The Inquisition and the New Christians: The Case of the Portuguese Inquisition of Goa

The social notion of the New Christians, common in the Iberian penin sula of the fifteenth century, was transferred by the Spaniards and Por tuguese from their historical medieval Mediterranean world to their newly founded settlements in those African, Asian and American lands which had been discovered by them and subsequently brought under their respective rules during the early modern age. Notwithstanding the utterly different circumstances of life, climate and culture, as much as the advance of time, we witness a similar process at work: the institu tional structure of the Inquisition; its modus operandi; its unchal lenged power and authority over both the living and the dead; and, the typical charges brought against those New Christians considered here tics and enemies of the Christian faith.