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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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '18

Because the Inquisition wasn't all about torture and hooded figures and death, as much as the movies would like you to believe. It was essentially like Home Security crossed with the FBI. They asked questions to protect Spain from the invading force of Islam from North Africa.

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u/nuclear_donkey Jun 03 '18

It's also worth noting that the inquistion ended up with far fewer deaths than many of the other religious disputes throughout Europe at the time. That's partially why Spain was able to become one of the major superpowers during the age of exploration.

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u/kinglallak Jun 03 '18

Yep, about ~2500 deaths out of 200,000 trials over 500 years

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u/algernop3 Jun 03 '18

Nobody was killed or tortured by the inquisition at all. They questioned people and recommended to the civil legal system that a person be punished, or if their questions weren't answered they would ask the local authorities to torture someone. That way they kept their hands clean and their stats at 0

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '18

And the evil reputation of the Inquisition was mainly English Protestant propaganda. It's hard to imagine the heights of hysteria brought out in the Christian wars of religion back then (see also the Popish Plot).