Intro

Firstly, as one of part Spanish descent, I must inform that I am writing this post mostly as a response to the lack of film, writing, and other media set in the country. Now, It may just be my lack of knowledge, but from what I have gathered, Spain is not often the setting of many literary pieces — I find this unfortunate, as the country’s history is so fascinating, the culture unique, and the place itself a brilliant backdrop that could rival places such as Italy (my other place of origin.) The play that I have been working on recently is set in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition, and through researching and learning about the time period as well as the origins behind this brutal genocide, I became fascinated by this part of my country’s history. Not in a proud sort of way, but in more of a “curious descendant of those involved” sort of way.

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what is an inquisition?

A good question that I have been asked many times; my best answer would be something along the lines of: a group of divisions among the catholic church aiming to combat heresy, most often through genocide and murder.  Many countries during the broad time period somewhere between the twelfth and eighteenth centuries — many European countries, might I add — held Inquisitions. France, Spain, Germany, and Northern Italy were subject to Inquisitions, all spurred by the Catholic Church, which sought to eliminate heretics known as Catharists.

In Spain, which is our main focus now, as well as the country most associated with Inquisitions, those of the Jewish and Muslim faiths were hunted by the Catholic Inquisitors. My knowledge does not extend far beyond Spain in regards to Inquisitions, but I do know that Spain’s was the most brutal, corrupt, and well known.

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Ferdinand and Isabella: The catholic monarchs

During the fifteenth century (1400-1499), the ruling monarchs of the Iberian Peninsula were King Ferdinand II of Aragon and his wife, Queen Isabella of Castile. They were both born into the royal house of Trastámara, and were second-cousins — yes, cousins. Their marriage brought together the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, an event that historians generally agree unified Spain as a country.

In 1478, they both decided to establish the Spanish Inquisition, thereby expelling all Jews and Muslims from their newly-formed country.  Their reasoning was that corruption in the Roman-Catholic church was caused entirely by people of Jewish faith, but not just of Jewish faith — those who had slipped past the defenses by having been born of converted Jews who had surrendered to Catholicism. These people were known as Conversos, and were a threat to old, powerful Christian families — or so those old families believed. Among other various slanderous rumors, the Conversos were accused of starting the plague, as well as abducting young Christian boys.

Ferdinand and Isabella feared that these Conversos were practicing their old religion in secret, and coupled with the upcoming crusade against the Muslims in Granada, they decided that action needed to be taken. Ferdinand believed that the best way to assist in the crusade, to provide funding and support, was to begin an Inquisition and take the riches and lives of the Conversos, offering them as tribute to the fight against Muslim influence.

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the inquisition

By 1480, the Spanish Inquisition was formed, and the one appointed to head the process was a man named Tomas de Torquemada. He was a clergyman, turned to the Grand Inquisitor, and his mission was to hunt every Converso in Spain and burn them on stakes during ceremonies known as the Autos-da-fe. He was brutal in his persecution, and through his efforts, as well as continued efforts after his death, more than two-thousand Jews were executed during the Inquisition.

Inquisitors would appear in various towns with their retinue, then give the citizens a chance to admit to heresy. Those who did were punished severely; they were often whipped in the street. Others who did not confess — those who hid their Jewish faith — were tortured, most often until death. Many records of false accusations have risen, revealing the true corruption behind the system. Many counts and lords were known to have burned innocents in the pursuit of their victims’ land and money.

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The end

The Spanish Inquisition continued long after the deaths of both King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. As Spain conquered the New World, their Inquisitors spread into North America, and after the conquering of Portugal, the small country faced the same fate. It was not until the 1800’s — 1808, to be exact — when Napoleon Bonaparte overran Spain, taking control of the country, that the Inquisition was smothered. The French ended it almost as soon as they entered, and kept it quenched for as long as Napoleon ruled over Spain. After his defeat in 1814, however, the descendant of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Ferdinand VII, tried to reinstate it, though he had recently received military assistance from the French government, and in order to maintain the alliance between France and Spain, he agreed to cease his attempts at re-stoking what his ancestors had began.

It was not until the 1800’s that the Inquisition was eradicated in Spain; its darkness loomed over the country for near four centuries — four-hundred years of corruption and genocide. The Inquisition’s last victim was a schoolmaster, who was hanged for heresy in 1826. If you visit Spain now, you can see elements of what had taken place. In the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain’s capital city, you can walk atop grates that once entrapped victims scheduled for burning.

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in conclusion

Some historians believe that the details of the Inquisition were greatly fictionalized and exaggerated by political enemies of Spain; most of the knowledge about the event has shifted and changed over history, which makes the truth of it a difficult thing to extract. As someone of Spanish ancestry, as mentioned above, I am not proud of this time in my country’s history, though I do find it fascinating to learn about. Spain is not a wicked, evil place — in fact, it is one of the most beautiful, welcoming, and jovial countries on earth. That just highlights the reality of corruption — that even in the most pleasant of places, there is still someone or something that can paint a terrible picture.

 

Sources:

https://www.history.com/topics/religion/inquisition

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition

Images:

https://i.makeagif.com/media/4-22-2014/sGUd6L.gif

https://cdn.britannica.com/22/139522-050-9A74BE7F/Jews-Isabella-Spanish-Tomas-de-Torquemada-expulsion.jpg

https://sites.psu.edu/sdapassion/files/2018/09/899-base_image_4.1424284781-10caq4t.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Francisco_rizi-auto_de_fe.jpg/1024px-Francisco_rizi-auto_de_fe.jpg

https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01818/napoleon_1818323b.jpg

https://go.bellavitatravels.com/hubfs/plaza%20mayor%20madrid.jpeg

https://montessori-ami.org/sites/default/files/images/countries/spain.jpg