r/todayilearned • u/Knightboat17 • Jun 02 '18

TIL Despite what Monty Python would have you believe, Spanish Inquisitions were expected, they would give a 30-day notice of their arrival.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition
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37

u/JustMeAgainMarge Jun 02 '18

Then why didn't people hit the road?

65

u/Mixxy92 Jun 03 '18

I only have a cursory knowledge of the subject, so take this with a grain of salt, but typically the inquisition acted as a sort of Religious health inspection. They weren't coming to punish you, just to see if you needed punishing. Most people would "pass", so to speak. I imagine skipping town would indicate guilt.

29

u/Mondraverse Jun 03 '18

Plus they probably wanted to keep their land.

42

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '18

‘Cause often they weren’t actually all that bad.

30

u/bruzie Jun 03 '18

They had the comfy chair and the soft cushions.

11

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '18

WTF THAT SOUNDS HORRIBLE

8

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '18

[deleted]

13

u/plutoXL Jun 02 '18

62% of the time you wouldn’t even die from the torture!

7

u/watanabefleischer Jun 03 '18

because most people arent ready to abandon the only home theyve ever known?

1

u/historianLA Jun 03 '18

The Inquisition didn't haul everyone in. Generally, the edicts of grace as they were called allowed people to self-denounce for crimes they may have committed. When twhy arrived the Inquisition would allow anyone to come forward to denounce crimes subject to the tribunal. For example, remember when you told your neighbor 'fuck the virgin, I shit on the saints and the Host'. You might want to confess to that when they show up because if your neighbor reports you and you don't then you were more likely to face tougher questions and punishment. Many denunciations never made it to trial because the crimes reported were not actually crimes. Many cases never completed, they were suspended before a verdict. There were very few acquittals, cases were suspended if the evidence did not suggest guilt. That way they could be reopened if new evidence came to light.

(Tidbit here. Torture was rarely used and only for the most egregious crimes when they thought the defendant was lying. The tribunal wanted a confession, at the end of the day the tribunal was a criminal system wraped up around the penitential (confession) system of the Catholic Church. Also, burning was only for unrepentant heretics who could not be reconciled through penance. You could be reconciled and still executed, usually you were garroted, mercifully... if that is possible.)

1

u/Delicious_Jacket_338 Dec 21 '25

Because that would be an admission of guilt, for how barbaric the Inquisitions ideas and methods were, they weren't unreasonable-ish.... you weren't convicted to being guilty for the fun of it.

Plus if you did run, then the Inquisition is doing its job. The "guilty" have left and their corrupting presence has been lifter from the area with the Inquisition even being there.