"Gerald" <Gerald_member@newsguy.com> wrote in message
news:bk5s8b01ktm@drn.newsguy.com...
In article <bk4g5h0c79@enews3.newsguy.com>, Ed Cregger says...
Ed, i haven't found my slender book about the Spanish Inquisition but here
is
somethong on it.
http://www.catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/Dossier/1112-96/article4.html
Article
The Myth of the Spanish Inquisition
by Ellen Rice
"The Myth of the Spanish Inquisition," a 1994 BBC/A&E production, will
re-air on
the History Channel this December 3 at 10 p.m. It is a definite must-see
for
anyone who wishes to know how historians now evaluate the Spanish
Inquisition
since the opening of an investigation into the Inquisition's archives. The
special includes commentary from historians whose studies verify that the
tale
of the darkest hour of the Church was greatly fabricated.
In its brief sixty-minute presentation, "The Myth of the Spanish
Inquisition"
provides only an overview of the origins and debunking of the myths of
torture
and genocide. The documentary definitely succeeds in leaving the viewer
hungry
to know more. The long-held beliefs of the audience are sufficiently
weakened by
the testimony of experts and the expose of the making of the myth.
The Inquisition began in 1480. Spain was beginning a historic
reunification of
Aragon and Castile. The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of
Castile
created a unified Hispania not seen since Roman times. Afraid that laws
commanding the exile or conversion of Jews were thwarted by conversos,
i.e.
synagogue-going "Catholics," Ferdinand and Isabella commissioned an
investigation or Inquisition. They began the Inquisition hoping that
religious
unity would foster political unity, and other heads of state heralded
Spain's
labors for the advent of a unified Christendom. The documentary clearly
and
boldly narrates the historical context, which intimates that the Spanish
were
not acting odd by their contemporary standards.
The Inquisition Myth, which Spaniards call "The Black Legend," did not
arise in
1480. It began almost 100 years later, and exactly one year after the
Protestant
defeat at the Battle of Mühlberg at the hands of Ferdinand's grandson, the
Holy
Roman Emperor Charles V. In 1567 a fierce propaganda campaign began with
the
publication of a Protestant leaflet penned by a supposed Inquisition
victim
named Montanus. This character (Protestant of course) painted Spaniards as
barbarians who ravished women and sodomized young boys. The propagandists
soon
created "hooded fiends" who tortured their victims in horrible devices
like the
knife-filled Iron Maiden (which never was used in Spain). The BBC/A&E
special
plainly states a reason for the war of words: the Protestants fought with
words
because they could not win on the battlefield.
The Inquisition had a secular character, although the crime was heresy.
Inquisitors did not have to be clerics, but they did have to be lawyers.
The
investigation was rule-based and carefully kept in check. And most
significantly, historians have declared fraudulent a supposed Inquisition
document claiming the genocide of millions of heretics.
What is documented is that 3000 to 5000 people died during the
Inquisition's 350
year history. Also documented are the "Acts of Faith," public sentencings
of
heretics in town squares. But the grand myth of thought control by
sinister
fiends has been debunked by the archival evidence. The inquisitors enjoyed
a
powerful position in the towns, but it was one constantly jostled by other
power
brokers. In the outlying areas, they were understaffed - in those days it
was
nearly impossible for 1 or 2 inquisitors to cover the thousand-mile
territory
allotted to each team. In the outlying areas no one cared and no one spoke
to
them. As the program documents, the 3,000 to 5,000 documented executions
of the
Inquisition pale in comparison to the 150,000 documented witch burnings
elsewhere in Europe over the same centuries.
The approach is purely historical, and therefore does not delve into
ecclesial
issues surrounding religious freedom. But perhaps this is proper. Because
the
crime was heresy, the Church is implicated, but the facts show it was a
secular
event.
One facet of the Black Legend that evaporates under scrutiny in this film
is the
rumor that Philip II, son of Charles V, killed his son Don Carlos on the
advisement of the aging blind Grand Inquisitor. But without a shred of
evidence,
the legend of Don Carlos has been enshrined in a glorious opera by Verdi.
The special may be disturbing to young children. There are scenes of poor
souls
burning at the stake, and close-ups of the alleged torture devices. Scenes
depicting witches consorting with pot-bellied devils are especially
grotesque.
For kids, this is the stuff of nightmares.
Discrediting the Black Legend brings up the sticky subject of revisionism.
Re-investigating history is only invalid if it puts an agenda ahead of
reality.
The experts - once true believers in the Inquisition myth - were not out
to do a
feminist canonization of Isabella or claim that Tomas de Torquemada was a
Marxist. Henry Kamen of the Higher Council for Scientific Research in
Barcelona
said on camera that researching the Inquisition's archives "demolished the
previous image all of us (historians) had."
And the future of the Black Legend? For many it may continue to hold more
weight
than reality. There is the emotional appeal against the Church. The
dissenters
of today may easily imagine Torquemada's beady eyes as a metaphor of the
Church's "dictatorial, controlling, damning" pronouncements. The myth is
also
the easiest endorsement of the secular state: "de-faith" the state and
de-criminalize heresy. Who will be the revisionists in this case? Will the
many
follow Montanas' lead in rewriting history?
Our 20th century crisis of man playing God - usurping power over
conception,
life, and death - leaves us with no alternative but to qualify our
demythologization of the Inquisition with a reminder: 3,000 to 5,000
victims are
3,000 to 5,000 too many.
Ellen Rice is assistant to the editor of Catholic Dossier.
Thank you very much, Gerald. I will try to catch up with the film. It sounds
fascinating. I do appreciate the time and effort you have expended in
answering my request.
Ed Cregger
.
