INQUISITION
The word Inquisition derives from the Latin for “inquiry,” inquisitio. The Catholic Church already had an inquisitional process during the Middle Ages. In western Europe, four separate but related inquisitions were in operation between the last quarter of the 15th century and the early 19th century. (The fourth Inquisition, in Latin America, did not officially end until 1834; people accused of practicing witchcraft were burned there during the early 19th century.) Inquisitional investigations flourished in Catholic countries, but with less success in areas such as Switzerland, with its Calvinist partition, and Bohemia, with its strong component of Waldensians and other sects. Although Germany was known for its inquisitional tribunals during the early 16th century, these hearings later began to lose effectiveness in the principalities as the Protestant Reformation increased its adherents. In France, the Inquisition was forbidden to operate. Henry II (1519-59), however, had his own organization for persecuting heretics; wishing to rid France of the Protestant threat, he established a special tribunal for that purpose.
Founded in 1478 by order of the Spanish monarchy under Isabella I and Ferdinand II (see pages 12-13), the Spanish Inquisition was charged with investigating conversos, converted Jews and Muslims. The latter were called Moriscos (Moorish people) and the former Marranos (pigs). Wholesale persecution of Jews in Castile and Aragon had begun nearly a century earlier, culminating in thousands of Jews’ being murdered and many more being forced to convert to Christianity. These Jewish Christians and their descendants gradually became assimilated into Spanish society, assuming prestigious positions in finance, banking, and other commercial endeavors. By the mid-15th century, hostility toward the conversos was openly expressed in Castile, where many individuals were accused of observing crypto-Jewish rituals. By the 16th century, new Christians were forbidden to teach in universities, join military or religious orders, and serve in municipal offices. Jews were ridiculed in art and literature, and anti-Semitic satire was especially virulent. The concept of “blood purity,” limpieza de sangre, dominated Inquisition tribunals in Spain, Portugal, and the Spanish Netherlands. Cardinal Cisneros, appointed grand inquisitor in 1507, had been responsible for mass conversions in Granada at the turn of the century. He was a driving force for the Inquisition, especially during the final decade of his life. Founded in 1536, the Portuguese Inquisition was especially violent toward conversos. The country’s population had been increased approximately 10 percent by Jews expelled from Spanish dominions during the latter 15th century. Those not expelled in 1497 were forced to convert, and many still practiced Judaism secretly. Because numerous conversos immigrated to Goa, that city in India had an office of the Portuguese Inquisition. For the same reason, Spain authorized tribunals in Lima, Mexico City, and Cartagena.
The Roman Inquisition was founded in 1544, specifically in reaction to the Protestant Reformation. This Inquisition achieved its main goal of preventing the spread of Protestantism in the Italian Peninsula. Whereas other inquisitions were instigated by secular powers, the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Rome was established by the pope.
Religion
Thus the work of its tribunals superseded that of any other court, including ecclesiastical courts. Nevertheless, in independent city-states and republics, secular authorities monitored Inquisition activities and severe punishment or extradition to Rome usually required their permission. In Venice, for example, lay assessors sat in on Inquisition hearings. Observers usually were not, however, permitted to have access to pertinent documents in most areas. The accusation and trial of an alleged heretic were always administered by Inquisition officials. If the accused refused to recant and the trial proceeded to the stage of sentencing, the individual was then handed over to secular authorities, who carried out the punishment.
The procedure for an Inquisition investigation usually began with the accused’s being under suspicion of Judaism, Islam, Protestantism, witchcraft, or extreme mysticism. Teresa of Avila (1515-82), one of the most renowned mystics of the Renaissance, happened to be a member of a family of conversos, a background that contributed to accusations against her. Teresa, who was canonized in 1622, was called before the Spanish Inquisition by members of the Carmelite order. Teresa had broken away from this order to establish the Discalced Carmelites (“unshod” and wearing sandals instead of shoes). Thus she is an example of a devout and well-known Catholic woman who nevertheless was charged and imprisoned for writing an independent spiritual text; only her powerful friends prevented severe punishment. Countless others were not so fortunate. The most famous victim of the Inquisition was probably the scientist Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), placed under house arrest for the final nine years of his life. Numerous others had their writings banned and destroyed. Those victims burned at the stake included Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), Etienne Dolet (1509-46), and William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536).
In addition to the suspects mentioned, priests who took advantage of their authority to obtain sexual favors were also investigated, and sometimes even punished. Accusers for any Inquisition-related offense could remain anonymous, and they often received a percentage of the suspect’s property if it was confiscated. In Spain, Portugal, India, and Latin America, there was no appeal of an Inquisition tribunal’s decision. In the Roman Inquisition, however, an appeal could be made to the Supreme Congregation.
Archival research completed during the 1990s has revealed that the sensationalist history of the Inquisition should be somewhat revised. Although several thousands of individuals indeed were put to death, many more thousands were given light sentences. First offenders had the mercy of the court, often required only to pay a small fine. Those imprisoned often were released on parole after serving only part of their term. Repeat offenders, however, found themselves in deep trouble, and those who refused to recant could be burned at the stake. Those who recanted at the last minute were beheaded or strangled before the fire was lit. These public burnings of human beings, so hideous to us today, were attended by huge crowds who felt compelled to witness such “edicts of faith,” or autos-da-fe in Spanish.
INDEX OF PROHIBITED BOOKS
Censorship of books occurred at the beginning of the Christian era. From that time until the 15th century, however, “books” were handwritten books, which simply did not reach many people. With the advent of the age of printing in conjunction with the Protestant Reformation a few decades later, Catholic officials as well as secular rulers, such as Charles V (1500-1558), began publishing edicts prohibiting hundreds of books. Some of the lists published by the Spanish Inquisition contained some 2,000 names and titles. If the author was known, everything that person had written could be censored; the noted humanist Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466-1536) provides a good example of a writer who was listed by name in the edicts. Otherwise a specific work was listed by its title. By the 1520s, Inquisition officials were policing libraries and bookstores, sometimes with the full cooperation of civil authorities in most cities. Punishment for possessing a prohibited book was harsh: Those found guilty were excommunicated and occasionally executed, and their property was confiscated. The theology faculty at the University of Paris issued the first printed list of banned books in 1544.
As the Reformation gained converts, the papacy became sufficiently alarmed to establish a commis-
Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe
Sion to compile an Index of Prohibited Books. This list was published in 1559, and its severity modified by the revised version of 1564. The Council of Trent authorized the papacy to issue this Tridentine Index, based on that of 1559. Ten rules in the index influenced all further decisions concerning prohibited books, including the provision that some books could be distributed after objectionable passages were expurgated. Today we have numerous examples of seemingly innocuous books from the Renaissance, such as dictionaries, that have struck-through passages because they contained “suspect” information. For a long time, any mentions of sexual parts of the body, of astrology, and of other taboo topics were blacked out by Inquisition inspectors. The Catholic Church’s Index of Prohibited Books was not officially withdrawn until 1966. Much research concerning the effects of the index on Renaissance readers remains to be done. Instead of preventing individuals from reading banned items, the lists may have whetted the curiosity of more than a few people, making them eager to see those very books.
World History
