Inquisition / Inquisição

The Inquisition Tribunal did not exist in Madeira, but it is known that there were familiar members here, and the names of some of them are recorded in the Municipal Council books of Funchal (See Familiars of the Holy Office). By provision of July 20th, 1612, the visitor Francisco Cardoso de Cernejo was entrusted to come to this island, but it is unknown whether this diligence resulted in some sons of Madeira being plunged into the dungeons of the Holy Office in Lisbon, or handed over to the flames. The said provision recommended the island officials to give all the necessary favor and help to Cernejo, even ordering the best properties to be vacated for his residence in the locations he had to visit! Of the Madeirans persecuted by the Inquisition, the most well-known is the poet Francisco Alvares de Nobrega (See this name). Like Bocage, he groaned in the dungeons of the Holy Office, and even after his death, his room was invaded by the familiar members of that tribunal, who rendered many of his writings useless (See Jews).