Between 1478 and 1834, the Spanish Inquisition killed thousands of people in Spain. And also its colonies and arrested tens of thousands more. The organization’s stated aim was to eliminate heresy, and the inquisitors did not shy away from killing children or entire families in the name of God.
The Spanish Inquisition has a reputation that is hard to match. A religious organization of extreme harshness, a court that answered to no one, and torturers of appalling barbarity – this was the most brutal institution of the Middle Ages.
Often the power of the Inquisition was used by both inquisitors and commoners for personal gain or revenge.
What was the Spanish Inquisition in simple terms?
Without regard for the spirit of the gospel, the papal church, armed with the sword’s power, has troubled the Church of God. And devastated it for centuries. By the wretches who often occupied the papal chair, such was the case with Henry, Emperor of Germany. The storm of papal persecution first struck the Waldenses of France.
In simple terms, the Spanish Inquisition was the Inquisition started by the Church of Rome and was, in those days, one of the most terrible machines of tyranny ever invented by man. It can be said that the Inquisition began around the year 12OO when Pope Innocent III sent his inquisitors to the Waldensians and other sects separated from the Church and continued until 18O8.
The Inquisition completely crushed Protestantism in Spain: a casualty count shows 31,912 people burned alive and 291,450 imprisoned. Although most of the victims were Spanish citizens, others fell victim to the Inquisition.
What did the Spanish Inquisition do?
Regarding urban Catholic legends, the record far and away belongs to the Spanish Inquisition. From 16th-century Elizabethan England to 21st-century fundamentalism, the Spanish Inquisition has served as the wellspring and focal point for all anti-Catholic attacks.
The Spanish Inquisition bears the brunt because it burned heretics in self-daub and about the terrible torture machines set in motion by diabolical monks. It’s the world of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Pit and the Pendulum” and the innocent Bible believers. It is part of a papal-dominated “dark ages” that threw Spain back in time. This only began to emerge after the fall of Franco in the 17th century.
The historical reality of the Spanish Inquisition has, of course, its tragedies and remains an ugly episode in Europe’s past.
Who started the Spanish Inquisition and why?
The real Spanish Inquisition appeared late in the history of Europe. The classical Inquisition that existed in various parts of Europe in the 13th. And 14th centuries had little impact on the Spanish peninsula. The Inquisition was non-existent at that time in Spain and Portugal.
Originally, the Inquisition was created by Pope Gregory IX in 1231, because the Catholic Church did not wanted any more protestants in the world. Initially, the accused were given the opportunity to repent, and punishments (not by church authorities but by secular ones) ranged from simple prayers to life imprisonment. Only secular law could sentence people to death.
In 1478, Ferdinand and Isabella requested a papal bull for the establishment of the inquisition. Apparently, the reason was to investigate charges against those converts who had secretly returned to the Jewish faith.
Did the Catholic Church apologize for the Inquisition?
Did the Pope start the Inquisition?
The Inquisition arrived in Spain following the Spanish defeat of the Muslim Moors. And reached its peak under the first Grand Inquisitor, the Dominican Tomás de Torquemada. The disgusting custom of stake is having a remarkably euphemistic name, auto da fé or ‘act of faith’.
According to all historical records, Pope Gregory IX gave the impetus to the Spanish Revolution in 1231 AD.
The successor to the Spanish Inquisition, the Mexican Inquisition continued to exist. However, with the last auto da fé taking place in 1850.
Was the Spanish Inquisition justified?
Jewish vassals were given until July 31 of the same year to choose between accepting baptism or leaving the country for good. As long as there was no gold, silver and money.
It is known that the Spanish Inquisition was not justified, because The Catholic Church apologized for its mistakes decades later. Anyway, the reason given to justify the Spanish Inquisition in the preamble to the decree was the relapse of many converts due to the close entourage of unconverted Jews who seduced them and kept among them the knowledge and practice of Judaism.
A delegation of Jews, led by Isaac Abravanel, offered an extraordinary financial compensation to the Kings in exchange for the revocation of this decree. According to the story, the kings refused the offer under pressure from the general inquisitor. Who stormed into the hall and threw thirty silver coins on the table. Asking what the price would be this time for selling Jesus to the Jews.
Does the Spanish Inquisition still exist?
In the three months, there were many conversions – nearly 40,000. And if one accepts Kamen’s figures, one can logically assume that a large proportion of these was not sincere. But they were merely obeying the need to avoid the expulsion decree.
According to British historians, the Spanish Inquisition no longer exists but ended in 1850 for real, the case of the final persecution being that of Manuel Santiago Vivar.
Later, “Sephardim,” descendants of Spanish Jews, established flourishing communities in many European cities. Cities such as Amsterdam, North Africa, and especially the Ottoman Empire.
Primary Takeaways
- Luis de Carvajal y Cueva colonized and governed the state of Nuevo Leon. And Francisca and her family moved to Mexico City. Life for the Carvajal family went well until 1590, when the Spanish Inquisition arrested them.
- The Spanish Inquisition did not shy away from executing children. At the opposite pole, however, is Maria Barbara Carillo.
- The most intense persecution of Jewish converts lasted until 1530; from 1531 to 1560, the percentage of Jewish converts in the inquisitorial trials dropped significantly to only 3% of the total.
Conclusion
At the beginning of the 17th century, some of the converted Jews had settled in Portugal. Fleeing the persecutions that the Portuguese Inquisition, founded in 1532, was carrying out in the neighboring country, they began to return to Spain. This meant a rapid increase in the number of lawsuits brought against Jews.
The victims were those who had been various prestigious financiers. The last trial of a Jew practicing Judaism was that of Manuel Santiago Vivar in Cordoba in 1818.
