The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision by Henry Kamen

The Spanish Inquisition lasted from 1478 to 1834. The goal of the Spanish Inquisition was to expel, convert or kill all Non-Catholics from Spain in Spain. When people were accused heresy they would be pit on trial, but before they could be on trial they had to sit in jail which most of them were unsanitary and people were given little food to eat. The punishments people received if they were found guilty were: torture, public humiliation, and death. The trials were unfair, unjustified and not necessary. The Spanish Inquisition did not help spread Catholicism and in fact slowed the spread because of the fear that it instilled in Non-Catholics.

In a post September 11th broadcast, Osama bin Laden’s deputy describes the intermingling of various religions as “the tragedy of al-Andalus.” This reference highlights the overly romanticized characterization of religious tolerance in medieval Spain. Aptly known as La Convivencia, “the coexistence” in English, this period is noted by as a time of flourishing social, cultural, and economic advancement for the major religious groups residing in Spain. Although true in many ways, the notion that it was a time of extreme tolerance is a severe exaggeration, as is seen by the mistreatment and exile of Jews and Christians from Andalusia. Despite cases of non-Muslims rising to positions of authority, non-Islamic groups in Andalusia faced great discrimination

These two views do not contradict each other, but they do look at the shift in thought differently. Schwartz takes the idea that, “each person can be saved in his own religion, “and develops a study of Christian perspectives on Islam and Judaism through the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition documentation and trials. Schwartz analyzed cultural attitudes and thoughts towards religious differences from the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries in Spain and Portugal (Schwartz, pg. 6). Spanish and Portuguese inquisitional records captured the stories from unknown common folk and what they thought about the world they lived in, and their feelings towards what was right when dealing with religious tolerance (Schwartz, pg. 6). By not only questioning individuals but also looking at the people around that individuals and how they interacted and practiced their beliefs, Schwartz uncovered evidence for religious toleration over a course of a few centuries. These views varied from different religious individuals such as Jews, Christians, and Muslims throughout his whole book. It is important for readers of this book to decipher between “tolerance” and “toleration.” Schwartz’s book is about “the history of religious toleration, by which is usually meant state or community policy, but rather of tolerance, by which I mean attitudes or sentiments” (Schwartz, pg. 6). European leaders believed unity of religious beliefs facilitated political stability, showing religious tolerance advocates were the protagonists in this book. People during these centuries were still eager to discover how to gain salvation. Salvation began to play its own role in the spiritual and political atmosphere of society. This change in roles started to challenge the churches views of the natural world and how much

The history of the Jewish people in Spain is certainly a pivotal time period that changed the future of the Jews and specifically, the Sephardic Jews. At the time of the issuing and signing of the Edict of Expulsion on March 31, 1492, Spanish Jews were experiencing the most persecution that had been felt in the many centuries of which the Jews had been in Spain. Spanish Jewry came to a dramatic end after almost a millennium of Jewish presence in the country. Spanish Jewry’s golden age, however, the Jews experienced almost no persecution, resulting in a new centre of Talmudic study, before suffering from a relapse of anti-Semitism that eventually led to the Inquisition and the Edict of Expulsion. (SOURCE 1) This essay will discuss and analyze

Ferdinand and Isabella made the Spanish Inquisition exceptionally linked to the government when they petitioned for, and were granted, a bull by Pope Sixtus IV to allow them to appoint inquisitors. This was an unprecedented role held by a monarchy and ensured that politics would be ever present in the Inquisition.3 The inquisitors were thus subject to the monarch and the church. The inquisitors could not have acted in regions without the support of the king. In Seville after the inquisitors arrived and posted their edict of grace, the Conversos reacted by fleeing the city. Ferdinand and Isabella reacted by ordering the citizens to remain in their homes.4 The Inquisitors and the monarchs worked hand in hand in the inquisition. In the late fifteenth

These “November Criminals”, comprised of Jews, accepted the humiliating Treaty of Versailles thrust upon Germany. Similar to the anti-Western sentiment expressed by the leaders of Al-Queada, Hitler’s rage at the injustice of the world meets an ideology. A system of perceived righteousness is formed.

Back in the times of the Holocaust, after the war took place, some of those who were responsible for the crimes committed, were taken to trial. Those trials took place on 1945 and 1946 in Nuremberg, Germany. The Nuremberg trials conveyed to open consideration the most noticeably bad of the Nazi abominations. “Judgment at Nuremberg” breathes life into those trials. Right up until today, the Nuremberg trials remain as a model for universal criminal tribunals, due in huge measure to the spotlight tossed at them by Mann's emotional translation of the notable occasions. Mann's staggering sympathy strikes at the heart of human, enduring his accomplishment has been to reaffirm humankind and equity in the wake of unspeakable malice; as the world remembers

“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” Exodus 22:18 (Holy Bible King James Version). Throughout history, thousands of people have been executed because of accusations of being a witch. The years between 1450 and 1750 are noted for witch hunts. During this time period was the famous Spanish Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition began in 1478 and lasted until 1834 (Enforex). The Inquisition is famous for the fact that they tortured people to death or until they admitted that they were a heretic. If one was accused of being a heretic during the Inquisition, they would be asked if they were a heretic. If they said no, it admitted their guilt and they would be tortured until they confessed. In the American colony of Massachusetts in 1692, a witch

In the year 1020, Canute, the king of banished all Jews in the event called ‘Frown of England’. As the Jews who were living in England were order to given only one place

Economic Incentives There was also an economic incentive to the Spanish Inquisition, the monarchy had just gone through a war against the Muslims and needed finances so that it could support the society and stay in control. As the Inquisitors answered directly to the Spanish Crown the government made a profit by confiscating the property and wealth of those found guilty of heresy. As the Jewish people in Spain had a large foothold in the Spanish economy many Christians did not trust them and viewed this as them stealing money from Christians. The Jews were eventually told that they had to leave Spain and they had to liquidate all their assets, however they could not take most of their wealth with them. On the 2nd of August 1492 the Jews of

This paper seeks to canvass the legacy of the Nuremberg Trial; the legal justifications and procedural innovations that were once controversial and which through the turn of the century have now come to be regarded as a milestone towards the application of principles of international law, establishment of a permanent international criminal court enshrined under the Rome Statute and setting new precedents for the international community. Furthermore, the author seeks to juxtapose the legal and political justifications given for the

Ferdinand and Isabella began a political and religious reform program to improve their central administrations, while utilizing the conquest ideology to speed up reforms (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 466). One of the political reforms to recruit all urban militias and judges, to inspect the military and judicial powers of the aristocracy (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 466). The religious reforms were meant to improve religious education for the clergy and strictly enforce Christian ideologies to the populace (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 466). A body of clergymen known as the Spanish Inquisition were appointed to find and punish any individuals whose beliefs contradicted Christian theology (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 466). Ultimately,

Through the history of civilizations, humans have seen how religion can be both a positive aspect of society that brings people together or a contrasting problem that creates damage and conflict. From human sacrifices to holy wars, religion has also been part of the most negative aspects of humanity. Yet, religion has also played roles of reconciliation and love. Just as with everything else, there is a good and a bad side. Traditionally, one of the most frown upon and hated events in the history of any religion is the Inquisition created by the Roman Catholic Church in Europe and later expanded to the Americas soon after colonization. Traditional views of the Inquisition present it as a bloodbath, a tribunal who was responsible for the suffering

Over the years in history, there have been many formidable executions that were caused by the aspect of different faiths and races. Period after period there have been many leaders who lashed out onto others because of what they believed in. All of these incidents have never been forgotten; one very infamous one would be the Spanish Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition was started to “cleanse” the Church of heretics and purify Spain. They executed Jews, Muslims, and other minorities not of Christian faith. Ferdinand and Isabella were in crown of Spain and appointed the Church to start the Spanish Inquisition. These cases will be discussed in the fallowing paper.

Rhetorics of the Expulsion allows readers to know different stances about the 17th century’s Spanish people’s discrimination on ‘Moor and Jews’. By dividing the history into three sections—before, during, and after—the expulsion, the readers could learn about the history without much bias or preference of the author. Also, Feros stated that “It is equally revealing to analyze how the Expulsion was viewed in histories, treatises and funeral sermons published or written in the seventeenth century” which proves how he wanted to see the case with diverse and neutral