Monks: Hey, Torquemada, whaddaya say? Torquemada: I just got back from the Auto de fé! Monks: Auto de fé? What's an Auto de fé? Torquemada: It's what you oughtn't to do, but you do anyway.
Torquemada, do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada, do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada, do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it - you can't Torquemada anything!
Great episode. The Spanish Inquisition spanned so many years, with so many complicated components - that, even as a history buff, I steered clear. However, Simon et al did a top-notch job of presenting a cohesive and informative overview. Thanks!
I'd like to see a video about the Protestant Witch Hunts of northern Europe. They didn't use waterboarding though. I think they just "submerged" women(or "witches") and if they survived they were innocent..or was it the other way around?
@@theregalbeagle8855 it was that they weighted them with stones and submerged them. If they float up, they're a witch. If they dont float, they arent a witch, but they drowned...
Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under the omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber barons cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” C. S. Lewis
The worst tyranny then, is the one where people's collective will tells individuals what to do for our own good, though we disagree with them. They sincerely believe how their conscience tells them to vote or to pass laws. It may very well behead thousands or have thousands shot for "the good of the people", but they are convinced that virtue, logic, and reason is always on their side.
So if understood the situation whit presiosion in the order that the op wrote a quote about the Catholic Inquisition of good old Carlyle and attributed to a Catholic writer, if is that the correct facts I can only but remember the "Rightttt" from S. Archer.
@@paaklapi Really? That's what they WANT you to THINK... If the truth be known, The Catholic Church's power is if anything, as great as or greater than before...
Brilliant. Incidentally I am seeing in my own life someone using the Spanish Inquisition tactics. Your video has opened my eyes. Love this channel. Thank you.
"I am abandoned by God and man! I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months life. Then I shall go to hell; and you will go with me. O Christ! O Jesus Christ!" - Voltaire. His last words.
As a devout Catholic, I wanted to thank you for giving an utterly unbiased historical account of a figure I knew little of. We can not learn properly from history if we paint over it. God bless you.
Milan I am an Historian in America and 99% of People everywhere have no Idea that there are 12 Provinces in the Netherlands and North and South Holland are just 2 of them! GEWELDIG!
@@ShinigamiInuyasha777 I was remarking on the technique applied to induce compliance, not making a moral statement. So I'm not sure wtf you're talking about.
In the fifteen years under his direction, the Spanish Inquisition grew from a single tribunal at Seville to a network of two dozen Holy Offices. As Grand Inquisitor, Torquemada reorganized the Spanish Inquisition (originally based in Castile in 1478), establishing tribunals in Sevilla, Jaén, Córdoba, Ciudad Real and (later) Saragossa. His quest was to rid Spain of all heresy. The Spanish chronicler Sebastián de Olmedo called him "the hammer of heretics, the light of Spain, the savior of his country, the honor of his order."
Torquemada, do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada, do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada, do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it - you can't Torquemada anything!!
Let all those who wish to confess their evil ways to except and embrace the true church convert now or forever burn in hell. For now begins the inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition (Spanish: Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition (Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and to replace the Medieval Inquisition, which was under Papal control. It became the most substantive of the three different manifestations of the wider Catholic Inquisition, along with the Roman Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition. The "Spanish Inquisition" may be defined broadly, operating in Spain and in all Spanish colonies and territories, which included the Canary Islands, the Spanish Netherlands, the Kingdom of Naples, and all Spanish possessions in North, Central, and South America. According to modern estimates, around 150,000 people were prosecuted for various offenses during the three centuries of duration of the Spanish Inquisition, out of which between 3,000 and 5,000 were executed. The Inquisition was originally intended primarily to identify heretics among those who converted from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism. The regulation of the faith of newly converted Catholics was intensified after the royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1502 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert to Catholicism or leave Castile. The Inquisition was not definitively abolished until 1834, during the reign of Isabella II, after a period of declining influence in the preceding century. The Spanish Inquisition is often cited in popular literature and history as an example of religious intolerance and repression. Some historians have come to conclude that many of the charges levied against the Inquisition are exaggerated, and are a result of the Black Legend produced by political and religious enemies of Spain, especially England.
Their daughter was the first wife of Henry VIII of England, and she never produced a male heir and suffered to watch other women marry her husband. Paybacks are hell.
If you look a the other countries about the year of being kicked out look at this Country France 1182 ,1306, 1321/ 1322 and 1394 England 1290 Austria 1421
If we look at the death tolls, the Spanish Inquisition (although brutal within the fanaticism of the time) was less brutal than the repression in other countries, even at the same time. -Spanish Inquisition: Between 5,000-10,000 dead, with defense lawyers, judges and the possibility of repentance many times -Luther's Germany: 25,000 "witch" women, burned, sometimes by the anger of the people (16th century). Women only eccentric or "too free" -French wars of religion (16th century): 2-3 million dead in 25 years -French Revolution (late 18th century): 50,000 people guillotined -England (16th-17th centuries): thousands of dead Catholics and other religions, burned, skinned, sometimes with their genitals torn off in public. Hundreds of thousands of exiles to the 13 colonies for religious reasons. -Calvin's Switzerland (16th century): 3000 dead at the stake. A much higher percentage of deaths than in Spain. -Nazism: 6 million Jews dead, and 1 or 2 million gypsies and other people (20th century)... Spanish Inquisition or Europe and world Inquisition?
@@francoisona Ostensibly? Saving people's souls. Rescuing them from eternal damnation. They may have been wildly misguided, but some section of the inquisitors I'm sure were motivated by authentic theological concern.
As an Historian with a Background in Church History All I can say is WELL DONE! Balanced Presentation Great and Understandable Information! This Video should be used in Every Classroom of Church, Spanish or European History!!
I like your videos, so thank you for the content. However, it would be good if your scriptwriter could provide a reference list for the many general assumptions that are made throughout all the videos. I personally would read and explore them, I'm sure many others would enjoy that too!
I agree with this. The general attitude Simon has in this video of Isabela of Castile's true intentions in creating the inquisition and her not having approved of its excess clashes with things I've learned before, but I never had any trustworthy sources - I had my history textbook as a kid in Belgium, which suffered under later versions of the Inquisition and thus painted its creator as a cruel zealot, and when moving to Spain I had the Spanish-procuded tv series Isabel, which makes every decision the queen made look either just and right, "the best she could do under the circumstances", or ultimately redeemable because she was sorry afterward, and I have no clue whom to believe.
My husband constantly teases me that I have a crush on him bc I watch all of his channels. 😂 I just really love to learn! Have you checked out his Business Blaze channel yet? He’s a completely different guy on it. It took me a while to get used to, but now it’s my favorite Simon Whistler channel!
I liked the fact that Biographics went out to its way to present Torquemada objectively - such as stating the fact that he actually was responsible for reining in and mitigating the worst of Spanish Inquisition instead of propagating them and that he standardized the inquisition tribunal proceedings which were probably more consistent and arguably more humane than the "secular" (ie; other European kingdoms) of the time.
Torquemada was a man of his time. True, by modern standards he appears cruel and vicious. By 16th century Spanish standards, he was merely another Church official who happened to have to do the "dirty work" of the Church and of the royals. In later centuries the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition became one of the best "political footballs" for Spain's enemies to use against Spain, and Torquemada became the poster-boy for this certain "political football game." Whenever I apply 21st century standards to 16th century practice I get barbarism half of the time. Did Torquemada do barbaric things by 21st century standards? Yes. Was Torquemada a barbarian? I don't pretend to know.
Was in Sevilla two months ago...that water torture you described was actually cloth shoved down the throat with water dripping, forcing the victim to swallow the wet cloth. Eventually having a good amount of wet cloth that had expanded in the stomach that was quickly and forcefully pulled out...
If we look at the death tolls, the Spanish Inquisition (although brutal within the fanaticism of the time) was less brutal than the repression in other countries, even at the same time. -Spanish Inquisition: Between 5,000-10,000 dead, with defense lawyers, judges and the possibility of repentance many times -Luther's Germany: 25,000 "witch" women, burned, sometimes by the anger of the people (16th century). Women only eccentric or "too free" -French wars of religion (16th century): 2-3 million dead in 25 years -French Revolution (late 18th century): 50,000 people guillotined -England (16th-17th centuries): thousands of dead Catholics and other religions, burned, skinned, sometimes with their genitals torn off in public. Hundreds of thousands of exiles to the 13 colonies for religious reasons. -Calvin's Switzerland (16th century): 3000 dead at the stake. A much higher percentage of deaths than in Spain. -Nazism: 6 million Jews dead, and 1 or 2 million gypsies and other people (20th century)... Spanish Inquisition or Europe and world Inquisition?
Recounting Church history without knowing the difference between a priest and a monk is like telling military history without knowing the difference between a soldier and a sailor.
It's key to remember the place of this inquistion in the circumstances of the desperately risky reconquesto. Knowing human nature, some worried that Jews would expect the the longtime Islamic masters to regain power and would stick in league with them out of dread of backlash if they had stuck with Catholics only to see angry Muslims come back to power in Spain and punish them. All these things need to be kept in mind. The children of many involved in the inquisition wrote tens of thousands of letters to Jewish Catholics falsely accused of not really being Catholic and being told to leave the outer act of Catholicism they fought hard to retain earnest practice of. The Spaniards were aware of how crusaders lost the holy land due to inside factions, and after 700 years of occupation, they desperately took 100 years of back and forth steps to freedom.
An excellent video. Please consider covering Dominico Theotokopoulos (El Greco), Henri Matisse, any of the Pre-Raphaelites and literary figures like Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters or F. Scott Fitzgerald and Giorgos Papanikolaou.
Always a very professional presentation. Really enjoy them. Simon Whistler, you have a very good voice and articulate well. You could do lots with that "combo" - teach, lecture, read for audio books professionally; the world is your oyster as they say. I hope you excel in whatever you put your mind to!
“You dare to lecture me? I am the hammer of heretics, the light of España, the honor of my order. I follow none but God's command.” - Tomás de Torquemada
I think the point is he did not out right support it as a form of punishment and put forth effort to make it more streamlined and to have rule to follow you know so you can't just accuse people you don't like and then torched them to death he was not a monster he was a devout pious man who saw what he was doing as holy work we know its not but they didn't
@@alexcunningham1647 But to make it more funcional it make it last for a longer period of time. In a way by helping to make it better, it made the situation worse
I always find it strange how some people want to judge events of centuries ago by today's standards. There's anti semitism around right now, today. If you're really concerned go do something about it instead of virtue signaling about someone who died over five centuries ago.
Hello Biographics, I was wondering if you would consider doing a video on 'The White Death' Simo Haya, a finish sniper with over 300 confirmed kills or Amakusa Shiro, a Japanese folk saint who led a christian rebellion at one point only for him and all of his men to be put to death and become martyrs, at least I am fairly certain that that is how his story ended.
Simo Hayha was as badass as they come. He was once asked what he felt when he pulled the trigger and a Russian soldier was in his sights. His answer: "Recoil."
Hi Simon, interesting content, as usual! However: 1) "A great campaign for democracy was launched" is a statement out of historical context in my opinion because democracy was not an issue in Spain until the 19th century. 2) The Inquisition had, in theory at least, authority only over Christians - new Christians (i.e. Conversos) or otherwise - not over unconverted Jews. You sometimes say "Jews" in the video when you actually mean "Conversos" who, to the Inquistion, were Christians under the suspicion of heresy (of being crypto-Jews). The main objective of King, Queen and the church was to uncover those false converts and to protect the mass of genuine converts from the "negative influence" of the unconverted Jews still living in Spain. Hence the expulsion of 1492. So we are talking about three different groups here: Jews, Conversos and the crypto-Jews among the Conversos. The same goes for "Muslims", "Moriscos" and the crypto-Muslims. The expulsion decree was finally revoced on 16th December 1986 - interestingly in Francisco Franco's time.
well its a way to whip up the rhetoric, no one knows what a converso is, but everyone knows what are jews, so why not bend the truth for some extra views
Thanks for the history lesson. An enforced faith is a contradiction. In Biblical terms, the difference of definition between faith and power is similar to the difference between the Spirit and the flesh. One is Divine, the other, Adamic. One is by Grace, the other by Effort (Ephesians 2:8-9). One cannot accomplish one by means of the other. What a blemish it was, and I can only imagine the judgement those inquisitors will face come the resurrection.
Torquemada has already faced his judgment immediately after his death, but he might still be going through his punishment for worshipping idols and for murdering all those faithful Jews while he betrayed his faith for power and material comforts.
The fact that Simon (and whomever wrote this episode) are actually trying to paint Torquemada in some kind of humane light because they allege that he “mitigated the torture process” and made the unjust, forceful conversion of Jews to Catholicism more administrative....is both insulting and laughable. Torquemada was a sociopath who oversaw the unjust persecution, torture, putting on trial and murder of countless thousands of people....in Jesus Name
They weren't believed to be false conversos, many objectively were. Many also sided with the Moors who ruled Spain for quite a while. They were really lucky they had the option to convert as catholicism isn't based on race, but belief.
A cool Soviet hero to look into would be Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko, a sniper credited with 309 kills during WW2 and a personal friend of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Tens of thousands of the Jews that were expelled were allowed to settle in the Ottoman Empire. Bayezid II even sent the Ottoman navy to transport Jews to safety, primarily in Thessaloniki, Greece and Izmir, Turkey, but also in other parts of the Balkans and even in Bulgaria. Bayezid said, "Those who say that Ferdinand and Isabella are wise are indeed fools; for he gives me, his enemy, his national treasure, the Jews." So by expelling the Jews, Spain strengthened its most powerful enemy, the Ottomans. Brilliant work, people. And of course, with a now Jew-free Spain, nothing bad ever happened in Spain again.
As most jews were artisans I agree with you , but empirically Spain went well from 1492 to 1650 and the inquisition avoid religious civil wars like the French had in that period or the whole 30years wars like in Germany (a third of the population died and a third of the German population is more than 5k heretics executed ) This doesn't mean is not stupid to expell qualified workers But national unity in pre-industrual era was a very powerful advantage to focus elsewhere, new world, Italy, Netherlands the imperial throne...
Well, antisemitism *created* the 'problem' of Jews and conversos and the lack of national unity in the first place, but anyway...my point was more of a general one about humans and about how we always believe that if we just got rid of ________ (select appropriate perceived threat), life would be better. France and England also expelled their Jews, and things hardly improved for them... Spain still got itself involved in endless wars and bankrupted itself in the 17th Century despite the immense inflow of wealth from the New World. By 1700, Spain had lost its dominant position in Europe to France - a good run of 200 years, but still rather short relative to just how much of a head start Spain had on almost everyone else. Then Napoleon invaded in 1808 and whoa, talk about internal strife - the word 'guerilla' comes from the Spanish partisans who fought his occupation garrisons in the countryside during that very bloody time. Spain also lost all of its territories in the New World in the next ten years. By 1900 Spain was one of the poorest nations in Western Europe, and in the 1930s it fought a horrendous civil war. So as you can see, expelling the Jews solved all of Spain's problems forever :)
@@squamish4244 hmm, well i think is a bit pointless try to relate the expulsion of jews with the down of spanish power, i mean there no direct relation, theres is a century of difference at least, and many of the enemies of spain also expelled their jews before the spanish did is like i say 'guillotining the king solved france problems forever', or 'abolishing slavery solve all racials issues forever', i get it is irony, but whats the point you are making? why s relevant the 1808s napoleonic war in a expulsion of jews in 1492?
@@squamish4244 I agree, and thanks for explaining, I got the impression you only were talking about Spain, but yeah, minority scapegoats/external enemy have been pretty much a constant in society
The Ottomns were hypocrites, the empire heavily discriminated against various ethnic and religious groups that were under its control.......but not when it comes to a group that largely consists of skilled merchants and thus can make the empire some revenue....
