FREE ESSAY ON MEDIEVAL CHURCH HISTORY

MEDIEVAL CHURCH HISTORY

Medieval Church History
The Medieval period of the church was a time of growth and new understanding of the
Christian faith. However this new birth of understanding did have disadvantages.
Catholicism moved from focusing on God to helping to cleanse a nation of people.
Inquisitions were used during the decline of the Roman Empire until the Spanish
Inquisition's decline in the early 1800s. Both civil and church authorities can run an
inquisition in order to root out non-believers from a nation or religion. The Spanish
Inquisition was one of the most deadly inquisitions in history.
The Spanish Inquisition was used for both political and religious reasons. Spain is a
nation-state that was born out of religious struggle between numerous different belief
systems including Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism and Judaism. Following the Crusades
and the Reconquest of Spain by the Christian Spaniards the leaders of Spain needed a way
to unify the country into a strong nation. Ferdinand and Isabella chose Catholicism to
unite Spain and in 1478 asked permission of the pope to begin the Spanish Inquisition to
purify the people of Spain. They began by driving out Jews, Protestants and other
non-believers.1 
In 1483 Tomas de Torquemada became the inquisitor-general for most of Spain. He was
responsible for establishing the rules of inquisitorial procedure and creating branches
of the Inquisition in various cities. He remained the leader of the Spanish Inquisition
for fifteen years and is believed to be responsible for the execution of around 2,000
Spaniards. The Catholic Church and the Pope attempted to intervene in the bloody Spanish
Inquisition but were unable to wrench the extremely useful political tool from the hands
of the Spanish rulers.2
The Inquisition was run procedurally by the inquisitor-general who established local
tribunals of the Inquisition. Accused heretics were identified by the general population
and brought before the tribunal. The were given a chance to confess their heresy against
the Catholic Church and were also encouraged to indict other heretics. If they admitted
their wrongs and turned in other aggressors against the church they were either released
or sentenced to a prison penalty. If they would not admit their heresy or indict others
the accused were publicly introduced in a large ceremony before they were publicly killed
or sentenced to a life in prison. Around the 1540s the Spanish Inquisition turned its
fire on the Protestants in Spain in an attempt to further unify the nation. The Spanish
Inquisition's reign of terror was finally suppressed in 1834.1
Bibliography
1 Eliade, Mircea, Ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion. (MacMillan Publishing Co; 1990).
2 The New Encyclopedia Britannica. (Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc; 1994).