Spanish Inquisition
In 1478, Pope Sixtus IV issued a papal bull authorizing the creation of the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition. This document granted King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile the power to appoint inquisitors. The first two men chosen for this role were Miguel de Morillo and Juan de San Martín. They arrived in Spain on the 27th of September 1480, to begin their work. Their mission was to identify heretics among those who had converted from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism. These converts, known as conversos, faced intense scrutiny regarding their loyalty to the new faith. The monarchs sought to maintain Christian orthodoxy while consolidating state power over religious matters. The institution replaced the Medieval Inquisition, which had been under direct Papal control. By 1492, tribunals existed in eight cities across Castile including Ávila, Córdoba, Jaén, Medina del Campo, Segovia, Sigüenza, Toledo, and Valladolid. The scale of operations required significant resources and support from the crown.
The primary targets of the Spanish Inquisition were conversos suspected of secretly practicing Judaism. Between 1536 and 1543, eight courts seized 87 million maravedis from victims. Estimates suggest around 150,000 people were prosecuted for various offenses during the period. Only 3,000 to 5,000 individuals were executed, mostly by burning at the stake. Other punishments included penance, public flogging, exile, enslavement on galleys, and prison terms ranging from years to life. Property confiscation was nearly universal even for repentant heretics. Conversos were subjected to blood purity statutes known as limpieza de sangre which introduced racially based discrimination lasting into the 19th and 20th centuries. The Inquisition also targeted moriscos who converted from Islam but were suspected of maintaining Islamic practices. A decree issued on the 14th of February 1502 forced Muslims in Granada to convert or face expulsion. From 1560 to 1571, Moriscos comprised 82% of Granada's tribunal cases. The War of the Alpujarras between 1568 and 1571 led to the forced dispersal of about half the region's Moriscos across Castile and Andalusia. By 1609, King Philip III ordered the expulsion of all Moriscos taking only what they could carry without money or jewels.
Tomás de Torquemada established Inquisition procedures in 1484 creating a 28-article code called Compilación de las instrucciones del oficio de la Santa Inquisición. This code remained largely unchanged for over three centuries. Courts announced a 30-day grace period for self-confessions and denunciations requiring individuals to report themselves and others including relatives and friends. Inquisitors collected accusations from neighbors using signs like no chimney smoke on Saturdays or buying many vegetables before Passover as evidence of crypto-Judaism. Trials aimed to extract confessions often using water torture the rack or suspending individuals by their wrists with weights tied to their feet repeatedly raising and dropping them. Confessions occurred publicly at autos-da-fé where sentences were read after parading the accused. Legal expert Francisco Peña stated in 1578 that trials and executions aimed to ensure public good and instill fear requiring public sentencing for education and to terrify. These ceremonies rivaled bullfights in popularity. In 1680 King Charles II marked his marriage with an auto-da-fe in Madrid drawing 50,000 spectators and sentencing 118 individuals mostly Jewish conversos to severe penalties including execution by burning.
The Inquisition depended almost exclusively on the confiscation of goods of the denounced without a defined budget. Many prosecuted individuals were rich men leading to claims that the institution aimed primarily to seize property. A treasurer reported to Charles V in 1524 that his predecessor collected ten million ducats from conversos though this figure remains unverified. In 1592 an inquisitor noted most of fifty women he arrested were wealthy. The Suprema claimed over 700,000 ducats for the royal treasury in 1676 after covering its own budget which was just 5% of the amount seized. Mallorca's confiscated property in 1678 exceeded 2,500,000 ducats. As part of the Counter-Reformation the Spanish Inquisition issued Indexes of prohibited books to curb heretical ideas. Further Spanish Indexes appeared in 1559, 1583, 1612, 1632, and 1640. The 1559 Index spanned 72 pages while the 1667 Novus Index Prohibitorum et Expurgatorum reached 1300 pages. Non-Spanish authors like Ovid Dante Rabelais Ariosto Machiavelli Erasmus Jean Bodin Valentine Naibod and Tomás Moro were prohibited. Fray Luis de León a converso humanist and religious writer was imprisoned from 1572 to 1576 for translating the Song of Songs from Hebrew.
The Enlightenment in Spain reduced inquisitorial activity significantly during the 18th century. Courts condemned 111 people to burning in person and 117 in effigy mostly for judaizing during Philip V's reign. Only 44 autos de fe took place under Charles III and Charles IV compared to 125 earlier. Leading Spanish Enlightenment figures including Olavide Iriarte and Jovellanos faced Inquisition trials between 1776 and 1796. Jovellanos criticized the courts' inefficiency describing operators as friars who take positions only to gather gossip and avoid choir duties ignorant of foreign languages knowing only scholastic theology. The Inquisition shifted to censoring publications but struggled as Charles III secularized censorship often favoring the Council of Castile's less rigid stance. Post-French Revolution the Council of Castile reactivated the Inquisition to target French works promoting independence from legitimate powers. A December 1789 edict supported by Charles IV and Floridablanca banned 39 French texts under penalty of fines. Opposition remained clandestine with texts praising Voltaire and Montesquieu emerging in 1759. After the Council of Castile lifted pre-publication censorship in 1785 El Censor published rationalist critiques of the Holy Office.
Cárcel estimated a total of 150,000 prosecutions throughout the Inquisition's history using a 2% execution rate from 1560, 1700 trials suggesting about 3,000 were put to death. Some scholars citing Dedieu and Cárcel's data for Toledo and Valencia suggest 3,000 to 5,000 executions while others estimate a 1 to 5% death rate depending on the period. The Suprema's archives held in the National Historical Archive of Spain document 44,674 judgments from 1540, 1700 including 826 executions in persona and 778 in effigie. These records are incomplete omitting tribunals like Cuenca and showing gaps for others such as Valladolid. A 2021 study found that municipalities of Spain with a history of stronger inquisitorial presence show lower economic performance educational attainment and trust today. Another 2025 study discovered the Spanish Inquisition had important chilling effects reducing scholars' willingness to interact with others inducing them to divert efforts away from STEM fields or pursue them outside Spain. It led to reversals in previously upward trends in university attendance and book output in STEM fields. Scholars typically left Spain or reduced scientific output in fields that might fall afoul of the inquisitors.
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Common questions
When did the Spanish Inquisition begin and who were the first inquisitors?
The Spanish Inquisition began when Pope Sixtus IV issued a papal bull on the 14th of February 1536 authorizing its creation. The first two men chosen for this role were Miguel de Morillo and Juan de San Martín, who arrived in Spain on the 27th of September 1480 to begin their work.
What was the primary target of the Spanish Inquisition and how many people were executed?
The primary targets of the Spanish Inquisition were conversos suspected of secretly practicing Judaism and moriscos who converted from Islam but maintained Islamic practices. Estimates suggest around 150,000 people were prosecuted during the period with only 3,000 to 5,000 individuals executed mostly by burning at the stake.
How did the Spanish Inquisition fund itself and what financial impact did it have?
The Spanish Inquisition depended almost exclusively on the confiscation of goods of the denounced without a defined budget. A treasurer reported to Charles V in 1524 that his predecessor collected ten million ducats from conversos while the Suprema claimed over 700,000 ducats for the royal treasury in 1676 after covering its own budget which was just 5% of the amount seized.
When did the Spanish Inquisition end and what happened to the Moriscos?
King Philip III ordered the expulsion of all Moriscos by 1609 taking only what they could carry without money or jewels. The War of the Alpujarras between 1568 and 1571 led to the forced dispersal of about half the region's Moriscos across Castile and Andalusia before this final decree.
What methods did the Spanish Inquisition use to extract confessions during trials?
Trials aimed to extract confessions often using water torture the rack or suspending individuals by their wrists with weights tied to their feet repeatedly raising and dropping them. Confessions occurred publicly at autos-da-fé where sentences were read after parading the accused.