The Spanish inquisition

1. The Spanish inquisition • The Inquisition was launched to purify Spanish society, especially of conversos who they believed were returning to their Jewish faith • This lapse of faith was believed to be heresy

2. Proving a lapse of faith • Any traditionally “Jewish” rituals or behaviors could be considered a lapse of faith. • Examples: • not eating pork • Not working Friday night-Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath, Christian Sabbath is Sunday) • Eating traditionally Jewish food (Kosher)

3. Inquisition methods • Under Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor, the Inquisition sought to find these heretics • To get confessions, inquisitors would threaten and torture • Thousands were tortured, imprisoned for life and/or burned at the stake in auto de fe (Act of Faith)

4. Inquisition Methods

5. Cat's Paw • The Cat's Paw was used by the Spanish. • It was attached to a handle and was an extension of the torturer's hand. • It was used to rip and tear flesh away from the bone, from any part of the body.

6. Inquisitional Chair • The chair was wooden construction with up to 2,000 metal spikes.   • The victim was strapped within the chair using tight leather straps. • The initial pain of hundreds of sharp rusty spikes penetrating the flesh could always be increased by the torturer pressing the prisoner down or back against the spikes.

7. Spanish Ladder • The wrists were tied to one of the rungs, the feet tied to the bottom cylinder. • Each turn stretched the victim further and further until the shoulders were dislocated.

8. The Boots • The boots was made up of wedges that fitted the legs from ankles to knees. • Pure pain ensues when the torturer violently pounds the wedges with a large, heavy hammer. • A process that is done repeatedly until flesh and bone are completely destroyed.

9. Ear Chopper • Used as an efficient way to cut the ears from the victim. • The helmet was placed on the head; the ears sticking out just under the blades. • All it took was a quick chop and the ears would be amputated.

10. Tongue Tearer • First, the mouth is forced open with the Mouth Opener. • Next, the iron Tongue Tearer was used to grab the tongue within it's rough grippers. • Once a firm hold was maintained, the screw could be firmly tightened and the tongue was roughly torn from the prisoner's head.

11. Foot Press • Fit a single foot between a sharp, ribbed iron plate and a bar of metal attached to a long screw. • When the screw was turned, the bar crushed the foot into a mangled pulp.

12. Iron Gag • To quiet the screams of a victim. A small hole in the front allowed air to pass in and out but muffled any screams. • A torturer could press a single fingertip to the air-hole and create an extremely distressing situation for the accused.

13. Knee Splitter • Split victims' knees open • The blocks are turned, causing the two blocks to close towards each other and effectively destroy a victim's knee.

14. Guillotine • The blade would be dropped separating the head from the body. • The head would neatly drop into a waiting basket, to be retrieved by the executioner and displayed to the crowd gathered to watch.

15. Auto de fe

16. Jews expelled • Torquemada decided that the reason so many conversos were heretics was that Spanish Jews were a bad influence, so hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced from Spain

18. Spain a unified Catholic country • The Inquisition and expelling of the Jews and Moors was so successful, that by the 1500’s, Spain was almost completely Catholic • In the process, Isabella and Ferdinand became the most powerful king and queen in Europe