Andrea Gonzalez

HIST 2002

Professor Rumbold

10/17/2019

Individual Research Paper: Spanish Inquisition.

The Spanish Inquisition was an institution created by the Catholic monarchy in order to

control the Orthodox Catholics who were part of their governed territories. In this research paper,

I will strive to talk in-depth not only about the Spanish Inquisition and what it was, but also

about what were its historical precedents, what were the events and factors that led to it, what

the role of the church and the monarchy in the creation of the inquisition was, as well as the

results, and the affected parts of the population.

The Spanish Inquisition was created during the 15th and 17th centuries. It was modeled

after its historical precedent the Medieval Inquisition. The Medieval Inquisition was established

in earlier centuries by the catholic church and the monarchy with the same primary tasks as the

Spanish Inquisition: to torture and to punish those who practiced witchcraft, sorcery and heresy.

The targets were often people of different religious affiliations, but it mainly focused on

investigating already converted and baptized Catholics as the church didn’t want God’s and the

church’s power to be compared as well as endangered with any other.

Since after the Medieval Inquisition most of the Muslims and Jews who lived in the

Spanish regions were converted to Catholicism, the church didn’t really have a rush on sending

any more Inquisitors to enforce the Catholic religion. However, during the early 15th century,
newlywed monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon didn’t agree with them. The

Spanish monarchs, who were also devoted Catholics, wanted to be able to prosecute Jews,

Muslims, pagans, witches, sorcerers, and heretics in order to protect their throne and maintain

Catholicism as the predominant religion in their regions. The king and queen planned to keep

their reign free of rebellion by forcing people to convert and maintain Catholicism as their prime

religion, however, they needed the papal approval. Though at first, the Pope was hesitant to their

request, once the king threatened to move their stationed troops out of Rome, he had no other

choice but to accept his majesty’s request. The Pope Sixtus IV formally granted Ferdinand II and

Isabella I the request on November 1, 1478 (Nykanen, Lori, "Queen Isabella and the Spanish

Inquisition: 1478-1505" (2014). HIM 1990-2015. 1680) with the Papal bull “Exigit sincere

devotionis”, which permitted Isabella and Ferdinand the authority to appoint their own

Inquisitors without the interference of the church.

Shortly after they were granted their request, Ferdinand II and Isabella I appointed

Spanish-Dominican friar Francisco de Torquemada as the first Grand Inquisitor on the

Inquisition. Torquemada oversaw the creation of the Inquisitors’ policies as well as managed

their activities. He was also put in charge of making the final decisions over the cases brought to

the courts as well as served as a liaison between the Spanish lords and the monarchs. The

Inquisitors not only judged the brought cases, but they also hunted, coerced, tortured, and forced

out the suspects' “confessions”. A very common practice of interrogation performed by the

Inquisitors was the one of not telling the prisoner the crime he was being accused for or who

accused them until after the trial was taking place. This practice had the purpose of arousing the

“culprit’s” sense of guilt, making them more likely to confess to the crime. Even though it was

prohibited by the laws of the Catholic Church to draw blood from the accused, the torture
methods implemented by the Inquisitors were meant to inflict a lot of pain. The torture chamber

was often placed far from the courtrooms. During the interrogations and tortures, there was

always an Inquisitor and a scribe taking notes and documenting all the proceedings. The most

common methods of torture were “the Rack”, which consisted of the prisoner being bound with

cords that could be tightened and “the water torture”, which consisted of a large amount of water

being dropped on the prisoner’s face in order to simulate a drowning experience. The Inquisitor

would keep torturing the prisoner until they accepted their mistakes. If the prisoner kept insisting

on their innocence, the Inquisitor in the room would allow the torture to continue until the

prisoner confessed.

Unlike many popular beliefs, even though most women, especially rich widows, were

accused and executed for witchcraft, there were also many men who suffered the same path.

Most of these women and men were sentenced and prosecuted for their non-Catholic beliefs and

their pagan practices. Many of them were caught during the so-called “witch-hunts” performed

by the Inquisitors throughout the entire Spanish region and even in the areas closer to the French

reigns. The Inquisitor’s scrutiny was not only put on the witches and sorcerers but also in many

Converso families, especially noble ones. However, not only religious people were wrongly

accused and punished. If a man or woman was believed to be doing science or engaging in

political discussions, they would be accused of witchcraft and sorcery and would be prosecuted

or burned alive. People were convicted and accused of many reasons, even illogical ones.

Accusations were also driven by envy or jealousy. The fear of being wrongly convicted for

heresy was so big that neighbors and even family members were turning in each other. For

example, if a person saw a neighbor not eat pork on a certain day, they would report it to the

Inquisitors saying they're still Jews; or if a woman saw another woman hang her robes every day
a certain way and the routine changed, that person would be reported to the church for

questioning. Converso family members were often taken in the middle of the night by the

Inquisitors’ secret police without any explanation. Many of the families weren’t sure if the secret

police would come back the next day to take the rest of the family and confiscate their property.

This caused many Converso to follow even more the strict protocols and rules placed by the

Catholic church, while many other families had no choice but to flee to Rome as they felt the

hand of the Inquisition getting closer to them. Those who made it to Rome let the Pope know

what was taking place back in Spain. Though the Pope did acknowledge the horrors and abuse

committed against the Converso families, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

Isabella I and Ferdinand II’s Inquisition resulted in thousands of innocent lives lost to

painful and inhumane torture methods. It also resulted in many Jewish and Muslims families

exiled from Spain and dispossessed of their lands and wealth. It’s still unknown exactly how

many properties and wealth were confiscated during the Inquisition of Isabella I’s reign,

however, according to many records of the public’s opinion of the time, most of the executed

were rich and affluent people, who were only prosecuted for their money and wealth. Many

investigations made by historians confirm that many of the people who were executed were

given the death penalty based on lies and fake testimonies. Finally, after many years of tortures,

executions, unjustified confiscations, and all other forms of abuse of power during Isabella I and

the Inquisitors’ blood and wealth thirsty monarchy, the Spanish Inquisition is abolished when

Napoleon and the reign of Joseph Bonaparte take control over the Spanish lands.

In conclusion, there is no doubt that the Spanish Inquisition led by Isabella I of Castile

and Ferdinand II of Aragon will forever be remembered as a black marc on Spanish and global

histories. It is an example of what people who are driven by the desire for wealth and power can
be capable of. The Spanish Inquisition was not only a period of fear and horrific crimes but also

a period where so many multicultural and multireligious communities were lost because of the

monarchy’s secular desires. Isabella and Ferdinand’s Inquisition promoted a culture of fear,

treason, lies, repression, unjustified murder, and abuse of power. Even the following and present

generations still have the retributions of their decisions even many years after their deaths and

the end of the Spanish monarchies.

 References

Nykanen, Lori, "Queen Isabella and the Spanish Inquisition: 1478-1505" (2014). HIM 1990-

2015. 1680.

https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses1990-2015/1680

Ledray, Laura, "Spanish Persecution of the 15th-17th Centuries: A Study of Discrimination

Against Witches at the Local and State Levels" (2016). Departmental Honors Projects. 51.

https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/dhp/51

www.inquisition.library.nd.edu/brief_history.RBSC-INQ:COLLECTION.

History.com Editors. “Inquisition.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 17 Nov. 2017,

www.history.com/topics/religion/inquisition#targetText=In%20the%20late%2015th%20Century

,by%20old%20powerful%20Christian%20families.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. “Tomás De Torquemada.” Encyclopedia Britannica,

Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 12 Sept. 2019,

www.britannica.com/biography/Tomas-de-Torquemada.

Ryan, Edward A. “Spanish Inquisition.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica,

Inc., 29 Aug. 2019,

www.britannica.com/topic/Spanish-Inquisition.
“Participación Ciudadana.” La Inquisición y Las Brujas,

www.congreso.gob.pe/participacion/museo/inquisicion/temas/?K=7423museo%2Finquisicion%2

Ftemas%2Finquisicion-y-Brujas