The Spanish Inquisition

Origins
• Established by Isabella and Ferdinand in
1478
• Isabella and Ferdinand got the approval of
the Pope Sixtus IV to expel Jews,
Protestants and non-believers from Spain
• Tomas de Torquemada-Grand Inquisitor
• Also one in Portugal and Rome
• Isabella
• Ferdinand
• Torquemada: The Grand Inquisitor
 Persecution
• It is believed that 40,000 Jews were forced
out
• Those that stayed in Spain had to convert to
Catholicism
• Those Jews that became Catholics became
known as “converso”
• The Catholics began to target Protestants in
the 16th century
• The first group was the Lutherans
• Persecution was also directed toward the
Moriscos, these were converts from Islam
• A lot of Jews and Muslims were expelled in
1492 after the Muslim stronghold of Granada
fell
 Motives for the Spanish Inquisition

• Political and religious unity

• Strengthen power of the Spanish monarchy
• Economic (confiscating property of those
who were forced out)
• Fear
 Sentencing
• People that refused to convert or leave were
subject to trials
• There were several options when it came time
to sentence someone
• Acquited
• Suspended (let go, but still under suspicion)
• Penance (guilty and had to pay fines and confess)
• Reconciled (guilty and may be tortured)
• Relaxation to the secular arm (burnt at the stake)
 Auto De Fe
• A religious ceremony
• Came after a sentencing
• Had a mass, a prayer and brought the guilty
in front of authorities for sentencing
 Death Toll
• Isabella and Ferdinand saw the burning of
2,000 people and 15,000 were reconciled
• The total figures are as follows
• 341,021 people were put on trial
• 31,912 of them were killed
 End of the Inquisition
• The Inquisition was abolished July 15 th,
1834 (spread to Spanish colonies)
• This was a Royal Decree signed by Maria
Cristina de Borbon
Medieval Torture
Devices
 Background Information
Inquisition was started to
investigate heresy
Heresy: going against beliefs
(example worshiping false gods)
or challenging Church authority
 The Process
An inquisitor would arrive in a village and ask all those
who want to confess to heresy and ask for forgiveness to
do so within a month
If a person confessed to heresy within the month they
would be given a light punishment.
If a person did not confess and were still found guilty:
1)they would go to trial
2)Name their enemies
3)Tortured until confession
4)Murdered if found guilty (most accused were)
Facts about Torture, and Punishment.

• Torture was the most common method of

extracting information, or confessions from
people during the Middle Ages.
• Torture often left the victim dead, or injured
for life even if he gave in early.
• The entrance to torture chambers was often
through a series of winding passageways
which muffled the screams of the victims from
the normal inhabitants.
 Torture was used during the
Middle Ages for three reasons:
• To force confessions or secret
information from those accused
• To discourage dissent and
intellectual freedom
• To persuade Jews, Muslims, and
other non-believers to accept
Christianity
 Iron
Maiden
Spikes in the
Iron Maiden
were
strategically
located to
avoid major
organs,
thereby
prolonging the
inevitable
 The
Interrogation
Chair
• This was painful
from the start and
only got worse.
Pain could be
increased by
beating on the
limbs.
 Lockup Cell
• Small villages often had
only a small lockup for
holding criminals.There
were no windows, no
chamberpots and it was
never cleaned. A person
had to sit in their own
vomit and waste, and in
the person’s before
them, and before
them..and before them..
 Public
Humiliation
• Hunger, thirst, bad
weather and jeers
(along with stones and
rotten fruit) of
passersby made this
treatment nastier than
it looks. Afterwards,
the victim often left
town if at all possible.
 Gossip’s
Bridle
The bridle was used
to silence women who
nagged, questioned
authority, or gossiped.
It was painful as well
as humiliating, for the
gag had a barbed
tongue-piece.
Ducking Stool
• Three dips was
common
treatment for
“socially
difficult” women
or habitually
drunk men. How
long the victim
stayed under
depended on
public opinion.
• Tying the
offender to a
horse, bull or wild
animal and
driving it away in
a panic was not
always fatal. But
it did get rid of
the fellow!
 The Wheel
The Wheel
produced such
violent
disturbances in
the body as it
was swung
around that it
could kill.The
only marks it
produced were
 Whipping
(Flagellation)
• Done publicly and
with a variety of
instruments, the
most popular was
whipping in front
of a crowd with
brambles or a tree
switch with
stickers.
• Used to
extract
confessions,
fire was a
wonderful
tool!
 Quartering
• The criminal had each
limb tied to a horse and
then the horses were
sent out in 4 different
directions, ripping the
limbs from the body.
Sometimes, bets were
made on which portion
of the body the head
would be carried away
with.
Rat Torture • Type 1: While
prisoners were
restrained in the
dungeon, rats and
vermin could crawl
freely over their
bodies, gnawing on
fingers, toes, ears,
and noses. This could
be encouraged by
pouring hot bacon
fat over the prisoner.
Rat Torture • Type 2: The victim was
completely restrained and
tied to the ground or any
horizontal surface. A rat
was then placed on his
stomach covered by a
metallic container. As the
container was gradually
heated, the rat began to
look for a way out -
through the victim's body.
Digging a hole usually took
a few hours of agonizing
pain for the victim. This
almost always resulted in
death.
 Pressing
• Weights were
added to the
victim’s chest a
little at a time
until he
eventually
suffocated.
 The Rack
• Usually the
shoulder joints
were displaced
first, followed by
the knees. If the
torture continued,
the victim’s
abdomen would
tear open next.
 Water Torture
(Toca)
• Water was poured into
the mouth through a
funnel while the nose
was clamped shut,
forcing the victim to
swallow to breathe.
After a few quarts, one
would either drown in
his own vomit or his
stomach would rupture.
Star-Kicking
• Strips of
paper were
placed
between the
victim’s
toes and set
afire.
 Stocks
• A few hours in the
stocks could be a death
penalty for some
unpopular people.
Since a victim could
not reach his face to
wipe it, some would
actually suffocate by
the volume of things
thrown at them by the
passing crowd.
The Judas Cradle
This was a torture in which the victim is
placed on a pyramid shaped object with a
very sharp point. The torturer would
decide whether to drop the victim on the
pyramid, have him sit on it, or sit on it
with added weights. This torture was
almost always deadly because the pyramid
shaped object was very rarely, if ever,
washed and either the victim would bleed
to death or contract an infection.
 Coffin Torture

In this torture, the victim would be

placed in the “coffin” and left there
for a set amount of time, or death
depending on the offence. When
sentenced to death in the coffin, the
coffin would be place in the sun
where the victim would be eaten
alive by animals, or stoned to death
by the townspeople. A torturer may
make the coffin larger than normal
to make it even more
uncomfortable.
 The Brazen Bull

It’s inventor, Perillos of Athens, was searching for a more

painful way to execute criminals and he was very pleased with
his invention. For this torture, a person, or multiple people
would be burned alive while locked inside the device. Being
burned is a slow and extremely painful way to be killed. It is
believed to be like being boiled alive.
 The Pear of Anguish
This torture was used on women who had a
miscarriage, liars, blasphemers, and homosexuals.
The pear shaped object would be inserted into one
of the orifices of the victim. For women it would
be inserted into their vagina then the four “leaves”
would spread apart and the torturer would either
decide to tear the skin, or solely mutilate the
victim. For liars, and blasphemers, one would be
inserted into their mouth and opened to its full
size, and for homosexuals it would be inserted
into their rectum and opened to its full size. The
“pear’s” size would vary according to which
orifice it was to be used in. Death was very rare to
be cause by this torture, and the victim would
often be subjected to other means of torture
following this.
 Beheading
• Beheading in the Middle Ages
was usually a fast and swift
punishment as long as the
Executioner had a sharp axe
and good aim. If they did not it
could take up to 11 strokes to
kill the person. After the
beheading the head would be
shown to the crowd and then
placed on the London Bridge
on metal spikes to show off to
the people.
 Crocodile Tube and Crocodile
Shears
• The Crocodile Tube which was not commonly
used was one of the most cruel torture devices and
was used to torture thieves. It was used as follows:
The victim was fixed inside a tube just big enough
for the victim's entrance. The tube, having
crocodile teeth-like spikes, was slowly compressed
leaving the victim totally immobilized. The
torturer could only see his face and feet. With the
help of carbon and fire underneath the tube, the
torturer gradually heated the tube until he
extracted a confession or killed the victim.
• The Crocodile Shears were very commonly used
to rip off toes and fingers to have a victim confess
or to punish thieves.
 Garrot

• Sometimes if a person repented, they would

strangle someone before burning them
 Pillory Torture
• The pillory was a tall wooden or metal
post which was had holes in it to
secure the head and various limbs. The
pillory was used to humiliate the
person in it. People in the crowd
would throw fruit or garbage at the
person in order to humiliate them. The
pillory was very uncomfortable and
were similar to stocks which did the
same thing as the Pillory.
The Spanish Tickler
• The victim was naked and tied
making him or her completely
defenseless. Then the torturers
began the (sometimes public) act
of mutilating the victim. They often
began with the limbs and slowly
moved into the chest, back, neck
and finally the face.

In short, the Spanish Tickler or

Cat's Paw, is nothing but an
extension to the torturer's hand.
The spikes were sharp enough to
tear anything in their path.
 The Wheel Torture
(Breaking Wheel)
• The device consists of a large wooden wheel with many spokes. The
victim's limbs were tied to the spokes and the wheel itself was slowly
revolved. Through the openings between the spokes, the torturer
usually hit the victim with an iron hammer that could easily break the
victim's bones. Once his bones were broken, he was left on the wheel to
die, sometimes placed on a tall pole so the birds could feed from the
still-living human.

• This device was used as a capital punishment during the Middle Ages.
Reserved for hated criminals, The Wheel always killed its victim, but did
so very slowly.
Thumbscrew Torture
• The victim's fingers were
placed inside the instrument
and slowly crushed as the
torturer turned the handle
on top. This method was
primarily used to extract
confessions as it was both
painful and very lasting.
• The same instrument was
also used to crush victim's
toes.
 Saw Torture
• The victim was tied to an inverted
position. This had several
"benefits": first, it assured
sufficient blood diverted to the
brain, second, it slowed down the
loss of blood and third, it
humiliated the victim.

• While some victims were cut

completely in half as a symbolical
gesture, most had only up to their
abdomen cut, this was done to
prolong the time of death.
 Strappado

• When someone’s
arms are tied
behind their back
and they are
suspended from a
ceiling. Also has
weights on legs.
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