#42 The Violent Spanish Inquisition
A state-sponsored apparatus enforcing religious homogeneity that made the Church the root of all evil.
Hello Everyone!
Hope you are have an amazing week. Today’s article gives an insight into one of the most horrifying periods of Spanish history - The Spanish Inquisition. During this time period, torturous punishments were handed out to people for the sake of purifying Catholicism. Hope you find this read informative!
One of the darker periods of Spanish history is the Spanish Inquisition, which shrouded Spain for over 350 years. This era of severe censorship, paranoia, torture, death, and the general persecution of heretics, or in other words, pretty much anybody who deliberately disagreed with the principles of the Catholic Church.
The Origin of the Inquisition
The inquisition began in 1478 and lasted until 1834. In both scope and intensity, the Spanish Inquisition far surpassed the Medieval Inquisition, from which the Catholic monarchs took the original idea. While the Spanish Inquisition revolved around a religious foundation, it operated independently of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church had no say in the operations of the Spanish Inquisition, not even the Pope. It was the job of the first General-Inquisitor to shape the Inquisition into the extremely organised, ruthless witch-hunt that it became. Tribunals for the inquisition were established throughout Spain.
Heretics, whose names the tribunals acquired from the fearful general public, were presented, tried in the tribunal, and handed their sentence all in a public ceremony. If they did not repent, they either received anything from life in prison to being burned alive at stake. The tribunal forced those who did repent to name other heretics, hand over their money, and sometimes still serve time in a jail cell.
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