The Spanish Inquisition and the Jews

THE SPANISH INQUISITION AND THE JEWS

The meaning of the word "inquisition" is to examine. The Inquisitors "examined" alleged Heretics, those did not believe in the Roman Catholic Church, and they would be punished accordingly. Punishment meant torture and burning. The Spanish Inquisition lasted approximately five-hundred years, from the late 15th century to the mid 19th century. Many ironic elements were involved in the history of the Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition lasted longer than any other preceding it and was the most cruel, bloodthirsty, and festive of all. The objective of the inquisition, in its early state, was to convert all Jews into Christians, but later it contradicted itself by making the new objective to rid the country of the newly converted Christians. In an age where the close bond between church and state existed, opposition to the church was intolerable. The Inquisition caused Spain to become intellectually backward, and economically and industrially damaged. The powerful influence of the Inquisition forbiddened social influences, such as books, from other parts of Europe to enter Spain. Because of this, the universities remained stagnant from the lack of understanding about other civilizations in the rest of Europe. They were unable to keep up with the rest of the early modern world. As a result of this, they came into the 20th century intellectually inferior and bankrupt. With the banished, tortured, and persecuted heretics in mind, it is possible that the Spanish Inquisition is perhaps one of the most cruel acts performed on innocent people in the name of religion.

Before the Spanish Inquisition took place, several other inquisitional movements appeared, but none quite so barbaric and brutal as the Spaniard's. Waves of opposition towards the church swept Europe in the Middle Ages. In the 12th century it was a modern belief that a peaceful, utopian government could be obtained if all of the population of the society were "pure" and Catholic. The Medieval Inquisition was famous inquisitional movement also. It started in France and Italy. During this time a group of people called the