to kill him and searching for him for that purpose.
On the other hand, those conversos who initially arrived in the Canary Islands were able to recreate a family life. In La Palma, in 1529, we have news of Gonzalo de Carmona and his wife, María Casañas, daughter of the converso Juan Pellicer. Also, in 1525, Pedro de Carmona with his wife Catalina de Carmona and their three children. But the Inquisition in Seville continued to harass and attempt to provoke new investigations of the Carmona family in the Canary Islands until the 1620s.
Relentlessly, the persecution continued. For example, from 1595 to 1623, the branch of the family in Córdoba was investigated as Judaizers and for religious blasphemy. Specifically, Mencia de Carmona in 1595 as a Judaizer (Figure 3), María de Carmona in 1599 as a Judaizer (Figure 4), and Francisco de Carmona for blasphemy.
Figure 3: Mencia de Carmona, Judaizer, sentenced to life imprisonment. Source: Archivo Historico Nacional Inquisición Legajo 4972, Exp. 24. “Relación de causas pendientes del Tribunal de la Inquisición de Córdoba. 1595.”
Figure 4: María de Carmona, Trial for Judaizing. Source: Archivo Historico Nacional Inquisición Legajo 4972, Exp. 25. “Relación de causas de fe del Tribunal de la Inquisición de Córdoba. 1623.”
In the specific case of Mencía de Carmona in Córdoba, we know that she was not only investigated and reconciled with the church but was also forced to participate in an auto-da-fé (a humiliating public event) on May 21, 1595. In the Plaza de la Corredera, she was taken to the public spectacle along with other members of society with penance for crimes such as blasphemy, false witnesses, witchcraft, bigamy, heretical propositions, Protestantism, and Judaizing. Mencía was part of the larger procession—almost 75% were Judaizers like her. Mencía, if we can consider her as such, was one of the fortunate targets of the Inquisition: four women were burned alive for their perceived religious crimes ("relaxed in person"), Doña Ysabel de Ávila, Ysabel Álvarez, Doña Leonor Gutiérrez, and Doña Francisca de Aguilar (daughter of Leonor).
In Figure 3, we see the record of the auto-da-fé. It notes her belief in the Law of Moses and her confessions. Most disturbingly, she was not only subjected to the public auto-da-fé but was also sentenced to imprisonment for the rest of her natural life. No confession saved her; no penance was sufficient to absolve her of her perpetual commitment to Judaism. We do not know what happened to her relative, María de Carmona, who was investigated in 1599, but it is not far-fetched to think that she met the same fate (Figure 4).
In this sense, Jews who converted to Christianity, like the Carmona family, were never at peace in Spanish lands. The sincerity of their Christian faith was always an open question.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Archivo General de Simancas (Valladolid).
Real Cancillería de los Reyes de Castilla. Registro del Sello de Corte. Legajo 148712, No. 85, Folio 1 recto-1 verso.
Real Cancillería de los Reyes de Castilla. Registro del Sello de Corte. Legajo 149102, No. 152, Folio 1 recto-1 verso.
Archivo Histórico Nacional (Madrid)
Inquisición Legajo 4972, Exp. 24. “Relación de causas pendientes del Tribunal de la Inquisición de Córdoba. 1599.”
Inquisición Legajo 4972, Exp. 25. “Relación de causas de fe del Tribunal de la Inquisición de Córdoba. 1623.”
Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris).
Esp. 333, fols. 119-134 v°. (Antes, núm. 170, numerado así en A. Morel Fatio, Catalogue des manuscrits espagnols et des manuscrits portugais, 1892, pág. 59.)
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Anaya Hernández, Luis Alberto. Judeoconversos e Inquisición en las Islas Canarias (1402-1605). Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1996.
Gerber, Jane S. The Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience. New York: Free Press, 1992.
Gitlitz, David M. Secrecy and Deceit: The Religion of the Crypto-Jews. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2002.
Guillén Claudio. “Un padrón de conversos sevillanos (1510).” Bulletin Hispanique, tome 65, n°1-2, 1963. pp. 49-98; doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/hispa.1963.3763 https://www.persee.fr/doc/hispa_0007-4640_1963_num_65_1_3763
Llórente, Juan Antonio. Historia Crítica de la Inquisición de España, Madrid: La Imprenta del Censor, 1822.
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