In which countries did the Inquisition take place? Main historical stages

Truly, you read my verdict with more fear than I listen to it." - Giordano Bruno to his inquisitors in 1600.

(Inquisitio haereticae pravitatis), or the holy Inquisition, or the holy tribunal (sanctum officium) - an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, whose purpose was the search, trial and punishment of heretics. The term Inquisition has existed for a long time, but until the 13th century. had no later special meaning, and the church has not yet used it to designate that branch of its activity that was aimed at persecuting heretics.

The emergence of the Inquisition.
In the 12th century. The Catholic Church faced the growth of opposition religious movements in Western Europe, primarily with Albigensianism (Cathars). To combat them, the papacy entrusted the bishops with the duty of identifying and judging “heretics”, and then handing them over to the secular authorities for punishment (“episcopal inquisition”); this order was recorded in the decrees of the Second (1139) and Third (1212) Lateran Councils, the bulls of Lucius III (1184) and Innocent III (1199). These regulations were first applied during the Albigensian Wars (1209-1229). In 1220 they were recognized by the German Emperor Frederick II, and in 1226 by the French King Louis VIII. From 1226-1227, burning at the stake became the ultimate punishment for “crimes against faith” in Germany and Italy.

However, the “bishop's inquisition” turned out to be ineffective: the bishops were dependent on secular power, and the territory subordinate to them was small, which allowed the “heretic” to easily take refuge in a neighboring diocese. Therefore, in 1231 Gregory IX, having referred cases of heresy to the sphere of canon law, created for their investigation permanent body church justice - the Inquisition. Initially directed against the Cathars and Waldenses, it soon turned against other “heretical” sects - the Beguins, the Fraticelli, the Spirituals, and then against the “sorcerers”, “witches” and blasphemers.

In 1231 the Inquisition was introduced in Aragon, in 1233 - in France, in 1235 - in Central, in 1237 - in Northern and Southern Italy.

Inquisitorial system.

Inquisitors were recruited from members of monastic orders, primarily Dominicans, and reported directly to the pope. At the beginning of the 14th century. Clement V set the age limit for them at forty years. Initially, each tribunal was headed by two judges with equal rights, and from the beginning of the 14th century. - only one judge. From the 14th century They had legal consultants (qualifiers) with them, who determined the “hereticalness” of the statements of the accused. In addition to them, the number of tribunal employees included a notary who certified the testimony, witnesses present during interrogations, a prosecutor, a doctor who monitored the health of the accused during torture, and an executioner. The inquisitors received an annual salary or part of the property confiscated from the “heretics” (in Italy one third). In their activities, they were guided by both papal decrees and special manuals: in the early period, the Practice of the Inquisition by Bernard Guy (1324) was most popular, in the late Middle Ages - the Hammer of the Witches by J. Sprenger and G. Institoris (1487).

There were two types of inquisition procedures - general and individual investigation: in the first case, the entire population of a given area was questioned, in the second, a challenge was made to a specific person through the priest. If the person summoned did not appear, he was excommunicated. The one who appeared swore an oath to sincerely tell everything he knew about the “heresy.” The proceedings themselves were kept in deep secrecy. Torture, authorized by Innocent IV (1252), was widely used. Their cruelty sometimes caused condemnation even from secular authorities, for example, from Philip IV the Fair (1297). The accused was not given the names of the witnesses; they could even be those excommunicated from the church, thieves, murderers and oathbreakers, whose testimony was never accepted in secular courts. He was deprived of the opportunity to have a lawyer. The only chance for the condemned man was an appeal to the Holy See, although formally prohibited by Bull 1231. A person who had once been convicted by the Inquisition could be brought to trial again at any time. Even death did not stop the investigation procedure: if a person who had already died was found guilty, his ashes were removed from the grave and burned.

The system of punishment was established by Bull 1213, the decrees of the Third Lateran Council and Bull 1231. Those convicted by the Inquisition were handed over to civil authorities and subjected to secular punishments. A “heretic” who “repented” already during the trial was entitled to life imprisonment, which the inquisitorial tribunal had the right to reduce; This type of punishment was an innovation for the penitentiary system of the medieval West. The prisoners were kept in cramped cells with a hole in the ceiling, fed only bread and water, and were sometimes shackled and chained. In the late Middle Ages, imprisonment was sometimes replaced by hard labor in galleys or workhouses. A persistent “heretic” or one who had again “fallen into heresy” was sentenced to be burned at the stake. Conviction often entailed confiscation of property in favor of secular authorities, who reimbursed the costs of the inquisitorial tribunal; hence the special interest of the Inquisition in wealthy people.

For those who confessed to the inquisitorial tribunal during the “period of mercy” (15-30 days, counting from the moment the judges arrived in a particular area), allotted for collecting information (denunciations, self-incriminations, etc.) about crimes against faith, church punishments were applied. These included an interdict (a ban on worship in a given area), excommunication and different types penance - strict fasting, long prayers, flagellation during mass and religious processions, pilgrimage, donations to charitable causes; Those who managed to repent wore a special “repentance” shirt (sanbenito).

Inquisition since the 13th century. until our time.

The 13th century turned out to be the period of the apogee of the Inquisition. The epicenter of its activity in France was the Languedoc, where the Cathars and Waldenses were persecuted with extraordinary cruelty; in 1244, after the capture of the last Albigensian stronghold of Montsegur, 200 people were sent to the stake. In Central and Northern France in the 1230s, Robert Lebougre acted on a special scale; in 1235 in Mont-Saint-Aime he arranged the burning of 183 people. (in 1239 he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the pope). In 1245, the Vatican granted the inquisitors the right of “mutual forgiveness of sins” and freed them from the obligation to obey the leadership of their orders.

The Inquisition often encountered resistance from the local population: in 1233 the first inquisitor of Germany, Conrad of Marburg, was killed (this led to the almost complete cessation of the activities of the tribunals in the German lands), in 1242 - members of the tribunal in Toulouse, in 1252 - the inquisitor of Northern Italy, Pierre of Verona; in 1240 the inhabitants of Carcassonne and Narbonne rebelled against the inquisitors.

In the mid-13th century, fearing the growing power of the Inquisition, which had become the domain of the Dominicans, the papacy tried to place its activities under stricter control. In 1248, Innocent IV subordinated the inquisitors to the Bishop of Ajan, and in 1254 transferred the tribunals in Central Italy and Savoy to the Franciscans, leaving only Liguria and Lombardy for the Dominicans. But under Alexander IV (1254-1261), the Dominicans took revenge; in the second half of the 13th century. they actually stopped taking into account the papal legates and turned the Inquisition into an independent organization. The post of inquisitor general, through whom the popes supervised its activities, remained vacant for many years.

Numerous complaints about the arbitrariness of the tribunals forced Clement V to reform the Inquisition. On his initiative, the Council of Vienne in 1312 obliged the inquisitors to coordinate judicial procedures (especially the use of torture) and sentences with local bishops. In 1321 John XXII further limited their powers. The Inquisition gradually fell into decline: judges were periodically recalled, their sentences were often canceled. In 1458, the residents of Lyon even arrested the chairman of the tribunal. In a number of countries (Venice, France, Poland) the Inquisition came under state control. Philip IV the Fair in 1307-1314 used it as a tool to defeat the rich and influential Templar order; with its help, the German Emperor Sigismund dealt with Jan Hus in 1415, and the British in 1431 with Joan of Arc. The functions of the Inquisition were transferred to the hands of secular courts, both ordinary and extraordinary: in France, for example, in the second half of the 16th century. “heresy” was considered both by parliaments (courts) and by specially created “chambers of fire” (chambres ardentes).

At the end of the 15th century. The Inquisition experienced its rebirth. In 1478, under Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, it was established in Spain and for three and a half centuries it was an instrument of royal absolutism. The Spanish Inquisition, created by T. Torquemada, became famous for its particular cruelty; Its main targets were Jews (Maranos) and Muslims (Moriscos) who had recently converted to Christianity, many of whom secretly continued to practice their former religion. According to official data, in 1481-1808 in Spain, almost 32 thousand people died at auto-da-fé (public execution of “heretics”); 291.5 thousand were subjected to other punishments (life imprisonment, hard labor, confiscation of property, pillory). The introduction of the Inquisition in the Spanish Netherlands was one of the reasons for the Dutch Revolution of 1566-1609. Since 1519, this institute operated in the Spanish colonies of Central and South America.

At the end of the 15th century. the Inquisition acquired special significance in Germany; here, in addition to “heresies,” she actively fought against “witchcraft” (“witch hunts”). However, in the 1520s in the German principalities, where the Reformation was victorious, this institution was ended forever. In 1536, the Inquisition was established in Portugal, where the persecution of “new Christians” (Jews who converted to Catholicism) began. In 1561 the Portuguese crown introduced it into its Indian possessions; there she began to eradicate the local “false teachings” that combined the features of Christianity and Hinduism.

The successes of the Reformation prompted the papacy to transform the inquisitorial system towards greater centralization. In 1542, Paul III established a permanent Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Ecumenical Inquisition (Holy Office) to oversee the activities of the local tribunals, although in reality its jurisdiction extended only to Italy (except Venice). The office was headed by the pope himself and consisted first of five and then of ten cardinal-inquisitors; An advisory council of experts in canon law functioned under it. She also carried out papal censorship, publishing the Index of Forbidden Books from 1559. The most famous victims of the Papal Inquisition were Giordano Bruno and Galileo Galilei.

Since the Age of Enlightenment, the Inquisition began to lose its position. In Portugal, her rights were significantly curtailed: S. de Pombal, the first minister of King Jose I (1750-1777), in 1771 deprived her of the right of censorship and eliminated the auto-da-fé, and in 1774 banned the use of torture. In 1808, Napoleon I completely abolished the Inquisition in Italy, Spain and Portugal he captured. In 1813, the Cadiz Cortes (parliament) abolished it in the Spanish colonies. However, after the fall of the Napoleonic Empire in 1814, it was restored both in Southern Europe and Latin America. In 1816, Pope Pius VII banned the use of torture. After the revolution of 1820, the institution of the Inquisition finally ceased to exist in Portugal; in 1821, the Latin American countries that freed themselves from Spanish rule also abandoned it. The last person executed by the verdict of the Inquisition Court was the Spanish teacher C. Ripoll (Valencia; 1826). In 1834 the Inquisition was liquidated in Spain. In 1835, Pope Gregory XVI officially abolished all local inquisitorial tribunals, but retained the Holy Office, whose activities from that time were limited to excommunications and the publication of the Index.

By the time of the Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965, the Holy Office remained only an odious relic of the past. In 1966, Pope Paul VI actually abolished it, transforming it into the “Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith” (Latin: Sacra congregatio Romanae et universalis Inquisitionis seu Sancti Officii) with purely censorship functions; The index has been cancelled.

The apostolic constitution of John Paul II Pastor Bonus of June 28, 1988 states: The duty due to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is to promote and protect the doctrine of faith and morals throughout the Catholic world: for this reason everything that in any way concerns such matters faith is within the limits of her competence.

A significant act was the revaluation by John Paul II (1978-2005) historical role Inquisition. On his initiative, Galileo was rehabilitated in 1992, Copernicus in 1993, and the archives of the Holy Office were opened in 1998. In March 2000, on behalf of the church, John Paul II offered repentance for the “sins of intolerance” and the crimes of the Inquisition.

Water torture

Torture with water was usually resorted to in cases where torture on the rack proved ineffective. The victim was forced to swallow water, which slowly dripped onto a piece of silk or other thin fabric stuffed into her mouth. Under pressure, it gradually sank deeper and deeper into the victim's throat, causing sensations similar to those of a drowning person. In another version, the victim’s face was covered with a thin cloth and water was slowly poured onto it, which, entering the mouth and nostrils, made it difficult or stopped breathing almost to the point of suffocation. In another variation, the victim's nostrils were either plugged with tampons or the nose was pressed with fingers and water was slowly poured into the open mouth. From incredible efforts to swallow at least a little air, the victim often burst. blood vessels. In general, than more water“pumped” into the victim, the more cruel the torture became.

Holy hunters

In 1215, by decree of Pope Innocent III, a special church court was established - the Inquisition (from the Latin inquisitio - investigation), and it is with it that the phrase “witch hunt” is associated in the public consciousness. It should be noted: although many “witch” trials were indeed carried out by the Inquisition, most of them were the responsibility of secular courts. In addition, witch hunts were widespread not only in Catholic, but also in Protestant countries, where there was no Inquisition at all. By the way, the Inquisition was initially created to combat heresy, and only gradually witchcraft began to fall under the concept of heresy.

There are varying accounts as to how many people were killed during the witch hunts. According to some sources - about two tens of thousands, according to others - more than one hundred thousand. Modern historians are inclined to the average figure - about 40 thousand. The population of some regions of Europe, for example, the outskirts of Cologne, as a result of the active fight against witchcraft, decreased markedly; the fighters against heresy did not spare children, who could also be accused of serving the devil.

One of the tasks of witch hunters was to search for signs by which it would be easy to identify a sorcerer or sorceress. A reliable test for witchcraft was the water test: a bound suspect was thrown into a lake, pond or river.

Anyone lucky enough not to drown was considered a sorcerer and was subjected to death penalty. The water test used in Ancient Babylon was more humane: the Babylonians dropped the charges if “the river cleanses the person and he remains unharmed.”

There was a widespread belief that on the body of everyone involved in witchcraft there was a special mark that was insensitive to pain. This mark was looked for using needle pricks. The description of such “devilish signs”, as well as the fact that it was customary to keep witches in separate prisons and avoid their touch, has led some historians to believe that the persecution and extermination of lepers was actually behind the witch hunts.

In the XV-XVII centuries, Western Europe, represented by the Catholic and Protestant churches, began their bloody hunt, which went down in history as a “witch hunt.” It’s as if both churches have gone crazy, recognizing almost all women as witches: if you go out for a walk at night - you’re a witch, if you collect herbs - you’re a witch, if you heal people - you’re doubly a witch. Even the purest girls and women in soul and body fell under the classification of witches.

For example, in 1629, nineteen-year-old Barbara Gobel was burned at the stake. The executioner's list said about her: "The most holy virgin of Wurzburg." It is unclear what caused this manic desire for “purification”. Of course, Protestants and Catholics did not consider themselves beasts, as a sign of this - all potential witches were subjected to simple tests, which in the end no one was able to pass. The first test is whether the suspect has a pet: a cat, a crow, a snake. Even if neither a snake nor a raven was found in the house, many people had a cat or cat. Of course, it also happened that the “witch” didn’t have either a snake or a raven, or even a cat; then a beetle in a dung heap, a cockroach under the table, or the most common moth will disappear. The second test is the presence of the “witch mark”. Passed this procedure as follows: the woman was completely undressed and examined. Large mole, nipples are larger than required by the state standards of that time - a witch. If the sign is not found on the body, it means it is inside, this is the “iron logic” that guided the commission; the prisoner was tied to a chair and examined, as they say, “from the inside”: they saw something unusual - a witch. But those who passed this test are also “servants of Satan.” Yes, their body is too ideal for a simple woman: Satan awarded them such a body for his carnal pleasures - the reasoning of the Inquisition. As you can see, a potential witch was one regardless of the results of the test. The witch has been identified, captured - what next? Shackles, chains, prison - this is the near future for those chosen by the church. Let's try to look a little further. Torture - there are two options: denial and death from mutilation, or agreement in everything and death at the stake. The choice of “instruments of truth” was great.

For some, pulling out nails and teeth was enough to confess during interrogation; for others, broken legs and arms. But there were desperate women who still wanted to prove their innocence. This is where the sadism, perversion and cruelty of the servants of the Almighty reveals itself. The prisoners were rolled between two logs, starting from the legs, “wrung out” like towels, boiled in resin and oil, imprisoned in the “iron maiden” and the blood was drained to the last drop, lead was poured into the throat. This is only a small fraction of the horrors that happened in the torture chambers, usually located right under the monasteries. The majority, or rather almost all, of the victims of the Inquisition did not live to see the day of their execution. The Inquisition claimed more than two hundred thousand lives.

The Orthodox Church also did not stand aside from this exciting hunt. IN ancient Rus' witchcraft processes arose already in the 11th century, soon after the establishment of Christianity. Church authorities were involved in the investigation of these cases. In the oldest legal monument, the “Charter of Prince Vladimir on Church Courts,” witchcraft, sorcery and sorcery are included among the cases that were examined and judged by the Orthodox Church. In a monument of the 12th century. “The Word about Evil Spirits,” compiled by Metropolitan Kirill, also talks about the need to punish witches and sorcerers by church court. The chronicle notes that in 1024, in the Suzdal land, the Magi were captured and<лихие бабы>and put to death by burning.

They were accused of being the culprits of the crop failure that befell the Suzdal land. In 1071, the Magi were executed in Novgorod for publicly condemning the Christian faith. The Rostovites did the same in 1091. In Novgorod, after interrogations and torture, four “wizards” were burned in 1227. As the chronicle tells, the execution took place in the bishop's courtyard at the insistence of Novgorod Archbishop Anthony. The clergy supported the belief among the people that sorcerers and witches were capable of acts hostile to Christianity, and demanded cruel reprisals against them. In the teaching of an unknown author, “How to Live for Christians,” civil authorities were called upon to hunt down sorcerers and sorcerers and hand them over to “ultimate torment,” i.e. death, under fear of church curse. “You cannot spare those who did evil before God,” the author of the teaching convinced, arguing that those who saw the execution “will fear God.” 2. Metropolitan John of Kiev also approved mass terror against sorcerers and witches and defended the right of episcopal courts to sentence sorcerers and witches to heavy punishments and death. Metropolitan John believed that cruelty would deter others from performing “magical” acts and would turn people away from sorcerers and sorcerers.

An ardent supporter of the bloody persecution of sorcerers and witches was the famous preacher who lived in the 13th century, the Bishop of Vladimir Serapion, a contemporary of the first trials against witches in the West (the first trial arose in Toulouse in 1275, when Angela Labaret was burned on charges of carnal relations with the devil), “And when you want to cleanse the city of lawless people,” Serapion wrote in his sermon, addressing the prince, “I rejoice in this. Cleanse, following the example of the prophet and king David in Jerusalem, who eradicated all people who commit lawlessness - others murder, some by imprisonment, and others by imprisonment." Bishops sought out sorcerers and witches, they were brought to the episcopal court for investigation, and then handed over to the hands of secular authorities for punishment by death. Following the example of its Catholic comrades, the Orthodox Inquisition developed in the 13th century. and methods of recognizing witches and sorcerers by fire, cold water, by weighing, piercing warts, etc. At first, churchmen considered those who did not drown in the water and remained on its surface to be sorcerers or sorcerers. But after making sure that most of the accused did not know how to swim and were drowning quickly, they changed their tactics: they began to find those who could not float on the water guilty. To discern the truth, they also widely used, following the example of the Spanish inquisitors, the test of cold water, which was dripped onto the heads of the accused. Maintaining faith in the devil and his power, representatives Orthodox Church They declared any doubt about the reality of the devil to be heretical. They persecuted not only those accused of having relations with evil spirits, but also those who expressed doubt about its existence, about the existence of witches and sorcerers who acted with the help of devilish power. The victims of Orthodox inquisitors were mainly women. According to church beliefs, women most easily entered into relations with the devil. Women were accused of ruining the weather, crops, and being the culprits of crop failure and famine. Kiev Metropolitan Photius developed a system of measures to combat witches in 1411. In his message to the clergy, this inquisitor proposed excommunicating from the church everyone who would resort to the help of witches and sorcerers. 4. In the same year, at the instigation of the clergy, 12 witches, “prophetic wives,” were burned in Pskov; they were accused of witchcraft.

In 1444, boyar Andrei Dmitrovich and his wife were publicly burned in Mozhaisk on charges of witchcraft.

At all times, while the witch hunt was going on, there were people protesting against it. Among them were priests and secular scientists, for example, the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes.

Gradually their voices became louder, and their morals gradually softened. Torture and cruel capital punishment were used less and less, and in the enlightened 18th century, with rare exceptions, witch hunts in Europe gradually faded away. Surprisingly, it is true that executions of people suspected of witchcraft continue to this day. Thus, in May 2008, 11 alleged witches were burned in Kenya, and in January 2009, a campaign against witches began in Gambia. Additional information - Although the scale of the witch hunt is amazing, it should be noted that the risk of becoming a victim was tens of times less than the likelihood of death from the plague, which claimed millions human lives. — The cruel tortures used in medieval Europe against those suspected of witchcraft were also used in ordinary criminal practice. — It is generally accepted that the peak of witch hunts occurred in the Middle Ages, but truly large-scale persecution of sorcerers and sorcerers unfolded during the Renaissance.

Moreover, the witch hunt was supported by such great reformer churches and a rebel like Martin Luther. It was this fighter against indulgences who wrote the phrase: “Sorcerers and witches are the evil spawn of the devil, they steal milk, bring bad weather, send damage to people, take away the strength in the legs, torture children in the cradle... force people to love and intercourse, and The devil’s machinations are endless.” — Since the word “witch” in Russian female, it is often believed that the victims of the witch hunts were mainly women. Indeed, in many countries the number of women among the accused reached 80-85%. But in a number of countries, for example, in Estonia, more than half of those accused of witchcraft were men, and in Iceland, for every 9 executed sorcerers, there was only one executed witch.

In the XII-XIII centuries. received in Europe further development, the growth of cities continued, and the free-thinking associated with it spread. This process was accompanied by the struggle of the peasantry and burghers against the feudal lords, which took the ideological form of heresies. All this caused the first serious crisis. The Church overcame it through organizational changes and ideological renewal. Mendicant monastic orders were established, and the teaching of Thomas Aquinas on the harmony of faith and reason was adopted as the official doctrine.

To combat heresies, she created a special judicial institution - the Inquisition(from Latin - “search”).

The activities of the Inquisition began in the last quarter of the 12th century. In 1184, Pope Lucius III ordered all bishops that in places infected with heresy, they personally or through persons authorized by them sought out heretics and, after establishing their guilt, handed them over to the secular authorities to carry out the appropriate punishment. These kinds of episcopal courts were called inquisitorial.

On IV Lateran Council in 1215 compulsory confession was introduced. Persons who evaded it were not allowed to receive communion and were excommunicated from the church with all civil consequences. The Council prohibited the reading of the Bible by the laity and made it obligatory for metropolitans to search for heretics, using lay zealots in inquisition activities. Toulouse Cathedral in 1229 he demanded the creation of special organizations of the laity that would search for heretics. Since 1227, special tribunals began to be created in those countries and provinces where any heretical movements existed. The Inquisition in Spain was particularly cruel. Thomas Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor of Spain, introduced the practice auto-da-fe(act of faith) - public execution of the sentence over heretics, created a code and procedure for the inquisitorial court.

The Dominican Order played the main role in the organization and implementation of the Inquisition. Theoretical background The monks found their activities in the decrees of the popes and the theoretical arguments of theologians. The names of the German inquisitors became famous Heinrich Institoris And Jacob Sprenger, authors of the book "Witches Hammer"(“Hammer on Sorcerers”). The concept of witchcraft is one of important elements medieval religiosity. Until the 13th century. punishments of sorcerers were not widespread. In the 13th century a view is established on witchcraft as a heresy, which is subject to the Inquisition. Sorcerers are accused of having connections with the devil, from whom they receive their power, in order to inflict all sorts of atrocities on people.

Periods of the medieval Inquisition

Several periods can be distinguished in the history of the Inquisition:

• initial - XIII-XV centuries, when mainly popular sectarian movements were persecuted;
• the Renaissance, when cultural and scientific figures were persecuted;
• the Age of Enlightenment, when supporters of the French Revolution were persecuted.

In many countries the Inquisition was destroyed with the adoption of Protestantism; in France it was abolished by Napoleon. In Spain it existed until the middle of the 19th century.

Inquisition during the Renaissance

The Inquisition had a particularly hard time during the Renaissance, because the culture of the Renaissance itself was destroying the sole dominion of the Church over the minds of people. This culture taught people to believe in themselves and turn to exploring nature. It dates back to the Renaissance era most important discoveries in all areas of science.

The Renaissance occurs in the 14th century in Italy, and in other European countries at the end of the 15th century. In Spain, the formation of the Renaissance culture coincided with the fall of Granada and the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, the rise of the country's economy and the conquest of newly discovered territories. These important events prepared the way for the flourishing of a new culture in the country.

But this is not only the time of the development of the Renaissance in Spain. This was also the most difficult period of persecution of dissidents by the Inquisition, which could not but leave its mark on the entire Spanish culture.

The Inquisition diligently fights the slightest manifestations of religious dissent, literally burning out the Protestantism that appeared in Spain with fire. The Reformation entered Spain in 1550. And after 20 years there was no trace of her there.

The first beginnings of Protestantism were brought to Spain by Charles V, who was not only the King of Spain, but also the German Emperor. There were many Lutherans who served in the ranks of the army of Charles V, who could not help but talk about their faith to their brothers in arms. Many nobles followed the emperor from Spain to Germany; there they heard sermons from Protestant pastors. In short, new knowledge somehow found its way to Spain.

In addition, missionaries began to come to the country and preach Protestantism. In many cities, communities of people who accepted new faith. The heresy spread with amazing success. In many provinces - Leon, Old Castile, Logrono, Navarre, Aragon, Murcia, Granada, Valencia - soon there was almost not a single noble family among whose members there were no people who had secretly converted to Protestantism. Never before has Spanish Catholicism been in such danger.

And the Inquisition began to act - fires flared throughout the country, where people were burned only because they dared to accept a different, albeit Christian, faith.

In 1557, the inquisitors managed to arrest a poor peasant from Seville named Giulianilo, which means “little Julian.” Julian was indeed very short. “Small, but remote,” because in barrels with double bottom filled with French wine, he successfully smuggled Bibles and other Lutheran theological books in Spanish for several years. Giulianilo was betrayed by a blacksmith, to whom he gave the New Testament. Perhaps he would have been able to save his life if he had betrayed his accomplices and co-religionists, but he was unshakable.

Then a struggle began between the prisoner and his judges, which has no equal in the annals of the history of the Inquisition. We find information about this in the books of researchers of that time. IN within three For years, the most refined tortures were applied to the unfortunate man in vain. The accused was barely given time to rest between the two tortures. But Giulianilo did not give up and, in response to the impotent rage of the inquisitors, who could not extract confessions from him, sang blasphemous songs about the Catholic Church and its ministers. When, after the torture, they carried him, exhausted and bloodied, to his cell, in the corridors of the prison he triumphantly sang a folk song:

The evil clique of monks has been defeated!

The entire wolf pack is subject to expulsion!

The inquisitors were so frightened by the courage of the little Protestant that at the auto-da-fé he, completely crippled by torture, was carried gagged. But Giulianilo did not lose heart even here and encouraged those who sympathized with him with gestures and glances. At the fire, he knelt down and kissed the ground on which he was destined to unite with the Lord.

When they tied him to a stake, they removed the bandage from his mouth to give him the opportunity to renounce his faith. But he took advantage of this precisely in order to loudly profess his religion. Soon the fire blazed, but the martyr’s firmness did not leave him for a minute, so the guards became furious, seeing how a man of tiny stature was challenging the Great Inquisition, and they stabbed him with spears, thereby saving him from his last torment.

Meanwhile, Pope Paul IV and the Spanish King Philip II tried to rekindle the cooling zeal of the inquisitors. A papal bull of 1558 ordered the persecution of heretics, “whether they be dukes, princes, kings or emperors.” By royal edict of the same year, anyone who sold, bought or read prohibited books was sentenced to be burned at the stake.

Even Charles V himself, who had already entered a monastery, on the eve of his death found the strength to break his silence in order to recommend vigilance and demand the use of the most drastic measures. He threatened to rise from his self-imposed premature grave to personally take part in the fight against evil.

The Inquisition heeded the calls of its leaders, and a day was set for the extermination of the Protestants, but until the last minute the plan was kept secret. On the same day, in Seville, Valladolid and other cities of Spain, into which heresy had penetrated, all those suspected of Lutheranism were captured. In Seville alone, 800 people were arrested in one day. There were not enough cells in the prisons; those arrested had to be placed in monasteries and even in private houses. Many who remained free wished to surrender themselves into the hands of the tribunal in order to earn leniency. For it was clear that the Inquisition in Once again won.

A similar bloody massacre of Protestant Huguenots was committed by Catholics several years later in France, in Paris, on the night of August 24, 1572, when the feast of St. Bartholomew was celebrated. After the name of this saint, the extermination of the Huguenots was called the Night of Bartholomew. The organizers of the massacre in France were the Queen Mother Catherine de Medici and the leaders of the Catholic Party of Giza. They wanted to destroy the leaders of the Protestants and used a convenient excuse for this - the wedding of the Protestant leader Henry of Navarre, which was attended by many of his associates. As a result of the massacre, which continued throughout France for several weeks, about thirty thousand people were killed!

But let's return to Spain. Between 1560 and 1570, at least one auto-da-fé was held annually in each of the twelve provinces of Spain under the jurisdiction of the Inquisition, making a total of at least 120 auto-da-fés exclusively for Protestants. Thus Spain got rid of the pernicious heresy of Luther.

However, although Protestantism was scorched with a hot iron, in the 16th century opposition to Catholicism appeared - primarily the movement of the so-called “Illuminati” - the “enlightened”. They sincerely considered themselves true Catholics, but sought to establish the priority of the individual in the knowledge of God. The official Catholic Church, which denied the importance of personality in history and religion, did not like the new doctrine, and in 1524 most of the Illuminati were burned at the stake.

The ideas of Erasmus of Rotterdam, an outstanding figure of the Northern Renaissance, humanist, thinker and writer, became much more widespread in Spain. Being a Catholic, he condemned the greed, licentiousness and lack of education of most Catholic priests and demanded a return to the simplicity of the early Christian church, that is, a rejection of the magnificent cult, rich decoration of churches, and called for a truly virtuous life based on the ideals of mercy and compassion. But almost all the followers of Erasmus in Spain were waiting for the fire.

The works of Erasmus of Rotterdam himself were strictly prohibited in Spain. The books of Erasmus and other great writers were subject to strict censorship by the Inquisition. Even the famous Spanish playwright Lope de Vega (1562 - 1635) was not ignored by the “zealots of the faith”; his plays were more than once cut with inquisitorial scissors, and sometimes even removed from production.

Control was exercised by the Catholic Church in almost all areas of art, including painting. The church was the main customer for works of art. And at the same time, she introduced bans on certain subjects and topics. Thus, the depiction of nudity was prohibited human body- except for the image of Jesus Christ on the cross and cherubs. Talent did not save him from persecution by the Inquisition. Thus, when the great artist Velazquez depicted a naked Venus, he was saved from the “zealots of the faith” only by the king of Spain himself, who valued Velazquez as an excellent portrait painter. And for the no less great and famous Francisco Goya, it is not known how his fate would have turned out if not for his influential patrons at court. After painting the painting “Makha Nude”, which is now known to everyone educated person, threatened the fire of the Inquisition. And the threat seemed real - in 1810, 11 people were burned in Spain on charges of witchcraft.

Yes, yes, the Inquisition in the Pyrenees was still rampant in the 19th century, continuing to exterminate people. For many centuries, it dominated Spain, exercising its rule according to a single scheme: “denunciation – investigation – torture – prison – sentence – auto-da-fé.” Centuries changed, wars began and ended, new lands were discovered, books and paintings were written, people were born and died, and the Inquisition still ruled its bloody ball.

The total number of victims of the Inquisition in Spain for the period from 1481 to 1826 is about 350 thousand people, not counting those who were sentenced to imprisonment, hard labor and exile.

But in the last 60 years of its existence, the Inquisition carried out mainly censorship, so Goya would hardly have been sent to the stake, although, like many other cultural figures of that time, he was threatened with a short-term exile to a Catholic monastery, deportation from large cities to the provinces, or a multi-day church repentance.