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[[Image:Escudo inquisicion.gif|thumb|The seal of the Spanish Inquisition depicts the cross, the branch and the sword.]]

{{intro-toolong}}
The '''Spanish Inquisition''' was an ecclesiastical tribunal established in 1478 by [[Catholic Monarchs]] [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] and [[Isabella I of Castile]]. It was intended to maintain [[Catholic]] orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the medieval inquisition which was under papal control. The new body was under the direct control of the [[Spanish monarchy]]. It was not definitively abolished until 1834, during the reign of [[Isabella II of Spain|Isabel II]].

The [[Inquisition]], as an ecclesiastical tribunal, had jurisdiction only over baptized [[Christian]]s. The Inquisition worked in large part to ensure the orthodoxy of recent converts.

The tribunal was an institution that had precedents in other [[Inquisition]]s.
In the 15th century, as the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon united under the Catholic monarchs and concluded the [[Reconquista]] with the conquest of [[Granada]], anxiety about the cultural unity of the country grew. Suspicions were especially raised against Jews who had recently converted to Christianity, called [[conversos]] or derogatively [[marranos]], as many doubted the sincerity of these conversions. Indeed, many Jews had been baptized to escape violent anti-Jewish outbursts around 1400. In 1492, the [[Alhambra Decree]] ordered all remaining Jews who would not convert to Christianity to leave the kingdoms.

Various motives have been proposed for the monarchs' decision to found the Inquisition, such as increasing political authority, weakening opposition, doing away with conversos, and greed.

[[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] pressured pope [[Sixtus IV]] to agree to let him set up an Inquisition controlled by the monarchy by threatening to withdraw military support at a time when the Turks were a threat to Rome. Sixtus IV later accused the Spanish inquisition of being overzealous and accused the monarchs of being greedy. The Pope issued a [[Papal bull|bull]] to stop the Inquisition but eventually was pressured into withdrawing it.<ref>[http://muweb.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/art/SCHULTZ1.ART THE ROLE OF THE VATICAN IN THE ENCOUNTER, by RICHARD W. SCHULTZ]</ref>

During the 16th century a new enemy was found: Protestants, about 100 of whom were burned as heretics.
An [[index of prohibited books]] was drawn up that were found to contain [[heresy]]. Converts from [[Islam]], called [[Moriscos]], were also targeted by the Holy Office.
The Spanish Inquisition was an institution at the service of the monarchy, but had to follow procedures set up by the [[Holy See]].
Most of the inquisitors had a university education in [[law]]. The procedures would start with ''Edicts of Grace'', wherein people were invited to step forward to confess their heresy, and to denounce other heretics. Those so denounced were detained. A defense counsel was assigned to the defendant, a member of the tribunal itself, whose role was to advise the defendant and to encourage him or her to speak truthfully. A ''Notary of the Secreto'' meticulously wrote down the words of the accused. The archives of the Inquisition, in comparison to those of other judicial systems of the era, are striking for the completeness of their documentation.
The percentage of cases where torture was used as a means for gaining confessions varied, but, in general, was quite rare.<ref>Homza, Lu Ann [http://books.google.com/books?id=032SdQmTUxQC&pg=PR25&dq The Spanish Inquisition, 1478-1614], Page xxv, Hackett Publishing, 2006 “Though torture remains one of the most lurid features of the Spanish Inquisition, scholars now believe it was applied quite rarely.”</ref> <ref name=autogenerated1>Rawlings, Helen [http://books.google.com/books?id=awVw8FKt1IwC&dq The Spanish Inquisition] p. 12 Blackwell Publishing, 2004 “torture and the death penalty were only rarely applied.”</ref>
Sentences varied from fines to execution (also rare - below 2%<ref name=autogenerated1 />) and those condemned had to participate in the ceremony of ''[[auto de fe]]'' (act of faith).
The arrival of the 18th century slowed inquisitorial activity and it was definitively abolished on [[July 15]], [[1834]].

In the mid-16th century to the mid-17th century, a time when [[Europe]] was torn apart by Catholic-Protestant strife, there began to appear from the pens of various European Protestant intellectuals, who generally had minimal or no direct access or experience of the Inquisition, what has come to be known as the [[Black Legend]], as part of the Protestant [[polemic]] in support of the [[Reformation|Protestant Revolution]]. With the gradual ebbing of religious hostilities professional historians began investigations, giving a detailed, nuanced and less exaggerated picture of the Inquisition.

==Precedents==
An [[inquisition]] was created through [[papal bull]] ''[[Ad Abolendam]]'', issued at the end of the 12th century by [[Pope Lucius III]] as a way to combat the [[Albigensian|Albigensian heresy]] in southern [[France]]. There were a huge [[number]] of tribunals of the [[Papal Inquisition]] in various European kingdoms during the Middle Ages. In the [[Kingdom of Aragon]], a tribunal of the Papal Inquisition was established by the statute of ''Excommunicamus'' of Pope [[Gregory IX]], in 1232, during the era of the [[Albigensian]] heresy. Its principal representative was [[Raimundo de Peñafort]]. With time, its importance was diluted, and, by the middle of the 15th century, it was almost forgotten although still there according to the law.

There was never a tribunal of the Papal Inquisition in [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]]. Members of the [[episcopate]] were charged with surveillance of the faithful and punishment of transgressors. However, in Castile during the Middle Ages, little attention was paid to heresy. {{Fact|date=December 2007}}

===Background===
The Spanish Inquisition was motivated in part by the multi-religious nature of Spanish society following the [[Reconquista|reconquest]] of the [[Iberian Peninsula]] from the [[Moors]] (Muslims). Much of the Iberian Peninsula was dominated by Moors following their invasion of the peninsula in 711 until they were expelled by means of a long campaign of reconquest. However, the reconquest did not result in the full expulsion of Muslims from Spain, but instead yielded a multi-religious society made up of [[Catholics]], [[Jews]] and [[Muslims]]. [[Granada]] to the south, in particular remained under Moorish control until 1492, and large cities, especially [[Seville]], [[Valladolid]], and [[Barcelona]], had large Jewish populations centered in ''[[Juderías]]''.<ref>http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juder%C3%ADa</ref>

The reconquest produced a relatively peaceful co-existence &mdash; although not without periodic conflicts &mdash; among Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the peninsula's kingdoms. There was a long tradition of Jewish service to the crown of Aragon. Ferdinand's father [[John II of Castile|John II]] named the Jewish [[Abiathar Crescas]] to be Court [[Astronomer]]. Jews occupied many important posts, religious and political. Castile itself had an unofficial [[rabbi]].

Nevertheless, in some parts of Spain towards the end of the 14th century, there was a wave of [[anti-Judaism]], encouraged by the preaching of [[Ferrant Martinez]], [[Archdeacon]] of [[Ecija]]. The [[pogrom]]s of June 1391 were especially bloody: in Seville, hundreds of Jews were killed, and the [[synagogue]] was completely destroyed. The number of people killed was equally high in other cities, such as [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]], [[Valencia, Spain|Valencia]] and Barcelona.<ref>Kamen, Henry, The Spanish Inquisition, p. 17. Kamen cites approximate numbers for Valencia (250) and Barcelona (400), but no solid data about Cordoba.</ref>

One of the consequences of these disturbances was the mass [[Forced conversion|conversion]] of Jews. Before this date, conversions were rare and tended to be motivated more for social rather than religious reasons.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} But from the 15th century, a new social group appeared: ''[[conversos]]'', also called New Christians, who were distrusted by Jews and Christians alike for their religious beliefs. By converting, Jews could not only escape eventual persecution, but also obtain entry into many offices and posts that were being prohibited to Jews through new, more strict regulations. But converting was a hard long process involving many crucial steps and could not be done overnight. Many ''conversos'' attained important positions in 15th century Spain. Among many others, physicians [[Andrés Laguna]] and Francisco Lopez Villalobos (Ferdinand's court physician), writers [[Juan del Enzina]], [[Juan de Mena]], [[Diego de Valera]] and [[Alonso de Palencia]], and bankers [[Luis de Santangel]] and Gabriel Sanchez (who financed the voyage of [[Christopher Colombus]]) were all ''conversos''. ''Conversos'' - not without opposition - managed to attain high positions in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, at times becoming severe detractors of Judaism.<ref>Notably Bishop [[Pablo de Santa Maria]], author of ''Scrutinium Scripturarum'', [[Jeronimo de Santa Fe]] (''Hebraomastix'') and [[Pedro de la Caballeria]] (''Zelus Christi contra Judaeos''). All three were ''conversos''. (Kamen, op. cit., p.39)</ref> Some even received titles of nobility, and as a result, during the following century some works attempted to demonstrate that virtually all of the nobles of Spain were descended from Jews.<ref>Notably the ''Libro verde de Aragon'' and ''Tizón de la nobleza de España'' (cited in Kamen, op. cit. p. 38.</ref>

===Motives for instituting the Spanish Inquisition===
Historians differ about Ferdinand and Isabella's motives for introducing the Inquisition into Spain. A number of possible reasons have been suggested:

# '''To establish political and religious homogeneity'''. The Inquisition allowed the monarchy to intervene actively in religious affairs, without the interference of the Pope. At the same time, Ferdinand and Isabella's objective was the creation of state machinery that allowed them to maximize their control, thus one priority was to achieve religious unity to promote more centralized political authority. Religious unity was not only an issue of having different religions (Christians, Jews, Muslims) in the country. It was also an issue within Christianity, where a number of communities, exposed to Judaism, became more conscious of the Jewish roots of their Christian faith, and some even adopting Jewish rituals and customs. A long series of public debates regarding the validity of the Torah Laws only contributed to highlight awareness of the issue. Finally exasperated with the lack of acquiesence from the Jewish rabbis called into such debates, the Catholic monarchs chose to accuse the Jews of "corrupting the Catholic faith with the dead Law of Moses", using this as the main excuse in the Expulsion decree of 1492.
# '''Profit to fund the Reconquista'''. The property of people found guilty by the Inquisition was confiscated. Pope Sixtus IV openly accused the monarchs of this.
# '''To weaken local political opposition to the Catholic monarchs'''. Strengthening centralized political authority also entailed weakening local political opposition. Resistance to the installation of the Inquisition in the Kingdom of Aragon, for example, was often couched in terms of local legal privileges (''fueros'').
# '''Out of fear'''. The [[Encyclopaedia Judaica]] of 1991 (Vol XI, p.485) states that, "It remains a fact that the Jews, either directly or through their correligionists in Africa, encouraged the [[Mohammedans]] to conquer Spain." Whether real or imagined there was a great fear among 15th century Spaniards that they had a [[Fifth column]] (i.e. [[Crypto-Judaism|''crypto''-Jews]], since the Inquisition only had authority over Christians)living among them.<ref>From the eighth century to the seventeenth century Spain was in the front line of the Christian-Muslim struggle. In that period Spain was invaded by no less than four Islamic empires: the [[Ummayad]], [[Almoravid]], [[Almohad]] the last, the [[Marinids]], tried to re-establish Muslim rule in Iberia in the 14th century, though it never got beyond establishing a few short-lived enclaves in the south. The rapid rise of the [[Ottoman Empire]] following the 1453 conquest of Europe's greatest city, [[Constantinople]], laid the basis for the rapid expansion of that Islamic empire into Europe's southeast and made it a massive menace in the Mediterranean basin as it expanded quickly into [[North Africa]]. [[Barbary pirates]] - which were under the aegis of the Ottomans and in fact formed part of the rapidly growing naval dominance of the Ottomans in Mediterranean - caused immense havoc to Christian lands on the European side. According to Robert Davis and Ryan Warren Joy between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by [[North African]] pirates and sold as slaves between the 16th and 17th century. These [[Arab slave trade|slaves]] were captured mainly from seaside villages in Spain, [[Italy]] and [[Portugal]].</ref>
# '''To do away with the powerful ''converso'' minority'''. Many members of influential families such as the Santa Fés, the Santangels, the Caballerias and the Sanchezes, were prosecuted in the Kingdom of Aragon. However the King of Aragon, Ferdinand, continued to employ many ''conversos'' in his administration.

==Activity of the Inquisition==
===The start of the Inquisition===
[[Alonso de Hojeda (Dominican)|Alonso de Hojeda]], a [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] from Seville, convinced Queen Isabel of the existence of [[Crypto-Judaism]] among Andalusian ''conversos'' during her stay in Seville between 1477 and 1478.<ref>The terms ''converso'' and crypto-Jew are somewhat vexed, and occasionally historians are not clear on how, precisely, they are intended to be understood. For the purpose of clarity, in this article ''converso'' will be taken to mean one who has sincerely renounced Judaism or Islam and embraced Catholicism. Crypto-Jew will be taken to mean one who accepts Christian baptism, yet continues to practice Judaism.</ref> A report, produced at the request of the monarchs by [[Pedro González de Mendoza]], Archbishop of Seville and by the Segovian Dominican [[Tomás de Torquemada]], corroborated this assertion. The monarchs decided to introduce the Inquisition to Castile to uncover and do away with false converts, and requested the Pope's assent. At first the request was turned down for a number of reasons. One reason was that they had requested the Spanish Inquisition to be under the control of the monarchs of Spain. This in turn would lessen papal authority over the clergy involved and make methods difficult to keep in line with official papal rules of inquisition, and instead easily become a mere political and semi-military tool of Spain. Ferdinand pressured Sixtus IV by threatening to withdraw military support at a time when the Turks were threating Catholic Europe. On [[November 1]], [[1477]], Pope [[Sixtus IV]] published the bill ''Exigit Sinceras Devotionis Affectus'', through which the Inquisition was established in the Kingdom of Castile. The bill also gave the monarchs exclusive authority to name the inquisitors. The first two inquisitors, [[Miguel de Morillo]] and [[Juan de San Martín]] were not named, however, until two years later, on [[September 27]], [[1480]] in [[Medina del Campo]].

At first, the activity of the Inquisition was limited to the dioceses of Seville and Cordoba, where [[Alonso de Hojeda (Dominican)|Alonso de Hojeda]] had detected the centre of ''converso'' activity. The first ''[[auto de fe]]'' was celebrated in Seville on [[February 6]], [[1481]]: six people were burned alive. The sermon was given by the same Alonso de Hojeda whose suspicions had given birth to the Inquisition. From there, the Inquisition grew rapidly in the Kingdom of Castile. By 1492, tribunals existed in eight Castilian cities: [[Ávila]], [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]], [[Jaén, Spain|Jaén]], [[Medina del Campo]], [[Segovia]], [[Sigüenza]], [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] and [[Valladolid]].

Establishing the new Inquisition in the Kingdom of Aragón was more difficult. In reality, Ferdinand did not resort to new appointments, he simply resuscitated the old Pontifical Inquisition, submitting it to his direct control. The population of Aragón was obstinately opposed to the Inquisition. In addition, differences between Ferdinand and Sixtus IV prompted the latter to promulgate a new bull categorically prohibiting the Inquisition's extension to Aragon. In this bull, the Pope unambiguously criticized the procedures of the Inquisitorial court, affirming that,

<blockquote>''many true and faithful Christians, because of the testimony of enemies, rivals, slaves and other low people--and still less appropriate--without tests of any kind, have been locked up in secular prisons, tortured and condemned like relapsed heretics, deprived of their goods and properties, and given over to the secular arm to be executed, at great danger to their souls, giving a pernicious example and causing scandal to many''.<ref>Cited in Kamen, op. cit., p. 49.</ref></blockquote>

Nevertheless, pressure by Ferdinand caused the Pope to suspend this bull, <ref>Kamen, ''The Spanish Inquisition'' op. cit., p. 49-50</ref> and even promulgate another one, on [[October 17]], [[1483]], naming Tomás de Torquemada Inquisidor General of Aragón, Valencia and Catalonia. In 1484 Pope [[Innocent VIII]] attempted to allow appeals to Rome against the Inquisition, but Ferdinand in December 1484 and again in 1509 decreed death and confiscation for anyone trying to make use of such procedures without royal permission. <ref>Kamen, ''The Spanish Inquisition'' op. cit., p. 157</ref> With this, the Inquisition became the only institution that held authority across all the realms of the Spanish monarchy, and, in all of them, a useful mechanism at the service of the crown. However, the cities of Aragón continued resisting, and even saw revolt, as in [[Teruel]] from 1484 to 1485. However, the murder of ''Inquisidor'' [[Pedro Arbués]] in [[Zaragoza]] on [[September 15]], [[1485]], caused public opinion to turn against the ''conversos'' and in favour of the Inquisition. In Aragón, the Inquisitorial courts were focused specifically on members of the powerful ''converso'' minority, ending their influence in the Aragonese administration.

The Inquisition was extremely active between 1480 and 1530. Different sources give different estimates of the number of trials and executions in this period; Henry Kamen estimates about 2,000 executed, based on the documentation of the Autos de Fé, the great majority being ''conversos'' of Jewish origin. He offers striking statistics: 91.6% of those judged in Valencia between 1484 and 1530 and 99.3% of those judged in Barcelona between 1484 and 1505 were of Jewish origin.<ref>Kamen, op. cit., p. 60.</ref>

===Repression of Jews===
The number of Jews who left Spain is not even approximately known. Historians of the period give extremely high figures: [[Juan de Mariana]] speaks of 800,000 people, and [[Don Isaac Abravanel]] of 300,000. Modern estimates are much lower: Henry Kamen estimates that, of a population of approximately 80,000 Jews, about one half or 40,000 chose emigration.<ref>Kamen, op. cit., pp. 29-31.</ref> The Jews of the kingdom of Castile emigrated mainly to [[Portugal]] (from where they were expelled in 1497) and to [[Morocco]]. However, according to Henry Kamen, the Jews of the kingdom of Aragon, went "to adjacent Christian lands, mainly to Italy," rather than to Muslim lands as is often assumed.<ref>Kamen, op. cit. p. 24.</ref> Much later the [[Sefardim]], descendants of Spanish Jews, established flourishing communities in many cities of [[Europe]], [[North Africa]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]].

Many Jews were baptised in the three months before the deadline for expulsion, some 40,000 if one accepts the totals given by Kamen: most of these undoubtedly to avoid expulsion, rather than a sincere change of faith. These ''conversos'' were the principal concern of the Inquisition; continuing to practice Judaism put them at risk of denunciation and trial.

The most intense period of persecution of ''conversos'' lasted until 1530. From 1531 to 1560, however, the percentage of ''conversos'' among the Inquisition trials dropped to 3% of the total. There was a rebirth of persecutions when a group of crypto-Jews was discovered in [[Quintanar de la Orden]] in 1588; and there was a rise in denunciations of ''conversos'' in the last decade of the 16th century. At the beginning of the 17th century, some ''conversos'' who had fled to Portugal began to return to Spain, fleeing the persecution of the [[Portuguese Inquisition]], founded in 1532. This led to a rapid increase in the trials of crypto-Jews, among them a number of important financiers. In 1691, during a number of Autos de Fe in [[Majorca]], 36 ''chuetas'', or ''conversos'' of Majorca, were burned.

During the 18th century the number of ''conversos'' accused by the Inquisition decreased significantly. [[Manuel Santiago Vivar]], tried in Cordoba in 1818, was the last person tried for being a crypto-Jew.

=== Repression of Protestants ===

Conversos saw the 1516 arrival of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles I]], the new king of Spain, as a possible end to the Inquisition, or at least a reduction of its influence. Nevertheless, despite reiterated petitions from the [[Cortes]] of [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] and [[Aragon]], the new monarch left the inquisitorial system intact.<ref>The Cortes of Castile asked the king to reform the inquisitorial process no fewer than four times, in 1518, 1520, 1523 and 1525. The Cortes of Aragon at least in 1518. (Kamen, The Inquisition: An Historical Revision, pp. 78-81).</ref>

During the 16th century, however, the majority of trials were not focused on conversos. Instead, the Inquisition became an efficient mechanism for pruning the buds of [[Protestantism]] that had begun reaching into [[Spain]]. Some claim that a large percentage of these [[Protestants]] were of [[Jewish]] origin.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

Despite much popular myth about the Inquisition relating to Protestants, it dealt with very few cases involving actual Protestants, as there were so few in Spain. About 100 persons in Spain were found to be Protestants and turned over to the secular authorities for execution in the 1560s{{Fact|date=March 2008}} and in the last decades of the century, an additional 200 Spaniards were accused of being followers of Luther. “Most of them were in no sense Protestants...Irreligious sentiments, drunken mockery, anticlerical expressions, were all captiously classified by the inquisitors (or by those who denounced the cases) as ‘Lutheran.’ Disrespect to church images, and eating meat on forbidden days, were taken as signs of heresy.”<ref>Kamen p. 98</ref>

The first of these trials were those against the sect of [[mysticism|mystics]] known as the "[[Alumbrados]]" of [[Guadalajara (province)|Guadalajara]] and [[Valladolid]]. The trials were long, and ended with prison sentences of differing lengths, though none of the sect were executed. Nevertheless, the subject of the "Alumbrados" put the Inquisition on the trail of many intellectuals and clerics who, interested in [[Erasmian]] ideas, had strayed from orthodoxy (which is striking because both Charles I and [[Philip II of Spain]] were confessed admirers of [[Erasmus]]). Such was the case with the humanist [[Juan de Valdés]], who was forced to flee to [[Italy]] to escape the process that had been begun against him, and the preacher, [[Juan de Ávila]], who spent close to a year in prison.

The first trials against [[Lutheran]] groups, as such, took place between 1558 and 1562, at the beginning of the reign of Philip II, against two communities of Protestants from the cities of Valladolid and Seville.<ref>These trials, specifically those of Valladolid, form the basis of the plot of "The Heritic: A novel of the Inquisition" by Miguel Delibes (Overlook: 2006)</ref> The trials signaled a notable intensification of the Inquisition's activities. A number of enormous Autos de Fe were held, some of them presided over by members of the royal family.<ref>Kamen, (op. cit. p. 99) gives the figure of about 100 executions between 1559 and 1566. He compares these figures with those condemned to death in other European countries during the same period, concluding that in similar periods [[England]], under [[Mary I of England|Mary Tudor]], executed about twice as many for heresy: in [[France]], three times the number, and ten times as many in the [[Low Countries]]. </ref> After 1562, though the trials continued, the repression was much reduced, and it is estimated that only a dozen Spaniards were burned alive for [[Lutheranism]] by the end of the 16th century, although some 200 faced trial.<ref>Kamen, op. cit., pp. 99-100.</ref> The Autos de Fe of the mid-century virtually put an end to Spanish Protestantism which was, throughout, a small phenomenon to begin with - last remainders claimed to have survived in Netanya, Israel in the form of secluded orders, led by Irene Molochovski.

=== Censorship ===
[[Image:Inkvisisjonen.jpg|thumb|250px|An image frequently misinterpreted as the Spanish Inquisition [[Book burning|burning prohibited books]]. This is actually [[Pedro Berruguete]]'s ''La Prueba del Fuego'' (1400s). It depicts a legend of [[St Dominic]]'s dispute with the [[Cathars]]: they both consign their writings into the flames, and while the Cathars' text burn, St Dominic's miraculously leaps from the flames.]]
As one manifestation of the [[Counter-Reformation]], the Spanish Inquisition worked actively to impede the diffusion of heretical ideas in Spain by producing "Indexes" of prohibited books. Such lists of prohibited books were common in Europe a decade before the Inquisition published its first. The first Index published in Spain in 1551 was, in reality, a reprinting of the Index published by the University of Louvain in 1550, with an appendix dedicated to Spanish texts. Subsequent Indexes were published in 1559, 1583, 1612, 1632, and 1640. The Indexes included an enormous number of books of all types, though special attention was dedicated to religious works, and, particularly, vernacular translations of the bible.

Included the Indexes, at one point, were many of the great works of Spanish literature. Also, a number of religious writers who are today considered saints by the Catholic Church saw their works appear in the Indexes. At first, this might seem counter-intuitive or even nonsensical — how were these Spanish authors published in the first place if their texts were only to be prohibited by the Inquisition and placed in the Index? The answer lies in the process of publication and censorship in Early Modern Spain. Books in Early Modern Spain faced prepublication licensing and approval (which could include modification) by both secular and religious authorities. However, once approved and published, the circulating text also faced the possibility of post-hoc censorship by being denounced to the Inquisition — sometimes decades later. Likewise, as Catholic theology evolved, once prohibited texts might be removed from the Index.

At first, inclusion in the Index meant total prohibition of a text; however, this proved not only impractical and unworkable, but also contrary to the goals of having a literate and well educated clergy. Works with one line of suspect dogma would be prohibited in their entirety, despite the remainder of the text's sound dogma. In time, a compromise solution was adopted in which trusted Inquisition officials blotted out words, lines or whole passages of otherwise acceptable texts, thus allowing these expurgated editions to circulate. Although in theory the Indexes imposed enormous restrictions on the diffusion of culture in Spain, some historians, such as Henry Kamen, argue that such strict control was impossible in practice and that there was much more liberty in this respect than is often believed. And Irving Leonard has conclusively demonstrated that, despite repeated royal prohibitions, romances of chivalry, such as [[Amadis of Gaul]], found their way to the New World with the blessing of the Inquisition. Moreover, with the coming of the [[Age of Enlightenment]] in the 18th century, increasing numbers of licenses to possess and read prohibited texts were granted.

Despite repeated publication of the Indexes and a large bureaucracy of censors, the activities of the Inquisition did not impede the flowering of Spanish literature's "Siglo de Oro," although almost all of its major authors crossed paths with the Holy Office at one point or another. Among the Spanish authors included in the Index are: [[Bartolomé Torres Naharro]], [[Juan del Enzina]], [[Jorge de Montemayor]], [[Juan de Valdés]] and [[Lope de Vega]], as well as the anonymous [[Lazarillo de Tormes]] and the [[Cancionero General]] by [[Hernando del Castillo]]. [[La Celestina]], which was not included in the Indexes of the 16th century, was expurgated in 1632 and prohibited in its entirety in 1790. Among the non-Spanish authors prohibited were [[Ovid]], [[Dante]], [[Rabelais]], [[Ariosto]], [[Machiavelli]], [[Erasmus]], [[Jean Bodin]] and [[Thomas More]], known in Spain as Tomás Moro. One of the most outstanding and best known cases in which the Inquisition directly confronted literary activity is with [[Fray Luis de León]], noted humanist and religious writer of converso origin, who was imprisoned for four years (from 1572 to 1576) for having translated the [[Song of Songs]] directly from Hebrew.

===Repression of Muslims===

The Inquisition did not exclusively target [[Jewish]] ''conversos'' and Protestants, but also the ''[[moriscos]]'', converts to Catholicism from [[Islam]]. The ''moriscos'' were mostly concentrated in the recently conquered kingdom of [[Granada]], in [[Aragon]], and in [[Valencia (autonomous community)|Valencia]]. Officially, all [[Muslims]] in [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] had been converted to [[Christianity]] in 1502; those in Aragon and Valencia were obliged to convert by Charles I's decree of 1526.

Many ''moriscos'' continued to practice Islam in secret. Initially they were not severely persecuted, but experienced a policy of peaceful evangelization, a policy never followed with Jewish converts. There were various reasons for this: in the kingdoms of Valencia and Aragon, a large majority of the ''moriscos'' were under the jurisdiction of the nobility and persecution would have been viewed as a frontal assault on the economic interests of this powerful social class. In Granada, the principal problem was fear of rebellion in a particularly vulnerable region during an era when [[Ottoman Turks]] ruled the [[Mediterranean]].{{Or|date=September 2007}}

In the second half of the century, late in the reign of Philip II, things changed. The 1568-1570 [[Morisco Revolt]] in Granada was harshly suppressed, and the Inquisition intensified its attention to the ''moriscos''. From 1570 ''morisco'' cases became predominant in the tribunals of [[Zaragoza]], Valencia and Granada; in the tribunal of Granada, between 1560 and 1571, 82% of those accused were ''moriscos''.<ref>Kamen, op. cit. p. 217</ref> Nevertheless, the ''moriscos'' did not experience the same harshness as Jewish ' ''conversos'' and Protestants, and the number of capital punishments was proportionally less.{{fix|link=Wikipedia:Contents|text=citation needed}}

On the [[4th of April]] 1609, during the reign of [[Philip III of Spain|Philip III]] a staged expulsion to conclude in 1614 was decreed. Hundreds of thousands of converts from Islam to Catholicism were expelled, some of them probably sincere Christians. An indeterminate number of ''moriscos'' remained in Spain and, during the 17th century, the Inquisition pursued some trials against them of minor importance: according to Kamen, between 1615 and 1700, cases against moriscos constituted only 9 percent of those judged by the Inquisition.

=== Other offenses ===
[[Image:Torture Inquisition.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Two priests ask a heretic to repent as he is tortured.]]
Although the Inquisition was created to halt the advance of heresy, it also occupied itself with a wide variety of offences that only indirectly could be related to religious heterodoxy. Of a total of 49,092 trials from the period 1560–1700 registered in the archive of the Suprema, appear the following: ''judaizantes'' (5,007); ''moriscos'' (11,311); [[Lutherans]] (3,499); ''[[alumbrados]]'' (149); superstitions (3,750); heretical propositions (14,319); [[bigamy]] (2,790); solicitation (1,241); offences against the Holy Office of the Inquisition (3,954); miscellaneous (2,575).{{Fact|date=April 2007}}

This data demonstrates that not only New Christians (''conversos'' of [[Jewish]] or [[Islamic]] descent) and [[Protestants]] faced investigation, but also professing Catholics could be targeted for various reasons.

The category "superstitions" includes trials related to [[witchcraft]]. The [[witch-hunt]] in [[Spain]] had much less intensity than in other European countries (particularly [[France]], [[England]], and [[Germany]]). One remarkable case was that of [[Logroño witch trials|Logroño]], in which the witches of [[Zugarramurdi]] in [[Navarre]] were persecuted. During the auto de fé that took place in [[Logroño]] on [[November 7]] and [[November 8]], [[1610]], 6 people were burned and another 5 burned in effigy.<ref>These trials are the theme of the film ''Akelarre'', by the Spanish director Pedro Olea</ref> In general, nevertheless, the Inquisition maintained a sceptical attitude towards cases of [[witchcraft]], considering it as a mere superstition without any basis. [[Alonso de Salazar Frías]], who, after the trials of [[Logroño]] took the Edict of Faith to various parts of [[Navarre]], noted in his report to the Suprema that, "There were no [[witches]] nor [[bewitched]] in the region after beginning to speak and write about them".<ref> Cited in Kamen, ''op. cit.'', p. 264.</ref>

Included under the rubric of ''heretical propositions'' were verbal offences, from outright [[blasphemy]] to questionable statements regarding religious beliefs, from issues of sexual morality, to misbehaviour of the clergy. Many were brought to trial for affirming that ''simple fornication'' (sex without the explicit aim of procreation) was not a sin or for putting in doubt different aspects of [[Christian]] faith such as [[Transubstantiation]] or the virginity of [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Mary]]. Also, members of the clergy itself were occasionally accused of heretical propositions. These offences rarely lead to severe penalties.

The Inquisition also pursued offences against morals, at times in open conflict with the jurisdictions of civil tribunals. In particular, there were numerous trials for [[bigamy]], a relatively frequent offence in a society that only permitted divorce under the most extreme circumstances. In the case of men, the penalty was five years in the [[galley]] (tantamount to a death sentence). Women too were accused of [[bigamy]]. Also, many cases of solicitation during confession were adjudicated, indicating a strict vigilance over the clergy.

Inquisitorial repression of the sexual offences of [[homosexuality]] and [[bestiality]], considered, according to [[Canon Law]], crimes against nature, merits separate attention. Homosexuality, known at the time as ''[[sodomy]]'', was punished by death by civil authorities. It fell under the jurisdiction of the Inquisition only in [[kingdom of Aragon|the territories of Aragon]], when, in 1524, [[Clement VII]], in a papal brief, granted jurisdiction over sodomy to the Inquisition of Aragon, whether or not it was related to [[Christian heresy|heresy]]. In Castile, cases of sodomy were not adjudicated, unless related to [[Christian heresy|heresy]]. The tribunal of [[Zaragoza]] distinguished itself for its severity in judging these offences: between 1571 and 1579 more than 100 men accused of [[sodomy]] were processed and at least 36 were executed; in total, between 1570 and 1630 there were 534 trials and 102 executions.<ref>Kamen, ''op. cit.'', p. 259.</ref>

In 1815, [[Francisco Xavier de Mier y Campillo]], the [[Inquisitor General]] of the Spanish Inquisition and the [[Bishop of Almería]], suppressed [[Freemasonry]] and denounced the lodges as “societies which lead to atheism, to sedition and to all errors and crimes.”<ref name="Denslow">William R. Denslow, [[Harry S. Truman]]: ''10,000 Famous Freemasons'', ISBN 1-4179-7579-2</ref> He then instituted a purge during which [[Spaniards]] could be arrested on the charge of being “suspected of Freemasonry”.<ref name="Denslow" />

== Organization ==

Beyond its role in religious affairs, the Inquisition was also an institution at the service of the monarchy. The Inquisitor General, in charge of the Holy Office, was designated by the crown. The Inquisitor General was the only public office whose authority stretched to all the kingdoms of [[Spain]] (including the American viceroyalties), except for a brief period (1507–1518) during where there were two Inquisitor Generals, one in the kingdom of Castile, and the other in [[Aragon]].

The Inquisitor General presided over the Council of the Supreme and General Inquisition (generally abbreviated as "Council of the Suprema"), created in 1483, which was made up of six members named directly by the crown (the number of members of the Suprema varied over the course of the Inquisition's history, but it was never more than 10). Over time, the authority of the Suprema grew at the expense of the power of the Inquisitor General.

The Suprema met every morning, save for holidays, and for two hours in the afternoon on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The morning sessions were devoted to questions of faith, while the afternoons were reserved for cases of [[sodomy]], [[bigamy]], [[witchcraft]], etc.<ref>García Cárcel, Ricardo: La Inquisición, p. 21.</ref>

Below the Suprema were the different tribunals of the Inquisition, which were, in their origins, itinerant, installing themselves where they were necessary to combat heresy, but later being established in fixed locations. In the first phase, numerous tribunals were established, but the period after 1495 saw a marked tendency towards centralization.

In the kingdom of Castile, the following permanent tribunals of the Inquisition were established:

* 1482 In [[Seville]] and in [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]].
* 1485 In [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] and in [[Llerena]].
* 1488 In [[Valladolid]] and in [[Murcia]].
* 1489 In [[Cuenca, Spain|Cuenca]].
* 1505 In [[Las Palmas]] ([[Canary Islands]]).
* 1512 In [[Logroño]].
* 1526 In [[Granada]].
* 1574 In [[Santiago de Compostela]].

There were only four tribunals in the kingdom of [[Aragon]]: [[Zaragoza]] and [[Valencia (autonomous community)|Valencia]] (1482), [[Barcelona]] (1484), and [[Majorca]] (1488).<ref> Kamen, ''op. cit.'', p. 141.</ref> [[Ferdinand the Catholic]] also established the Spanish Inquisition in [[Sicily]] (1513), housed in [[Palermo]] and [[Sardinia]].<ref>In [[Sicily]], the Inquisition functioned until [[March 30]], [[1782]], when it was abolished by King [[Ferdinand IV of Naples]]. It is estimated that 200 people were executed during this period.</ref> In the Americas, tribunals were established in [[Lima]] and in [[Mexico City]] (1569) and, in 1610, in [[Cartagena de Indias]] (present day [[Colombia]]).

== Composition of the tribunals ==

Initially, each of the tribunals included two inquisitors, a ''calificador'', an ''alguacil'' (bailiff) and a ''fiscal'' (prosecutor); new positions were added as the institution matured.

The inquisitors were preferably jurists more than theologians, and, in 1608, [[Philip III of Spain|Philip III]] even stipulated that all the inquisitors must have a background in law. The inquisitors did not typically remain in the position for a long time: for the Court of [[Valencia (autonomous community)|Valencia]], for example, the average tenure in the position was about two years.<ref> García Cárcel, Ricardo, op.cit., p. 24.</ref> Most of the inquisitors belonged to the secular clergy (priests who were not members of [[religious orders]]), and had a university education. Pay was 60,000 maravedíes at the end of the 15th century, and 250,000 maravedíes at the beginning of the 17th century!

The ''fiscal'' was in charge of presenting the accusation, investigating the denunciations and interrogating the witnesses. The ''calificadores'' were generally theologians; it fell to them to determine if the defendant's conduct constituted a crime against the faith. Consultants were expert jurists who advised the court in questions of procedure. The court had, in addition, three secretaries: the ''notario de secuestros'' (Notary of Property), who registered the goods of the accused at the moment of his detention; the ''notario del secreto'' (Notary of the Secreto), who recorded the testimony of the defendant and the witnesses; and the ''escribano general'' (General Notary), secretary of the court.

The ''alguacil'' was the executive arm of the court: he was responsible for detaining and jailing the defendant. Other civil employees were the ''nuncio'', ordered to spread official notices of the court, and the ''alcaide'', jailer in charge of feeding the prisoners.

In addition to the members of the court, two auxiliary figures existed that collaborated with the Holy Office: the ''familiares'' and the ''comissarios'' (commissioners). ''Familiares'' were lay collaborators of the Inquisition, who had to be permanently at the service of the Holy Office. To become a familiar was considered an honour, since it was a public recognition of ''limpieza de sangre'' — Old Christian status — and brought with it certain additional privileges. Although many nobles held the position, most of the ''familiares'' many came from the ranks of commoners. The commissioners, on the other hand, were members of the religious orders who collaborated occasionally with the Holy Office.

One of the most striking aspects of the organization of the Inquisition was its form of financing: devoid its own budget, the Inquisition depended exclusively on the confiscation of the goods of the denounced. It is not surprising, therefore, that many of those prosecuted were rich men. That the situation was open to abuse is evident, as stands out in the memorial that a ''converso'' from [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] directed to [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles I]]: <blockquote>"Your Majesty must provide, before all else, that the expenses of the Holy Office do not come from the properties of the condemned, because if that is the case, if they do not burn they do not eat."<ref> Cited in Kamen, op. cit., p. 151.</ref></blockquote>

== Functioning of the inquisition ==
The Inquisition operated in conformity with [[Canon Law]] of the Roman Catholic Church; its operations were in no way arbitrary. Its procedures were set out in various ''Instrucciones'' issued by the successive Inquisitors General, Torquemada, Deza, and Valdés.

=== Accusation ===

When the Inquisition arrived in a city, the first step was the ''Edict of Grace''. Following the Sunday mass, the Inquisitor would proceed to read the edict: it explained possible heresies and encouraged all the congregation to come to the tribunals of the Inquisition to "relieve their consciences". They were called ''Edicts of Grace'' because all of the self-incriminated who presented themselves within a ''period of grace'' (approximately one month) were offered the possibility of reconciliation with the Church without severe punishment. The promise of benevolence was effective, and many voluntarily presented themselves to the Inquisition. But self-incrimination was not sufficient, one also had to accuse all one's accomplices. As a result, the Inquisition had an unending supply of informants. With time, the ''Edicts of Grace'' were substituted by the ''Edicts of Faith,'' doing away with the possibility of quick, painless reconciliation.

The denunciations were anonymous, and the defendant had no way of knowing the identity of their accusers.<ref>Though over the course of the trial, their identities likely became apparent.</ref> This was one of the points most criticized by those who opposed the Inquisition (for example, the [[Cortes of Castile]], in 1518). In practice, false denunciations were frequent, resulting from envy or personal resentments. Many denunciations were for absolutely insignificant reasons. The Inquisition stimulated fear and distrust among neighbours, and denunciations among relatives were not uncommon.

=== Detention ===

After a denunciation, the case was examined by the ''calificadores'' (qualifiers), who had to determine if there was heresy involved, followed by detention of the accused. In practice, however, many were detained in preventive custody, and many cases of lengthy incarcerations occurred, lasting up to two years, before the ''calificadores'' examined the case.<ref>"In the tribunal of [[Valladolid]], in 1699, various suspects (including a girl of 9 and a boy of 14) were jailed for up to two years with having had the least evaluation of the accusations presented against them" (Kamen, ''op. cit.,'' p. 180)</ref>

Detention of the accused entailed the preventive sequestration of their property by the Inquisition. The property of the prisoner was used to pay for procedural expenses and the accused's own maintenance and costs. Often the relatives of the defendant found themselves in outright misery. This situation was only remedied following instructions written in 1561.

The entire process was undertaken with the utmost secrecy, as much for the public as for the accused, who were not informed about the accusations that were levied against them. Months, or even years could pass without the accused being informed about why they were imprisoned. The prisoners remained isolated, and, during this time, the prisoners were not allowed to attend [[mass]] nor receive the [[sacraments]]. The jails of the Inquisition were no worse than those of civil society, and there are even certain testimonies that occasionally they were much better{{Fact|date=March 2008}}. Some prisoners died in prison, as was frequent at the time.

=== The trial ===

The inquisitorial process consisted of a series of hearings, in which both the denouncers and the defendant gave testimony. A defense counsel was assigned to the defendant, a member of the tribunal itself, whose role was simply to advise the defendant and to encourage them to speak the truth. The prosecution was directed by the ''fiscal''. Interrogation of the defendant was done in the presence of the ''Notary of the Secreto'', who meticulously wrote down the words of the accused. The archives of the Inquisition, in comparison to those of other judicial systems of the era, are striking in the completeness of their documentation. In order to defend themselves, the accused had two possibilities: ''abonos'' (to find favourable witnesses) or ''tachas'' (to demonstrate that the witnesses of accusers were not trustworthy).

In order to interrogate the accused, the Inquisition made use of [[torture]], but not in a systematic way. It was applied mainly against those suspected of [[Judaism]] and [[Protestantism]], beginning in the 16th century. For example, Lea estimates that between 1575 and 1610 the court of [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] tortured approximately a third of those processed for heresy.<ref> H. C. Lea, III, p 33, Cited in Kamen, ''op. cit'', p. 185. García Cárcel, ''op. cit.'' p. 43 finds the same statistics.</ref> In other periods, the proportions varied remarkably. Torture was always a means to obtain the confession of the accused, not a punishment itself. It was applied without distinction of sex or age, including children and the aged.

The methods of [[torture]] most used by the Inquisition were ''garrucha'', ''toca'' and the ''potro''. The application of the ''garrucha'', also known as the [[strappado]], consisted of suspending the criminal from the ceiling by a pulley with weights tied to the ankles, with a series of lifts and drops, during which arms and legs suffered violent pulls and were sometimes dislocated.<ref>Sabatini, Rafael, ''Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition: A History'', p.190, Kessinger Publishing (2003), ISBN 0-7661-3161-0</ref> The ''toca'', also called ''tortura del agua'', consisted of introducing a cloth into the mouth of the victim, and forcing them to ingest water spilled from a jar so that they had impression of drowning (see: [[waterboarding]]).<ref>Scott, George Ryley, ''The History of Torture Throughout the Ages'', p.172, Columbia University Press (2003) ISBN 0-7103-0837-X</ref> The ''potro'', the [[rack (torture)|rack]], was the instrument of torture used most frequently.<ref>Carrol. James, ''Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews: A History'' , p. 356, Houghton Mifflin Books (2002), ISBN 0-618-21908-0</ref>

The assertion that "confessionem esse veram, non factam vi tormentorum" (the confession was true and free) sometimes follows a description of how, presently after torture ended, the subject freely confessed to the offenses.<ref> by Peters, Edward, ''Inquisition'', Dissent, Heterodoxy and the Medieval Inquisitional Office, p.65, University of California Press (1989), ISBN 0-520-06630-8</ref>

Some of the torture methods attributed to the Spanish Inquisition were never used. For example, the "[[Iron Maiden (torture device)|Iron Maiden]]" never existed in Spain, and was a post-[[Reformation]] invention of [[Germany]]. [[Thumbscrews]] on display in an English museum as Spanish were recently argued to be of [[England|English]] origin.

Once the process concluded, the inquisidores met with a representative of the bishop and with the ''consultores'', experts in [[theology]] or [[Canon Law]], which was called the ''consulta de fe''. The case was voted and sentence pronounced, which had to be unanimous. In case of discrepancies, the ''Suprema'' had to be informed.

=== Sentencing ===

The results of the trial could be the following:

# The defendant could be '''acquitted'''. In actual practice, acquittals were very rare.
# The process could be '''suspended''', in which the defendant went free, although under suspicion, and with the threat that the process could be continued at any time. Suspension was a form of acquittal without admitting specifically that the accusation had been erroneous.
# The defendant could be '''penanced'''. Considered guilty, they had to abjure publicly their crimes (''de levi'' if it was a misdemeanor, and ''de vehementi'' if the crime were serious), and was condemned to punishment. Among these were the ''[[sambenito]]'', exile, fines or even sentence to the [[galley]]s.
# The defendant could be '''reconciled'''. In addition to the public ceremony in which the condemned was reconciled with the Catholic Church, more severe punishments existed, among them long sentences to jail or the galleys, and the confiscation of all property. Also physical punishments existed, such as whipping.
# The most serious punishment was '''relaxation''' to the secular arm, which implied burning at the stake. This penalty was frequently applied to impenitent heretics and those who had relapsed. Execution was public. If the condemned repented, they were [[garrote]]d before the body was given to the flames. If not, they were burned alive.

Frequently, cases were judged ''in absentia'', and when the accused died before the trial finished, the condemned were burned in effigy.

The distribution of the punishments varied much over time. It is believed that sentences of death were frequent mainly in the first stage of the history of the Inquisition (according to García Cárcel, the court of [[Valencia (autonomous community)|Valencia]] employed the death penalty in 40% of the processings before 1530, but later that percentage lowered to 3%).<ref>García Cárcel, '''op. cit.,''' p. 39</ref>

=== The ''Autos de Fe'' ===
{{details|Auto de fe}}

If the sentence was condemnatory, this implied that the condemned had to participate in the ceremony of an '''''auto de fe''''', that solemnized their return to the Church (in most cases), or punishment as an impenitent heretic. The ''autos de fe'' could be private (''auto particular'') or public (''auto publico'' or ''auto general'').

Although initially the public ''autos'' did not have any special solemnity nor sought a large attendance of spectators, with time they became solemn ceremonies, celebrated with large public crowds, amidst a festive atmosphere. The ''auto de fe'' eventually became a [[baroque]] spectacle, with staging meticulously calculated to cause the greatest effect among the spectators.

The ''autos'' were conducted in a large public space (in the largest plaza of the city, frequently), generally on holidays. The rituals related to the ''auto'' began the previous night (the "procession of the Green Cross") and sometimes lasted the whole day. The ''auto de fe'' frequently was taken to the canvas by painters: one of the better known examples is the painting by [[Francesco Rizzi]] held by the [[Prado]] Museum in [[Madrid]] and which represents the ''auto'' celebrated in the Plaza Mayor of Madrid on [[June 30]], [[1680]]. The last public ''auto de fe'' took place in 1691.

The auto de fe involved: a Catholic Mass; prayer; a public procession of those found guilty; and a reading of their sentences (Peters 1988: 93-94). They took place in public squares or esplanades and lasted several hours: ecclesiastical and civil authorities attended.[2] Artistic representations of the auto de fe usually depict torture and the burning at the stake. However, this type of activity never took place during an auto de fe, which was in essence a religious act. Torture was not administered after a trial concluded, and executions were always held after and separate from the auto de fe (Kamen 1997: 192-213), though in the minds and experiences of observers and those undergoing the confession and execution, the separation of the two might be experienced as merely a technicality.

The first recorded auto de fe was held in Paris in 1242, under the great Louis IX (Stavans 2005:xxxiv) The first Spanish auto de fe took place in Seville, Spain, in 1481; six of the men and women that participated in this first religious ritual were later executed. The Inquisition enjoyed limited power in Portugal, having been established in 1536 and officially lasting until 1821, although its influence was much weakened with the government of the Marquis of Pombal, in the second half of the 18th century. Autos de fe also took place in Mexico, Brazil and Peru: contemporary historians of the Conquistadors such as Bernal Díaz del Castillo record them. They also occurred in the Portuguese colony of Goa, India, following the establishment of Inquisition there in 1562-1563.


The arrival of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] in Spain slowed inquisitorial activity. In the first half of the 18th century, 111 were condemned to be burned in person, and 117 in effigy, most of them for [[Judaizers|judaizing]]. In the reign of [[Philip V of Spain|Philip V]], there were 728 autos de fe, while in the reigns of [[Charles III of Spain|Charles III]] and [[Charles IV of Spain|Charles IV]] only four condemned were burned.

With the Century of Lights, the Inquisition changed: Enlightenment ideas were the closest threat that had to be fought. The main figures of the Spanish Enlightenment were in favour of the abolition of the Inquisition, and many were processed by the Holy Office, among them [[Pablo de Olavide|Olavide]], in 1776; [[Tomás de Iriarte y Oropesa|Iriarte]], in 1779; and [[Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos|Jovellanos]], in 1796. The latter sent a report to Charles IV in which he indicated the inefficiency of the Inquisition's courts and the ignorance of those who operated them:

<blockquote>friars who take [the position] only to obtain gossip and exemption from choir; who are ignorant of foreign languages, who only know a little [[scholastic theology]]...<ref>Cited in Elorza, ''La Inquisición y el pensamiento ilustrado.'' Historia 16. Especial 10º Aniversario ''La Inquisición''; p. 81.</ref></blockquote>

In its new role, the Inquisition tried to accentuate its function of censoring publications, but found that Charles III had secularized [[censorship]] procedures and, on many occasions, the authorization of the [[Council of Castile]] hit the more intransigent position of the Inquisition. Since the Inquisition itself was an arm of the state, being within the Council of Castile, it was generally civil censorship and not ecclesiastic that ended up prevailing. This loss of influence can also be explained because the foreign Enlightenment texts entered the peninsula through prominent members of the nobility or government,<ref>Members of the government and the Council of Castile, as well as other members close to the court, obtained special authorization for books purchased in France, the Low Countries or Germany to cross the border without inspection by members of the Holy Office. This practice grew beginning with the reign of Charles III</ref> influential people with whom it was very difficult to interfere. Thus, for example, [[Diderot's Encyclopedia]] entered Spain thanks to special licenses granted by the king.

However, with the coming of the [[French Revolution]], the Council of Castile, fearing that revolutionary ideas would penetrate Spain's borders, decided to reactivate the Holy Office that was directly charged with the persecution of French works. An Inquisition edict of December 1789, that received the full approval of Charles IV and [[José Moñino y Redondo, conde de Floridablanca|Floridablanca,]] stated that:

<blockquote>having news that several books have been scattered and promoted in these kingdoms... that, without being contented with the simple narration events of a seditious nature... seem to form a theoretical and practical code of independence from the legitimate powers.... destroying in this way the political and social order... the reading of thirty and nine French works is prohibited, under fine...<ref>Elorza, ''La Inquisición y el pensamiento ilustrado.'' p. 84</ref></blockquote>

However, inquisitorial activity was impossible in the face of the information avalanche that crossed the border, seeing in 1792 that,

<blockquote>the multitude of seditious papers... does not allow formalizing the files against those who introduce them...</blockquote>

The fight from within against the Inquisition almost always took place in clandestine form. The first texts that questioned the inquisitorial role and praised the ideas of [[Voltaire]] or [[Montesquieu]] appeared in 1759. After the suspension of pre-publication censorship on the part of the Council of Castile in 1785, the newspaper ''[[El Censor]]'' began the publication of protests against the activities of the Holy Office by means of a rationalist critique and, even, [[Valentin de Foronda]] published ''[[Espíritu de los Mejores Diarios]]'', a plea in favour of freedom of expression that was avidly read in the salons. Also, [[Manuel de Aguirre]], in the same vein, wrote, On Toleration in El Censor, ''[[El Correo de los Ciegos]]'' and ''[[El Diario de Madrid]]''.<ref>The argument presented in the periodicals and other works circulating in Spain were virtually exact copies of the reflections of Montesquieu or Rousseau, translated into Spanish.</ref>

==End of the Inquisition==
During the reign of Charles IV and, in spite of the fears that the [[French Revolution]] provoked, several events took place that accentuated the decline of the Inquisition. In the first place, the state stopped being a mere social organizer and began to worry about the well-being of the public. As a result, consider the land-holding power of the Church, in the ''[[señorío]]s'' and, more generally, in the accumulated wealth that had prevented social progress.<ref>Church properties, in general, and those of the Holy Office in particular, occupied large tracts of today's [[Castile and Leon]], [[Extremadura]] and [[Andalucia]]. The properties were given under feudal terms to farmers or to localities who used them as community property with many restrictions, owing a part of the rent, generally in cash, to the church.</ref> On the other hand, the perennial struggle between the power of the throne and the power of the Church, inclined more and more to the former, under which, [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] thinkers found better protection for their ideas. [[Manuel Godoy]] and [[Antonio Alcalá Galiano]] were openly hostile to an institution whose only role had been reduced to [[censorship]] and was the very embodiment of the Spanish [[Black Legend]], internationally, and was not suitable to the political interests of the moment:

<blockquote>The Inquisition? Its old power no longer exists: the horrible authority that this bloodthirsty court had exerted in other times was reduced... the Holy Office had come to be a species of commission for book censorship, nothing more...<ref>Elorza, ''La Inquisición y el Pensamiento Ilustrado''. Historia 16. Especial 10º Aniversario ''La Inquisición''; p. 88.</ref></blockquote>

In fact, prohibited works circulated freely in the public bookstores of [[Seville]], [[Salamanca]] or [[Valladolid]].

The Inquisition was abolished during the domination of [[Napoleon]] and the reign of Joseph I (1808–1812). In 1813, the liberal deputies of the [[Cortes of Cádiz]] also obtained its abolition<ref>See [[Antonio Puigblanch]], ''La Inquisición sin máscara'', Cádiz, 1811-1813.</ref>, largely as a result of the Holy Office's condemnation of the popular revolt against French invasion. But the Inquisition was reconstituted when [[Ferdinand VII]] recovered the throne on [[July 1]], 1814. It was again abolished during the three year Liberal interlude known as the [[Trienio liberal]]. Later, during the period known as the [[Ominous Decade]], the Inquisition was not formally re-established,<ref>Historians have different interpretations. One argument is that during the Ominous Decade, the Inquisition was re-established, but the Royal Decree that would have abolished the order of the Trienio Liberal was never approved, or at least, never published. The formal abolition under the regency of Maria Cristina was thus nothing more than a ratification of the abolition of 1820.</ref> although, ''de facto'', it returned under the so-called Meetings of Faith, tolerated in the dioceses by King Ferdinand. These had the dubious honour of executing the last heretic condemned, the school teacher [[Cayetano Ripoll]], garroted in [[Valencia (autonomous community)|Valencia]] on [[July 26]] 1826 (presumably for having taught [[deist]] principles), all amongst a European-wide scandal at the despotic attitude still prevailing in Spain.
[[Juan Antonio Llorente]], who had been the Inquisition's general secretary in 1789, became a [[Afrancesado|Bonapartist]] and published a critical history in 1817 from his French exile, based on his privileged access to its archives.

The Inquisition was definitively abolished on [[July 15]], [[1834]], by a Royal Decree signed by regent [[Maria Cristina de Borbon]]a liberal queen, during the minority of [[Isabel II]] and with the approval of the President of the Cabinet [[Francisco Martínez de la Rosa]]. (It is possible that something similar to the Inquisition acted during the [[First Carlist War]], in the zones dominated by the Carlists, since one of the government measures praised by [[Conde de Molina Carlos Maria Isidro de Borbon]] was the re-implementation of the Inquisition to protect the Church). During the Carlist Wars it was the conservatives who fought the progresists who wanted to reduce the Church's power amongst other reforms to liberalise the economy.

==Death tolls==
The historian [[Hernando del Pulgar]], contemporary of Ferdinand and Isabella, estimated that the Inquisition had burned at the stake 2,000 people and reconciled another 15,000 by 1490 (just one decade after the Inquisition began).<ref>Cited in Kamen ''op. cit.'', p. 62.</ref>

Modern historians have begun to study the documentary records of the Inquisition. The archives of the Suprema, today held by the [[National Historical Archive of Spain]] (Archivo Histórico Nacional), conserves the annual relations of all processes between 1540 and 1700. This material provides information about 44,674 judgements, the latter studied by Gustav Henningsen and Jaime Contreras. These 44,674 cases include 826 executions ''in persona'' and 778 ''in effigie''. This material, however, is far from being complete - for example, the tribunal of Cuenca is entirely omitted, because no ''relaciones de causas'' from this tribunal has been found, and significant gaps concern some other tribunals (e.g. Valladolid). Many more cases not reported to Suprema are known from the other sources (e.g. no ''relaciones de causas'' from Cuenca has been found, but its original records has been preserved), but were not included in Contreras-Hennigsen's statistics for the methodological reasons.<ref>For full account see: Gustav Henningsen, ''The Database of the Spanish Inquisition. The relaciones de causas project revisited'', in: Heinz Mohnhaupt, Dieter Simon, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=A_Sdchs7yAkC&hl=pl Vorträge zur Justizforschung]'', Vittorio Klostermann, 1992, pp. 43-85</ref> William Monter estimates 1000 executions between 1530-1630 and 250 between 1630-1730.<ref>W. Monter, ''Frontiers of Heresy: The Spanish Inquisition from the Basque Lands to Sicily'', Cambridge 2003, p. 53 </ref>

The archives of the Suprema only provide information surrounding the processes prior to 1560. To study the processes themselves, it is necessary to examine the archives of the local tribunals; however, the majority have been lost to the devastation of war, the ravages of time or other events. Pierre Dedieu has studied those of Toledo, where 12,000 were judged for offences related to heresy.<ref>Jean-Pierre Dedieu, ''Los Cuatro Tiempos'', in Bartolomé Benassar, ''Inquisición Española: poder político y control social'', pp. 15-39.</ref> Ricardo García Cárcel has analyzed those of the tribunal of Valencia.<ref>Ricardo García Cárcel, ''Orígenes de la Inquisición Española. El Tribunal de Valencia, 1478-1530.'' Barcelona, 1976.</ref> These authors' investigations find that the Inquisition was most active in the period between 1480 and 1530, and that during this period the percentage condemned to death was much more significant than in the years studied by Henningsen and Contreras. Henry Kamen gives the number of about 2,000 executions ''in persona'' in the whole Spain up to 1530.<ref>H. Kamen, ''Inkwizycja Hiszpańska'', Warszawa 2005, p. 62; and H. Rawlings, ''The Spanish Inquisition'', Blackwell Publishing 2004, p. 15</ref>

García Cárcel estimates that the total number processed by the Inquisition throughout its history was approximately 150,000. Applying the percentages of executions that appeared in the trials of 1560-1700—about 2%—the approximate total would be about 3,000 put to death. Nevertheless, very probably this total should be raised keeping in mind the data provided by Dedieu and García Cárcel for the tribunals of Toledo and Valencia, respectively. It is likely that the total would be between 3,000 and 5,000 executed.

However, it is impossible to determine the precision of this total, and owing to the gaps in documentation, it is unlikely that the exact number will ever be known.

==Henningsen-Contreras statistics for the period 1540-1700==

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%"
! width="25%" | Tribunal
! width="15%" | Number of preserved ''relaciones de causas'' from the period 1540-1700<ref>Henningsen, ''op.cit.'', p. 84.</ref>
! width="15%" | Number of trials ''in causa fidei'' reported in the preserved ''relaciones de causas''<ref>Henningsen, ''op.cit.'', p. 58. These numbers do not include the cases other than ''in causa fidei'' (see note below).</ref>
! width="15%" | Estimated number of all cases in the period 1540-1700<ref>Henningsen, ''op.cit.'', p. 84. These Numbers (in the table given in approximation) inculde all cases tried by inquisition, not only ''in causa fidei'' but also concerning minor offences (usually tried ''ad hoc'' during visitations, without consultations with Suprema), ''[[limpieza de sangre]]'' or the offences of inquisitorial familiars, as well as the suspended cases.</ref>
! width="15%" | Executions ''in persona'' reported in the preserved ''relaciones de causas''<ref>Henningsen, ''op.cit.'', p. 58</ref>
! width="15%" | The actual number of executions ''in persona'' in the period 1540-1700<ref>Data for the Aragonese Secretariat are probably complete, some small lacunae may concern only Valencia and possibly Sardinia, but the numbers for Castilian Secretariat - except Canaries and perhaps Galicia - should be considered as minimal due to gaps in the documentation. In some cases it is remarked that the number does not concern the whole period 1540-1700. However, it is rather unlikely that the total number of executions could be significantly higher. See W. Monter, p. 48 n. 37, p. 53 and 327</ref>
|- valign="top"
|[[Barcelona]]
|94
|3047
|~5000
|37
|53<ref name="Arag">W. Monter, ''op.cit.'', p. 327</ref>
|- valign="top"
|[[Navarre]]
|130
|4296
|~5200
|85
|90<ref name="Arag"/>
|- valign="top"
|[[Majorca]]
|96
|1260
|~2100
|37
|38<ref>W. Monter, p. 309 i 329</ref>
|- valign="top"
|[[Sardinia]]
|49
|767
|~2700
|8
|8
|- valign="top"
|[[Saragossa]]
|126
|5967
|~7600
|200
|250<ref name="Arag"/>
|- valign="top"
|[[Sicily]]
|101
|3188
|~6400
|25
|52<ref name="Arag"/>
|- valign="top"
|[[Valencia]]
|128
|4540
|~5700
|78
|93<ref name="Arag"/>
|- valign="top"
|[[Cartagena (Colombia)|Cartagena]] (established 1610)
|62
|699
|~1100
|3
|3
|- valign="top"
|[[Lima]] (established 1570)
|92
|1176
|~2200
|30
|31<ref>[http://www.congreso.gob.pe/museo.htm Museo de la Inquisición y del Congreso]</ref>
|- valign="top"
|[[Mexico]] (established 1570)
|52
|950
|~2400
|17
|38<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10250b.htm The Catholic Encyclopedia: Mexico]</ref>
|- valign="top"
|'''Aragonese Secretariat (total)'''
|'''930'''
|'''25890'''
|'''~40000'''
|'''520'''
|'''656'''
|- valign="top"
|[[Canaries]]
|66
|695
|~1500
|1
|3<ref>Francisco Fajardo Spínola, ''La actividad procesal del Santo Oficio. Algunas consideraciones sobre su estudio'', Manuscrits 17, 1999, p. 114</ref>
|- valign="top"
|[[Cordoba]]
|28
|883
|~5000
|8
|13 in the period 1570-1625<ref>W. Monter, ''op.cit.'', s. 48.</ref>
|- valign="top"
|[[Cuenca]]
|0
|0
|~4700
|0
|19 in the period 1570-1625<ref>W. Monter, ''op.cit.'', p. 48</ref>
|- valign="top"
|[[Galicia]] (established 1560)
|83
|2203
|~2700
|19
|19
|- valign="top"
|[[Granada]]
|79
|4157
|~8100
|33
|38 in the period 1560-1625<ref>This number includes 14 persons burned in 1560s. (W. Monter, p. 44 i 233) and 24 burned between 1570 and 1625 (W. Monter, p. 48).</ref>
|- valign="top"
|[[Llerena]]
|84
|2851
|~5200
|47
|47
|- valign="top"
|[[Murcia]]
|66
|1735
|~4300
|56
|130 in the period 1553-1625<ref>4 burned between 1553 and 1558 (W.Monter, ''op.cit'', p. 37-38 n. 22), 60 burned in three ''autos da fe'' between 1558-60 (W. Monter, p. 43), 55 burned in 1560s. (W. Monter, p. 43) and 11 executed in the period 1570-1625 (W.Monter, p. 48).</ref>
|- valign="top"
|[[Seville]]
|58
|1962
|~6700
|96
|98<ref>This number includes 2 executions in the ''auto da fe'' in 1545 (W.Monter, ''op.cit'', p. 38) and 96 given by Henningsen and Contreras for the period 1555-1699 (Hennigsen, ''op.cit.'', p. 58 and 65)</ref>
|- valign="top"
|[[Toledo]]
|108
|3740
|~5500
|40
|40
|- valign="top"
|[[Valladolid]]
|29
|558
|~3000
|6
|At least 32<ref>This number includes 6 executions given by Henningsen and Contreras for the period 1620-1670 (Henningsen, ''op.cit.'', p. 58 and 65) and 26 burned in two famous ''autos da fe'' in 1559 (W.Monter, p. 41 i 44). W. Monter, ''op.cit.'', s. 48 n. 37, estimates, basing on data from another tribunals, that between 1570 and 1625 twenty more persons may have been burned by the tribunal of Valladolid.</ref>
|- valign="top"
|'''Castilian Secretariat (total)'''
|'''601'''
|'''18784'''
|'''~47000'''
|'''306'''
|'''At least 439'''
|- valign="top"
|'''Total'''
|'''1531'''
|'''44674'''
|'''~87000'''
|'''826'''
|'''~1100'''
|}

==Historiography==
<!--NOTE: This intro paragraph is a high-level summary of the content below. Please add specific new information to the main sub-sections below.-->
How historians and commentators have viewed the Spanish Inquisition has changed over time, and continues to be a source of controversy to this day. Before and during the 19th century historical interest focused on who was being persecuted. In the early and mid 20th century historians examined the specifics of what happened and how it influenced Spanish history. In the later 20th and 21st century, historians have re-examined how severe the Inquisition really was, calling into question some of the conclusions made earlier in the 20th century.

===The Spanish "Black Legend"===
{{main | Black Legend}}
In the mid-16th century, coincident with the persecution of the Protestants, there began to appear from the pens of various European Protestant intellectuals, an image of the Inquisition that exaggerated its negative aspects for propaganda purposes. One of the first to write about this theme was the Englishman [[John Foxe]] (1516–1587), who dedicated an entire chapter of his book ''[[Foxe's Book of Martyrs|The Book of Martyrs]]'' to the Spanish Inquisition. Other sources of the Black Legend of the Inquisition were the ''Sanctae Inquisitionis Hispanicae Artes'', authored under the pseudonym of Reginaldus Gonzalvus Montanus (possibly an allusion to the German astronomer [[Regiomontanus]]), that was probably written by two exiled Spanish Protestants, [[Casiodoro de Reina]] and [[Antonio del Corro]]. The book saw great success, and was translated into English, French, Dutch, German and Hungarian and contributed to cementing the negative image that the Inquisition had in Europe. The Dutch and English, political rivals of Spain, also built on the Black Legend.

Other sources for the Black Legend of the Inquisition come from Italy. Ferdinand's efforts to export the Spanish Inquisition to [[Naples]] provoked many revolts, and even as late as 1547 and 1564 there were anti-Spanish uprisings when it was believed that the Inquisition would be established. In [[Sicily]], where the Inquisition was established, there were also revolts against the activity of the Holy Office, in 1511 and 1516. Many Italian authors of the 16th century referred with horror to the actions of the Inquisition.

===Professional historians===
Before the rise of professional historians in the 19th century, the Spanish Inquisition had largely been studied and portrayed by Protestant scholars who saw it as the archetypal symbol of Catholic intolerance and ecclesiastical power.<ref name=kagan/> The Spanish Inquisition for them was largely associated with the persecution of Protestants.<ref name=kagan/> The 19th century professional historians, including the Spanish scholar [[Amador de los Rios]], were the first to challenge this perception and look seriously at the role of Jews and Muslims.<ref name=kagan/>

At the start of the 20th century [[Henry Charles Lea]] published the groundbreaking ''History of the Inquisition in Spain''. This influential work saw the Spanish Inquisition as "an engine of immense power, constantly applied for the furtherance of obscurantism, the repression of thought, the exclusion of foreign ideas and the obstruction of progress."<ref name=kagan>[http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/04/19/reviews/980419.19kagent.html "A Kinder, Gentler Inquisition"], by [[Richard Kagan]] in the ''[[New York Times]]'', April 19, 1998.</ref> Lea documented the Inquisition's methods and modes of operation in no uncertain terms calling it "theocratic absolutism" at its worst.<ref name=kagan/> In the context of the polarization between Protestants and Catholics during the second half of the nineteenth century<ref name=leabio/>, some of Lea's contemporaries, as well as most modern scholars thought Lea's work had an [[anti-Catholic]] bias.<ref name=leabio>{{cite web |url=http://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/rbm/mss/lea/leabio.html/ |title=Henry Charles Lea Papers - Biographical Sketch |work=Univ. of Penn.-Penn Special Collections |accessdate=2007-04-18 |date=[[January 11, 2003]] |last= |first=}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/Dossier/1112-96/article3.html |title=A New Industry: The Inquisition |work=Catholic.net |accessdate=2007-04-18 |date=[[November 12, 1996]] |last=Van Hove |first=Brian}}</ref>
[[William H. Prescott]], the Boston historian, likened the Inquisition to an "eye that never slumbered".

Starting in the 1920s, Jewish scholars picked up where Lea's work left off.<ref name=kagan/> [[Yitzhak Baer]]'s ''History of the Jews in Christian Spain,'' [[Cecil Roth]]'s ''History of the Marranos'' and, after World War II, the work of [[Haim Beinart]] who for the first time published trial transcripts of cases involving conversos.

=== Modern Scholarship ===
{{main|Historical revision of the Inquisition}}
One of the first books to challenge the classical view was ''The Spanish Inquisition'' (1965) by [[Henry Kamen]]. Kamen established that the Inquisition was not nearly as cruel or as powerful as commonly believed. The book was very influential and largely responsible for subsequent studies in the 1970s to try to quantify (from archival records) the Inquisition's activities from 1480 to 1834.<ref> See for example Jean-Pierre Dedieu, Los Cuatro Tiempos, in Bartolomé Benassar, Inquisición Española: poder político y control social, pp. 15-39 and Ricardo García Cárcel, Orígenes de la Inquisición Española. El Tribunal de Valencia, 1478-1530. Barcelona, 1976.</ref> Those studies showed there was an initial burst of activity against conversos suspected of relapsing into Judaism, and a mid-16th-century pursuit of Protestants - but the Inquisition served principally as a forum Spaniards occasionally used to humiliate and punish people they did not like: blasphemers, bigamists, foreigners and, in Aragon, homosexuals and horse smugglers.<ref name=kagan/> There were so few Protestants in Spain that widespread persecution of Protestantism was not physically possible.{{Fact|date=May 2007}} Kamen went on to publish two more books in 1985 and 2006 that incorporated new findings, further supporting the view that the Inquisition was not as bad as once described by Lea and others. Along similar lines is [[Edward Peters (scholar)|Edward Peters]]'s ''Inquisition'' (1988).

==The Spanish Inquisition in the Arts==
[[Image:Goya Tribunal.jpg|right|thumb|500px|The Tribunal of the Inquisition as illustrated by [[Francisco de Goya]]]]

===Literature===
* The literature of the 18th century approaches the theme of the Inquisition from a critical point of view. In ''[[Candide]]'' by [[Voltaire]], the Inquisition appears as the epitome of intolerance and arbitrary justice in [[Portugal]] and America.

* During the [[Romanticism|Romantic Period]], the [[gothic novel]], which was primarily a genre developed in Protestant countries, Catholicism was frequently associated with terror and repression. This vision of the Spanish Inquisition appears in, among other work, ''[[The Monk]]'' (1796) by [[Matthew Gregory Lewis]] (set in Madrid during the Inquisition, but can be seen as commenting on the [[French Revolution]] and [[the Terror]]); in ''[[Melmoth the Wanderer]]'' (1820) by [[Charles Robert Maturin]] and in ''[[The Manuscript Found in Saragossa]]'' by [[Poland|Polish]] author [[Jan Potocki]].

*[[Samuel Shellabarger]]'s [[Captain from Castile]] deals directly with the Spanish Inquisition during the first part of the novel.

* One of the best known stories of [[Edgar Allan Poe]], ''[[The Pit and the Pendulum]]'', explores along the same lines the use of torture by the Inquisition. The types of torture that appear in the story have no basis in history, however.

* In [[France]], in the early 19th century, the [[epistolary novel]] ''[[Cornelia Bororquia, or the Victim of the Inquisition]]'', which has been attributed to Spaniard [[Luiz Gutiérrez]], ferociously criticizes the Inquisition and its representatives.

* The Inquisition also appears in one of the chapters of the novel ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'' (1880) by [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]], which imagines an encounter between [[Jesus]] and the Inquisitor General.

* ''[[Small Gods]]'', (1992) one of the ''[[Discworld]]'' Novels by [[Terry Pratchett]] centres around a small country - Omnia - in which all the inhabitants are (nominally) followers of the [[Om (Discworld)#Om|"Great God Om"]]. One of the ways to ensure that all [[Omnian]]s follow the words of the Omnian prophets, is a torture body, known as the Quisition, whose methods are reminiscent of those ascribed to the Spanish Inquisition.

* [[Carme Riera]]'s novella, published in 1994, ''[[Dins el Darrer Blau]]'' (''In the Last Blue'') is set during the repression of the ''chuetas'' (''conversos'' from [[Majorca]]) at the end of the 17th century.

* In 1998, the Spanish writer [[Miguel Delibes]] published the historical novel ''The Heretic'', about the Protestants of [[Valladolid]] and their repression by the Inquisition.

* The [[Captain Alatriste]] novels by the Spanish writer [[Arturo Pérez-Reverte]] are set in the early seventeenth century. The second novel, Purity of Blood, has the narrator being tortured by the Inquisition and describes an [[Auto-da-fe]].

* The Argentine Author, Marcos Aguinis, produced a work titled "La Gesta del Marrano", which portrays the length of the Inquisition's arm to reach people in Argentina during the 16th and 17th centuries.

*The [[Marvel Comics]] series ''[[Marvel 1602]]'' shows the Inquisition targeting [[Mutants]] for "blasphemy". The character [[Magneto (comics)]] also appears as the Grand Inquisitor.

*The mature audience [[manga]] Berserk features, in volumes 17-21,a priest named Mozgus who, with the assistance of dedicated "inquisitors", brutally tortures and executes hundreds of Pagans in a thematic combination of the Spanish Inquisition and the [[witchhunts]].

===Film===
* The 1947 epic ''[[Captain from Castile]]'' by [[Darryl F. Zanuck]], staring [[Tyrone Power]], uses The Inquisition as the major plot of the film. It tells how powerful families used its evils to ruin their rivals. The first part of the film shows this and the reach of the Inquisition reoccurs throughout this movie following [[Pedro De Vargas (Power)]] even to the 'New World'.

* [[Edgar Allan Poe|Edgar Allan Poe's]] ''[[The Pit and the Pendulum]]'' has been taken to the screen many times. Perhaps best known is the version by [[Roger Corman]] in 1961.

* The Inquisition captures the main character in the 1965 Polish film ''Rekopis Znaleziony w Saragossie'' (''The [[Saragossa Manuscript]]'').

* The Inquisition is parodied in a musical segment of [[Mel Brooks]]' movie'' [[History of the World, Part I]]'' (1981).

* The film ''[[Akelarre (film)|Akelarre]]'' (1984) by [[Pedro Olea]], deals with the [[Logroño witch trials|trials in Logroño]] of the Witches of [[Zugarramurdi]] in [[Navarre]].

* The beginning of the film ''[[1492: Conquest of Paradise]]'' (1992) by [[Ridley Scott]] speaks of the fear induced by the Spanish Inquisition and shows several aspects of the relaxation to the secular arm.

* The film ''[[The Fountain]]'' (2006) by [[Darren Aronofsky]], features the Spanish Inquisition as part of a plot in 1500 when the Grand Inquisitor threatens Queen Isabella's life.

* ''[[Goya's Ghosts]]'' (2006) by [[Milos Forman]] is set in Spain between 1792 and 1809 and focuses realistically on the role of the Inquisition and its end under Napoleon's rule.

===Theatre, music, and television===
* The Grand Inquisitor of Spain plays a part in ''[[Don Carlos (play)|Don Carlos]]'', (1867) a play by [[Friedrich Schiller]] (which was the basis for the [[Don Carlos|opera]] in five acts by [[Giuseppe Verdi]], in which the Inquisitor is also featured, and the third act is dedicated to an Auto-da-fé).

* In the [[Monty Python]] comedy team's [[The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python)|Spanish Inquisition sketch]], an inept Inquisition repeatedly burst unexpectedly into scenes after someone utters the words "I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition", screaming "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" The Inquisition would then use ineffectual forms of [[torture]], including a dish-drying rack, soft cushions and a comfy chair.

* The [[The_History_of_the_World_Part_1#The Spanish Inquisition | Spanish Inquisition segment]] of the 1981 Mel Brooks movie ''[[The History of the World Part 1]]'' is a comedic musical performance based on the activities of the first [[Inquisitor General]] of Spain, [[Tomás de Torquemada]].

* The ''[[Histeria!]]'' episode "Megalomaniacs!" featured a game show sketch based on the Spanish Inquisition titled "Convert or Die!" The sketch was later banned from the episode and replaced with a new sketch about [[Custer's Last Stand]] in re-runs due to complaints from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights that the sketch was teaching kids to reject Catholicism. However, it was restored when the episode was broadcast on [[In2TV]].

* The musical [[Man of La Mancha]] (1965) is set in a dungeon where [[Miguel de Cervantes]] awaits a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition.

*The song "Sign of the Cross", by the British [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Iron Maiden]] is said to be about the Spanish Inquisition, and how God still protected the people who were involved in the Inquisition, despite their sins against him.

* The band [[Dimmu Borgir]]'s 2007 album, [[In Sorte Diaboli]], follows the path of a priest's assistant as he reverses his ways and is ultimately burned at the stake during the Spanish Inquisition.

* The Opera "Prigioniero" by Luigi Dallapiccola, tells the story of a man captured in the inquisition, and befriends a guard, who turns out to be the grand inquisitor.

===Other===

* In the Video Game [[Eternal Darkness]], one of the chapters takes place in a cathedral during the Spanish Inquisition.

== See also ==
* [[Black Legend]]
* [[Cardinal Ximenes]]
* [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]]
* [[Execution by burning]]
* [[Goa Inquisition]]
* [[Grand Inquisitor|List of Grand Inquisitors of Spain]]
* [[Historical persecution by Christians]]
* [[Historical revision of the Inquisition]]
* [[History of the Jews in Spain]]
* [[Medieval Inquisition]]
* [[Mexican Inquisition]]
* [[Peruvian Inquisition]]
* [[Portuguese Inquisition]]
* [[Roman Inquisition]]
* [[The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python)]]

== References and footnotes==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* [[Henry Charles Lea]], ''A History of the Inquisition of Spain'' (4 volumes), (New York and London, 1906–1907).
* [[Henry Kamen]], ''The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision.'' (Yale University Press, 1999).
* [[Antonio Puigblanch]], ''La Inquisición sin máscara'' (Cádiz, 1811-1813). [''The Inquisition Unmasked'' (London, 1816)]
* [[Juan Antonio Llorente]], “Historia crítica de la Inquisición de España”
* [[William Thomas Walsh]], ''Isabella of Spain'' (1930) and ''Characters of the Inquisition'' (1940). Both reprinted by TAN Books (1987).
* [[R. Sabbatini]], “Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition,” (1913).
* [[C. Roth]], “The Spanish Inquisition,” (1937).
* C. Roth, “History of the Marranos,” (1932).
* [[A.S. Turberville]], “Medieval History and the Inquisition,” (1920).
* A.S. Turberville, “The Spanish Inquisition,” (1932).
* [[Genaro García]], “La Inquisición de México,” (1906).
* Genaro Garcia, “Autos de fe de la Inquisición de Mexico,” (1910).
* [[F. Garau]], “La Fee Triunfante,” (1691-reprinted 1931).
* [[J.T. Medina]], “Historia de la Inquisicion de Lima; de Chile; le la Plata; de Cartagena de las Indias; en las islas Filipinas” (6 volumes), (1887–1899).
* [[V. Vignau]], “Catálogo... de la Inquisición de Toledo,” (1903).
* [[J. Baker]], “History of the Inquisition,” (1736).
* “History of the Inquisition from its origin under Pope Innocent III till the present time. Also the private practices of the Inquisitors, the form of trial and modes of torture,” (1814).
* [[J. Marchant]], “A Review of the Bloody Tribunal,” (1770).
* [[E.N Adler]], “Autos de fe and the Jew,” (1908).
* [[González de Montes]], “Discovery and Playne Declaration of Sundry Subtile Practices of the Holy Inquisition of Spayne”
* [[Ludovico a Paramo]], “De Origine et Progressu Sanctae Inquisitionis,” (1598).
* [[J.M. Marín]], “Procedimientos de la Inquisición” (2 volumes), (1886).
* [[I. de las Cagigas]], “Libro Verde de Aragon,” (1929).
* [[R. Cappa]], “La Inquisicion Espanola,” (1888).
* [[A. Paz y Mellia]], “Catálogo Abreviado de Papeles de Inquisición,” (1914).
* [[A.F.G. Bell]], “Luis de Leon,” (1925).
* [[M. Jouve]], “Torquemada,” (1935).
* Sir [[Alexander G. Cardew]], “A Short History of the Inquisition,” (1933).
* [[G. G. Coulton]], ''The Inquisition'', (1929)
* “Memoires Instructifs pour un Voyageur dans les Divers Etats de l’Europe,” (1738).
* [[Ramon de Vilana Perlas]], “La verdadera práctica apostólica de el S. Tribunal de la Inquisición,” (1735).
* [[H.B. Piazza]], “A Short and True Account of the Inquisition and its Proceeding,” (1722).
* [[A.L. Maycock]], “The Inquisition,” (1926).
* [[H. Nickerson]], “The Inquisition,” (1932).
* [[Conde de Castellano]], “Un Complot Terrorista en el Siglo XV; los Comienzos de la Inquisicion Aragonesa,” (1927).
* [[Bernard Gui]], “Manuel de l’Inquisiteur,” (1927).
* [[L. Tanon]], “Histoire des Tribunaux de l’Inquisition,” (1893).
* [[A.J. Texeira]], “Antonio Homem e a Inquisicao,” (1902).
* [[A. Baiao]], “A Inquisiçao em Portugal e no Brasil,” (1921).
* [[A. Herculano]], “Historia da Origem e Estabelecimento da Inquisiçao em Portugal,” (English translation, 1926).
* [[Simon Whitechapel]], ''Flesh Inferno: Atrocities of Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition'' (Creation Books, 2003).
* [[Miranda Twiss]], ''The Most Evil Men And Women In History'' (Michael O'Mara Books Ltd., 2002).
* [[Geoffrey Parker]] “Some Recent Work on the Inquisition in Spain and Italy” [[Journal of Modern History]] 54:3 1982
* [[Warren H. Carroll]], "Isabel: the Catholic Queen" Front Royal, Virginia, 1991 (Christendom Press)
* [[Joseph de Maistre]], ''Letters on the Spanish Inquisition'' (1822, composed 1815):— late defence of the Inquisition.
* [[Ludwig von Pastor]], History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages; Drawn from the [[Vatican Secret Archives|Secret Archives of the Vatican]] and other original sources, 40 vols. St. Louis, B.Herder 1898

==External links==
* {{cite web | url=http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/spain_and_spaniard.html | title=Spain and Spaniard | author=Ingersoll, Robert Green | publisher=Bank of Wisdom | accessdate=2006-05-17}}
* {{cite web | url=http://libro.uca.edu/title.htm | title=Title Catalog | publisher=The Library of Iberian Resources | publisher=The Library of Iberian Resources | accessdate=2006-05-17}} Scholarly studies including ''A History of the Inquisition of Spain'' by [[Henry Charles Lea]] :
** {{cite web | url=http://libro.uca.edu/lea1/index.htm | title=A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Vol. One | publisher=Macmillan | author=Lea, Henry Charles | year=1905 | month=October}}
** {{cite web | url=http://libro.uca.edu/lea2/index.htm | title=A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Vol. Two | publisher=Macmillan | author=Lea, Henry Charles | year=1905 | month=October}}
** {{cite web | url=http://libro.uca.edu/lea3/index.htm | title=A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Vol. Three | publisher=Macmillan | author=Lea, Henry Charles | year=1905 | month=October}}
** {{cite web | url=http://libro.uca.edu/lea4/index.htm | title=A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Vol. Four | publisher=Macmillan | author=Lea, Henry Charles | year=1905 | month=October}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/history/links/maistre/spanishinquisition.html | title=Letters on the Spanish Inquisition [[Joseph de Maistre]]}}
* [http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Dossier/1112-96/article2.html Fact v Fiction]
* [http://www.catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/Dossier/1112-96/article4.html An Overview]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08026a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: "Inquisition"]
* [http://www.catholic.com/library/inquisition.asp Catholic Answers: "The Inquisition"]
* [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-6682(192410)2:15:2%3C213:TDOTI%3E2.0.CO;2-X L. D. Barnett, "Two Documents of the Inquisition", in ''The Jewish Quarterly Review'', New Ser., Vol. 15, No. 2 (Oct., 1924), pp. 213-239]
* [http://www.aish.com/literacy/jewishhistory/Crash_Course_in_Jewish_History_Part_48_-_The_Inquisition.asp The Spanish Inquisition] - Crash Course in Jewish History

{{Christian History|collapsed}}
{{Antisemitism topics|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:1478 establishments]]
[[Category:1834 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Anti-Judaism]]
[[Category:Anti-Protestantism]]
[[Category:Antisemitic attacks and incidents]]
[[Category:Christian history]]
[[Category:Islamic history]]
[[Category:Jewish Spanish history]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism-related controversies]]
[[Category:Judeo-Islamic topics]]
[[Category:Religion and violence]]
[[Category:Religious persecution]]
[[Category:Sephardi Jews topics]]
[[Category:Spanish Inquisition| ]]

{{Link FA|es}}
[[bg:Инквизиция]]
[[ca:Inquisició espanyola]]
[[da:Spanske inkvisition]]
[[es:Inquisición española]]
[[fr:Inquisition espagnole]]
[[gl:A Inquisición en España]]
[[hi:स्पेनी धर्माधिकरण]]
[[hr:Španjolska inkvizicija]]
[[id:Inkuisisi Spanyol]]
[[is:Spænski rannsóknarrétturinn]]
[[it:Inquisizione spagnola]]
[[he:האינקוויזיציה הספרדית]]
[[mk:Шпанска инквизиција]]
[[mt:Inkwiżizzjoni Spanjola]]
[[nl:Spaanse Inquisitie]]
[[ja:スペイン異端審問]]
[[ko:에스파냐 종교재판]]
[[no:Den spanske inkvisisjonen]]
[[nn:Den spanske inkvisisjonen]]
[[pl:Inkwizycja w Hiszpanii]]
[[pt:Inquisição espanhola]]
[[ro:Inchiziţia spaniolă]]
[[ru:Испанская инквизиция]]
[[sl:Španska inkvizicija]]
[[sr:Шпанска инквизиција]]
[[sh:Španska Inkvizicija]]
[[fi:Espanjan inkvisitio]]
[[sv:Inkvisitionen]]
[[zh:西班牙宗教裁判所]]

Revision as of 16:25, 6 November 2008

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