For 350 years, Spain ran a state terror apparatus that burned heretics, expelled 100,000 Jews, and treated a neighbor's chimney smoke on Saturday as evidence of a capital crime.
The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1478 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, officially to root out Christians who were secretly still practicing Judaism or Islam. In reality it became a powerful instrument of state control — the Inquisitor General was the only official in the entire Spanish empire whose authority extended to every territory, including the Americas.
Tomás de Torquemada, the first Inquisitor General, became its defining figure. He created the procedural code used for three centuries: a 30-day grace period for self-confession, anonymous accusers whose identities were never revealed to the accused, and a presumption of guilt. Signs of secret Judaism included not having chimney smoke on Saturdays, buying large amounts of vegetables before Passover, or purchasing meat from a Jewish butcher.
Torture was authorized and methodical. Common techniques included water torture, the rack, and strappado — suspending the accused by the wrists with weights tied to their feet, then repeatedly dropping them. Guy Fawkes's tortured signature is famous; the Inquisition's paperwork is full of them. Confessions made under torture were then required to be 'freely' confirmed the following day.
The centerpiece of Inquisition justice was the auto-da-fé — a public ceremony where sentences were read aloud and carried out. These events drew massive crowds; a 1680 auto-da-fé in Madrid celebrating King Charles II's marriage drew 50,000 spectators and condemned 118 people, mostly Jewish conversos. Unrepentant heretics were burned alive; those who confessed were sometimes strangled before burning as an act of mercy.
In 1492 — the same year Columbus sailed — Ferdinand and Isabella issued the Alhambra Decree, expelling all Jews from Spain. Estimates range from 40,000 to 100,000 people forced to leave within months, abandoning property and businesses. Those who stayed and converted — called conversos — remained under constant suspicion and surveillance for generations.
The Inquisition introduced limpieza de sangre — 'blood purity' statutes — which barred people with any Jewish or Muslim ancestry from public office, the church, military orders, and emigration to the Americas. A single Jewish great-grandparent could cost an entire family everything. The Jesuits adopted a similar rule in 1593, extending it globally.
The Spanish Inquisition operated for nearly 350 years and was not formally abolished until 1834. Over its lifetime, an estimated 150,000 people were prosecuted and between 3,000 and 5,000 were executed — most in the first 50 years under Torquemada. The blood purity statutes it created are considered a direct precursor to modern race-based antisemitism.