Spanish History: Inquisition and Peace of Westphalia

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The Inquisition

The Inquisition was an ecclesiastical court charged with the suppression of heresy and other crimes against the Christian faith. It was created by Pope Gregory IX in 1233 and spread throughout Christendom, except in the British Isles. It was introduced in the Crown of Aragon in 1242 by James I, but not in Castile.

The Inquisition was not established in Castile until 1478, due to a concession from Sixtus IV to the Catholic Monarchs of the bull Exigit sincerae devotionis (the service of power). One can distinguish several stages in their duties:

  • At its foundation, it was dedicated to repressing Judaizers, witchcraft, and heresy.
  • During the reigns of Charles I and Philip II, it focused on safeguarding Christian doctrine.
  • At the end of the reign of Philip II and during the seventeenth century, it took on a role of social control and surveillance of customs and morality.
  • During the eighteenth century, a period of decline, the Inquisition suppressed Freemasonry and French revolutionary ideals.

It was finally dissolved on July 15, 1834. One could point out the great hierarchy and centralization of the Inquisition, so that an Inquisitor General appointed by the monarch ruled the Supreme Council and a number of provincial courts.

The procedure followed by the courts was identical. Following a complaint, even anonymous, the accused were being held in prison while they were being tested. If these were insufficient, torture was used. Once the Court evaluated the evidence, it dictated acquittal or conviction. The sentence varied if the offender was unrepentant, with prison or public penitence, for example, or if he refused to retract, leading to death at the stake or by the garrote. The sentences were executed in a public ceremony known as "Auto de fe".

The Peace of Westphalia

During the reigns of Charles I and Philip II, Spanish hegemony, unrelated to Austria from 1556, was firmly established in Europe and the Mediterranean. The Pax Hispanica in the reign of Philip III maintained the stability and the primacy of the Habsburgs, but under Philip IV, Spain went into decline.

In the Peninsula, Spain had to cope with the revolts of Catalonia and Portugal, and in Europe, with wars against Protestants, particularly the Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648. It was caused by religious and political reasons that led to a confrontation between the House of Austria (German and Spanish) against the German Protestant princes, Denmark, Sweden, France, and Holland. The conflict ended in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia, which recognized the independence of Holland and Switzerland, together with the granting of land to Denmark, Sweden, and France. The most remarkable result was the transformation of the empire into a confederation of states in which the ruler determined the religion, which became the overthrow of the Counter-Reformation.

France and Spain continued to fight until 1659, when the Peace of the Pyrenees transferred to France Roussillon, Sardinia, and squares in Flanders, ending the war and Spanish hegemony on the continent.

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