134 Francis de Sales (Franỗois de Sales), St (non-Moorish) and of pure Christian blood, or sangre limpia On the threat of withdrawing military support from the pope Sixtus VI (1521–90), who deemed their actions as a plot to gain Jewish property, Ferdinand demanded that Spain initiate the Inquisition After a number of arguments between Ferdinand and Sixtus, the pope issued the Papal Bull of 1478 that created the Inquisition in Seville It then expanded throughout Spain and began a lengthy period of religious cleansing Pope Innocent VIII (1432–92) appointed the Dominican priest Tomás de Torquemada (1420–98), Isabella’s confessor and himself a grandson of a convert, to head the Spanish Inquisition The partially converted Jews, the Marranos, secretly maintained their Jewish cultures and customs To force them to confess, Torquemada imposed increasingly penurious methods He forfeited Jewish property, which conveniently financed a war against another minority in Spain Torquemada humiliated the Marranos by forcing them to wear a sambenito, a yellow shirt containing crosses that exposed their genitals in public Some 130,000 conversos were tried at tribunals from 1480 to 1492 Some Marranos were burned at the stake The ruthless Torquemada staged the LaGuardia show trial in 1490 where no guilt was proved yet the victims were burned at the stake Some 30,000 Jews were ritually murdered during the Spanish Inquisition Ferdinand and Isabella issued the Edict of Expulsion on March 31, 1492 The Jews were commanded to leave Spain and never return With his work done, Torquemada retired to St Thomas monastery in Ávila, where he died in 1498 Historical debate lingers about the number of victims of the Inquisition in Spain Ferdinand and Isabella relied greatly on the expertise of her next confessor, Cardinal Francisco Gonzalo Jiménez de Cisneros (1436–1517), who helped raise Spain to unprecedented predominance on the European continent The couple gained control over the military orders of Calatrava, Alcántara, and Santiago, which greatly increased their power, wealth, and territory Ferdinand and Isabella revived the centuries-long Reconquista They waged a costly 10-year war against the Moors and finally conquered Granada, the last Moorish stronghold, in 1491 They triumphantly entered Granada on January 2, 1492 Isabella, more so than Ferdinand, was responsible for the horrific slaughter of the Moors who would not convert to Christianity In 1501, Ferdinand and Isabella offered the Moors the alternative of baptism or exile; those who remained became known as Moriscos In 1492, Pope Innocent VIII (1432–92) granted Ferdinand and Isabella the title of “Most Catholic Majesties” for spiritually unifying Spain The Reconquista was completed Isabella was largely responsible for initiating the golden age of exploration for Spain She financially supported the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World She had rejected his request numerous times, but when he threatened to petition funds from France she relented and Columbus sailed in August 1492 When he brought 150 natives to Spain, she bought some and gave them their freedom Ferdinand and Isabella were strongly involved with the establishment of the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 that divided the non-Christian world overseas between Portugal and Spain Isabella died at Medina del Campo on November 26, 1504 Ferdinand married Germaine de Foix on October 19, 1505 Ferdinand served as regent of Castile after Juana died and later for his grandson Charles V Ferdinand also fought in lengthy Italian Wars against France His generals conquered Naples in 1504, and in 1512 he annexed Navarre He also joined the League of Cambrai in 1508 to thwart Venetian objectives and the Holy League in 1511 to counteract France Ferdinand also founded universities Ferdinand died at Midrigalejo, Spain, on January 23, 1516 He is buried beside Isabella, at the Capilla Real in Granada alongside Juan, Philip, and a grandson See also expulsion of Jews from Spain (1492) and Portugal (1497); Tudor dynasty; voyages of discovery Further reading: Edwards, John The Spain of the Catholic Monarchs, 1474–1520 Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2000; Elliott, John H Imperial Spain, 1469–1716 New York: St Martin’s Press, 1964; Kamren, Henry A The Spanish Inquisition New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998; Liss, Peggy K Isabel the Queen: Life and Times Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004; Roth, Cecil The Spanish Inquisition New York: W W Norton & Company, 1964 Annette Richardson Francis de Sales (Franỗois de Sales), St (15671622) prelate and writer In an age of religious division and strife, Francis de Sales (Franỗois de Sales) was a voice of reason and charity and a leader in the Catholic Counter-Reformation Plagued by lifelong doubts about his faith, he was revered as a saintly man by both Catholics and