The Later Middle Ages, Essay Example

Why was the Jewish community expelled from Spain? What was the purpose of the inquisition and how did it operate?

The Spanish inquisition was an “ecclesiastical court that inquired into heresy and watched over the morals of Catholics” (Doc 35-The Spanish Inquisition at Work pg. 195). The court was established as a means to watch over converts or Marranos some of whom, while converts, would still furtively practice Jewish faith and tradition. The court feared these clandestine converts’ influence on practicing Catholics, inquisition authorities sought the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 (Doc 35-The Spanish Inquisition at Work pg. 195). Thus, Jews were either expelled or made to convert to Catholicism.

In large part, Jewish expulsion from Spain began due to greed and nationalism (Doc 10 – Expulsion from Spain pg. 59). In 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella expelled Jewish traditions, culture, and religious practices from Spain. This was shortly after the Moors had been driven out of Granada (Doc 10 – Expulsion from Spain pg. 59). Behind the greed and nationalism during this time, a triad court containing Queen Isabella, the Catholic church, and the ‘masses,’ sought and supported the Jewish expulsion because, “they encouraged the Marranos to persist in their Jewishness and thus would not allow them to become good Christians” (Doc 10 – Expulsion from Spain pg. 59).

Those who were caught practicing any form of Judaism had to stand before a court and witnesses and be judged for their infractions. One such instance occurred with a woman, Elvira del Campo, whom, through Christian, refused to eat pork and wore clean linens on Saturday. Her father and husband, both Christians, testified on her behalf, as well as other clergymen, but a slew of other witnesses such as neighbors and servants, testified against her (Doc 35-The Spanish Inquisition at Work pg. 195). Through Elvira’s trials, a glimpse to the practices and consequences of the Inquisition can be clearly seen.

Elvira, much like all other people caught practicing Jewish rites, was taken to a torture chamber and was instructed to tell the truth. The torture chamber consisted of many medieval devices such as ropes, flagging, flogging, iron maidens, etc. Elvira’s torture consisted of a series of ropes tied around her naked body in order to asphyxiate certain body parts until she succumbed to the pain and “told the truth” or rather, told what the tribunal wanted to hear (Doc 35-The Spanish Inquisition at Work pg. 196).

After a series of torture devices were performed on the accused (this could include flogging, beating the flesh, a form of water torture, and at each new level the inquisitor insisted the accused tell the truth and confess to their sins), a lapse of time (somewhere around four days) was given. This lapse of time, while seeming to be beneficial to the accused was in fact part of the torture. As it turns out, a lapse of time that allows the muscles to stiffen a bit made it that much more excruciating to the tortured once they were again to succumb to torturing (Doc 35-The Spanish Inquisition at Work pg. 199).

Almost all the accused would eventually confess to the sin of upholding Jewish culture and tradition as torture elicits whatever response the inquisitor desires. Usually the accused would be tortured for an extended period of time, even after they had confessed to committing the crime. In the case of Elvira she confessed after the first torture device but the inquisitor continued to torture her for days. Elvira continually said that she would confess to the crime if given the chance and if told to what she had to confess to as she did not know what it was she was supposed to say. The response to her pleas were for her to tell the truth. The Inquisition didn’t just brutally scar and kill the accused but also did psychological damage as well. The person would eventually confess to whatever crime they supposedly had committed but then when asked for details and unable to give them (because they had not in fact committed those crimes) they were tortured more.

Often times the judge in the case would vote for the accused to be put to death (Doc 35-The Spanish Inquisition at Work pg. 199). This decision was sometimes overruled by the majority, for a lesser punishment. Elvira was tortured for almost a year before she was finally punished for her crimes: her punishment consisted of a public announcement of her heresy (this was done by donning a garb of yellow (sanbenito) with two crosses embroidered on it), a prison sentence consisting of three years after which her sanbenito with her name sewn into it would be hung in her church publically displaying her heresy further, her property would also be confiscated by the church, men were punished further by not being allowed to hold public office or to have a professional career, women were not allowed to wear gold or silver baubles or to wear silk garments, “or to carry arms or to ride on a horse” (Doc 35-The Spanish Inquisition at Work pg. 199). As further punishment, the Inquisition would also ensure that the person was “beggared and ruined for life, and an ineffaceable stain was cast upon [their] kindred and descendents” (Doc 35-The Spanish Inquisition at Work pg. 200).

The dislike of Jews by non-Jews can be traced back through the centuries – most notably is the Black Death. Jews were made to confess to causing the Black Death as confessed by Agimet, the Jew (Doc 9 – Black Death pg. 49). The Jews who were tortured succumbed to confessing the involvement of other Jews (Doc 9 – Black Death pg. 49). This was a pervasive action that occurred with any type of torture.

Further hatred of Jews can be dated back to 1239 (facts and occurrences that further propagated the Spanish Inquisition) when Pope Gregory IX (under the advisement of Nicholas Donin, a converted Jew) “ordered the prelates and rulers of France, England and the Spanish and the Portuguese lands to seize all Jewish books and to examine them” (Doc 29 – Talmudpg. 163) as the book(s) were deemed to be blasphemies; “…we found that these books were full of innumerable errors, abuses, blasphemies, and wickedness such as arouse shame in those who speak of them and horrify the hearer to such an extent that these books cannot be tolerated in the name of God without injury to the Christian faith …”(Doc 29 – Talmud pg. 166-167).

These timeframes in history, from the banning of the Talmud and other Jewish books, to the accusations against the Jews of starting the Black Death, and finally to the Spanish Inquisition are all interrelated – one time of bigotry leads into the next.