Panel of Theologians interrogates a man during the Inquisition
“In the fifteenth century the Inquisition was reformed by Paul III, seeking the proceedings under closer centralized control. This had the unforeseen effect, however, of associating the Inquisition more directly with papal authority itself. In Spain, at the same time, the monarchy employed the Inquisition tribunals to stamp out irregular beliefs and practice among converted Moors and Jews, using inquisitorial methods inherited from the preceding Islamic heresy courts. Hence, the new Spanish Inquisition of 1480, of which, in 1483, Tomas de Torquemada became Inquisitor General. Though both he and, and the tribunals, were unmistakably instruments of Crown policy, subsequent Protestant propaganda for centuries identified the entire Catholic Church in Spain, and elsewhere, with their occasional excesses.” Edward Norman, The Roman Catholic Church An Illustrated History (London: Thames & Hudson, 2007), p. 93).
Fast facts:
1. Paul III reformed the Inquisition
2. The Spanish monarchy employed the Inquisition, and not the Church.
3. The methods were inherited from Islamic courts
4. The Inquisition was an instrument of the Spanish Crown policy (as in No. 2) and
5. Protestant propaganda identified the Catholic Church with the Inquisition.
“At its most active, in the sixteenth century, nevertheless, the Inquisition was regarded as far more enlightened than the secular courts: if you denied the Trinity and repented you were given a penance; if you stole a sheep and repented you were hung. It has been calculated that only one per cent of those who appeared before Inquisition tribunals eventually received death penalties. But the damage wrought by propaganda has been effective, and today the ‘Spanish Inquisition’, like the Crusades, persists in supplying supposedly discreditable episodes to damn the memory of the Catholic past.” (Ibid., pp. 93-94).
Know the Truth: The inquisition was more enlightened than secular courts. 2. Only 1% actually received death penalties. 3. Protestant propaganda using the Inquisition is EXAGGERATED.