A council authorized by Pope Sixtus IV in 1478 and organized under the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Spain to combat heresy. Its main targets were converted Jews and Muslims, but it was also used against witchcraft and against political enemies. The first Grand Inquisitor was Torquemada. Its methods included the use of torture, confiscation, and burning at autos-da-fé. It ordered the expulsion of the Jews in 1492, the attack on the Moriscos (Muslims living in Spain who were baptized Christians but retained Islamic practices) in 1502, and, after the Reformation attacked all forms of Protestantism. In the 16th century there were 14 Spanish branches and its jurisdiction was extended to the colonies of the New World, including Mexico and Peru, and to the Netherlands and Sicily. Its activities were enlarged in the reign of Philip II, who favoured it as a Counter-Reformation weapon. It was suppressed and finally abolished in the 19th century.