Today, the 17th October, in 1483 Pope Sixtus IV issued a Bull creating the Spanish Inquisition. At its head, as Grand Inquisitor, was a 63 year old Dominican monk, called Torquemada. It was originally designed to root out faking conversos, or converts from Judaism or Islam to Christianity. The joint King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, feared their nation was rife with them.
For 15 terrible years, Torquemada tortured and burnt heretics at the stake. Soon it was not just used to seek out heretics, but also blasphemers, sodomites, usurers and sorcerers.
Three tortures used were toca, where water was forced down the throat, garrucha, where the wrists were tied behind the back and then the victim was lifted by them then dropped, so dislocating limbs and a form of rack, known as the potro. About 2000 were burnt at the stake in his 15 years.
Torquemada died aged 78. The Inquisition lasted another 336 years; this despite Sixtus’ trying to calm its Grand Inquisitor, with another Papal Bull denouncing its violence.
NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!
So thanks for telling us about them. :-D
The number of victims of Inquisition is always too exagarrated. It is simply a mith and a part of a plan of demonizing the Catholic Church.
Pope John Paul II publicly judged any crime done by any catholic in our history, especially when coming from the Church institutions, as was the (Spanish) Inquisition. Many devout catholics were victims of that wrong policy and that is something that most be said too.
So it was anti-catholic behaviour in it`s nature no matter it was organized by (some)catholics.
As for the satanization of the Spanish Empire and the Catholic Church of that time (coming mostly from protestant/anglican circles) it is just enough to see the number of Indigenous people in Latin (catholic) and Anglo America (protestant) and U can see that in Latin America the Indigenous nation survived and they form 10, 15 or 50 % of population in those countries today.
In USA they form 0.something.
It is enough to see everything but the mith about Indian Genocide by evil catholics and nice protestants expanding in North America is simply that, a mith.
Of course there were many crimes done by catholics in that period (as in any other by any religious group) but it needs to be put in realistic measures and not in some miths about ˝genocides˝ against some poor people in which few thousand people were killed. It is horrible crime, but it is not genocide.
As for the Indians in USA well it is ethnic cleansing at least, with some elements of genocide that are visible.
But to be honest the Indian population of entire American continent (including USA) was barbaric, ruthless, number of killings and rapes was terrible, (Mel Gibson - Apocalypto , U can see it well here, how ruthless these people were).
The greatest rate of rape in the USA today is in the Indian camps. More or less their treatment of women and children is horrible, but they are constantly defending themselves with the ˝victim of genocide˝ argument.
Something similar is here in Europe with Roma people, but slightly different.
To me your comment is tasteless Amon-Sul.
Nobody blamed anybody and the Topic started as a reminder on what happend that day a few hundreds of years ago.
And my comment is just a reminder to what did not happened and what did conserning that period.
Avoid it, if it hurts U ;)
I will.
So, you’re saying The Inquisition isn’t still going strong?
Along with the Burners of Forbidden Books?
