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Spanish Inquisition
Introducing the Spanish Inquisition when attempting to denigrate Christianity usually means that someone is referring to the most infamous of the inquisitors Tomas de Torquemada, who is reported to have executed "thousands of reputed heretics". What they always ignore is that Spain's religion was under assault by those whose admitted agenda was to overthrow that religion, and that Spain's efforts to preserve Christianity resulted in Spain becoming the biggest world power in history, spanning most of the years that the Inquisition was in effect, between 1478 to 1834. They also ignore that the Feminist Inquisition [read: the 1970 assault by feminists on the family] kills more Americans in a day or two than died during all of the Spanish Inquisition.Spanish Inquisition Also distinct from the medieval Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition was established with papal approval in 1478 at the request of King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I. This Inquisition was to deal with the problem of Marranos, Jews who through coercion or social pressure had insincerely converted to Christianity; after 1502, it turned its attention to similar converts from Islam, and in the 1520s to persons suspected of Protestantism. Within a few years of the founding of the Inquisition, the papacy relinquished virtually all supervision of it to the sovereigns. Thus, the Spanish Inquisition became more an instrument of the state than of the church, although churchmen, especially Dominicans, always functioned as its officers. It was centrally directed by the Supreme Council of the Inquisition, but its procedures were similar to its medieval counterpart. It became in time a byword, particularly in Protestant areas, for cruelty and obscurantism, but its methods were much the same as those of similar institutions in other Roman Catholic and Protestant countries of Europe. Nevertheless, its superior organization and the consistency of the support it received from the Spanish monarchs, especially Philip II, assured that it would have a greater impact on religion, politics, and culture than comparable institutions elsewhere. This efficiency and political support enabled Tom�s de Torquemada, the first and most notorious grand inquisitor, to execute thousands of reputed heretics.The grand inquisitor and his tribunal had jurisdiction over local tribunals in colonies such as Mexico and Peru, which were usually more concerned with sorcery than heresy. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V introduced the Inquisition into the Netherlands in 1522, where it failed to wipe out Protestantism. The Spanish established it in Sicily in 1517, but were unable to do so in Naples and Milan. Historians have noted that many Protestant lands had institutions as repressive as the Spanish Inquisition, such as the consistory in Geneva at the time of the French reformer John Calvin. The Inquisition was finally suppressed in Spain in 1834. |
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Modified Monday, July 13, 2009 Copyright @ 2007 by Fathers' Manifesto & Christian Party |
