The Spanish Inquisition

The Spanish Inquisition and the Catholic Church’s Persecution

Literature frequently uses the Spanish Inquisition as an illustration of the Catholic Church’s persecution and prejudice. (Kamen, 2014). Researchers have been posing issues that have led them to the realization that the cruelty of the Spanish Inquisition was exaggerated because it occurred during a time when the populace was acting against Catholicism. Additionally, scholars like Henry Kamen found that the majority of people during this time period endured some sort of persecutory and horrifying treatment. R. Po-Chia Hsia contrasts the dreadful oppression of the Jewish community in the Italian City with tales of the ritual murder trial. The place where these wretched persecutions took place was known as Trent (Hsia, 1996). When one reads these two books, you find that some similarities and differences are portrayed on a comparative scale. In deconstructing the ways in which the two books have been written, I realize that even though the two writers Kamen and Hsia are writing numerous different books, they both entirely depicts good works of history. The two books, therefore depict a society where there are oppression and persecution of an individual community of religious belief because of one’s selfish interest.

The Differences in Size and Narratives

Before reading these two books, I noticed there is a difference in the size, the Trent 1475; Stories of A Ritual Murder is smaller when compared to Kamen’s book. The Trent 1475, narrates a story of a young Jewish Community accused of killing a lost child for ritual purposes as it was believed that the community did practice blood sacrifice. I learned that there was a relationship between politics and culture. This brought a great conflict that leads to serious effects on society and the people living in it. I used a documentation that was famous during the trial known as Yeshiva Manuscript, Hsia does show the aftermath of the persecution of the Jews in the year 1475. It is important to note that the effects that resulted afterward changed the attitudes that the people had on the Jews community. The impact is being felt to date. According to the story written by Hsia, the young boy was found in the cellar of a Jew family. Following that incidence, the town magistrate arrested a total of twenty Jews who were charged with a crime against the murder of the young boy. The community viewed the incident from a religious point. They considered the Jews murderers since they were using human beings as a sacrifice for their ritual practices (Hsia, 1996). During the prosecution, a section of the Jewish suspects committed suicide while others were executed after being tortured (Hsia, 1996).

The Spanish Inquisition and Religious Conflicts

On the other hand, the Spanish Inquisition is a story about religious conflicts. It was a tribunal which was recorded in the year 1475. It was a time in which the Roman Catholic was the dominant religious faith. The Catholic Church was against other religious faith which forced them to engage in activities to forcefully convert people to be Christians against their will and choice. Take for instance people who were abducted during this time were forcefully baptized which was not according to the Catholic Church laws. The Spanish Inquisition started at a time when the government of Seville was almost overthrown by Don Diego de Susona, a wealthy merchant. On realization of the attempt to overthrow the government, Ferdinand and Isabella made a request to establish a Spanish Inquisition to convert all the believers of Judaism to Christianity. They wanted to establish what was known as converses (Hsia, 1996). This process is a clear depiction that in the olden times, politics and religious practices were connected. In this era, there wasn’t any form of structural leadership that could separate politics from religious practices (Hsia, 1996). In the world today, we see a platform where the church and politics are two separate entities that cannot mix.

Religious Persecution and Leadership

The two authors are trying to explain the effects of Christians and how they perceived other religious practices. Additionally, it also depicts a time in which, the church was ruled through politics and not through faith. Leadership is also a factor to consider. The most important aspect of these two books is that they exhibit a struggle of a minority group seeking justice. Take for instance, in the book the Spanish Inquisition written by Henry; the people seemed to be unhappy with the ruling of the Arch Bishop Seville; this led to other trade merchant organizing ways in which he could be overthrown (Kamen, 2014). The coup was being attempted because the people needed a new form of leadership. This led to other religious faith being a victim of the attempted coup. The inquisition made the Catholic Church under the leadership of Ferdinand and Isabella forcefully convert other non-Christians to be Christians. The order was received from the pope.

Injustice and Insufficient Evidence

On the other hand, due to insufficient evidence and proof, the magistrate falsely accused the Jewish community of killing innocent children for blood sacrifice. There are many questions which one could ask, why were the Jewish community the only suspects in the trial? Had someone, a Christian, planted the evidence in the Jewish’s house? As I was reading this book, I realized that the author used phrases to describe the pain that the Jewish community was going through. The town magistrate out of malice did not want to look deeply into the case and evaluate the main suspects in the murder of the child. This was the same problem that existed in the Spanish Inquisition.

Politics, Religion and Cultural Practices

The two books explain the role of politics in religion. I learned that there were many similarities in relation to politics and religion. The books narrate leaders from the Christian religion wanting to make Christianity the dominant religion. This made them engage in malicious activities that led to the death of innocent people. I would like to deduce that, in a society where different religions exist, the law should be equal to all. With this, people will be in an environment where there is unity and peace. There should be an environment in which people worship their God without discrimination.

Different Cultural Practices and Discrimination

When it comes to cultural practices, people have a different way of doing it. In the book, Trent 1475, the Jews were believed to have a different cultural practice which could have been an instigating factor that made someone put the young boy’s body in the cellar after killing him. The possibilities are, a Christian out of hate might have placed the body to implicate them with murder charges (Kamen, 2014). More often, religious leaders do make their decisions according to what they believe in and not according to the law. This is clearly evidenced in the way the two trial proceedings were handled.

Religious Persecution and Injustice

Looking at the two books, both Kamen’s and Hsia’s, there is different evidence that shows that they discuss different aspects of religious persecution and injustice. Hsia portrays the persecution of the Jews to be horrible. On the other hand, Kamen writes about the persecution of other religious beliefs as being motivated by something. Kamen talks about a community which hated the Jews community.

Similarities in Discrimination and Politics

To sum up, I would like to say that the two books may be from a different locality, written by different authors but they address the same thing. Take, for instance, the books talk about the dominance of Christianity as a religious belief. The power that Christians had made them discriminate against other religious faith. This made the people stay in fear. Additionally, in both books, politics in delivering justice was a problem. In the event that Christian leaders faced power opposition, they exercised their power. This made them kill and hang people. Additionally, in these two books, the pope was regarded as the ultimate ruler who made decisions, and he was regarded as holy. When I read the books, racial and religious discrimination was started by the Christians. This has brought religious difference up to date. Religion and politics mattered a lot during the medieval times. This brings the difference in the world we live today where the two are independent. However, there are some decisions that the political class makes that directly affect religion.

References

Hsia, R. P. (1996). Trent 1475: Stories of a Ritual Murder Trial. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Kamen, H. (2014). The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision. New Haven: Yale University Press.