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Spanish Inquisition 19th century
Spanish Inquisition 19th century
Spanish Inquisition 19th century
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The Spanish Inquisition
What was the Spanish Inquisition? The Spanish Inquisition persecuted and discriminated against minorities in the Iberia Peninsula who opposed to the practice and ideologies of the Catholic Church. Between 1480 to 1834, the Spanish Inquisition was placed under the authority of the royal power in Spain; the Inquisition was created in order to resolve the particular problem presented by the presence of thousands of converted Jews in the Iberian Peninsula. At the same time, the inquisition extended its authority to other minorities and become implanted in other geographical regions. This “institution” operated and was expanded to other territories under the crown of Castile—the Canaries and the territories ruled by viceroys in New Spain and Peru (24, 25).
Joseph Pérez not only described the Spanish Inquisition by summarizing the contents of this “regime,” but also his main thesis and interpretation are based on criticizing the origins of anti-Semitism, how the Spanish Inquisition “defended the Catholic faith” against Jews, Muslims, Protestantism, and witchcraft. Also, Pérez continues his thesis and interpretations when he argued against the trials and organization of “the Holy Office”—the Inquisition. Finally, Pérez reinforced his main thesis by arguing and comparing the Spanish Inquisition with modern regimes, such as Nazi Germany and Communist regimes that used similar procedures of “torture” and “persecution” to those who opposed Nazism and Communism ideologies. Therefore, Pérez’s interpretation and explanation not only make sense, but they are well presented.
To initiate, Pérez’s thesis began by introducing the creation of the “anti-Semitism” against Jews; as well as discrimination against Muslims who opposed to the Catholic doctrine during the beginnings the Spanish Inquisition. First, Pérez criticized and analyzed the procedures and manipulations that the Inquisitions imposed to Jews and Muslims to convert them to Catholicism; these procedures and manipulations that Pérez criticized were the oppression to converted these two groups to Catholicism or expel them out from Spain if they remained their faith—many chose the exile (35). Also, Pérez admired the resistance that the majority of Jews had to preserve their faith in “secret” and maintained loyal to their faith even though they faced persecution, discrimination, oppression, and expulsion during the Inquisition (51).
Then, Pérez continued to develop his thesis and interpretation by arguing that the Inquisition expanded their injustices by applying their policies not only to Jews and Muslims, but also to against Protestants, Illuminists, and witchcrafts. Pérez, argued that the Inquisition justified their atrocities against Protestants and Illuminist because they were introducing new ideologies that were against the Catholic Church.
Rodriguez makes a point of stating that there are tensions between the “brother religions”, religions that should be unified but instead are “united and divided by the masculine sense of faith”, still this same pattern is shown within the church (146). Rodriguez acknowledges the fact that the church is being divided each day due
Isabella then desired to boost her control over Spain by establishing the Spanish Inquisition. Its role was to abolish heresy and make Spain a Christian nation (“Spain: History”). The Inquisition officially lasted from 1478 to 1808 (“Queen Isabella’s Influence in the New World”).
Finally, when it came down to the types of ceremonies and views both civilizations had, they were on two different pages. The Natives believed happiness was the key to good fortune. So, in order to get that fortune, they’d do sacrifices, and rituals to please the “mighty ones”. Then, as stated in the book “A History of Latin America”, it says, “Jews publicly converted to Christianity to avoid the torture…”, In which, this showed how religion and the spiritual views were forced upon people in the Spanish civilization.
The Inquisition run by Tomas de Torquemada persecuted other religions and was a base of counter-reformation
As the Byzantine empire’s power began to lessen, ecclesiastical law flourished (Rautman). The Inquisition was entirely based around Roman Catholicism, and was commonly seen as needed in order to protect and defend the church from protestantism and sinners. It’s courts had judges called “inquisitors.” Inquisitors served lifelong terms and made decisions solely in the name of the Pope. While the only type of crime pursued and prosecuted by the Inquisition were crimes against the church, it was often accused of being a very biased institution, as all verdicts were made according to Catholic beliefs, regardless of the circumstance
Judaism is practiced by about 500,000 Jews in the region. Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil host large communities and are faced with large amounts of anti-semitism leftover from Spanish hatred. The Jewish and Muslims were forced out of Spain, even those who had converted to catholicism, by the Spanish Inquisition. This systemic hatred had taken root in Latin America (Class Notes).
Before Columbus landed in the West Indies in 1492, The Spanish Inquisition made it known to anyone within Spain’s domain of influence that if a person was not of the Catholic religion, they were to be punished severely and sometimes even fatally. This influence would undoubtedly be brought over to the Americas a century later, as the colonization of the New World would begin by then. While it was very essential for the Spanish (as well as the Portuguese) to improve their economy by using the resources they found in Latin America, it seemed to a number of them as if that was the only reason for being there, or the main reason at the very least. During the Spanish Inquisition and from that point after, it was the Pope’s main goal, to convert everyone to Roman Catholicism; an opportune moment arrived as the Americas were found, along with the Natives who resided there who were waiting to be converted.
This does not, however, dismiss the reality of torture in Chile nor soften Cavanaugh’s criticisms of “distinction of planes” ecclesiologies. Church paradigms such as Maritain’s New Christendom have led Catholics in Chile and elsewhere to buy into a “devil’s bargain” wherein the Church confines itself to the social, or spiritual, realm and allows the state to dominate in the political, or temporal, realm (196). Such ecclesiologies simultaneously facilitate the Church’s disappearance as a societal body and strip the Church of any tangible ability to counteract the actions of oppressive governments. The Chilean church’s ecclesiology had real, disastrous consequences for Chileans under the Pinochet regime – consequences that perhaps could have been mitigated under a different ecclesiological
Through previously analysing examples of early Christian anti-Judaism, this chapter provides an insight into the connection between early Christian anti-Judaic attitudes and the Nazi understanding of the Jews. As Ruether contends that Christian anti-Semitism originates from the ‘left hand of Christology’, it will become apparent through analysing Nazi ideology and propaganda how early Christian anti-Judaism is repeated in the Nazi depiction of the Jews. Conversely, it is counter argued by Langmuir that Nazi anti-Semitism differed from early Christian anti-Judaism and therefore was not a continuation of anti-Judaism. He contends that despite the medieval church referring to the Jews as blind to the truth and the symbol of disbelief, medieval authorities did not condone the slaughter of the Jews. Therefore, it can be argued that there is not a direct connection between anti-Judaism and the racial anti-Semitism adopted by the Nazis. In response to Langmuir’s argument, the racial hatred for the Jews expressed by the Nazis, as with any hatred, has to have an origin and a trigger point which generates the feelings of contempt. For example, Christian contempt for Jews originates from the idea that the Jews were responsible for the death of Christ. Taking this into account, Langmuir’s argument is problematic and this chapter will reveal the repetition of early Christian anti-Judaism in Nazi propaganda. Although the Nazis interpreted the Jews from a racial discriminative standpoint, which was distinct to the early Church Fathers portrayal of the Jews, they used Christian anti-Judaic accusations and stereotypes of Jews to contribute to their portrayal of the Jewish race. This leads to the conclusion that the Nazis were influenced by the...
History provides several horrible periods of violence, fear and murder. Such horrible acts against humanity have been committed in the name of religion, colonization, and racial superiority. The Holocaust, was one of the most catastrophic and saddest events in history, where about 11 million people, including Jewish children, families, and political dissenters were mass murdered. However, there exists another mournful and cruel period that marked the lives of many Sephardic Jews with secrecy and fear. One hardly hears about the harassment, rejection and humiliation of Sephardic Jewry in Spain, Portugal, and countries like Mexico, at the hands of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, which began in 1492. Due to these events, Sephardic Jews found themselves facing one of the most complex decisions of their lives and those of future generations; conversion, expulsion or death. The reasons for conversion are complex, as many converted by force and others for social or political reasons. As a result, converts became known as Conversos and “marranos /chuetas, and the latter are derogatory terms, as the names imply “swine” (Hordes 6). Another important term is Anusim, referring to those "whose conversion was prompted by violence and fear not sincerity” (Hordes 6). Marranos, were secretive people often, “keeping their children from their Jewish identity, until they reached an age where discretion could be trusted "(Telushkin 195). All of these events, have led to the complex phenomena, of the crypto-Jews in the new world, including Mexico and the American Southwest. Thus, sparking new areas of interest and research of their practices, customs, authenticity, and identification.
In fear of being persecuted for their faith during and after the Inquisition, many Jews took on secret identities and were referred to as “Crypto-Jews (Gerber 121).” In an effort to escape persecution or murder many Crypto-Jews kept themselves isolated from the openly Jewish community; it was not until many generations after the Inquisition that numerous Crypto-Jews who moved north to The Netherlands were introduced to other Jews and even, “… a random encounter with a Jew visiting from abroad could inspire the Iberian converso to reconsider his identity (Gerber 187).” Before rediscovering his true identity as a Jew, the Crypto-Jew was not a part of an open community, nor did he have any concept of what it was like to be a member of an openly Jewish Community.
A Sociologist’s Perspective,” share various opinions while developing their own theories. The comparison of these observations will focus upon why the witch trials occurred when they did, why did they stop when they did, why did the witch trials occur when they did, and who was persecuted and who was responsible for the identification and punishment of witches. Concerning why the witch hunts occurred when they did the agreed upon opinion by all three author’s is the social unrest and uncertainty felt due to the Protestant Reformation and the schism it created amongst the populace, the effects of recovering from plague and war, and the enforced patriarchal structure of a society that was changing. It was during the Reformation that Christians,’ Protestant and Catholic alike, endeavored to convict all individuals guilty of heresy, with witches acting as the scapegoat.... ...
The Story of Christianity is a very informative summation; a continuation of Volume 1 which covered the beginning of the church up to the Protestant Reformation, while Vol. 2 dealt with the Protestant Reformation up to more modern time period. This author delivers a more comprehensive and deeper look into the development of Christianity, which includes particular events which had transpired throughout the world; particularly how Christianity has expanded into Central and South America. Gonzalez opens up this book with the “Call for Reformation,” where he shares with his readers the need for reform; the papacy had started to decline and was corrupt, in addition to the Great Schism, which had further weakened the papacy (p.8). The author explains how the church was not the only issue but that the church’s teachings were off track as well, seeing that the people had deviated from...
For more than two thousand years anti-Semitism has plagued the Jews, however, the term has only been around for about thirty years (Strack 594). Due to the hateful accusations and of those who did not understand their religion, Jews, as a scorned people, gradually became more exclusive and intolerant of other religions. Because of Judaism’s strict adherence to their own beliefs and unwillingness to consider any alternatives, Muslims and Christians have scorned and persecuted Jews.
In the post-doctoral Cohen was in the search of whether or not there was a period of time were Jews, Christians and Muslims lived in peace under the control of the Islamic world. This event was called convivencia and occurred during the Golden Age. The region where this event took place was Spain. The convivencia was a controversial topic due to the differences in religion among the groups. Recent Spanish historians do not take for consideration the event of convivencia due to the disbelief that it actually occurred. Jewish historians have their side of the story where they argue that Jewish-Islamic relations during convivencia were harmonious. There are suggestions that this event of peace among these three groups was impossible based upon religious challenges. Each different version about convivencia has been influence by politics. Cohen was not only able to answer whether convivencia took place, but also demonstrated an extended background about each culture. Cohen emphasizes the roles that each group played during convivencia and the influences and contributions that each one contributed. In Islamic Spain there was a greater tolerance and freedom than anywhere else in that area. Jews and Christians had the option to pay a poll tax to be protected under the same rules as Muslims. Jews were protected from discrimination and had the right to be treated as any other Muslim. In contrast, with Christians-Jew relations there was an immediate social, economic and religious difference. Christians believed that they were superior to Jews. Relations between Christians and Jews were not as engaging as relations between Jews and Muslims. The main idea that kept Jews in a good social position was their influence in local economy. Many Jews...