The Spanish Inquisition
This paper aims to find out the events that took place during the Spanish Inquisition and explore the extent of destruction that the inquisition had to the Spanish population at that time.
Background of the Spanish Inquisition
Historically, the inquisition was started by the Pope through the issuance of the papal bulls and this is believed to have begun by the end of the 12th century. It started in France in an effort to combat the Albigensian heresy that was being experienced in Southern parts of France. During the Middle Ages, several tribunals were established in a number of the European kingdoms in what was referred to as the Papal Inquisitions. In Spain, the kingdom of Aragon had earlier on established the Papal Inquisition in 1232 but it was not influential until it was revamped in the middle of the 15th century. In Castile, the institution never existed and that surveillance of the faithful and punitive measures to the transgressors was left to the episcopate members. It is, therefore, important to note that during the Middle Ages, little attention was paid to heresy by the ruling class. Even though they were considered as inferior in regard to legislations, other religious groups continued to enjoy relative freedom as they were tolerated to practice their faith by the ruling catholic class in Spain. The Spanish Inquisition had its roots in both political and religious matters. Spain has been known as a nation that was characterized by the religious conflicts and struggles among the diverse religious groups that included the Catholics, Muslims, Protestant, and Judaism. Such conflicts resulted in a group that came to be known as the Conversos which was a Jewish group that had been forced to convert to Catholicism. In the wake of crusades and the re-conquests of Spain by the Christians, the Spanish leadership had to look for a way to unite the nation into one strong unit. Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile chose Catholicism as the only way to unite Spain. They asked the Pope in 1438 to grant them the permission so as to purify Spain and combat the rising tide of the religious unorthodoxy. The inquisition reigned for well over three centuries and was abolished in 1834 during the reign of Isabel II. The inquisition was a tribunal that was set aside to deal with religious heresy and this was supposed to have jurisdiction over baptized Christians. However, historical evidence suggests that the Spanish Inquisition had jurisdiction over virtually every royal subject. There was no freedom of religion in Spain during the years of the inquisition.
The Organization of the Inquisition
Apart from the religious roles that the Spanish Inquisition played, it was also an institution that served the monarchy. This however should not mean that the inquisition was fully independent from the Papal authority, since it has been established that at various points, the activities of the Inquisition were approved by the Pope. Though the Crown was responsible for the appointment of the Inquisitor General, the appointment was supposed to be approved by the Pope. The holder of this office had the authority that stretched to all kingdoms in Spain except for the years 1507-1508 when both the Castile and the Aragon had an Inquisitor General each. The Inquisitor General had the responsibility of presiding over the Counsel of the Supreme and General Inquisition. The Counsel of the Suprema, as it was generally known, was made up of six members that were appointed by the Crown. The power of the Suprema expanded at the expense of the Inquisitor General as time went by. The Counsel met severally throughout the week, but observing holidays. The morning sessions were reserved for questions to do with faith whereas the afternoon sessions were devoted to cases regarding sodomy, bigamy, and witchcraft. Under the Suprema were several tribunals of the inquisition which were put in place when necessary initially before permanent tribunals were established in the year 1495. The tribunals were initially composed of two inquisitors each and jurists were preferred to theologians for these positions. The inquisitors were assisted by other auxiliary figures and in later years, other positions were created when the institution got to maturity.
Overview of the Inquisition
The Spanish Inquisition began first in Castile in the year 1483 extending to the Aragon kingdoms pioneered by Isabella and Ferdinand respectively. The inquisition became the Spanish affair as opposed to the Papal one, since the crowns were responsible for the appointment of the inquisitors. Initially under the Papal inquisition, the Pope was the one to appoint the inquisitors. Ferdinand persuaded the Pope to revoke the old commissions and he went on to appoint the Inquisitor General for the Crown of Aragon himself. The inquisitions were determined to either convert or drive out the Jews, Protestants, Muslims, and any other groups that were considered as non-believers. The first locations targeted by the inquisitions were the areas where people of the Jewish ancestry were believed to be significant in number. At the time around 1540s, the Protestants in Spain were then targeted in an effort to further unify the country. Tomas de Torquemada was appointed as the first Inquisitor General under the Spanish Inquisition and had the responsibility of establishing the rules, procedures, and the creation of the branches of inquisition in various parts of the country. The accused heretics were identified and brought before the inquisition tribunal where they were expected to confess of their crime and indict others. If they did as expected, they were released or given a prison sentence which was considered to be fair. On the contrary, when they failed to abide by the expectations, the accused would be publicly ridiculed, killed, or sentenced to life in prison before a public ceremony. In general, the inquisition was characterized by the persecutions of the minority faiths in the name of rooting out unorthodoxy. It was also used as a political tool of suppression during the authoritarian rule that was witnessed in Spain during the time.
The Inquisition and the Expulsion of the Jews
The Jews who continued practicing their religion were not subjected to persecutions. However, there was growing suspicion among the authorities that these Jews were urging those who had converted to Catholicism (the Conversos) to return to their former faith. In the final years of the 15th century, Isabella and Ferdinand promulgated a declaration that ordered the expulsion of the Jews from all their territories. The Jews were given a deadline to either accept baptismal or leave the country. Those who chose to leave the country were allowed to take their belongings with them even though land was to be sold and gold, silver, and coined money were forfeited. This measure was justified in the sense that the close proximity of the unconverted Jews was viewed as a constant reminder to the Conversos and this could affect their progress in the new faith as they will be tempted to relapse and return to their old faith. Many Jews chose to flee Spain and dispersed across Europe and Northern Africa. The few that remained chose to be baptized and this meant that all the Jews who were found in Spain were all Conversos. The practice of Judaism was denounced and, therefore, any one found practicing the faith was to face the inquisition. This was a great blow to many since it is believed that a large number of those who remained were not sincere and that they accepted to be baptized as a necessity in order to evade the expulsion decree. The persecutions of the Conversos were intensified in the year 1530 but subsided the period that followed from 1531 to 1560s. However, in 1588, the persecutions re-emerged when the crypto-Jews were discovered in Quintanar de la Orden. In the opening years of the 17th century, the Jews who had fled to Portugal returned to Spain running away from the persecutions of the Portuguese Inquisition that had started in the year 1532. During this time, the trials of the crypto-Jews in Spain were hastened and included financiers of the group. In 1691, thirty six Conversos were burned in Mallorca. The trials declined significantly in the 18th century with the last of the trials of the crypto-Jew member by the name Manuel Santiago Vivar taking place in Cordoba in 1818.
The Inquisition and the Protestants
During the 16th century, the Protestant Reformers were the target of the inquisition. To much surprise of the many, the majority of the reformers were of the Jewish origin. The first to be hit by the inquisition were the members of a group that was referred to as the alumbrados which came from Guadalajara and Valladolid. Though they were not executed, the members of the group were imprisoned to different lengths in prison. The inquisition picked up rumors regarding the intellectuals who had developed some interest in the Erasmian ideas and this was viewed as straying from the mainstream belief. The trials of Protestants that had been influenced by the Reformation took place for the first time in Valladolid and Sevilleas between the years 1558 and 1562. This targeted two protestant communities from these cities and was carried out during the opening years of the reign of King Phillip II. Intensified inquisition activities characterized this period and an estimated hundred individuals were executed. After 1562, the trials and repression fell down and an estimated dozen Spaniards were burnt alive for Lutheranism though two hundred are believed to have faced trials for the remaining period of the 16th century. The Spanish Inquisition censored certain heretical ideas from taking root in Spain through the burning of books that they did not endorse. They produced Indexes of prohibited books which included several books of all types but special attention was given to Holy Books especially the vernacular translations of the Biblical content. What were approved indices included the great works of Spanish literature and the works of religious writers of the time. Approval and publication of the works did not guarantee the undisturbed circulation as the texts faced a possible post-hoc censorship which meant that the text could still be denounced by the inquisition at any time.
The Inquisition and the Muslims
The Spanish Inquisition did not leave out the Muslims, as they also experienced the brutality of the process even though this was carried out to a lesser degree as compared to the other religions. Muslims who had converted to Catholicism were referred to as Moriscos. They were concentrated in what was formerly the Granada Kingdom in Aragon and in Valencia. It was official that all Moslems in Castile had converted to Christianity by the year 1502 and that those who resided in Aragon and Valencia had been converted by the Charles Is decree of 1526. Many Moslem converts maintained their religion though secretly but were ignored by the Inquisition. This was due to the fact that most of the converts were under the jurisdiction of the nobility and therefore any attempt to persecute this powerful social class would adversely impact on the economy. They continued to enjoy peaceful moments in the first half of the 16th century. However, things were to change in the second half of the same century. There was a rebellion in the years 1568-1570 and this was subdued with unusual harshness. In the years that followed, Morisco cases became popular in Zaragoza, Valencia, and Granada. During the reign of King Philip III, an expulsion decree was issued during which many Moriscos left Spain. Those who remained were in small number and were not spared as they were pursued with some insignificant trials by the Inquisition in the 17th century.
The fall of the Spanish Inquisition
The Spanish Inquisition came to an end in the 19th century. This was during the reign of King Charles IV and many events that took place can be attributed to the fall of the Inquisition. At this moment in time, the state had stopped being a social organizer but rather was mostly concerned with the public welfare. The state had therefore to reconsider the land-holding power of the church and its general accumulation of wealth that had been responsible for the prevention in making social progress. The enlightenment thinkers were encouraged by the results of the perennial struggles that had existed between the authority and the church. The throne seemed to be winning the struggle and this could offer better protection to the ideas of the enlightenment. People were generally hostile to censorship policy and in fact the prohibited works could easily be found circulating in bookstores. The inquisition was officially ended on 15th July 1834 with the signing of the Royal Decree by Regent Maria Cristina de Borbon, during the minority of Isabella II and the approval of the President of the Cabinet.
The Spanish Inquisition was mainly a state affair, even though it was disguised to be a religious matter. The Pope was actually sidelined and only acted as a distant overseer intervening when things were on the extreme. The first possible reason as to why the Inquisitions were institutionalized was the need for political and religious unity. The inquisition allowed the monarchy to actively participate in the religious matters without the Pope raising eyebrows. Similarly, the two leaders wanted to achieve harmonious and efficient state machinery in which case religious unity was necessary in the promotion of a centralized political authority. The centralized political authority was also targeted to weaken local opposition to the Catholic Monarchs on the political front. The Spanish Inquisition was not supposed to have been tolerated as its initial aims seems to have been changed and in contrary to the initial papal inquisitions.
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