Inquisition

Spanish Inquisition  OVERALL VIEW The Spanish inquisition was a period of time when Spain wanted to be a civilization of only catholic faith. During the Spanish Inquisition King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were ruling Spain. They were given permission by pope Sixtus the 6th to begin the Spanish inquisition. In 1478 the Spanish Inquistion officially began. They then began finding Muslims or Jews and executing them. During the Spanish Inquisition people that were accused of a heresy were sent to a trial. A heresy was a when someone spoke out against the word of the catholic church.There was no age limit so anyone could be accused. The trials were very unfair because usually people that were being accused of a heresy were being judged by the person that accused them of heresy. If they were found guilty they had a chance to confess and they would only be jailed. If they still denied their heresy they were given a punishment that was usually torture. Some of the torture methods were the dungeon, oral, rectal, vaginal pear, and the strappado. Muslims and Jews were also burned at the stake. In order to escape these tortures many Muslims and Jews fled for Portugal, though lots of them were killed in the long run. Another way Muslims and Jews were hidden was that they said that they were christian but still practiced their religion in secret. After the Jewish poppulation fell by 3% it began to repoppulate it's self when Spain also began to burn witches. Finally after almost 350 years the Spanish Inqisition was finally abolished by Charles the 4th in 1834. TORTURE The torture methods during the middle ages were mainly targeting the limbs and not allowing them to die quickly. The strappado was a torture device that was verily simple. They would tie you hands behind your back and then they would hoist you up. Then they would drop you and do a quick jerk to prevent you from hitting the ground, they would do this 14 times. Doing this the victim wouldn't die and weeks later he was burned at a stake. The pears had spikes at the end and were shoved down or into the victims body part depending on which pear they used. The screw made the body expand and the and the spikes were driven into the body part causing severe bleeding. People being burned at a stake. By: Grant Wethington "The Inquisition." __Jewish Virtual Library__. 14 Apr. 2009 . "The Spanish Inquisition Really Did Occur." __Inquisition__. 16 Apr. 2009 .