SPAIN. The inquisition was commenced, 1242, in Aragon, where the council of Tarragona gave instructions to the Dominicans. During the 13th and 14th centuries its power was directed fiercely against the Albigenses, who were numerous in that part of Spain. St. Ferdinand sometimes threw the fagots OD the pile, and John II. hunted the heretics of Biscay as wild beasts among the mountains. By the middle of the 15th c., when the heresy of the Albigenses had been almost extirpated, new material for the Inquisition was found among the Jews, many of whom, having professed conversion to Christianity, were suspected of being still unbelievers. After the union of Aragon and Castile the inquisition was reorganized in a more malignant form with the zealous approval of Ferdinand and the reluctant assent of Isabella. The first three general inquisitors, Torquemada, Desa, and Ximenes, made their names infamous by cruelties which, after all the deductions which can possibly be claimed, appear improbable and almost incredible, simply because of the multitude of the victims, and of the horrible sufferings to which they were doomed.
In PORTUGAL the efforts made to establish the inquisition failed almost entirely until after the union with Spain. It was then, under Spanish influence, introduced, yet not without difficulty, and only as a tribunal of the crown. The pope protested against this independent feature of it, but was compelled to tolerate what he could not prevent. and to be satisfied with a share in the proceedings and of the pecuniary gains. The highest tribunal was at Madrid, and the grand inquisitor was appoined by the king, subject nominally to approval by the pope. When Portugal became again an independent king dom, John IV. endeavored to abolish the inquisition, but was prevented by the opposi tion of the Jesuits and priests. In the 18th c. Pedro II. succeeded in imposing.restraints on the tribunal; in the next reign, the Jesuits having been expelled, its power was still further diminished; and under John VI. it was abolished, and the record of its proceed ings burned.
Into the NETHERLANDS time inquisition was introduced in the 13th e., and exerted its
authority severely. Under Spanish influence it was especially active during the reforma tion. In 1521 Charles V. published at Worms an edict against heretics, and appointed two inquisitors for the Netherlands, who, entering immediately on their work, were greatly aided by the regent, Margaret of Austria, and Granvella. bishop of Arras. Nevertheless, the reformation spread, and Charles, bent on destroying it, commanded the inquisition to be reorganized. after the Spanish model.. This command he after modified in consequence of the courageous representations of the new regent, Maria, queen of Hungary. Still the tribunal was very active, and great numbers of persons were condemned and put to death. Under Philip II. new cruelties were Inflicted which, instead of extinguishing- heresy, added new intenseness to popular fury. Several cities immediately united in demanding the abolition of the tribunal; others joined them, and in 1550 a league of the nobility was formed which, in loyal but earnest terms, renewed the request. This was for a time granted; but soon the duke of Alva was sent to the Netherlands with unrestricted powers; and cruelties, hitherto unknown, were inflicted on the suspected and the rich. In 1568, by a sentence of the "holy office" all the inhabitants of the Netherlands were condemned to death as heretics. " From this universal down only a few persons, specially named, were excepted. A proclama tion of the king, dated ten days later, confirmed this decree and ordered its instant exe cution. Three millions of people—men, women, and children—were sentenced to the scaffold in three lines" (Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic, ii. 155.). Even this did not destroy the reformation; but after the provinces had been de,olated and almost depopu lated by emigration and death, their independence was secured, and the inquisition driven from the land.
In MEXICO, SOUTH ANIEHICA, and INDIA the inquisition was established by Portugal and Spain. Under John VII. of Portugal it was abolished iv India and Brazil.