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The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1478 by Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile to re-establish Catholicism as the dominant religion in Spain. It targeted heretics, Conversos, and others who threatened the status of the Roman Catholic Church. The accused were often tortured and forced to give up their property. The Inquisition was abolished in 1834 after causing the deaths of at least 2,000 people. Prior to the Inquisition, Spain was religiously diverse, with Christians, Muslims, and Jews living together peacefully.
The Spanish Inquisition was an ecclesiastical court run by the Spanish monarchy and established to root out heretics and other individuals who threatened the status of the Roman Catholic Church in Spain. Founded in 1478, the Spanish Inquisition wasn’t formally abolished until 1834, and is one of the most infamous of the many inquisitions held in Europe. It is estimated that at least 2,000 people died under the Spanish Inquisition and countless others were tortured, subjected to horrific physical punishments and forced to give up all of their property.
This period of Spanish history was preceded by a time when Spain was markedly religiously diverse. Once upon a time, Christians, Muslims and Jews lived together relatively peacefully in Spain, exchanging ideas and information and creating a rich and vibrant culture. When the Spanish monarchy began its reconquest of the Moorish-occupied areas of Spain, however, it saw it as a threat, and the monarchy set about re-establishing Catholicism as the dominant religion in Spain.
Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile established the Spanish Inquisition, setting up an inquisition run by the government, rather than the Church, a rather shrewd political move. The precise motivations for the Spanish Inquisition are a little unclear. Beyond the obvious desire to reassert Catholicism in Spain, the monarchs could have had more cynical motives, such as a desire to get their hands on the property of people convicted under the Inquisition and an urgent need to reduce the political clout of the so-called Conversos, people of Jewish and Muslim faiths who have converted to Christianity, often for political pressure or reasons.
Whatever the reasoning behind the Spanish Inquisition, it was organized much like a formal Papal Inquisition. Inquisitors would enter a town and make a formal announcement after religious services, inviting people to confess or denounce others. Once a group of confessed or reported criminals was identified, they would be tried in court form. One of the major flaws of the Spanish Inquisition from a legal point of view is that the accused were not given the identity of their accusers, and were often kept in the dark about the allegations as well, making it impossible to defend themselves. They were also required to testify, with refusal to testify considered an admission of guilt.
Conversos, who were often suspected of not being true Christians, were special targets of the Spanish Inquisition, as the Inquisition could only formally try Christians. The Inquisition also tried people for suspected heresy and a variety of other crimes, many of which were only abstractly related to the Catholic faith. Torture was rife among the courts of the Inquisition, as was pressure to encourage citizens to denounce each other with the promise of immunity from investigation. If convicted, some people were offered a chance to reconcile with the Church, usually after enduring grueling physical punishment and the loss of their possessions. Other convicted criminals were executed.
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