Spanish Inquisition

While decidedly the most famous (and the only famous) Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition was not at all the first, though it did change the definition slightly. Inquisitions were started by the Roman Catholic Church in 1229, because of the large numbers of what they believed to be heretics. Before 1229 the church had simply arrested heretics and either banished or imprisoned them on the decision of a court of clergymen. After the creation and spread of a heresy called “Catharism” the Church decided to have bishops and archbishops set up “Inquisitions” in their own areas. An “Inquisition” would be a group of priests or clergymen led by an “Inquisitor” that went from town to town and would “Inquire” or ask questions of the townsfolk. These Inquiries would pertain to the location of one who did not practice church correctly (they would ask questions about heretics in the area). They would normally make a public speech about how any heretics would go to hell, and so would anyone who hid them, but they said it slightly nicer. This was designed to put fear into people, so that they would give up any heretics among them, or, best case scenario, have the heretic give himself up and repent. If that was the case, he would get a reduced imprisonment and would be allowed home. But even priests preaching the heresy would not be injured, they would only be banished. However, if they fought back, they weren’t mourned by the church. Spain, which had been overall catholic, was divided into several kingdoms at this point, and adopted this method of inquiry. It’s important to note that violence was not used to deter heretics, the inquisitors only had power over people straying from Catholicism, not Jews or Muslims, and it was ruled by the church. In 1478, nine years after their practical unification of the Iberian Peninsula, King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabelle I of Spain started the infamous Spanish Inquisition. Unlike the past Inquisitions this one was directly under the monarch’s rule, though it consisted of clergymen. This was also changed, however, because Ferdinand and Isabella approved of scaring people away from heresy by torturing and slaughtering heretics, so soldiers were added to the priest’s retinue. Ferdinand and Isabella were also known as “The Catholic Monarchs” so they wanted to rule the “Catholic Kingdom” and so they said that the Inquisitors could treat Jews and Muslims the same way as heretics. This caused mass death and conversion from Jews and Muslims, who were plentiful in Spain because it was right on the edge of Europe, and before this banished people could go to the Iberian Peninsula, and Iberia was once Muslim, so there were many leftover Muslims. But this killed hundreds and forcefully converted thousands in Spain alone, and when Spain learned of the Americas in 1492, it added the Native Americans to the list of outlawed religions. This all lasted to 1834, though it had begun petering out before this. Nowadays, we look back at the Spanish Inquisition with horror, Spaniards included, and it was considered brutal back then, but it was an abnormality in regards to much of it.