1589. Carta de Miguel Rodrigues para Diogo Castanho, seu pai.

Family letter from Miguel Rodrigues to his father, Diogo Castanho.

The author writes his father, giving him the updates on the charges he faces. He promises to do everything to help setting him free and asks for monetary help.

Diogo Castanho, a New-Christian resident in Vila Viçosa, was mentioned in several proceedings, charged for Judaism. In 1589, the Court of the Holy Office ordered the judge of the High Court, Sebastião Barbosa, to arrest Diogo Castanho and his current wife, Inês da Costa, both now living in Abrantes, Diogo Castanho's hometown. Among the documents gathered during Diogo Castanho's arrest, several family letters were found and were considered of interest to the case. Other documents were also considered relevant to the proceedings: the taking of evidences on his arrest in Évora and an exposure to the judge of the High Court, written by the official who arrested the couple. Diogo Castanho was arrested that same year, in Évora, where the preparatory inquiry took place.