But you were Expecting the FReep-A-Thon!
DONATE PLEASE!
Posted on 07/18/2015 11:11:54 AM PDT by Gamecock
How Many Protestants Were Killed in the Inquisition?
A friend asked me that question earlier this week. And so I thought it might be helpful to share a few thoughts, from a historical perspective.
Opinions about how to answer the question vary widely. Some suggest that just a few thousand people were executed during the Inquisition, while others project that there were tens of millions of victims. So how can the estimates be so widely divergent?
There seem to be several explanations:
1. First, the imprecise nature of the historical records means that contemporary historians are forced to extrapolate on the basis of the limited information they possess.
One of the first accounts of the Inquisition came from a former Spanish secretary to the Inquisition named Juan Antonio Llorente (1756–1823). According to Llorente, the total number of “heretics” burned at the stake during the Spanish Inquisition totaled nearly 32,000. Llorente adds that another 300,000 were put on trial and forced to do penance (cf. Cecil Roth, The Spanish Inquisition [W. W. Norton, 1964; reprint, 1996], 123).
But there is considerable controversy about the accuracy of Llorente’s figures. As a result, historians must decide whether or not to take those numbers at face value. Some believe his numbers are too low, and should be adjusted higher. However, the majority of modern scholars believe his numbers are too high.
William D. Rubinstein summarizes the consensus of modern scholarship:
Nothing in the whole history of the Catholic church did more than the Inquisition to damn it in the eyes of rational, enlightened thinkers, or to give it the reputation for medieval barbarism it held in many quarters until recently. The Inquisition was only formally abolished in the early nineteenth century. Yet it also seems clear that the number of victims of the Inquisition can easily be exaggerated. Juan Antonio Llorente (1756–1823), a fierce enemy of the Inquisition, whose Critical History of the Inquisition of 1817–19 remains the most famous early work attacking everything connected with it, estimated the number of executions carried out during the whole of the period that the Spanish Inquisition existed, from 1483 until its abolition by Napoleon, at 31,912, with 291,450 “condemned to serve penances.” . . . Most recent historians regard even this figure as far too high (William D. Rubinstein, Genocide [Routledge, 2004], 34).
The conservative approach of modern scholarship can be seen in the writings of Henry Kamen, who is one of the leading authorities on the Spanish Inquisition. His work on The Spanish Inquisition is published by Yale University Press (Fourth Edition, 2014). Kamen’s research has led him to conclude: “We can in all probability accept the estimate, made on the basis of available documentation, that a maximum of three thousand persons may have suffered death during the entire history of the tribunal” (p. 253). Kamen’s estimates may be too low, but they represent the general perspective of contemporary scholars.
Modern historians also note that sixteenth-century Spain (during the height of the Spanish Inquisition) only had a total population of around 7.5 million people (cf. John Huxtable Elliott, Spain and Its World, 1500–1700 [Yale University Press, 1989], 223). Consequently, the notion that the Spanish Inquisition could be executing tens of millions of people during that same time period seems mathematically untenable.
2. Second, some earlier historians seem to have conflated the number of people killed with the number of people persecuted by the Inquisition. In other words, when they spoke of “victims of the Inquisition” they did not specify between those who were executed and those who were merely imprisoned or forced to flee because of the erupting persecution. Obviously, depending on how one defines a victim, the number of victims could vary widely. Perhaps only tens of thousands were executed, but hundreds of thousands were victimized in some way.
David Plaisted (a professor of computer science at UNC) notes that possibility in his paper titled, “Estimates of the Number Killed by the Papacy in the Middle Ages and Later” (http://www.cs.unc.edu/~plaisted/estimates.doc). He thinks the number of executions during the Spanish Inquisition could be quite a bit higher than just a few thousand. However, he acknowledges that the very large numbers (given by some earlier historians) might include everyone who was put on trial, and not just those who were killed. Also, some of the largest estimates likely include non-Protestants (such as Jewish and Muslim populations) who were expelled from Spain as a result of the persecution. If so, it helps explain where those very large estimates originated.
3. Third, confusion also stems from the conflation of the Inquisition with other events in European history. In the narrow sense, the term “Inquisition” refers to official trials conducted by Roman Catholic authorities in places like Spain and Portugal. When the question is limited to just those Inquisitions, the number of Protestants executed is likely in the thousands or tens of thousands.
However, if the term is used in a broad sense—to represent all Roman Catholic activity against non-Catholics—then the numbers rise dramatically. If the historian includes forms of torture and killing that did not involve a formal trial, along with religious wars and other forms of Catholic violence enacted against Protestants and other non-Catholics (in areas outside of Spain and Portugal), then one can easily speak in terms of millions of people who were killed.
David Plaisted acknowledges that reality in his study: namely, that the really big estimates of Protestants killed by the papacy throughout European history necessarily include those who died in religious conflicts like the Thirty Years War.
So … how many Protestants were killed during the Inquisition?
Well, that depends on how you are using the word “Inquisition.” And even then, the reality is that no one knows for sure.
However, if we are simply talking about official executions during the Spanish Inquisition, most contemporary experts would place the total number of executions between 3,000 and 10,000, with perhaps an additional 100,000 to 125,000 dying in prison as a result of torture and maltreatment. The Inquisition in neighboring Portugal resulted in even fewer such deaths (cf. Joseph Pérez, The Spanish Inquisition [Profile Books, 2006], 173; R. J. Rummel, Death by Government [Transaction Publishers, 2009], 62).
Mostly because No One Was Expecting the Spanish Inquisition.
They have Two Weapons.
Fear and Surprise and Ruthless Efficiency.
Not related to the question at hand, but some facts to debunk the common ‘religion is the major cause of wars’ nonsense
China 221 B.C.-19 C. Deaths= 33, 519,0004 Religious? No
Mongols 14 C-15 C Deaths= 29 927,000 Religious? No
Slavery 1451-1870 Deaths= 17,267,000 Religious? No
Amer-Indians 16 C-19 C13, Deaths= 778,000 Religious? No
30-Years War 1618-1648 Deaths= 5,750,000 Religious? No
In India 13 C-1 9 C Deaths= 4,511,0005 Religious? No
In Iran 5 C-19 C Deaths= 2,000,000 Religious? No
Ottoman Emp. 12 C-19 C Deaths= 2,000,0005 Religious? No
In Japan 1570-19 C Deaths= 1,500,0005 Religious? No
In Russia 10 C-19 C Deaths= 1,007,0005 Religious? No
Crusades 1095-1272 Deaths= 1,000,000 Religious? Religious? Yes
Aztecs Centuries Deaths= 1,000,0006 Religious? Ye
Inquisition 16 C-18 C Deaths= 350,000 Religious? Yes
French Rev. 1793-1794 Deaths= 263,000 Religious? No
Albigensians 1208-1249 Deaths= 200,000 Religious? Yes
Witch Hunts 15 C-17 C Deaths= 100,000 Religious? Yes
Atheist Nations that murdered for no reason
Afghanistan 1978-1992 DEATHS= 1,750,000
Albania 1944-1985 DEATHS= 100,000
Angola 1975-2002 DEATHS= 125,000
Bulgaria 1944-1989 DEATHS= 222,000
China/PRC 1923-2007 DEATHS= 76,702,000
Cuba 1959-1992 DEATHS= 73,000
Czech 1948-1968 DEATHS= 65,000
Ethiopia 1974-1991 DEATHS= 1,343,610
France 1793-1794 DEATHS= 40,000
Greece 1946-1949 DEATHS= 20,000
Hungary 1948-1989 DEATHS= 27,000
Cambodia 1973-1991 DEATHS= 2,627,000
Laos 1975-2007 DEATHS= 93,000
Mongolia 1926-2007 DEATHS= 100,000
Mozambique 1975-1990 DEATHS= 118,000
North Korea 1948-2007 DEATHS= 3,163,000
Poland 1945-1948 DEATHS= 1,607,000
Romania 1948-1987 DEATHS= 438,000
Spain 1936-1939 DEATHS= 102,000
U.S.S.R. 1917-1987 DEATHS= 61,911,000
Vietnam 1945-2007 DEATHS= 1,670,000
Yugoslavia 1944-1980 DEATHS= 1,072,000
20’th century Democide
Country Year Deaths Atheist?
U.S.S.R. 1917-87 61,911,000 Yes
China 1949-87 35,236,000 Yes
Germany 1933-45 20,946,000 No
China 1928-49 10,075,000 No
Japan 1936-45 5,964,000 No
China 1923-49 3,466,000 Yes
Cambodia 1975-79 2,035,000 Yes
Turkey 909-18 1,883,000 No
Vietnam 1945-87 1,670,000 Yes
Poland 1945-48 1,585,000 Yes
Pakistan 1958-87 1,503,000 No
Yugoslavia 1944-87 1,072,000 Yes
N. Korea 1948-87 1,663,000 Yes
Mexico 1900-20 1,417,000 No
Russia 1900-17 1,066,000 Yes
China 1917-49 910,000 No
Turkey 1919-23 878,000 No
UK 1900-87 816,000 No
Portugal 1926-82 741,000 No
Indonesia 1965-87 729,000 No
LESSER MURDERERS 1900-87 2,792,000 ?
WORLD TOTAL 1900-87 169,202,000 107,047,000
The Crusades were a DEFENSIVE action against a Muslim invasion of the West. They had already taken Jerusalem and kicked out all Christians and Jews. Pope Urban II started the first Crusade in 1095 at the request of the Orthodox church in Constantinople. They needed help defending themselves against the beheaders.
keeping it in perspective, this is during a period of nearly 200 years. ISIS has beaten these figures in one year.
All of them.
Everyone that died in the Inquisition.. died as a direct result of the Inquisition.
Cue the Inquisition Deniers. They are FReepers who are Roman Catholic sycophants, convinced that to be Jewish or Protestant in Portugal and Spain was actually a good thing. Or the other tactic is to say the horrors were not instituted by the “church.” Yeah, and ISIS is not Islamic...
Yes, plus the fact that anyone who was alive during the Inquisition is dead now, anyway, so, at this point, what difference does it make?
That came quick.
Fear and Surprise and Ruthless Efficiency
Very powerful and hits too close to home these days. Although I can hardly call the Jerk in Chief efficient, just a CZARist bully.
But Fear and Surprise is how he works, while we are putting out the fires here, he has another on he is starting today. Every day, every day, every day, just one more miserable idea he puts into his own law. This is the real SHOCK and AWE, and that is not in a flattering way.
For many of us truth matters.
This leaves the question begging: by what authority did this alleged church kill or imprison anyone?
People who professed Christianity but disagreed with the Roman Catholic church (e.g. Protestants) would have been seen as worse rivals to the Roman Catholic regime than those who didn’t profess Christianity, such as Jews. Still, the latter didn’t dare oppose the Roman Catholic church or they, too, became fodder for the slaughter.
And this is one of the saddest chapters in Christendom. A congregation that was supposed to be exalting Christ ended up exalting mainly itself. It is so easy for a religious system to slide into such self adulation. Let us pray that evangelicals will resist such a siren song because the devil doesn’t discriminate, he tempts them in that manner too, resulting in a plethora of “Our Church Congregation Is The Only One Right With God.”
None of this is unforgivable.
However, like all sins, it is not excusable.
Thanks for the stats. Puts it in context.
When people talk about the Spanish Inquisition they ALWAYS forget that Spain had been occupied for over SEVEN HUNDRED years by Muslims prior to the inquisition!
The inquisition was a response to over 700 hundred years of muslim occupation. And they thus had learned from the best butchers on the planet.
Strangely enough, I think Martin Luther would have agreed with the Crusaders...
But this was also not a fratricide like the Inquisition.
It’s kind of like they got conditioned to look at any dissenter as though he were a murderous Muslim?
Your link is to this thread.
And a lot of medieval Spanish cruelties do look like they were rub-offs from the ruthless Muslims. They were in a bind... they hated what they loved.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.