The Inquisition of the Catholic Church — including but not limited to the Spanish Inquisition — was a campaign of unimaginable cruelty and forced conversion during the Dark Ages. Much of the terror was aimed at conversos, “crypto-Jews” who had converted to Christianity under the most extreme duress — including actual torture, and threat of torture and being burned at the stake — but were suspected of continuing to practice Judaism surreptitiously.
Quote: “The Inquisition was extremely active between 1480 and 1530. Different sources give different estimates of the number of trials and executions in this period; some estimate about 2,000 executions, based on the documentation of the autos-da-fé, the great majority being conversos of Jewish origin. [One source] offers striking statistics: 91.6% of those judged in Valencia between 1484 and 1530 and 99.3% of those judged in Barcelona between 1484 and 1505 were of Jewish origin.” — Wikipedia
Sources: Wikipedia, Jewish Virtual Library
Learn more about the Inquisition’s persecution of the Jews from the Jewish Virtual Library. >>
Watch “The Inquisition,” a fascinating documentary in the History’s Mysteries series of the History Channel. [1:28:12]. >>
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