March 7 - No One Expects the ...

March 7 – No One Expects the …

Spanish Inquisition!

Ferdinand and Isabella weren’t just about finding the new world … they wanted to ensure the purity of Christianity in their country. So while Columbus was off sailing the ocean blue, they forced Christians to be true. (sorry for that rhyme – couldn’t help myself)

The church had been punishing heresies for several centuries. In 1184, Pope Lucius required bishops to ‘inquire’ into the faith of the people they cared for. If someone was accused of heresy, though, they were excommunicated until a retraction came. Then restoration occurred. This was to be a loving adjustment for that person. Uh huh.

Pope Innocent III decided that the state could punish heretics and confiscate their properties. If the authorities didn’t do what the church wanted, they would find themselves excommunicated. Oh the power.

In 1229 at the Synod of Toulouse, the church decided it was necessary to handle many of the heretics (remember, these accusations were against what they deemed to be heresies – not all of them actually were) in a more organized manner. Pope Gregory IX gave power to the Dominicans to ferret out suspects. The only person they answered to was the pope.

In 1252, Pope Innocent IV authorized torture to get information and confessions of heresy. But, they still didn’t kill people, they allowed the state to do that.

Then, along came Ferdinand and Isabella. They practically begged … ok, they just asked for it … the pope to allow them to be the inquisitors and bring the Inquisition to Spain in 1478. They truly were devout Catholics and figured that the only way Spain would prosper was if it were truly a Christian state.

Jews and Muslims had converted to Christianity to save their lives and their businesses and homes, but in 1492 (yup, Columbus was sailing for America!), they kicked all the rest of the Muslims and Jews out of Spain.

Tomas de Torquemada was a Dominican friar who excelled at cruelty. The Inquisition was off to a flying start as they continually confiscated property to ensure that it had the money to exist. They even sold the office of ‘familiar’ – one who had protection from arrest by informing on others.

Protestantism began to grow in Europe, but in Spain, the Inquisition stopped it from ever really growing there. The Inquisition throughout Europe was never as bad as it was in Spain, but it would continue for another 400 years.