the Reconquista and spanish inquisition
The Reconquista (1492)
In Spain, the Muslims controlled most of the country until the 1100s. The Reconquista (reconquest of Spain) was a long effort to remove the Muslims from Spain by the Spaniards, who were a very Catholic people. By the 1400s, the Muslims only had the city of Granada left. In 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella had successfully defeated the remaining Muslims in Granada.
The Inquisition
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were two of Spain’s most famous and powerful monarchs. Before they came to power, Spain was not only divided by religion, but also by kingdom. King Ferdinand was from a kingdom known as Aragon and Queen Isabella from a kingdom known as Castile. Through their marriage, they united Spain into one kingdom. They were the ones who had funded Columbus’s naval expedition to the New World in 1492. Once they defeated the Muslims, these Catholic monarchs realized they had to further unify their country and increase their power. The Inquisition, or questioning of heretics (non-believers), intensified from 1492 to 1501.
Shortly before the Reconquista, Ferdinand and Isabella made use of the Inquisition, which had existed in Europe since the 1180s. The Inquisition was a court held by the Church to root out heresy. Heretics were people whose religious beliefs differed from the teachings of the Church. To avoid persecution, many Jews and Muslims had converted to Christianity in the 1400s. They were known as conversos. The Spanish Inquisitors suspected them as being heretics, secretly practicing their old faiths in hiding. Additionally, any Protestant Christian was considered a heretic as well. One tell-tale sign of a Jewish converso who still practiced his or her old faith was refraining from work on Saturday, the Sabbath Day.
The Inquisitors often used rumors to begin their search. Neighbors told secrets or even made up stories about neighbors to protect themselves. Inquisitors would take supposed heretics to be questioned for weeks at a time and tortured them in the process, hoping to get some kind of confession. Many people were completely innocent. In 1492, the monarchs expelled all practicing Jews and Muslims from Spain. Many of these people moved to Eastern Europe, Italy, Germany, and Russia.
Use of Torture
Modern scholars have determined that torture was used in two percent of the cases in the Spanish Inquisition, and in less than one percent of the cases was it used a second time, never more than that. Statistics, on average, conclude that any torture lasted up to 15 minutes.
Although the Inquisition was technically forbidden from permanently harming or drawing blood, this still allowed for methods of torture. The methods most used were garrucha, toca and the potro. The application of the garrucha, also known as the strappado, consisted of suspending the victim from the ceiling by the wrists, which are tied behind the back. Sometimes weights were tied to the ankles, with a series of lifts and drops, during which the arms and legs suffered violent pulls and were sometimes dislocated. The toca, also called interrogatorio mejorado del agua, consisted of introducing a cloth into the mouth of the victim, and forcing them to ingest water spilled from a jar so that they had the impression of drowning (AKA water-boarding). The potro, the rack, was the instrument of torture used most frequently.
If a person went on trial as a suspected heretic, the following could take place:
In Spain, the Muslims controlled most of the country until the 1100s. The Reconquista (reconquest of Spain) was a long effort to remove the Muslims from Spain by the Spaniards, who were a very Catholic people. By the 1400s, the Muslims only had the city of Granada left. In 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella had successfully defeated the remaining Muslims in Granada.
The Inquisition
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were two of Spain’s most famous and powerful monarchs. Before they came to power, Spain was not only divided by religion, but also by kingdom. King Ferdinand was from a kingdom known as Aragon and Queen Isabella from a kingdom known as Castile. Through their marriage, they united Spain into one kingdom. They were the ones who had funded Columbus’s naval expedition to the New World in 1492. Once they defeated the Muslims, these Catholic monarchs realized they had to further unify their country and increase their power. The Inquisition, or questioning of heretics (non-believers), intensified from 1492 to 1501.
Shortly before the Reconquista, Ferdinand and Isabella made use of the Inquisition, which had existed in Europe since the 1180s. The Inquisition was a court held by the Church to root out heresy. Heretics were people whose religious beliefs differed from the teachings of the Church. To avoid persecution, many Jews and Muslims had converted to Christianity in the 1400s. They were known as conversos. The Spanish Inquisitors suspected them as being heretics, secretly practicing their old faiths in hiding. Additionally, any Protestant Christian was considered a heretic as well. One tell-tale sign of a Jewish converso who still practiced his or her old faith was refraining from work on Saturday, the Sabbath Day.
The Inquisitors often used rumors to begin their search. Neighbors told secrets or even made up stories about neighbors to protect themselves. Inquisitors would take supposed heretics to be questioned for weeks at a time and tortured them in the process, hoping to get some kind of confession. Many people were completely innocent. In 1492, the monarchs expelled all practicing Jews and Muslims from Spain. Many of these people moved to Eastern Europe, Italy, Germany, and Russia.
Use of Torture
Modern scholars have determined that torture was used in two percent of the cases in the Spanish Inquisition, and in less than one percent of the cases was it used a second time, never more than that. Statistics, on average, conclude that any torture lasted up to 15 minutes.
Although the Inquisition was technically forbidden from permanently harming or drawing blood, this still allowed for methods of torture. The methods most used were garrucha, toca and the potro. The application of the garrucha, also known as the strappado, consisted of suspending the victim from the ceiling by the wrists, which are tied behind the back. Sometimes weights were tied to the ankles, with a series of lifts and drops, during which the arms and legs suffered violent pulls and were sometimes dislocated. The toca, also called interrogatorio mejorado del agua, consisted of introducing a cloth into the mouth of the victim, and forcing them to ingest water spilled from a jar so that they had the impression of drowning (AKA water-boarding). The potro, the rack, was the instrument of torture used most frequently.
If a person went on trial as a suspected heretic, the following could take place:
- Although quite rare in actual practice, the defendant could be acquitted (lack of evidence to prove guilt).
- The trial, itself, could be suspended, in which case the defendant, although under suspicion, went free (with the threat that the process could be continued at any time) or was held in long-term imprisonment until a trial commenced.
- The defendant could be penanced. Since they were considered guilty, they had to publicly abjure their crimes and accept a public punishment. Among these were exile, fines or even sentencing to service as oarsmen in royal boats.
- The defendant could be reconciled. In addition to the public ceremony in which the condemned was reconciled with the Catholic Church, more severe punishments were used, among them long sentences to jail or the galleys, plus the confiscation of all property. Physical punishments, such as whipping, were also used.
- The most serious punishment was burning at the stake—the Church did not itself kill; they let the secular (non-religious) authorities perform the execution. This penalty was frequently applied to impenitent heretics (those who were not “sorry”) and those who had relapsed. Execution was public. If the condemned repented, they were shown mercy by being garroted (strangled) before burning; if not, they were burned alive.
medieval torture
The original Inquisition by the Roman Catholic Church began in the 1180s in France against Christians who spoke out against accepted Catholic beliefs. The Spanish Inquisition occurred in 1492 and was primarily aimed at Jewish and Muslim “converts” to Christianity. In both cases, as well as in other times throughout the Middle Ages, various torture devices were used to extract confessions. Here is a delightful sampling…
The Rack
The rack is commonly considered the most painful form of medieval torture. It was a wooden frame usually above ground with two ropes fixed to the bottom and another two tied to a handle in the top. The torturer turned the handle causing the ropes to pull the victim's arms and legs. Eventually, the victim's bones were dislocated with a loud crack. If the torturer kept turning the handles, some of the limbs were torn apart, usually the arms. This method was mostly used to extract confessions. Sometimes, torturers forced their victim to watch other people be tortured with this device to implant psychological fear. Many knights from the Knights Templar were tortured with the rack. The limbs collected from this and other punishments of the time were "emptied by the hundreds.”
Dunking
Dunking is a form of punishment that was mainly reserved for supposed witches. The victim was tied to a chair which was elevated or lowered by the torturer. If he noticed that the victim was going to pass out in the water, he elevated the chair. When he needed information and the victim was unwilling to cooperate, he lowered it. This method was widely used during the Spanish Inquisition and in England and France. The victim was usually intermittently (on and off) submerged for many hours until he or she revealed information or death occurred. While witches were commonly tortured using this method, thieves and murderers could be subject to it in order to extract a confession. This was more common when other more sophisticated torture devices were not present.
Drops of Water
A very painful method of torture consisted of fixing a victim's head under a small tube that constantly let out drops of water. These fell on the same spot of the victim's head leading to, in prolonged periods of time, perforation (a hole in the skull) and eventually death.
The Cauldron
The unlucky victim was placed inside an empty cauldron attached to chains. The cauldron was filled with cold water and beneath it, a fire was set. Eventually the water began to boil, cooking the victim alive. This was more frequently a way to execute a prisoner rather than to extract a confession.
The Head Crusher
The head crusher was widely used during most of the Middle Ages, especially the Inquisition. With the chin placed over the bottom bar and the head under the upper cap, the torturer slowly turned the screw pressing the bar against the cap. This resulted in the head being slowly compressed. First the teeth are shattered into the jaw; then the victim slowly died with agonizing pain, but not before his eyes were squeezed from his sockets. Many variants of this instrument existed, some that had small containers in front of the eyes to receive them as they fell out of their sockets.
Burning at the Stake
Burning at the stake was a very common way to execute blasphemers, thieves and witches. It was used throughout the Middle Ages and beyond. If the fire was big enough, death occurred first by asphyxia (smoke inhalation) rather than damage done by the flames. However, this was a known fact and the victims were usually burned in a smaller fire so they would "suffer until the end.” When the fire was small, death occurred because of loss of blood or a heatstroke which could take even hours. Burning at the stake was often preceded by other torture methods. Hundreds were burned alive during the Spanish Inquisition. Joan of Arc and many other important people were killed with this method.
The Rack
The rack is commonly considered the most painful form of medieval torture. It was a wooden frame usually above ground with two ropes fixed to the bottom and another two tied to a handle in the top. The torturer turned the handle causing the ropes to pull the victim's arms and legs. Eventually, the victim's bones were dislocated with a loud crack. If the torturer kept turning the handles, some of the limbs were torn apart, usually the arms. This method was mostly used to extract confessions. Sometimes, torturers forced their victim to watch other people be tortured with this device to implant psychological fear. Many knights from the Knights Templar were tortured with the rack. The limbs collected from this and other punishments of the time were "emptied by the hundreds.”
Dunking
Dunking is a form of punishment that was mainly reserved for supposed witches. The victim was tied to a chair which was elevated or lowered by the torturer. If he noticed that the victim was going to pass out in the water, he elevated the chair. When he needed information and the victim was unwilling to cooperate, he lowered it. This method was widely used during the Spanish Inquisition and in England and France. The victim was usually intermittently (on and off) submerged for many hours until he or she revealed information or death occurred. While witches were commonly tortured using this method, thieves and murderers could be subject to it in order to extract a confession. This was more common when other more sophisticated torture devices were not present.
Drops of Water
A very painful method of torture consisted of fixing a victim's head under a small tube that constantly let out drops of water. These fell on the same spot of the victim's head leading to, in prolonged periods of time, perforation (a hole in the skull) and eventually death.
The Cauldron
The unlucky victim was placed inside an empty cauldron attached to chains. The cauldron was filled with cold water and beneath it, a fire was set. Eventually the water began to boil, cooking the victim alive. This was more frequently a way to execute a prisoner rather than to extract a confession.
The Head Crusher
The head crusher was widely used during most of the Middle Ages, especially the Inquisition. With the chin placed over the bottom bar and the head under the upper cap, the torturer slowly turned the screw pressing the bar against the cap. This resulted in the head being slowly compressed. First the teeth are shattered into the jaw; then the victim slowly died with agonizing pain, but not before his eyes were squeezed from his sockets. Many variants of this instrument existed, some that had small containers in front of the eyes to receive them as they fell out of their sockets.
Burning at the Stake
Burning at the stake was a very common way to execute blasphemers, thieves and witches. It was used throughout the Middle Ages and beyond. If the fire was big enough, death occurred first by asphyxia (smoke inhalation) rather than damage done by the flames. However, this was a known fact and the victims were usually burned in a smaller fire so they would "suffer until the end.” When the fire was small, death occurred because of loss of blood or a heatstroke which could take even hours. Burning at the stake was often preceded by other torture methods. Hundreds were burned alive during the Spanish Inquisition. Joan of Arc and many other important people were killed with this method.