1540. Carta de Fernão Mendes, procurador, para João de Melo, inquisidor.

Private letter from Fernão Mendes, an attorney, to João de Melo, an Inquisitor.

The author tries to convince the addressee that a certain defendant is not guilty of Judaism.

Most of the letters that were included as instrumental evidence in the Inquisition proceedings against Simão Franco were written by the defendant's attorney, Fernão Mendes, and were addressed to the Inquisitor in charge, João de Melo. They contain some pressure in favor of the defendant. Simão Franco started by denying that he practiced Judaism, stating that the witnesses who were accusing him were his capital enemies, but ended by admitting his guilt.