Spanish Inquisition

The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition (Spanish: Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición) was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and lasted until 1834. It began toward the end of the Reconquista and aimed to maintain Catholic orthodoxy and replace the Medieval Inquisition, which was under papal control. Along with the Roman Inquisition and the Portuguese Inquisition, it became the most substantive^{[citation needed]} of the three different manifestations of the wider Catholic Inquisition.

The Inquisition was originally intended primarily to identify heretics among those who converted from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism. The regulation of the faith of newly converted Catholics intensified following royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1502 ordering Jews and Muslims to either convert to Catholicism, leave Castile or face death. Hundreds of thousands of forced conversions, torture and executions, the persecution of conversos and moriscos, and the mass expulsions of Jews and Muslims from Spain all followed. The inquisition expanded to other domains under the Spanish Crown, including Southern Italy and the Americas, while also targeting those accused of alumbradismo, Protestantism, witchcraft, blasphemy, bigamy, sodomy, Freemasonry, etc.

A key feature was the auto-da-fe, where the accused were paraded, sentences read, and confessions made, after which the guilty were turned over to civil authorities for the execution of sentences. According to some modern estimates, around 150,000 people were prosecuted for various offences during the period, of whom 3,000-5,000 were executed, mostly by burning at the stake. Other punishments included penance and public flogging, exile, enslavement on galleys, and prison terms from years to life, together with the confiscation of all property. An estimated 40,000–100,000 Jews were expelled in 1492. Conversos were subjected to blood purity statutes (limpieza de sangre), which introduced racially-based discrimination and antisemitism, lasting into the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Spanish Inquisition was abolished in 1834, during the reign of Isabella II, after a long period of declining influence. The last person executed for heresy was Cayetano Ripoll in 1826, for teaching Deism to his students.

Roman Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in 312. Persecuted under previous emperors, the new religion persecuted heterodox beliefs - Arianism, Manichaeism, Gnosticism, Adamites, Donatists, Pelagians, and Priscillianists In 380 Emperor Theodosius I established Nicene Christianity as the state church of the Roman Empire. It condemned other Christian creeds as heresies and approved their repression. In 438, under Emperor Theodosius II, Codex Theodosianus (Theodosian Code) provided for property confiscation and execution for heretics.

Following the conversion of Spain's Visigoth royal family to Catholicism in 587, the situation for Jews deteriorated as the monarchy and church aligned to consolidate the realm under the new religion. The Church's Councils of Toledo imposed restrictions, including prohibitions on intermarriage and holding office, culminating in King Sisebut's 613 decree demanding conversion or expulsion, which led many Jews to flee or convert. Despite brief periods of tolerance, subsequent rulers and church councils intensified persecution, banning all Jewish rites, forcing baptisms, seizing property, enslaving Jews (after accusations of conspiracy in 694), taking children away from Jewish parents, and imposing severe economic hardships. This oppression alienated the Jewish population, causing some to welcome the Muslim invasion in 711.

While Muslims in the Holy Land were the primary targets of the Crusades, other perceived enemies of Christianity soon became targets. In 1184 Pope Lucius III created the Episcopal Inquisition to combat Catharism in southern France. Heretics were to be handed over to secular authorities for punishment, have their property seized, and face excommunication. When this failed to stem the heresy, Pope Innocent III called forth the Albigensian Crusade. The Crusaders killed 200,000 to 1,000,000 Cathars, perpetrated massacres (e.g. at Béziers), and burned hundreds at the stake. It was the start of a centralization in the fight against heresy, The Dominican Order was established to preach against the heresy, later serving as inquisitor throughout Europe. In 1252 Pope Innocent IV issued the bull Ad extirpanda, authorizing inquisitors to use torture against heretics.

European Jews became targets, leading to massacres and expulsions. While papal bulls sought to shield Jews from violence, starting in the twelfth century papal bulls also prohibited Jews from holding public office, required them to wear distinctive badges, ordered the burning of the Talmud, limited their employment, confined Jews to ghettos, and expelled them from the Papal States, along with other restrictions aimed at subordinating Jews. In 1231 Pope Gregory IX expanded the Papal Inquisition to Aragon. Cathars, Jewish converts and others deemed heretics were targeted, with trials, imprisonments and executions. Books by Spanish friars attacked Jews and Muslims. In Castile the Church Synod of Zamora protested rights granted Jews by the king. Calls for restrictions on Spanish Jews were made by Popes and Cortes (assemblies of the Church, nobles and cities). Some kings protected Jews, since they benefited from Jews' taxes, and Jews serving as courtiers and tax collectors. Others - like Alfonso X, Sancho IV and Henry II - restricted Jews and exploited anti-Jewish sentiment for political gain.