The Inquisition - 1478
There has always been a struggle throughout History on how much power the ruling authorities should have concerning using their authority to dictate what people should believe about God. Remember how Constantine tried to make everyone a Christian. It seems like people forgot that God has to work in a person's heart to make him or her understand the Gospel. No authority, no matter how powerful, is able to make a person worship God in a particular way.
At this time in History, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were ruling from Spain. They were devout Catholics. The made a rule that every person under their domain was to be a Roman Catholic. If a person did not accept the teachings of Roman Catholicism, that person would be punished. The is known as 'The Inquisition'. There was a similar inquisition in the 13th century.
The Inquisition was used by the authorities to scare people and make them afraid of not complying with the authorities when it came to what they believed in and how they worshiped. During this Inquisition, thousands of Jews and Muslims were made to leave Spain. Books were now being censored, and extra measures were taken to prevent the spread of the 'new learning' and 'new religious ideas'. Anyone who sought to bring reform to the church risked being tortured or killed.
This Inquisition was also a political tool. The King expected both clergy and nobles to submit to his will. King Ferdinand was now able to increase his power and eliminate his enemies.
No comments:
Post a Comment