On July 15th, 1834, Spanish Queen Regent María Cristina de Borbón issues a decree abolishing the Spanish Inquisition. During the 14th and 15th centuries, many Jews converted to Christianity because, at times, there were restrictions on the jobs they could apply for. This created the converso social class in Spain, allowing them to hold successful positions of power. In 1477, a Dominican from Seville convinced Queen Isabella that many of the conversos in Seville, which had a large Jewish population, were still practicing Judaism. Queen Isabella requested permission from Pope Sixtus IV to start an inquisition in order to find these ‘fake converts.’ The Pope issued a papal bull on November 1, 1478, granting permission for an inquisition in Seville. He ultimately gave permission to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to create tribunals in their entire kingdom. On March 31, 1492, it was decreed that all Jews had to leave Spain by July 31, because they were causing conversos to ‘relapse.’These courts are believed to have tried up to 350,000 Jews. Trials continued until the early 1800s, even though much protest was received during the Enlightenment, until 1834, when the tribunal was definitively abolished.