The mystical movement targeted in early Spanish Inquisition trials in Guadalajara and Valladolid was the Alumbrados.
The name, often translated as “Illuminists” or “Enlightened Ones,” referred to spiritual groups that emphasized direct inner illumination and an unusually personal relationship with God. Inquisitors regarded some of their teachings and practices as heretical, particularly when they appeared to bypass established clerical authority or sacramental discipline.
The Guadalajara investigations focused on figures including Isabel de la Cruz and Pedro Ruiz de Alcaraz. In Valladolid, the movement was associated with Francisca Hernández and her followers. The Inquisition’s 1525 edict against the Alumbrados listed 48 propositions considered heretical.
The Alumbrados are easily confused with later Protestant groups prosecuted in Valladolid and Seville during the reign of Philip II. They were not simply another name for Hussites, Cathars, or Quietists. Their trials also helped direct inquisitorial attention toward intellectuals and religious figures influenced by Erasmian ideas, even though Erasmus himself was admired by Spanish monarchs.