The Spanish Inquisition: The Consequences Of The Spanish Inquisition

The Spanish Inquisition

The word "Inquisition" refers to the tribunal court system used by the Catholic Church to suppress and punish the heretics. All people who were considered against catholic teachings were called heretics.

The Spanish Inquisition was the prosecuting, trying and killing of all heretics. Clergymen from the Catholics Church went around and persecuted anybody that questioned the Church´s teachings or was any other religion. In consequences, all the Protestants, Jews and Muslims from Spain where considered as heretics and were persecuted.

In this work, we will firstly explore the roots of the Spanish Inquisition. In a second part, we will analyse how the Spanish Inquisition occurred. Finally we will consider the different

From then until 1834, the Spanish Inquisition conducted more than 100,000 trials that featured of Jews, Muslims, Lutherans and other assorted “heretics".

In 1483, Thomas de Torquemada became the inquisition-general for most of Spain; he set tribunals in many cities. He was responsible for creating the rules of inquisitional policy and creating branches of the Inquisition in various cities. The influence of Thomas was essential for the Catholic Monarchs approve the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. Also several of his closest fans at the Holy Office were converts, as in the case of Alonso de Espina and Alonso de Cartagena.

It remains the most emblematic inquisitor, even internationally. Which plays the role of villain in pictures, films about legends and brutal persecution of Jews and heretics; Thomas became the first Inquisitor General of Castile and Aragon, and the sadly celebrated. It is estimated that under its mandate, the Inquisition burned more than ten thousand people and more than twenty thousand numbers were sentenced to dishonorable punishment. This figure, however, many modern historians attribute to the exaggerations of poured black legend against

The Spanish Inquisition that stated for more than three hundred years, started to be abolished with the entry of Napoleon to Spain in 1808. Its definitive abolition occurred in 1834. The activity of the Inquisition also varied across time.

The Effects of the Spanish Inquisition

We identified three principal categories of effects of the Spanish Inquisition: sociological effects, economical effects and political effects.

Sociological effects

The end of a multicultural frame work, a massive conversion of Jews, The elimination of a plural and open society. Thousands of people were arrested, tortured and executed in Spain.

Economical effects

Research shows that Spanish regions that were more affected by the Inquisition are associated with lower economic development (An Economic Analysis of the Spanish Inquisition’s

Motivations and Consequences by Jordi Vidal-Robert)

A less innovative mind set. The repressive behaviour of the Inquisition have negatively affected the willingness to innovate or to invest in new technology to avoid being punished

Political effects

An impossibility to express any political ideology that differed from the official ideology.

With the Inquisition the Kings of Spain and the Spanish Catholic Church were acquiring more and more power by the use of