The activity of the Medieval Inquisition contributed greatly to the
restoration of order and repression of violence that had plagued Europe for
over two hundred years.
The Spanish Inquisition
The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1478 and is the most famous, or
infamous, of all Inquisitions, depending on which version of history one
reads.
In 1492, Spain was finally united as a single country after nearly eight
centuries of struggle against the Moors. Queen Isabella knew that Spain’s
unity depended upon a strong Church. She set about halting many abuses,
and reforming the Church by raising educational and moral standards.
One of the more serious problems faced by Isabella was the number of
Jews and Moors who had pretended to convert to the Catholic religion
without really believing in it. These false converts had risen to high
positions in government and Church, and many were secretly plotting the
downfall of Isabella, Spain and the Church.
The method chosen by Isabella to find these agents was the Inquisition.
What is often overlooked is that the Spanish Inquisition was instituted for
persons who professed to be Catholics and not for practising Jews or
Moslems. It also aimed to unearth and bring to penance bigamists,
adulterers, heretics, blasphemers and other baptized men and women who
violated the teachings of the Church.
At first there were abuses, with many people being falsely accused, tortured
and imprisoned. Popes Leo X, Paul III, Paul IV and Sixtus IV condemned
these abuses. Pope Leo X, for example, excommunicated the Catholic
tribunal at Toledo and ordered the arrest of the witnesses who appeared
before it for perjury. New judges were appointed, headed by the Dominican
friar Thomas de Torquemada. He reformed procedures, making them more
lenient, improved prison conditions and personally heard appeals.
Torquemada was pious and just, and certainly does not deserve the
reputation foisted upon him by slanderers who have an “axe to grind”
against all things Catholic.
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