Pedro de Arbués
Pedro de Arbués | |
|---|---|
| Martyr | |
| Born | ca. 1441 Épila, Kingdom of Aragon |
| Died | 17 September 1485 (aged 44) Zaragoza, Kingdom of Aragon |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 20 April 1664, Saint Peter's Basilica, Papal States by Pope Alexander VII |
| Canonized | 29 June 1867, Saint Peter's Basilica, Papal States by Pope Pius IX |
| Major shrine | Cathedral of the Savior, Zaragoza, Spain |
| Feast | 17 September |
Pedro de Arbués, also known as Peter of Arbués (c. 1441 – 17 September 1485) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and a professed Augustinian canon. He served as an official of the Spanish Inquisition until he was assassinated in the La Seo Cathedral in Zaragoza in 1485 by Jews and conversos. The veneration of him came swiftly through popular acclaim. His death greatly assisted the Inquisitor-General Tomás de Torquemada's campaign against heretics and crypto-Jews. His canonization was celebrated on 29 June 1867.
As a result, a popular movement against the Jews arose in which nine were executed, two killed themselves, thirteen were burnt in effigy, and four punished for complicity, from 30 June to 15 December 1486, according to the historian Jerónimo Zurita. Leonardo Sciascia in Morte dell'inquisitore (1964) writes (erroneously) that Arbués along with Juan Lopez de Cisneros (d. 1657) are "the only two cases of inquisitors who died assassinated".