Essay On Spanish Inquisition

Words: 525
Pages: 3

The Spanish Inquisition was a court system established in 1478 that tried heretics, people baptized as Catholics that had contradicting beliefs to those of the Catholic Church. Victims of these trials were mostly Jews and Muslims (or moors). Those who were convicted were often not told why they were convicted. If they did not confess and repent, they could be tortured or even killed. These trials were not formally abolished until 1834 by Queen Isabella II. Although these trials are sometimes debated in the severity of punishment, they are still regarded as a terrible point in the catholic churches history. The original Inquisition (papal inquisition) began in 1231 when Pope Gregory IX issued a bull establishing a court system to try heretics. …show more content…
First of all, the person in question usually wasn’t even told what they were accused of specifically. This made it hard to confess to the crime: the only way one could escape torture and death. Secondly, anyone could testify against them, meaning that other heretics that were also being tried could testify against them just so that they could escape punishment themselves. Also, the heretic was required to testify, and if he didn’t it was proof of his guilt. Lastly, the people running the inquisition, the Dominicans, were highly educated in theology and trained to get people to confess to crimes they didn’t know they had committed. These inquisitors were so well trained that often the heretic wasn’t smart enough to understand or answer the questions they were asked, which led to them being assumed as guilty. The Spanish Inquisition took advantage of the ability to torture heretics. This was also unfair because confession had to be extracted while not being tortured, meaning that even if a heretic confessed to a charge while being tortured, they would have to wait until the inquisitor decided to stop torturing them to confess. Types of torture included the rack, a device that slowly pulled at ones limbs, and various others such as burning coals, kicking, etc. The Spanish Inquisition also implemented the