Spanish Inquisition

The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition was a powerful religious and state institution.

It was authorized by Pope Sixtus IV in 1478. Its stated goal was to maintain Christian orthodoxy. This meant ensuring people followed official Catholic teachings. However, it also became a tool for state power. It replaced the Medieval Inquisition, which had been under direct Papal control. This shift allowed the Spanish monarchs to gain more influence over religious matters. The Inquisition eventually expanded into Southern Italy and the Americas.

It established tribunals in places like Mexico City and Lima, Peru.

The Inquisition operated through a strict and organized legal mechanism.

In 1484, Tomás de Torquemada created a 28-article code of instructions. This code guided inquisitors for over three centuries. The process often began with accusations from neighbors. Inquisitors looked for specific signs of secret religious practices. For example, they watched for a lack of chimney smoke on Saturdays. They also noted if people bought specific vegetables before Passover. Trials often focused on extracting confessions. To achieve this, the court sometimes used torture, such as the water cure.

The institution targeted several distinct groups of people. Initially, it focused on identifying heretics among those who had converted from Judaism or Islam. These converts were known as conversos or moriscos. The Inquisition also targeted people accused of various other beliefs or behaviors. These included Protestantism, witchcraft, blasphemy, bigamy, and Freemasonry. Some were accused of alumbradismo. The court also prosecuted those accused of sodomy. The legal system presumed the accused were guilty. It also withheld the identities of the accusers from the defendants.

The history of religious tension in Spain stretches back many centuries.

In 587, the Visigoth royal family converted to Catholicism. This led to increased restrictions on Jewish populations. In 613, King Sisebut issued a decree demanding conversion or expulsion. Later, in the 1100s, the Episcopal Inquisition was created to fight Catharism. In 1252, Pope Innocent IV authorized the use of torture against heretics. By the 1300s, violent riots and massacres occurred in cities like Seville and Barcelona. These events caused many Jews to flee or convert to Catholicism. This created the large population of conversos that the Inquisition would later target.

Specific historical figures played central roles in establishing the Spanish Inquisition.

King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile were the primary royal sponsors. They appointed the first inquisitors, Miguel de Morillo and Juan de San Martín, in 1480. Queen Isabella was convinced that crypto-Judaism existed among conversos in Andalusia. This belief was supported by reports from the Archbishop of Seville and Tomás de Torquemada. Torquemada later became the Inquisitor General for Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia. He was a key figure in uniting Spanish Inquisition activities under a single leader. This centralization was completed after Pope Innocent VIII withdrew papal inquisitors from Aragon.

The scale of the Inquisition's impact was significant. Modern estimates suggest that around 150,000 people were prosecuted for various offenses. Between 3,000 and 5,000 people were executed, primarily during the first 50 years. Many of these executions were carried out by burning at the stake.

Other punishments included public flogging, exile, and imprisonment. Some were sentenced to enslavement on galleys. The court also frequently confiscated the property of the accused. In 1492, royal decrees led to the expulsion of an estimated 40,000 to 100,000 Jews. This caused many people to flee, which hurt Spanish commerce and government revenue.

A notable feature of this system was the auto-da-fé. This was a formal public ceremony used to carry out sentences. During an auto-da-fé, the accused were paraded before the public. Their sentences were read aloud, and confessions were made.

After the ceremony, the guilty were handed over to civil authorities. The state then carried out the final punishments. This process linked religious judgment directly to the power of the state. The Inquisition's legacy included the introduction of blood purity statutes. These laws created racially-based discrimination that lasted into the 19th and 20th centuries.