Something about the Spanish Inquisition (whether expected or not)

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

Somehow the Spanish Inquisition got a surprisingly good reputation as being an arbitrary witch-hunt. That's bad, but common.

The sainted Sir Thomas Moore was a big witch-hunter. America had witch-hunts. It happens.

The Spanish Inquisition was actually something even worse than a maniacal witch-hunt. It was almost all about money.

In 1492, while Columbus was wrecking life for people in this hemisphere, Spain expelled what Jews she had.

Some Jews converted to Catholicism and stayed.

A driving purpose in expelling the Jews was to get all their stuff, particularly what they couldn't take with them. Land. The Jews who converted were, in the eyes of some, just faking it to hang onto their stuff.

The primary work of the Spanish Inquisition was to prove that converted Jews were actually still observant Jews. ("Why were you not working on Saturday last week?") If that could be proved then the Church got all their land.

The Inquisition also swept up some gentile witches, heretics and such, but it began as a systematic effort by the church to persecute Jews and confiscate Jewish property.

[MrScorpio]

1. It's just that no one expects them...

[msongs]

2. german christians did the same thing in the 1930's - nt

[left is right]

3. It has often been assumed that this was true for the American witch hunts

several powerful citizens got rich and even more powerful by seizing the property of the accused witches