The Spanish Inquisition

Religious Zealotry and Political Control

Then her mouth was held open by an iron prong, her nostrils were plugged, and a funnel was inserted in her throat, through which water slowly trickled and she said 'Take it away, I am strangling and am sick in my stomach.' A jar of water was then poured down, after which she was told to tell the truth.

The use of torture during the Spanish Inquisition is one of the lasting symbols of religious intolerance that survives even today. There were various inquisitions with differing agendas throughout Europe, but the Spanish Inquisition is considered to be the most brutal and thorough of them all. Many of the horrific stories of intolerance and slaughter stem specifically from the Spanish Inquisition. However, the Spanish Inquisition was more than a simple persecution; it was a complex reaction by an evolving society. It began with religious objectives, but as this institution grew and changed, it was the secular issues that allowed the inquisition to thrive.

Everyone involved in the Spanish Inquisition, from the common people to the bishops themselves, had differing views of the objectives the inquisition was trying to achieve. Often times, their views were in line with their position of authority in the inquisition (for example, those at the top of the inquisitional hierarchy worked to sustain the inquisition for self-preservation, while the lower administrators simply did the work they were assigned). Although the Spanish Inquisition began with Church oversight, it quickly spread outside its influence. The Catholic Church did not meet its objective of strengthening the Catholic faith by authorizing the Spanish Inquisition and lost control of their own institution. The origins of the Spanish Inquisition took root as a reaction to the European feelings of necessity to homogenize the religion in their own countries. The Spanish version of the inquisition was a “reign of terror” which coincided with other inquisitions in Europe, lasting throughout the second millennium. Italy, France, Germany, and other European countries had their own versions of inquisition, which by some estimates lasted as long as 500 years. Although it is difficult to assign a certain date or event to the beginning of the inquisition, many scholars agree that the beginning of the inquisition era started during the reign of Pope Gregory IX during the thirteenth century.

Like today, the Church’s main objective was to spread the faith of Christianity. However, a variety of sects, such as the Waldensians and Catharists, came into power and threatened the authority of the Church. In response, Gregory IX created a tribunal of Franciscan and Dominican monks to combat this new “heresy.” Despite rigid guidelines, the inquisition rapidly evolved, which allowed each country to have vastly different experiences. By the time the fear of heresy was at its height in Spain, the inquisition’s structure was vastly different than the original ones. Up until the 15th century, the Jewish population prospered and enormously influenced both economic and political affairs of Spain. However, the Archdeacon Martinez began a series of speeches that advocated violence and murder of Jews (beginning in 1378 and lasting 13 years). In 1391, Martinez’s speeches caused a breaking point, and on Ash Wednesday a series of massacres spread throughout Spain, causing the death of approximately 50,000 Jewish men, women, and children. Those not outright killed were forced to convert, and many of the Jews accepted the ritual of baptism under the threat of torture and death.

This term of conversos referred to the Jewish citizens who “converted” to Christianity, but in due time, were seen to still follow Jewish ideals. This hypocrisy was seen by many as heresy because the Jews were in the highest echelons of society with political influence and money, but were insincere about their faith. This type of conversion angered many Christian groups, like Martinez a generation earlier, who began to revolt against the Jewish population. When Ferdinand and Isabella married to unify Spain, many Christian Spaniards wanted the heresy that ran rampant within the Jewish community wiped out. With much pressure from the Christian community, Isabella asked Pope Sixtus IV for permission to begin a full inquisition into the heresy of the state. In November of 1478, they received the Papal Bull that appointed three priests as Inquisitors and allowed the Spanish government to appoint others.

Despite a two-year period of leniency, the “purging of heresy” quickly spread throughout the country to the point that no one was safe. This enormous persecution of the conversos resulted in high casualties throughout the land, and virtually everyone was affected. Within three years of Ash Wednesday, the entire Jewish population would lose a third of its people to either conversion or death; over fifty thousand would meet the latter in these few days of destruction. Although it began as an effort to root out heresy, the Inquisition quickly focused on other groups in society. Following Ash Wednesday, the Inquisitors persecuted the conversos and sects within the Catholic Church, Protestants, Muslims, Jews, homosexuals, and any type of criminal. The extent of persecution was so widespread that even the most influential members of society were not immune, and were actually more likely to be named as a heretic. The spread of fanatical Christianity and zealousness makes one wonder whether the Inquisitors and the Church truly believed what they were doing was righteous. For instance, the Pope’s Papal Bull in 1482 attempted to halt the inquisition because of the atrocities committed. He states that the:

"inquisition has for some time been moved not by zeal for the faith and the salvation of souls, but by lust for wealth."

Even the Pope himself did not agree with the atrocities being committed in Spain, and it is he who theoretically makes the final decisions on religious matters. In addition, Alfonso X’s code, the Fuero Real states that:

Many people live and die in foreign faiths who would prefer to become Christians, had they not seen the humiliations and abuses, in word and in deed, to which the others, who did turn Christians, were subject, having been called turncoats (tornadizos) and reproached in many other evil and insulting manners. We hold that all people are in duty bound to honor such persons (i.e., the converts) for many reasons, rather than disgrace them.

Alfonso in this statement shows that what the converts were forced to go through was not in line with Christian philosophy, and the treatment of converts should be dignified. Although Alfonso wrote this years before the height of the inquisition, his statement questions whether the inquisitors actually believed in what they were doing. Granted, many of the inquisitors wrote about how they were making a difference in religious society, but the contradictions of the Pope and Alfonso show that perhaps the inquisitors were writing to justify their actions. There are many factors that may have influenced the inquisitors, but by the time the Spanish crown set up a group of priests willing to fulfill their political objectives, the Spanish Inquisition was no longer an institution run by the church. The origins of the inquisition were set up to fail its primary objectives. For instance, Spain united through the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1469. Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived in relative peace under the religiously tolerant Moors, but after the Muslim descent from power after 1032, the Christians set up laws which separated the groups. Each lived separate lives with little interaction, and jealousy grew between them. Although this marriage unified many groups and religions, the mixture of different societies became hard to control. However, the country had a strong Catholic community, and as Stanley Payne writes in his book Spanish Catholicism:

The rulers who forged the United Spanish monarchy could not conceive of unity and security, either spiritually or politically, in anything other than a staunchly, ultimately monolithic Catholic society…Fernando and Isabella would permit no more than one state and no more than one conceivable religious identification.

Despite their strong Catholic faith, Ferdinand and Isabella were not heavily interested in strengthening the religion when they appealed to Pope Sixtus IV for an inquisition in 1478. Pope Sixtus issued the Papal Bull on 1 November 1478, and allowed for three theologically trained priests, along with the Crown’s authority to appoint or remove the priests. At first, this decree was beneficial to the Pope, because as the head of the Catholic Church, he would have oversight and influence, yet place the burden of running the Inquisition on Spain. However, since Ferdinand and Isabella appointed the priests, he created a society in which the inquisitors were more under their political influence than the Pope’s spiritual one. If an inquisitor did not follow the orders or meet the objectives of the Spanish crown, he would quickly be replaced and lose influential power. As Henry Kamen states:

…As part of his new, vigorous policy Ferdinand took steps in 1481 and 1482 to assert royal control over the appointment and payment of inquisitors…the new Inquisition was simply a continuance of the old tribunal, with the difference that the crown now controlled appointments and salaries, so that the tribunal became effectively more dependent on Ferdinand then on the pope.

Allowing the country of Spain to appoint its own inquisitors started the trend of obedience to the crown, rather than the Church. In only two years, the head of the Catholic Church lost influence over the institution that he created. Although Pope Sixtus IV approved the Inquisition, he could not stop it when it got out of control. The Pope wrote a bull to halt activities of the Inquisition on 18 April 1482, under great pressure from the conversos. In the Bull, he states:

…that in Aragon, Valencia, Majorca and Catalonia the Inquisition has for some time been moved not by zeal for the faith and the salvation of souls, but by lust for wealth, and that many true and faithful Christians on the testimony of enemies, rivals, slaves and other lower and even less proper persons have without any legitimate proof been thrust into secular prisons, tortured and condemned as relapsed heretics, deprived of their goods and property and handed over to a secular arm to be executed, to the peril of souls setting a pernicious example and causing disgust to many.

However, Ferdinand replied with his message to the pope on 13 May 1482:

Things have been told me, Holy Father which if true, would seem to merit the greatest astonishment. It is said that Your Holiness has granted the conversos a general pardon for all the errors and crimes they have committed…To these rumors however, we have given no credence, because they seem to be things which would in no way have been conceded by Your Holiness, who have a duty to the inquisition…But if by chance concessions have been made through the persistent and cunning persuasion of the said conversos, I intend never to let them take effect. Take care therefore not to let the matter go further, and to revoke any concessions and entrust with us the care of this question.

The Pope did not agree with the atrocities that were happening, and did not feel the objectives of the Church were met. He refused to accept torture and execution as a way to save souls, and as powerful as he was, he should have had influence enough to stop the Inquisition altogether. Granted, the Pope was most likely pressured from semitic groups to end the inquisition, but his Bull still provides a clear order to halt the inquisition. However, Ferdinand replied with much disrespect, and tells Pope Sixtus that he would not follow his decree. To add onto the political influence that the Spanish crown had over the inquisitors, the following is an example of how the inquisition stemmed from economic purposes. This Venetian ambassador in Madrid wrote back to his country about the deeds occurring in Spain, and notes that the burning of Jews nets money for the King and the Inquisitors. Also, one of the people was confirmed by many sources to be a true Christian, but because of his fortune and political power, he was still burnt at the stake.

A fortnight ago last Sunday, an act was performed at Murcia, which is called at Toledo an act of the Inquisition, whereat twenty-nine individuals were burned as Jews. Among them were some chief personages, so that the confiscation of their property will yield the King upwards of 4,000,000 ducats. The twenty-nine persons who were lately burned were all impenitent; but, if they had recanted and demanded mercy even at the last, their lives would have been spared, though with loss of their property and freedom, by virtue of a privilege to this effect which is enjoyed.

Each of the Inquisitors were forced to do whatever Ferdinand and Isabella wanted, or they would be removed from their seat. The influence that came with inquisitor positions was often too good to pass up, so after several years the political leadership of Spain had almost total control over the Inquisition. The Vatican had lost total control over an institution it created. From this point on, the Catholic Church would simply be bystanders, while its own bishops ran an inquisition under Spanish control.

Other facts show the evolution of the Inquisition into a secular tool. The initial purpose of the inquisition was to root out the conversos, and when that was done, the Inquisition should have ended. Also, the Papal Bull allowed for the inquisition to preside over the Christian faith, and not the Muslim or Jewish citizens. Ferdinand and Isabella subsequently expelled or forced them to convert in 1492 to further homogenize the country. With only a few remaining non-“Catholics,” the Inquisitors knew that their influence would be lost if they did not continue on to other groups. As the number of conversos dwindled, the Inquisitors began to target members who often had strong Catholic backgrounds. These Catholics were frequently turned in for various heresy offenses and found guilty with little to no evidence other than the word of another.

Also, some of the seemingly most menial things could get one executed or tortured. For instance, the torture scene of the woman mentioned earlier stemmed from reports that she did not eat pork and wore clean clothes on Saturday. In addition, there was a policy which included the seizure of property of those accused that inspired the inquisitors to actively target those in the upper classes. Another quote which further proves the secular process of the inquisition was written by a man named Bernadez. He wrote:

A few days after this they burnt three of the richest leaders of the city, namely Diego de Susan, who was said to be worth ten million maravedis and was a chief rabbi, and who apparently died as a Christian;….And many other leading and very rich citizens, who were burnt.

Only a small amount of the seized money actually ended up in the Church or government, and the conclusion is that the inquisitors seized the money for themselves. The poorer groups in society used this as a way to move up in society, so it was in their best interest to implicate as many people over them as they could in heretical acts. The ease of being persecuted as a heretic was often so vague that anyone could be implicated. For instance, in Castille a preacher not ordained by the Catholic Church preached “heresy” in the streets, and when he was arrested for heresy, any bystanders who were not necessarily even listening were arrested and burned alive. Over 100 people lost their lives that day in this seemingly innocuous situation.

This type of widespread persecution put the fear of the stake into everyone, for there was no guarantee anyone was safe. So how could a Church allow such a persecution of even their own religion? The answer lies in the fact that the Church had already lost control of the Inquisition. The aftereffects of the Spanish Inquisition drastically changed the country of Spain by the way the Inquisition was handled. Not only is the racial and religious diversity different because of the policies of the Inquisition, but various groups' faith in Christianity was either strengthened or destroyed based on their experiences with the evil institution. However, many people today associate the Inquisition with the Catholic Church. The central Catholic Church lost all control of the Inquisition by the year 1482 and watched as the Catholic Inquisitors followed the orders of the Spanish royalty.

Granted, the Inquisition did root out heretics and created an almost homogenous Catholic country. The Catholic Church was far from achieving its objective of strengthening its faith in Spain. In fact, the Church set up a self-sufficient institution that was controlled by political rather than religious guidelines. Despite the rooting out of heresy, the Inquisition was an out-of-control institution that spread fear and mistrust with disastrous consequences for “heretics.”