The Inquisition (from the Latin. "Search", "investigation") is a special church court for heretics, which was practiced in the 13-19 centuries. Already in the 12th century, under Frederick I Barbarossa and Pope Lucius III, a particularly strict procedure was established for tracing heretics and investigating their cases by the courts of the bishops. The Inquisitor is a person who has performed the role of a judge; death sentences are pledged to be executed by secular authorities.
The Inquisition as an institution was discussed at the III 4th Lateran Council (1215), which established a “per inquisitionem” (order of persecution of heretics), for which rumors were declared legitimate.
In the 13th century, Pope Gregory IX transferred the function of persecuting heresies from bishops to the Inquisitors. In Europe, tribunals have been established whose mandate was to investigate cases, pronounce sentences and execute them against heretics.
The Spanish Inquisition was particularly brutal. It was supported by the royal authority, therefore, had the strongest positions in Europe. Only during the activities of the main inquisitor of Spain, Torquemada in the 15th century, more than ten thousand people were burned alive. The glory of the Inquisition of Spain overshadowed the rest. Here she reached the climax of development and became a model for imitation in other countries where the Inquisition existed. Torture was characterized by diversity, ingenuity, and utter cruelty.
In 1238, the Pope was officially established by the Inquisition in Aragon. In the 15th century, her activity was especially active. Towards the end of the century, the situation in the country changed under the influence of the unification of Castile and Aragon into the Spanish kingdom , liberation from Moorish domination of the south of the Iberian Peninsula and its reunification with Spain and the conquest of America, which turned Spain into a major colonial power.
The Spanish crown continued to strengthen its position through counter-reform, with the help of the Jesuit Order. The Spanish Inquisition was an ideal tool for this. The royal power found in the Inquisition an instrument of intimidation and suppression of opponents and did not part with it until the mid-19th century. The Inquisition deprived the estates and cities of medieval liberties.
In the 15th century, a “new” Inquisition was established (1478-1483). Isabella I and Ferdinand V united Aragon, Castile and Sicily, and then the whole south of Spain. The Sicilian Inquisitor Barberis received confirmation of emergency powers from the couple. In 1478, Pope Sixtus IV established the Inquisition in Castile (where it had not existed before). Mass executions began. The instruments of torture and the technique of death were improved. In Seville, a plague erupted from overcrowding in prisons. When the epidemic subsided, the "bloody harvest" continued.
The Spanish Inquisition took on a new dimension with the appointment of the new Inquisitor Thomas Torquemada. Ferdinand V at that time (1483) created the Supreme Council of the Inquisition (Supremu), which was involved in the confiscation of the property of heretics.
The main victims of the Spanish Inquisition were the Jews, the Marrans (the “New Christians”) and the Moriski (the Moors converted to Christianity). They were officially accused of insincerity in relation to Christianity and the continuation of the preaching of the former faith (i.e., heresy). The purpose of their persecution was the desire to take possession of their property, weaken the estate of peasants and artisans as support for influential giants to undermine the power of the latter.
The Spanish Inquisition acted comprehensively, it combined the features of the church and state (political) police, which were controlled by Catholic monarchs.
Spanish absolutism resembled the cruelty of the despotism of the East. However, the Inquisition did not help achieve national unity of the country and eliminate all urban liberties. This policy was essentially anti-national, it did everything to prevent the emergence of common interests between people, which are the basis for the unification of the nation.