The Spanish Inquisition was an institution founded in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs with the main purpose of maintaining Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms. It had its precedents in similar institutions that had existed in Europe since the 12th century, especially in France. Under the direct control of the Spanish monarchy, it was in charge of investigating converts, Moors, Protestants and all those practices that went against the orthodoxy of the Catholic Church. It was most active between the 15th and 17th centuries, and was initially very severe. In the early years, after its implementation, there were many trials and death sentences, and its activity progressively decreased until the 18th century, when it ceased to have the weight it had had in previous centuries. In its early stages, it was mainly focused on the repression of Jews and converts, which would end in exile or forced conversion. In a second period, towards the second half of the 16th century, the Inquisition was mainly concerned with the Moorish problem and the Protestant centres, centred to a greater extent in Valladolid and Seville. After the expulsion of the Moors in 1609, there was a calmer period in which executions decreased, although the court was freer, from 1643, with the fall of the Count-Duke of Olivares, to carry out its activities with greater severity, increasing the number of convictions and executions. The activity of the Inquisition diminished throughout the 18th century, with the arrival of the Enlightenment. It was definitively abolished in 1834, during the regency of María Cristina de Borbón, after its abolition was approved at the Cortes de Cádiz in 1812

Collection: Images

Project: 7. Persecuted by justice and powers: rebels, political dissidents and criminals in the history of Europe.

Chronology: XVI, XVII, XVIII

Scope: Image

Link: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b69493083

Resource type: Image

Format: Prints, engravings. 26 x 44 cm

Source: Gallica. Biblioteca Nacional de Francia. Departamento Estampas y fotografía, LI-72 (5)-FOL

Language: French

Date: 9/28/2020

Owner: María del Mar Felices de la Fuente (Modernalia)

Identifier: ark:/12148/btv1b69493083

Copyright: Public domain

Abstract: The image depicts an execution of those condemned by the Holy Inquisition. Burning at the stake was the ultimate penalty for heretics. It was common for the accused to be publicly burned on a pyre as an example to the entire population

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