Jordi Bilbeny, an historian known for his far-fetched and whimsical theories, claims that a series of characters in Spanish History were born, in contradiction with the official theory, in the territories of the Crown of Aragon instead of the Crown of Castille or Italy. Such persons include:
-Christopher Columbus (Barcelonese instead of Genovese)
-Americo Vespuccio (b. Aimerich Despuig, cartographer of Columbus' expeditions)
-Hernán Cortés (b. Alfons of Aragon, lord of Cortes, illegitimate great-grandson of John II of Aragon)
-Miguel de Cervantes (b. Miquel Sirvent, from Valencia)
Etcetera
He teorizes that the Spanish Inquisition was responsible for the counterfeiting of the official documents, records and other papers to legitimate the conquista of the Americas as a solely Castillian campaign; and to build a Spanish sense of nationality around the Castillian culture to facilitate the introduction of the absolute monarchy.
My question is: Could the Spanish Inquisition (whether they did it or not) change the written records and oral traditions so much that as soon as a century later nobody remembered anything but the official version? Did they have this much power over the knowledge?
far-fetched and whimsical
..... and so it seems.
On one hand it did not matter whether these persons were Aragonese or not. It was already well known that Columbus was not Castilian, why would it matter whether he was Aragonese or Genovese? And would it matter that Cervantes was Aragonese or not? He was among many authors, of Castilian origin or otherwise, publishing in Castilian language. Heck, Erasmus was a best selling author in Spain during the time of Charles V and he had not even been to Spain, partly because he didn't like the Spanish Inquisition!
And if you want to bring up Hernan Cortes, the Castilian crown regularly employs persons who are not Castilian if they were truly needed for Castilian enterprises, even if there was strong preference for Castilians.
None of this mattered, unless an author has specific interest in pushing the agenda of Catalan supremacy, which is what Bilbeny is known for.
As far the powers of the Spanish Inquisition, it was restricted to matters of religion. They had to strictly hand over to civic authorities matters not related to religion. That included even sentencing of those convicted.
This is a fascinating question, and I'm really hoping an answer pops up soon. I know the question was specifically about the power of the Spanish Inquisition to re-write history, but I'd love a little insight into the claim that Columbus was from Barcelona. I've heard that before (but just in conversation, and not from credible sources) and would love to know more.