Introduction
The Holy Office of the Inquisition Tribunal was a court, created in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile.
The main causes of the Inquisition were to strengthen the political power of the church, the persecution of heretics, treatment, under pain of death, Jews and Muslims, income from property confiscation convicted.
Oddly, the Inquisition, who presents himself as a representative of "the Court of God," and that was supposed to embody the highest degree of spirituality, charity and infallibility were peculiar weakness such as deceit, greed and betrayal. Thus, in 1452 the Spaniards, violating the peace treaty with the Muslims conquered Granada. The first thing the Cardinal Mendoza, who was among those who treacherously violated the treaty of peace, participated in the proclamation of Granada, as the official religion, Catholicism. Several days later, the newly-born bishop of Granada wrote to King Ferdinand II of Aragon in Spain, which is also known as Ferdinand the Catholic, the vision of them Jesus (peace be upon him), who allegedly instructed him to appeal the Muslims of Granada, as well as other Gentiles Spain, Catholics. And Ferdinand II granted full authority to the bishop for the treatment of dissidents in Catholics. More precisely, the king allowed the bishop, to the imposition of Christianity, to use any of the methods and means, including violence and torture, which in no way be called a manifestation of "Christian love of neighbor." Aims to maintain the purity of the Catholic faith in their allegiance, and also replace the medieval inquisition which was under papal supervision. The Inquisition worked in large part to ensure canonicity faith of converts, especially Jews, Muslims and others, compulsory accept Catholicism. The decision to create the monarchs Inquisition was motivated by several factors, such as the strengthening of their political power, weakening opposition, suppressing conversos (“converts” of Jews and Muslims). It was finally abolished only in 1834, during the reign of Isabel II.
The Spanish Inquisition, which arose in the thirteenth century as an echo of contemporary events in Southern France revived with new force in the late XV century, gets a new organization and acquires great political importance. Spain offers the most favorable conditions for the development of the Inquisition. The centuries-old struggle against the Moors contributed to the development of the people of religious fanaticism, which successfully used the Dominicans dwelt here.
Non-Christians, Jews and Moors it was a lot in the areas conquered from the Moors by Christian kings of the Iberian Peninsula. Moors and Jews assimilated their education were the most educated, productive and prosperous members of the population.
Wealth envy them inspired people and to the temptation for the government. Already at the end of the XIV century mass of Jews and Moors force were forced to convert to Christianity, but many, and after secretly continued to practice a religion of their fathers.
Body
The Inquisition of the Spanish lands, which arose in the XIII century, as an echo of contemporary events in southern France, is reborn with a new force in the late XV century, gets a new organization and acquires great political importance. Spain offers the most favorable conditions for the development of the Inquisition. The centuries-old struggle against the Moors contributed to the development of the people of religious fanaticism, which successfully used the Dominicans dwelt here. Non-Christians, Jews and Moors it was a lot in the areas conquered from the Moors by the Catholic kings of the Iberian Peninsula. Jews and assimilated their education Moors were the most educated, productive and prosperous members of the population. Wealth envy them inspired people and to the temptation for the government. Already at the end of the XIV century the mass of Jews and Moors were forced to convert to Christianity, but many, and after secretly continued to practice a religion of their fathers.
The growth of wealth and power conversos (converts to Christianity) in Spain caused a negative reaction, particularly the aristocracy and the middle class. Wrote several treatises demonstrate that conversos penetrated almost all the noble families of Spain. Many anti-Semitic conspiracy theories have appeared in abundance. It was said that conversos are a part of an elaborate scheme by which the Jews are trying to destroy the Spanish nobility and the Catholic Church from within.
Systematic persecution of Christians suspicious Inquisition begins with a connection time of Castile and Aragon into a single monarchy, with Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand the Catholic, reorganize inquisitorial system. The motive behind the reorganization is not so much religious fanaticism as the desire to take advantage of the Inquisition to consolidate national unity of Spain and increase government revenue through the confiscation of the property of prisoners. Soul of a new Inquisition in Spain was the confessor of Isabella, Dominican Torquemada. In 1478 Bull was obtained from Sixtus IV, permitted "Catholic Kings" establishment of a new Inquisition, and in 1480 was established in Seville her first tribunal; he opened his activities in the beginning of next year, and by the end it could already boast of tradition penalty 298 heretics. The result was a general panic and a number of complaints against the tribunal, addressed to the Pope, mainly on the part of the bishops. In response to these complaints Sixtus IV in 1483 ordered the inquisitors to stick with the same rigor towards heretics, and appeals to the actions of the Inquisition ordered the archbishop of Seville Inigo Manriquez. A few months later, he was appointed Torquemada as grand inquisitor of Castile and Aragon, who completed the work of conversion of the Spanish Inquisition.
Inquisitorial tribunal at first consisted of a chairman, 2 lawyers and 3 assessor royal advisers. This organization soon proved insufficient, and instead it was created a whole system of inquisitorial institutions: central inquisitorial council (the so called. Consejo de la suprema) and 4 local tribunal, whose number was later increased to 10. The property confiscated from heretics, was a fund of which draw funds for the maintenance of inquisitorial tribunals and which, however, was a source of enrichment and papal royal treasury. In 1484 Torquemada appointed in Seville general congress of all the members of the Spanish Inquisition tribunals, and here was developed Code (first 28 decisions, 11 were added later), regulate the inquisitorial process.
Since then, the work of cleansing Spain from heretics and non-Christians became quickly move forward, especially after 1492, when Torquemada was achieved at the Catholic Kings expulsion from Spain of the Jews. Results of fighter operations of the Spanish Inquisition under Torquemada, in the period from 1481 to 1498, are expressed by the following figures: about 8 800 people were burned at the stake; 90 000 people were confiscated property and church discipline; Besides images were burned in the form of stuffed animals or portraits; 6500 people who escaped punishment by flight or death. Inquisition in Castile popular among fanatical crowd, happy to run to autos and Torquemada until death met universal esteem. But the actions of the Inquisition in Aragon repeatedly causes an explosion of popular indignation; during one of them, Pedro Arbues, chairman inquisitorial court in Zaragoza, is not inferior to the cruelty Torquemada, was killed in a church in the 1485's successors Torquemada, Diego Deza and especially Himénes de Sisnéros, Archbishop of Toledo and the confessor of Isabella, religious affair ended unification of Spain.
Several years later, after the reconquest of Granada, the Moors were persecuted for their faith, despite providing them religious freedom conditions Capitulations contract in 1491. In 1502 he was ordered to either baptized, or leave Spain. Part of the Moors left their homeland, most cross; however, baptized Moors (Moriscos) not free from persecution and were finally expelled from Spain by Philip III, in 1609. The expulsion of the Jews, Moors and Moriscos, more than 3 million people, have dealt a serious blow to the economy of Spain. Within 70 years the population of Spain has fallen from 10 million to 6 (more than half of them went to the colonies, where the Inquisition was not as strong).
Jiménez de Cisneros has destroyed the last remnants of the episcopal opposition. The Spanish Inquisition spread to the Netherlands and Portugal, and served as a model for Italian and French inquisitors. In the Netherlands, it was established by Charles V, in 1522, and was the cause of the falling away of the northern Netherlands from Spain, under Philip II. In Portugal the Inquisition was introduced in 1536 and has spread from here to the Portuguese colonies in the East Indies, where it was the center of Goa.
The Inquisition was finally abolished July 15, 1834, by Royal Decree signed by regent Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Sicily, widow of Ferdinand VII, during the minority of Isabel II, and with the consent of Francisco Martinez de la Rosa.
Works Cited
Carroll, Warren H., Isabel: the Catholic Queen, Christendom Press (1991)
Homza, Lu Ann, The Spanish Inquisition, 1478–1614, An Anthology of Sources, Hackett Publishing (2006)
Kamen, Henry, The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision, Yale University Press (1997)
Monter, William, Frontiers of Heresy: The Spanish Inquisition from the Basque Lands to Sicily, Cambridge University Press (1990)
Parker, Geoffrey, "Some Recent Work on the Inquisition in Spain and Italy", Journal of Modern History 54:3 (1982)
Rawlings, Helen, The Spanish Inquisition, Blackwell Publishing (2006)
Rafael Sabatini, Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition (1913)
C. Roth, History of the Marranos (1932)
A.S. Turberville, The Spanish Inquisition (1932).
A.S. Turberville, Medieval History and the Inquisition (1920)
