The activity of the Holy Office it was inferior to its metropolitan model, in part because of the prohibition against Moors, Jews or heretics going to the Indies, and also because of the late creation of its courts, something reinforced by its lesser presence in the two viceroyalties. In 1568 it was decided to create the courts of the Inquisition, initially only established in Lima (1570) and Mexico (1571), although the institution had been present in America since the beginning of the 16th century. In 1610 a third court was created in Cartagena de Indias , which contributed to the development of the city. Faced with the behavior far removed from the orthodoxy of some priests and monks, especially in dealing with indigenous women, internal control mechanisms were put in place, since the surveillance of the ecclesiastics corresponded to the Inquisition, in this way, the relaxation of the clergy motivated some accusations against him from the high colonial authorities in use of the Patronato and led to the endowment, since 1517, of all American bishops with inquisitorial powers . In 1519 commissioners of the Inquisition were appointed for some American territories.
Activity in America of the Holy Inquisition
Given the peculiar characteristics of the American Inquisition , its activity was lower than what occurred in the Peninsula. Both in number of sentences and in quality, the sentences were not comparable to those applied in Spain. In Lima, in the two and a half centuries of existence of the Holy Office, only 30 death sentences were handed down. , although the indigenous problem did not fall within its direct orbit of influence and was generally approached from another perspective, even though the Inquisition courts looked at some cases against the aborigines despite the theoretical prohibition to deal with them. Its mission was to prevent the corruption of Catholicism among Europeans , for which it was necessary to combat the Judaizers, the Protestants and those suspected of witchcraft. In Brazil, its own courts never functioned, and only in very specific situations were courts requested from Lisbon.