Spanish Inquisition Research Paper

Emilio Hernandez

September 7, 2016

Mr. Belmont

Comprehension

The Spanish Inquisitions Torture Methods

The Spanish Inquisition was a judicial institution created in 1478 and designed to consolidate power in the newly formed monarchy of Spain (Britannica.com). The Inquisition was used to combat heresy in Spain and its colonies. The Inquisition began to form close to the end of the Reconquista the desire for religious unity in Spain became more and more pronounced (Britannica.com). The Jewish population in Spain was among the largest in Europe and soon became a primary target for prejudice. Soon the Jewish population were forced to either convert to Christianity or face certain death. The number of converts during this time soon became very

Only that a confession of his crime be extracted at any cost, and even then the condemned may be killed or horribly maimed and disfigured through many of the torture devices that were used during this time. The Spanish Inquisition used many famous torture devices that were used to horribly maim or kill the condemned slowly and as painfully as possible. One such construct was the “Head crusher” which was commonly used by the inquisition (historyrundown.com). This device as it states in its name was designed to crush a human’s skull as if it were nothing. The victims chin was placed on a bottom bar while a metal cap was placed over the top of the victims head. Once the person was strapped in the executioner would begin to slowly rotate the screw that would begin to crush the persons head. This device could be prolonged to an indefinite time by the executioner. As the device begins to slowly crush the persons head in the teeth would be the first to shatter and break under the pressure then the eyes were popped out under the increasing pressure. Some versions of this device had containers that would catch the eyes as they were squeezed out of the persons head. This device was perfect for extracting confessions from its victims, but if this slow torture were to be stopped halfway the victim would be horribly disfigured and would have suffered permanent brain damage. This is only one of many horrible devices used to inflict pain and suffering during the inquisition. Another torture device implemented solely by the inquisition was the gruesome “Spanish Donkey”. A variant of the “Judas Cradle” except much worse this device was made of a sharply angled piece of wood that was triangular in shape and stood on four poles. The person was often placed upon the triangular part of this device naked to add to the humiliation of the torture. As the victim straddled the angled wood various