The impious and sodomite' Portuguese nobleman who kept banned books inside the walls of his house in a Spanish village

"The bricklayer's pickaxe, in one of its strokes, unearthed paper instead of brick. In the carefully bricked-up space, in addition to the book pierced by the tool, they found 10 more books. All of them dated back to the 16th century and were written in various languages."

"The most remarkable find was a 1554 edition of the famous satirical novella Lazarillo de Tormes, which, like its fellow walled-up books, had withstood the test of time almost unscathed. Now, according to new research by Professor Pedro Martin Banos, we know that the individual who hid them there was Fernao Brandao, a Portuguese nobleman who fled his country to evade the Inquisition."

"The key clue that led to the new discovery, published in the book The Hidden Library of Barcarrota and the Portuguese Nobleman Fernao Brandao, was a circular paper amulet found alongside the walled-up books, dedicated to Brandao and dated in Rome in 1551."

In 1992, a married couple renovating their home in Barcarrota, Spain discovered eleven sixteenth-century books sealed within a wall. The collection included a notable 1554 edition of Lazarillo de Tormes and texts in various languages, all remarkably well-preserved. Recent research by Professor Pedro Martin Banos identified the books' owner as Fernao Brandao, a Portuguese nobleman from a prominent family who fled his country to escape Inquisition persecution. A circular paper amulet found with the books, dated Rome 1551 and bearing Brandao's name, provided the crucial clue. Brandao inherited substantial family wealth at a young age and lived a privileged life surrounded by agreeable servants.

Read at english.elpais.com