of being overzealous in his work, and of showing excessive cruelty – his reputation was sufficient that in 1507, the Pope was forced to publicly request moderation. Accusations were also made that Deza used his position to enrich himself, confiscating the wealth of accused heretics for himself. A complaint about Deza, made to the royal secretary by Captain Gonzalo de Ayora (Ayora being a valuable Valencia town with numerous "moriscos" since before the 13th century), said that Deza and his lieutenants "have no regard either for God or for justice; they kill, steal, and dishonor girls and women to the disgrace of the Christian religion." Downfall Deza himself was later accused of secretly practicing Judaism, a charge mainly based on the fact that he himself had Jewish blood on his mother's side. The accusation was probably political, but nevertheless damaged his standing somewhat. His position was further undermined by several open insurrections against the Inquisition, particularly against his chief lieutenant Diego Rodriguez Lucero. Lucero intensely disliked the "false converted", and in 1500 handled papers sent to Pope Julius II on the Archbishop of Granada's (Hernando de Talavera) Jewish ancestry. Diego Rodriguez Lucero, the Inquisitor of Córdoba, was even more hated than Deza, and in late 1506, had narrowly escaped with his life when an angry mob stormed the Inquisition's base in Cordoba and freed all its prisoners. Pope Julius II seems to have brought some common sense to Deza and Lucero's researches choosing to ignore them. After King Ferdinand II of Aragon remarried, he decided that Deza had become a liability, and Deza was forced to resign in 1507. Hernando de Talavera would die also in 1507 without knowing the whereabouts of his "process" in Rome. In 1517 Diego de Deza founded in Seville the "Colegio de Santo Tomás", 15 years after Rodrigo Fernández de Santaella, who had founded the Colegio de Santa María de Jesus, initial nucleus of the actual University of Seville. Death It is likely that Diego de Deza could have returned to his inquisitorial office, because it is known that he was named Archbishop of Toledo (and thus Primate of Spain), but was not able to take up the position due to illness. He died on 9 June 1523. His tomb in his College of Santo Tomas was opened by Napoleonic troops in 1810 with the aim of stealing his rings, collars and golden paraphernalia. The