In the medieval period, the cornerstone of different Kingdoms was based merely on their particular religious beliefs. Inquisition refers to the process of enforcing one's religious and moral principle to individual and using mechanism such as torture to ensure all the set principles have been conformed to. Therefore, it is worth noting that, religious factors are the underlying reason that led to the breakout of the of the Spanish Inquisition, which began in 1231 AD when the pope appointed an inquisitor general during the reign of Henry III of Castile and Leon in the year 1390-1406 (Rawling 192).
The main underlying factor that attributed to the breakout of the war was, to force the Jews to convert to Catholics, which was at that time, the state religion. At that time and period, religious liberty was not questionable, in that every individual in the kingdom was forced to conform to the particular religious beliefs prescribed by the Kingdom. It was started by the catholic monarchs Ferninand II of Aragon and Isabella Castille whose aim was to maintain the Catholic belief in the Kingdom and therefore replace the traditional papacy control. In an effort to achieve their set goal, a royal decree was passed in 1492 and 1502 that ordered the Jews and Muslims to either convert to Catholics or leave Spain altogether (Rawling 198).
The Spanish inquisition is by far one of the early prevalent persecutions that indicated the level of intolerance and repression that was not only under the monarchial rule but also engraved in the catholic church. First and foremost, Spain as a country was built mainly on religious struggles and this was the main factor as to why the monarch at the particular period preferred to ensure that a state religion was maintained. Prior to the Spanish Inquisition Ferninand II of Aragon and Isabella Castille, the ruling monarch had the ask for permission from the pope who was the head of the catholic church. In addition, to facilitate the inquisition, Tomas de Torquemada was appointed as the Inquisitor general for the Spanish Kingdom and his main role was to ensure that rules that would facilitate the Spanish Inquisition were created and furthermore, ensure all the set rules were to conformed with. Therefore, due to the Spanish Inquisition over 10000 Spaniards lost their lives and this became bloody, but it could not be stopped due to the fact that it had been deeply entrenched in the political system (Rawling 216).
Local tribunals were formed by the Inquisitor general and when an individual was accused of having committed any action against the church, they presented to the tribunal. Once an individual was accused, they were presented with two options; either they confess and indict any individual who may have stated something against the catholic church and the tribunal was more lenient and they were to be released or sentenced to prison. On the other hand, if an individual failed to confess any actions against the catholic church, they would be presented to a crowd and killed through mob justice or alternatively, the tribunal granted the individual life imprisonment. At certain times, those who were accused and presented before the tribunal were at times burnt alive especially those who were believed to have been practicing witchcraft (Kreger).
The Spanish inquisition goes on for a period of around 700 years with the last prosecution happening on 1826 and at this period, the main focus was on the Jews people who had been forced to convert to Christianity. There were adamant speculations that prescribed the fact that, they practiced Judaism in secret which was still believed to be a criminal offense under the monarch. Therefore, it is worth noting that, the Spanish inquisition was formally abolished in 1908 and even though it brought reforms to the Vatican church, it still curtailed many lives through enforced religious belief. However, having looked at the historical background, the Spanish inquisition was also based on the superiority complex in that, the Catholic wanted to be viewed as having a greater power as compared to the other religions (Rawling 194).
The Spanish inquisition can greatly be compared to the persecution of the Jews by the Nazi regime during the world war 2 periods. After world war 1, the Germans were blamed and made to pay reparation by the League of nations and the aftermath was that it greatly affected the social-economic lives of the Germans. On the other hand, the Jews in Germany were thriving in business and as result, Hitler told the German’s that they were a more superior race and that the Jews were taking over their employment opportunities. This created hatred towards the Jews community and this was the underlying factor that greatly attributed to the increase in the number of the Jews who were killed during the world war 2 periods. Due to the holocaust, about 6 million Jews were killed and the method used was the atrocious example the Nazi opted to use gas chambers for the purpose of torturing the Jews (Stern 883).
Work cited
Kreger, Kristin . The Spanish Inquisition 1478-1834. 5 May 1997. Web. 2 February 2017 <http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/WestEurope/SpanInqui.html>.
Rawling, Hellen. The Spanish inquisition. Malden, MA: Blackwell publisher, 2006. Print
Stern, Fritz. "The Holocaust: A history of Jews of Europe during world war 2." Foreign Affairs 64 (1986): 882.
