The New Inquisition: Spanish Inquisition does not live up to reputation of injustice

Cornell Review ^ | 1/31/02 | G. Quentin Mull

[Aquinasfan]

Everything you know about the Spanish Inquisition is a lie, even the stuff you learned from Monty Python.

[Aquinasfan]

Debunking the black legend. Source material from the BBC. Worth bookmarking.

[Aquinasfan]

Thanks for the idea.

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[conservonator]

Everything you know about the Spanish Inquisition is a lie, even the stuff you learned from Monty Python.

Heresy! Next thing you'll be telling me is that I won’t need to know the unladen air speed of an African swallow!

[pseudo-justin]

I have seen this BBC production. It was amazing. The historians they interview are not obviously Catholic or Christian, most of the Inquisition historians researching today are secularists.

Furthermore, the BBC production does an excellent job of explaining how the myth of the Spanish Inquisition arose in the first place. Anti-Spanish Protestants, mostly Lutherans, were master propagandists, printed and distributed copies of fabricated first-person accounts of Spanish Inquisition trials, and thus effectively whipped up sentiment against the Spanish crown. These propaganda pieces were the primary evidence that historians later used in constucting their accounts of the Inquisition (and most of those historians were Protestant). It was not until the late 1970's that the Vatican released the actual depositions from the Spanish Inquisitorial proceedings, and secular historians were literally SHOCKED by what they found. Strict, fair, and balanced procedures (relative to other courts of the day). Little use of torture, rarely were people handed over to criminal courts, and even more rarely did the state execute them for heresy(clerics have never executed or sentenced to execution, the purpose of the inquisition was to serve findings on heresy and blasphemy to civil courts to convict and sentence).

It is also important to remember differences between Continental and Anglo judicial practices. The English system is adversarial -- prosecutor, defense, neutral judge and jury. That is what we are accustomed to, but this sort of trial was never customary on the Continent. The Continental system, descending from Roman practices, was inquisitorial. The judge was investigator and prosecutor. Whence the practices of grace periods, investigations, etc. This was common stuff throughout the continent in secular affairs as well. It is foreign to English and Americans, but not obviously therefore unjust.

The conclusion of contemporary, historical research, carried out by secularists, is roughly this: the Spanish Inquisition was the most enlightened legal proceeding in Europe at the time.

These historians also openly admit that they really do not WANT to come to this conclusion. It shatters their image of an "oppressive medieval Church" from which Luther and Reason "set us free". The whole secularist, Enlightenment, historical self-conception is at stake in this research.

[conservonator]

Has anyone done a study juxtaposing the Catholic office of the Inquisition with its protestant counterparts? Since the entire concept of the Inquisition and particularly the Spanish Inquisition has been used as a club against the Church, I would be interested in an objective study.

It would also be interesting to find out what some of the non-Catholic posters have to say about this BBC investigation.

[pseudo-justin]

The Protestant Inquisition

[Aquinasfan]

The conclusion of contemporary, historical research, carried out by secularists, is roughly this: the Spanish Inquisition was the most enlightened legal proceeding in Europe at the time.

These historians also openly admit that they really do not WANT to come to this conclusion. It shatters their image of an "oppressive medieval Church" from which Luther and Reason "set us free". The whole secularist, Enlightenment, historical self-conception is at stake in this research.

An indication of the success of this propaganda is the fact that most Catholics are unaware of the truth regarding the Inquisition.

It's also interesting to note that this information is difficult if not impossible to find on the BBC website. I went to their site and did a search on the Inquisition and what did I find? Stories including the usual propaganda. But I couldn't find the program containing scholarly information. I'm shocked. Shocked!

Maybe NPR will do a program soon that will set the record straight...

[Aquinasfan]

It would also be interesting to find out what some of the non-Catholic posters have to say about this BBC investigation.

It certainly would be. < /crickets chirping>

[Chancellor Palpatine]

[Aquinasfan]

The Protestant Inquisition

Hmmm...

[presidio9]

Kindly do me the favor of not pinging me into threads? Thanks so much.

[NeoCaveman]

Hey, it drove the Moors out of Spain. Sounds like a job well done to me.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I know, but I can't see the word "inquisition" any more without thinking of that song.

[NeoCaveman]

It's a very funny song, from a very funny movie.

[aimhigh]

The further away we get from an event, the easier it is to rewrite history.

[conservonator]

The further away we get from an event, the easier it is to rewrite history.

Yah, everyone knows that he BBC is a propaganda arm for the Vatican...

[pseudo-justin]

Here is a Catholic Answers show concerning the Inquisition and the BBC documentary:

Link to Catholic Answers Radio Show on the Inquisition

As for the BBC video, I believe it is only available for purchase to Colleges and Universities. Someone needs to push to make the video more widely available.

[ventana]

Heresy! Next thing you'll be telling me is that I won’t need to know the unladen air speed of an African swallow!

It will probably never come up, just don't forget your favorite color and you'll be fine.