““Who’s that?” Barney asked. Pedro answered, having returned his attention to his daughter’s suitor. “Father Alonso,” he said. “He’s the new inquisitor.” Carlos, Ebrima, and Betsy appeared alongside Barney, moving forward to get a closer look at the preacher. Alonso began by speaking of the shivering fever that had killed hundreds of citizens during the winter. It was a punishment from God, he said. The people of Seville had to learn a lesson from it, and examine their consciences. What terrible sins had they committed, to make God so angry? The answer was that they had tolerated heathens among them. The young priest became heated as he enumerated the blasphemies of heretics. He spat out Jew, Muslim, Protestant as if the very words tasted foul in his mouth. But who was he talking about? Barney knew the history of Spain. In 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella—“the Catholic monarchs”—had given the Jews of Spain an ultimatum: convert to Christianity or leave the country. Later the Muslims had been offered the same brutal choice. All synagogues and mosques had since been turned into churches. And Barney had never met a Spanish Protestant, to his knowledge.””
