The Beginning of the Spanish Inquisition

About the beginning of the Spanish Inquisition, the Catholic Church persecution in Europe.

1231 THE BEGINNING OF THE INQUISITION

The Inquisition was the procedure initiated by the Catholic Church to suppress heresy. In secret proceedings, anyone found to be a heretic was turned over to secular officials to be burned. This medieval Inquisition, covering mainly northern Italy and southern France, was followed by the even more barbaric Spanish Inquisition of 1483, in which 2,000 persons were burned at the stake.