Spanish Inquisition

The Spanish Inquisition, authorized in 1478 by 'pope' Sixtus IV for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, became harsher than the medieval Inquisition. Its primary target was those Jews and Muslims who had been coercively, and insincerely, 'converted' to the faith. However, it was the view of Llorente, secretary of the Inquisition at Madrid from 1789 - 1791 and historian of the Inquisition, that this reasoning was only a pretext useful for confiscating the wealth of the Jews, and that Sixtus went along for the purpose of extending the dominion of Rome. In later years the focus of the Inquisition was turned against Protestants.

This was a quasi-ecclesiastical tribunal established in 1478 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella primarily to examine converted Jews, and later converted Muslims, and punish those who were insincere in the conversion.... The Spanish Inquisition was much harsher than the medieval Inquisition and the death penalty was more often exacted, sometimes in mass autos-da-fe. It judged cases of bigamy, seduction, usury, and other crimes, and was active in Spain and her colonies. Estimates of its victims vary widely, ranging from less than 4,000 to more than 30,000 during its existence....
Compton's Concise Encyclopedia, Inquisition (judicial institution), Copyright © 1994-1997 The Learning Company, Inc.

The Catholic Monarchs ... . in 1478 ... first obtained a papal bull from Sixtus IV setting up the Inquisition to deal with the supposedly evil influence of the Jews and conversos....
¶ ... The Inquisition's secret procedures, its eagerness to accept denunciations, its use of torture, the absence of counsel for the accused, the lack of any right to confront hostile witnesses, and the practice of confiscating the property of those who were condemned and sharing it between the Inquisition, the crown, and the accusers—all this inspired great terror, as indeed it was meant to do....
Copyright © 1994-2000 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Spanish Inquisition

... To rid the land of the Jews who persisted in their ancestral belief was not within the jurisdiction of the Church. That belonged to the state, and, according to the canon law, the Jew was not to be molested in the practice of his religion. But the moment Jews or Moors submitted to baptism they became amenable to ecclesiastical discipline. Converted Jews in Spain were called conversos, or maranos—the newly converted—and it was with them, in its first period, that the Spanish Inquisition had chiefly to do. After Luther's doctrines began to spread it addressed itself to the extirpation of Protestants, but, until the close of its history, in 1834, the Jewish Christians constituted most of its victims.
¶ Next to the judicial murders perpetrated by the Inquisition, its chief evil was the confiscation of estates. The property of the conversos offered a tempting prize to the cupidity of the inquisitors and to the crown. The tribunal was expected to live from the spoils of the heretics....
History of the Christian Church, by Philip Schaff, Volume VI, Chapter 7, § 60

The Spanish Inquisition was established with papal approval in 1478 at the request of King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I. This Inquisition targeted those Jews who through coercion or social pressure had insincerely converted to Christianity. It later turned its attention to similar converts from Islam and to persons suspected of Protestantism. The Spanish Inquisition became more an instrument of the state than of the church. Its efficiency and political support enabled Tomás de Torquemada, the first and most notorious grand inquisitor, to execute thousands of reputed heretics....
Encarta® 98 Desk Encyclopedia, Spanish Inquisition © 1996-97 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Facts prove beyond a doubt, that the extirpation of Judaism was not the real cause, but the mere pretext, for the establishment of the Inquisition by Ferdinand V. The true motive was to carry on a vigorous system of confiscation against the Jews, and so bring their riches into the hands of the government. Sixtus VI (sic) sanctioned the measure, to gain the point dearest to the court of Rome, an extent of domination.
A Critical History of the Inquisition of Spain, by Juan Antonio Llorente (John Lilburne Company 1967 - reprint of John Lilburne 1823 English edition)

One of the strongest weapons of the Inquistion was the power it had of confiscating the property of those convicted of heresy. At the beginning, the proceeds were devoted to the use of the crown, but they gradually devolved more and more upon the Inquisition itself.... It was through this power that the Inquisition was raised into a corporation of such vast influence and wealth. Above all, it made it overwhelmingly to its interest to procure the conviction of all who were brought before it, especially when they were persons of great means. Nothing else, perhaps, was more instrumental in draining the Peninsula of its accumulated wealth during the course of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. It was a weapon which struck at the whole of a man's family, and might reduce it in a moment from affluence to beggary, while through its means the economic life of the whole country was liable to be disorganized.
Encyclopaedia Judaica, ed. cecil Roth, Oxford/Jerusalem 1971

Here are some more quotes from the New Advent (Roman) Catholic Encyclopedia:

... And the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition are largely due to the fact that in its administration civil purposes overshadowed the ecclesiastical....
New Advent (Roman) Catholic Encyclopedia, Inquisition, (2)(d)

But the ecclesiastical powers were fully complicit with the civil powers in carrying it out. It was first authorized by 'pope' Sixtus IV, and directed and carried out by Torquemada, a dominican monk appointed by Sixtus IV. And it was approved and expanded by 'pope' Innocent VIII.

... Fray Tomás Torquemada ... was the true organizer of the Spanish Inquisition. At the solicitation of their Spanish Majesties ... Sixtus IV bestowed on Torquemada the office of grand inquisitor, the institution of which indicates a decided advance in the development of the Spanish Inquisition. Innocent VIII approved the act of his predecessor, and under date of 11 February, 1486, and 6 February, 1487, Torquemada was given dignity of grand inquisitor for the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon, Valencia, etc....
New Advent (Roman) Catholic Encyclopedia, Inquisition

Much has been written of the inhuman cruelty of Torquemada. Llorente computes that during Torquemada's office (1483-98) 8800 suffered death by fire and 96,54 (sic) were punished in other ways (Histoire de l'Inquisition, IV, 252). These figures are highly exaggerated, as has been conclusively proved by Hefele (Cardinal Ximenes, ch. xviii), Gams (Kirchengeschichte von Spanien, III, II, 68-76), and many others. Even the Jewish historian Graetz contents himself with stating that "under the first Inquisitor Torquemada, in the course of fourteen years (1485-1498) at least 2000 Jews were burnt as impenitent sinners" ("History of the Jews", Philadelphia, 1897, IV, 356). Most historians hold with the Protestant Peschel (Das Zeitalter der Entdeckungen, Stuttgart, 1877, pp. 119 sq.) that the number of persons burnt from 1481 to 1504, when Isabella died, was about 2000....
New Advent (Roman) Catholic Encyclopedia, Fray Tomás Torquemada

And on the Medieval Inquisition page, the same New Advent (Roman) Catholic Encyclopedia told us that the "most active period of the institution" was when 5 of 24 'convicted' during a 7 year period, and 42 of 930 'convicted' during a 16 year period, were burned in the early 14th century. But here we have, by the most conservative (Roman Catholic) estimates, "about 2000" executed over a period of 25 years. That is a best case scenario average of 80 each year, or 1 every 4.5 days - for 25 years! And, since these numbers only take into account those for which records exist, it's likely that the true numbers are higher. David A. Plaisted makes a compelling argument that the true numbers exceed 50 million. And these are the doings of those who claim that they are the descendants of the apostles, and the infallible vicars of Christ.

... The humiliations to which the penitents were subjected had exhibition at the first auto de fe held in Toledo, 1486, when 750 penitents of both sexes were obliged to march through the city carrying candles and bare-headed; and, on entering the cathedral, were informed that one-fifth of their property had been confiscated, and that they were thenceforth incapacitated to hold public office. The first auto de fe was held in Seville, Feb. 6, 1481, six months after the appointment of the tribunal, when six men and women were cremated alive.... at Aracena, where the first holocaust included 23 men and women. According to a contemporary, by Nov. 4, 1491, 298 persons had been committed to the flames and 79 condemned to perpetual imprisonment (Schaff, citing Lea). The tribunal established at Ciudad Real, 1483, burnt 52 heretics within two years, when it was removed, in 1485, to Toledo. In Avila, from 1490 - 1500, 75 were burnt alive, and 26 dead bodies exhumed and cast into the flames.... The first burning in Saragossa took place, 1484, when two men were burnt alive and one woman in effigy, and at Barcelona in 1488, when four persons were consumed alive.
History of the Christian Church, by Philip Schaff, Volume VI, Chapter 7, § 60

It was under the reign of the Inquisition that the soul of Spain expired, and that a great power in arms and in arts, in literature and in commerce, fell from its high place into almost utter annihilation.
¶ That religion, whose birth-place is heaven, and whose mission is love, should be propagated over the earth by means of racks and stakes, is utterly repugnant to all that we know of her and of her author. No; it was not Christianity, but its counterfeit, which the Inquisition was erected to promulgate. These were not priests, but demons; this was not a "Holy Office," but a DEN OF MURDER....
The Papacy: Its History, Dogmas, Genius, and Prospects, by Rev. J.A. Wylie, LL.D, Book III, Chapter 3

Down to the very close of the Middle Ages, the pages of history were disfigured by the decrees of popes and synods, confirming death as the penalty for heresy ... . The great council of Constance, 1415, did not get away from this atmosphere, and ordered heretics punished even by the flames ... . And the bull of Leo X, 1520, condemning Luther, cursed as heresy the Reformer's liberal statement that the burning of heretics is contrary to the will of the Spirit.
History of the Christian Church, by Philip Schaff, Volume V, Chapter 10, § 86

Before his death, Ferdinand commissioned his successor, Charles V, to carry on the work.

... In his will, dated the day before his death, he enjoined his heir, Charles V., to be strenuous in supporting the tribunal. As all other virtues, so this testament ran, "are nothing without faith by which and in which we are saved, we command the illustrious prince, our grandson, to labor with all his strength to destroy and extirpate heresy from our kingdoms and lordships, appointing ministers, God-fearing and of good conscience, who will conduct the Inquisition justly and properly for the service of God and the exaltation of the Catholic faith, and who will also have a great zeal for the destruction of the sect of Mohammed."...
History of the Christian Church, by Philip Schaff, Volume VI, Chapter 7, § 60

Almost three years after Martin Luther brought forth his 95 theses, he was delivered the papal bull of Leo X, ordering him, on October 10, 1520, to submit within sixty days. However, at the end of those sixty days, on December 10, Luther defiantly burned both the bull and a copy of the canon law. He was brought for a hearing before the Diet of Worms in the spring of 1521.

... Luther was brought before the Diet and given an opportunity to repudiate his books. Had he disclaimed the one on the sacraments, the other points might have been negotiated. He acknowledged them all. Would he then disclaim some of their teaching? Who was he to reject the teaching of the ages? Let him give an answer without horns, to which he replied: "I will answer without horns and without teeth. Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God, I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."...
Copyright © 1994-2000 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc, Protestantism, history of; Diet of Worms

Charles V, in the early 16th century, was a useful instrument of the papacy in turning the Inquisition against Protestants.

... In the spring of 1521 the imperial Diet, before which Martin Luther had to defend his theses, assembled at Worms. The reformer's appearance represented a first challenge to Charles, who had his own confession of faith, beginning with a sweeping invocation of his Catholic ancestors, read out to the Diet. Rejecting Luther's doctrines in the Edict of Worms, Charles declared war on Protestantism.
Copyright © 1994-2000 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc, Charles V

... The emperor Charles V in 1522 introduced it (Inquisition) into the Netherlands, where its efforts to wipe out Protestantism were unsuccessful....
Copyright © 1994-2000 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Inquisition

... "Death or forfeiture of goods" was the sentence decreed against all Lutherans in the Netherlands ... .
The History of Protestantism, by James A. Wylie, LL.D., Volume III, Book XVIII, Chapter 5

This was the same era in which Bible translator William Tyndale fell victim to the Inquisition—but only after he got the New Testament translated into English, and printed. Tyndale eloquently summed up the heart-cry of the reformers of his day with his well-known statement: "If God spare my life, I will, before many years have passed, cause the boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scriptures than the priests do." (see Wylie, citing Fox, Vol. v., p. 117)

Tyndale ... . studied night and day, being intent on kindling a torch that should illuminate England. Eager to finish, he summoned Fryth to his aid; and the two friends working together, chapter after chapter of the New Testament passed from the Greek into the tongue of England. The two scholars had been a full half-year engaged in their work, when the storm of persecution broke out afresh in London. Inquisition was made for all who had any of Luther's works in their possession, the readers of which were threatened with the fire. "If," said Tyndale, "to possess the works of Luther exposes one to a stake, how much greater must be the crime of translating the Scriptures!"... Stepping on board a vessel in the Thames that was loading for Hamburg, and taking with him his Greek New Testament, he sailed for Germany.
The History of Protestantism, by James A. Wylie, LL.D., Volume III, Book XXIII, Chapter 3

After church authorities in England prevented him from translating the Bible there, he went to Germany ... . His New Testament translation was completed in July 1525 and printed at Cologne and, when Catholic authorities suppressed it, at Worms. The first copies reached England in 1526. Tyndale then began work on an Old Testament translation but was captured in Antwerp before it was completed; he was executed at Vilvoorde in 1536.
Copyright © 1994-2000 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Tyndale, William

Tyndale's ... translations were vigorously opposed by ecclesiastical authorities in England. Nonetheless, his version of the Bible, together with the earlier translations of the English theologian and religious reformer John Wycliffe, formed the foundation of the Authorized (King James) Version of 1611.... He was taken into custody by imperial representatives in Antwerp and, after 16 months of imprisonment, was tried; on October 6, 1536, Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake.
Encarta® 98 Desk Encyclopedia, Tyndale, William © 1996-97 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

The Huguenots in France also became targets of papal persecution.

After the Protestant Reformation began in Germany (1517), the reform movement spread quickly in France ... . The French Protestants soon experienced persecution, however, and the first French martyr, Jean Vallière, was burned at the stake in Paris in August 1523. Despite persecution, however, the movement progressed; but measures against it were redoubled after the "Affair of the Placards" (October 1534), when posters attacking the mass were found on walls throughout Paris and even on the door of King Francis I's bedroom at Amboise. Thereafter the number of Protestant refugees from persecution increased....
Copyright © 1994-2000 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Huguenot

It was in 1542 that Paul III ordered the Roman Inquisition to be commenced against the expansion of Protestantism.

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