The Catholic rulers of Spain persuaded Pope Sixtus IV to issue a bull authorizing them to name inquisitors for the purpose of investigating and punishing heresy. Thereafter, the State financed the Inquisition and established the procedures for its operation. A crusade to impose strict religious uniformity on the nation had begun. The institution was operated mainly by Dominican and Franciscan friars but was supervised by the monarchy.

This was a marriage of convenience between Church and State. The church wished to stamp out the threat it perceived from the thousands of Spanish Jews and Moors who had been forcibly converted to Catholicism but who were suspected of keeping their former beliefs. It would later use the same apparatus to stamp out Protestant groups that appeared in the following century.

The Inquisition also proved to be a powerful weapon for the State. It suppressed dissent, generated substantial income confiscated from its victims, and concentrated power in the hands of the monarchy. For over three centuries this fearful institution imposed its will on the Spanish people.

Torquemada​—The Most Notorious Inquisitor

In 1483, three years after the reemergence of the Inquisition in Spain, Tomás de Torquemada, a Dominican friar and ironically of Jewish descent himself, was appointed inquisitor-general. His cruelty toward suspected heretics was unsurpassed. He was praised by Pope Sixtus IV for “directing [his] zeal to those matters that contribute to the praise of God.”

The Real Face of the Inquisition

An inevitable result of the Inquisition was the fostering of greed and suspicion. Pope Sixtus IV complained that the inquisitors were showing more lust for gold than zeal for religion. Any wealthy person was in danger of being denounced, and although he might be “reconciled to the church” during the inquisitorial process, his goods would be confiscated anyway.

Others were judged posthumously, and their heirs were left penniless, sometimes on the basis of anonymous informers who would receive a percentage of the forfeited riches. The widespread use of spies and informers produced a climate of fear and suspicion. Often torture was invoked to obtain the names of “fellow heretics,” resulting in the arrest of many innocent people on the flimsiest of evidence.