When to expect the Spanish Inquisition?

[Kobal2fr]

Kobal, you're in the right postcode but not the right street.

1. The Spanish Inquisition came into existence in 1478 (15th century, not 14th).
2. Inquisitors were not "everywhere in the 10th-12th century" - they didn't exist at all for the most part in that period.
3. The first inquisition was in response to the Albigensian/Catharist heresy and didn't start until late 12th century (1180s).
4. The Inquisition established to crush the Albigensians was at least as "brutal/systematic/crazed" as the (post-14th century) Spanish version: thousands were tortured and killed, town-by-town and the quote from M2TW ("Kill them all! The Lord will know his own") is attributable to this Inquisition.
5. The Spanish Inquisition was not "mainly used as ethnic cleansing tools": the Jews of Spain were expelled by monarchical order, not by efforts of the Inquisition, and the vast majority of conversos (Jews or Muslims converted to Christianity) were left alone if they showed no signs of heresy or backsliding. The Spanish Inquisition was used as part of efforts to repress and control the descendants of Jews and Muslims but they targeted Castillians, Aragonese and other 'old Spaniards' in equal numbers.

It's worth bearing in mind that the Church has always claimed and still claims the right to prosecute heresy via Inquisition. Prior to the 1180s, this was not on a formal basis. The local Church would simply set up a temporary board of enquiry in an area where heresy was thought to be prevalent (or the Pope would set one up) and this board would investigate and prosecute as necessary. The board would last until it decided it had succeeded or until the Pope or a powerful local noble suppressed it.

M2TW reflects this fairly well: if you don't control heresy in a province, the Inquisition will appear to do it for you. Where M2TW suffers is in not reflecting that the nobility defied the Inquisitors far more often than not: the idea that an Inquisitor could execute a senior member of a noble or royal family without the support of an overwhelming miltary force is laughable.

Gah. I always mix up my centuries. By all rights and logic a date starting with "14xx" should bloody well be in the 14th century.

Ahem.

And I "knew" (or had a fuzzy truthiness recollection of) all this, hence the <simplification> tags. What I meant was that while it's most well known for a few specific crazes like Albigensians/Cathars, Bogomils or the conversos in Spain, the Inquisition ran trials during pretty much the whole of the middle ages here and there, on a case-by-case basis, trying to bring heretics back into the fold, not to kill them all. That is to say, the popular image of the Salem-like crazed zealot torching everyone at a stake or dunking witches is unfair.

You're wrong about point 4 though. The phrase was not said during the trials, but during the subsequent crusade against the Albigeois, and the abbot who answered that to the crusader who asked him how to tell heretics from innocents when sacking a town wasn't part of the inquisition either.

BTW, did you guys know the Inquisition still exists today (though it's now known as Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) ? Of course, they haven't burned anyone lately, but still, it's a sobering thought.

@Patricius : the Lollards ? What, these idiots you find on every Internet board who just go "LOL" after quoting your whole 4.000 words post ? I hate these guys !