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Diego de Deza | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Seville Grand Inquisitor of Spain | |
 Diego de Deza (c. 1631) byZurbarán,Museo del Prado | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Seville |
| Appointed | 30 October 1504 |
| Term ended | 9 June 1523 |
| Predecessor | Juan de Zúñiga y Pimentel |
| Successor | Gutierre Álvarez de Toledo |
| Previous post(s) | Bishop of Salamanca (1494-1498) Bishop of Jaén (1498-1500) Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1499-1506) Bishop of Palencia (1500-1504) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1444 |
| Died | 9 June 1523(1523-06-09) (aged 78–79) Seville, Spain |
| Education | University of Salamanca |
Diego de Deza y Tavera (1444 – 9 June 1523) was atheologian andinquisitor of Spain. He was one of the more notable figures in theSpanish Inquisition, and succeededTomás de Torquemada to the post ofGrand Inquisitor.
Deza was born inToro, Zamora and entered theDominican Order at a young age. He held a number of ecclesiastical posts, and also tutored Prince Juan de Aragón y Castilla, also known asJohn, Prince of Asturias, the only surviving son ofKing Ferdinand andQueen Isabella.
He was fundamental in granting navigatorChristopher Columbus access to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand.
After first serving asBishop of Zamora (1487–1494),Bishop of Salamanca (1494–1498),Bishop of Jaén (1498–1500), andBishop of Palencia (February 1500 – 1504), he becameArchbishop of Seville in 1505. Deza was commissioned asGrand Inquisitor forCastile,León, andGranada on 24 November 1498. On 1 September of the following year, his authority was expanded to cover the whole of Spain.
Deza was the successor toTomás de Torquemada, perhaps the most famous of all inquisitors. Like Torquemada, Deza had a particular dislike ofconversos –Jews orMuslims who had converted toChristianity but who were often accused of secretly retaining their original faith.
It is reported that shortly after his arrival toPalencia, he managed, on 25 April 1500, to baptize all the "moriscos" established there. As the 25 April was St Mark's day according to the calendar, the then-named "Morería" street has since been known as "San Marcos" street. He was commissioned as Archbishop of Seville on 30 October 1504. But, after the death a few days later of Queen Isabella I of Castile, he had to attend urgent meetings with the other two attorneys of the dead queen, King ConsortFerdinand II of Aragon and CardinalFrancisco Ximenez de Cisneros.
Arriving in Seville in October 1505, just one year after his appointment, Deza prepared to perform the same conversions to Christianity as he had "achieved" five years earlier in Palencia. With the help ofMartín de Ullate, "numerous" Sevillian Muslims and Jews were thus converted no later than the end of 1505. He also held the inquisitorial enquiries on the newArchbishopric of Granada, conquered in 1492 with truces about respecting the private religious beliefs of Granada Muslims soon to be ignored.
Like Torquemada, Deza was accused of being overzealous in his work, and of showing excessive cruelty – his reputation was sufficient that in 1507, thePope was forced to publicly request moderation. Accusations were also made that Deza used his position to enrich himself, confiscating the wealth of accused heretics for himself. A complaint about Deza, made to the royal secretary by CaptainGonzalo de Ayora (Ayora being a valuableValencia town with numerous "moriscos" since before the 13th century), said that Deza and his lieutenants "have no regard either forGod or for justice; they kill, steal, and dishonor girls and women to the disgrace of the Christian religion."
Deza himself was later accused of secretly practising Judaism, a charge mainly based on the fact that he himself had Jewish blood on his mother's side. The accusation was probably political, but nevertheless damaged his standing somewhat. His position was further undermined by several open insurrections against the Inquisition, particularly against his chief lieutenantDiego Rodriguez Lucero. Lucero intensely disliked the "false converted", and in 1500 handled papers sent toPope Julius II on the Archbishop of Granada's (Hernando de Talavera) Jewish ancestry.
Lucero, the Inquisitor ofCórdoba, was more hated than Deza, and in late 1506, had narrowly escaped with his life when anangry mob stormed the Inquisition's base in Cordoba and freed all its prisoners. Pope Julius II seems to have had a moderating influence on Deza and Lucero's researches.
After KingFerdinand II of Aragon remarried, he decided that Deza had become a liability, and Deza was forced to resign in 1507. Hernando de Talavera would die also in 1507 without knowing the whereabouts of his process in Rome.
In 1517 Diego de Deza founded in Seville the "Colegio de Santo Tomás", 15 years afterRodrigo Fernández de Santaella, who had founded theColegio de Santa María de Jesus, initial nucleus of the modernUniversity of Seville.
It is likely that Diego de Deza could have returned to his inquisitorial office, because it is known that he was namedArchbishop of Toledo (and thusPrimate of Spain), but was not able to take up the position due to illness. He died on 9 June 1523.
His tomb in his College of Santo Tomas was opened byNapoleonic troops in 1810 with the aim of stealing his rings, collars and golden paraphernalia. The college, later a Spanish Government military establishment within the Seville Regiments, being visited frequently by the wife of a High Military local boss, aroused an interest in the empty tombstonesarcophagus. She thought it would be useful to set up a bath to look after her beauty.[citation needed]
While bishop, he was the principal consecrator of:[1]
and the principal co-consecrator of:[1]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Grand Inquisitor of Spain 1499–1506 | Succeeded by |
