Abstract:

The Portuguese Inquisition was a very important institution of the Counter-Reformation in the Age of Exploration. Its main task was to supervise and persecute the Jewish "protestants" who were forced to be converted. It also targeted at writers with "heterodox ideas" or a freethinking mind as well as social behaviors against "orthodox" Christianity. The Portuguese Inquisition was first established in the prime of the Counter-Reformation in 1530s. While its prosecution towards the "heterodoxy" reached a high peak in the 17^th century, it was severely attacked during the reform of the Marquis of Baltimore in the mid-18^th century and finally eliminated in the early 19^th century. The Portuguese Inquisition restrained the trend of Renaissance in Portugal, forced millions of wealthy Jewish "protestants" to emigrate and led to the failure of Portugal in its commercial competition with the Netherlands and the U.K..

Key words: Portugal, the Inquisition, history of Counter-Reformation