Grand Inquisitor

Last updated
Grand Inquisitor
Inquisitor Generalis
Inquisicion espanola.svg
Appointer Monarch
Inaugural holder Tomás de Torquemada
Formation1483
Final holder Jerónimo Castillón y Salas
Abolished1820

Grand Inquisitor (Latin : Inquisitor Generalis, literally Inquisitor General or General Inquisitor) was the lead official of the Inquisition. The title usually refers to the chief inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition, even after the reunification of the inquisitions. Secretaries-general of the Roman Inquisition were often styled as Grand Inquisitor but the role and functions were different.

Contents

The Portuguese Inquisition was headed by a Grand Inquisitor, or General Inquisitor, named by the Pope but selected by the king, always from within the royal family.

The most famous Inquisitor General was the Spanish Dominican Tomás de Torquemada, who spearheaded the Spanish Inquisition.

List of Spanish Grand Inquisitors

Tomas de Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1483-1498) Torquemada.jpg
Tomás de Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1483–1498)
Diego de Deza, Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1498-1507) Diego Deza.jpg
Diego de Deza, Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1498–1507)
FromToGrand Inquisitor [1] Other positions held
14831498 Tomás de Torquemada Prior of the Dominican Convent of Santa Cruz, Segovia, 1477–1498
14991506 Diego de Deza Tavera Archbishop of Seville
15061507 Diego Ramírez de Guzmán Bishop of Catania, Bishop of Lugo

Separation of Inquisitions of Castile and Aragon

Castile

Adrian of Utrecht, Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1518-1522) Hadrian VI.jpg
Adrian of Utrecht, Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1518–1522)
FromToGrand InquisitorOther positions held
15071517 Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros Cardinal, Archbishop of Toledo

Aragon

Juan Pardo de Tavera, Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1539-1545) Cardenal Tavera.jpg
Juan Pardo de Tavera, Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1539–1545)
Fernando Nino de Guevara, Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1600-1602) Cardinal Fernando Nino de Guevara (1541-1609) MET DT854.jpg
Fernando Niño de Guevara, Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1600–1602)
Francisco Antonio de Lorenzana, Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1794-1797) El cardenal Francisco Antonio de Lorenzana (Museo del Prado).jpg
Francisco Antonio de Lorenzana, Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1794–1797)
FromToGrand InquisitorOther positions held
15071513 Juan Enguera Bishop of Vich, Bishop of Lleida, Bishop of Tortosa
15131516 Luis Mercader Escolano Bishop of Tortosa
15161517 Adrian of Utrecht Cardinal priest of Ss. Giovanni e Paolo, Bishop of Tortosa

Reunification of the Inquisitions

FromToGrand InquisitorOther positions held
15181522 Adrian of Utrecht Cardinal priest of Ss. Giovanni e Paolo, Bishop of Tortosa
15231538 Alonso Manrique de Lara Bishop of Badajoz, Archbishop of Seville, Cardinal
15391545 Juan Pardo de Tavera Archbishop of Toledo
15461546 García de Loaysa Archbishop of Seville
15471566 Fernando de Valdés y Salas Archbishop of Seville
15661572 Diego de Espinosa Bishop of Sigüenza, Bishop of Cuenca
15721572 Pedro Ponce de León Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo, Bishop of Plasencia
15731594 Gaspar de Quiroga y Vela Archbishop of Toledo
15951595 Jerónimo Manrique de Lara Bishop of Cartagena, Bishop of Ávila
15961599 Pedro de Portocarrero Bishop of Calahorra, Bishop of Cuenca
15991602 Fernando Niño de Guevara Archbishop of Seville
16021602 Juan de Zúñiga Flores Bishop of Cartagena
16031608 Juan Bautista de Acevedo Bishop of Valladolid, Patriarch of the Indias
16081618 Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas Archbishop of Toledo
16191621 Luis de Aliaga Martínez
16221626 Andrés Pacheco Bishop of Cuenca, Patriarch of the Indias
16271632 Antonio de Zapata Cisneros Archbishop of Burgos
16321643 Antonio de Sotomayor Prior of Santo Domingo
16431665 Diego de Arce y Reinoso Bishop of Tuy, Bishop of Avila, Bishop of Palencia
16651665 Pascual de Aragón Archbishop of Toledo
16661669 Juan Everardo Nithard
16691695 Diego Sarmiento de Valladares Bishop of Oviedo, Bishop of Plasencia
16951699 Juan Tomás de Rocaberti Prior of Santo Domingo, Archbishop of Valencia
16991699 Alonso Fernández de Córdoba y Aguilar Appointed Grand Inquisitor, but died before he could assume this office.
16991705 Baltasar de Mendoza y Sandoval Bishop of Segovia
17051709 Vidal Marín del Campo Archbishop of Burgos
17091710 Antonio Ibáñez de Riva Herrera Archbishop of Zaragoza, Archbishop of Toledo
17111716 Francesco del Giudice Archbishop of Monreale
17151715Felipe Antonio Gil de TaboadaCommissioned as Grand Inquisitor but did not serve.
17171717José de MolinesProclaimed in Rome, but detained by Austrians and died without serving.
17181718Felipe de ArcemendiDied without serving.
17201720 Diego de Astorga y Céspedes Archbishop of Toledo
17201733 Juan de Camargo y Angulo Bishop of Pamplona
17331740 Andrés de Orbe y Larreategui Archbishop of Valencia
17421746 Manuel Isidro Orozco Manrique de Lara Archbishop of Santiago
17461755 Francisco Pérez de Prado Bishop of Teruel
17551774 Manuel Quintano Bonifaz Titular Archbishop of Farsala
17751783 Felipe Beltrán Serrano Bishop of Salamanca
17841793 Agustín Rubin de Ceballos Bishop of Jaén
17931794 Manuel Abad y Lasierra Titular Archbishop of Selymbria
17941797 Francisco Antonio Lorenzana y Butrón Archbishop of Toledo
17971808 Ramón José de Arce y Rebollar Archbishop of Burgos
18081814Abolition of the Inquisition
18141818 Francisco Javier Mier Campillo Bishop of Almería
18181818 Cristóbal Bencomo y Rodríguez Titular Archbishop of Heraclea (position rejected by himself) [2]
18181820 Gerónimo Castillón y Salas Bishop of Tarazona

List of inquisitors-general of Portugal

Related Research Articles

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The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, but convictions of unrepentant heresy were handed over to the secular courts, which generally resulted in execution or life imprisonment. The Inquisition had its start in the 12th-century Kingdom of France, with the aim of combating religious deviation, particularly among the Cathars and the Waldensians. The inquisitorial courts from this time until the mid-15th century are together known as the Medieval Inquisition. Other groups investigated during the Medieval Inquisition, which primarily took place in France and Italy, include the Spiritual Franciscans, the Hussites, and the Beguines. Beginning in the 1250s, inquisitors were generally chosen from members of the Dominican Order, replacing the earlier practice of using local clergy as judges.

The Roman Inquisition, formally the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, was a system of partisan tribunals developed by the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church, during the second half of the 16th century, responsible for prosecuting individuals accused of a wide array of crimes according to Roman Catholic law and doctrine, relating to catholic religious life or alternative religious or secular beliefs. It was established in 1542 by the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Paul III. In the period after the Medieval Inquisition, it was one of three different manifestations of the wider Catholic Inquisition along with the Spanish Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomás de Torquemada</span> Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1420–1498)

Tomás de Torquemada, also anglicized as Thomas of Torquemada, was a Castilian Dominican friar and first Grand Inquisitor of the Tribunal of the Holy Office. The Spanish Inquisition was a group of ecclesiastical prelates that was created in 1478, and which was charged with the somewhat ill-defined task of "upholding Catholic religious orthodoxy" within the lands of the newly formed union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon. The lands of this newly formed royal union are now known as the Kingdom of Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedro de Arbués</span>

Pedro de Arbués, also known as Peter of Arbués was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and a professed Augustinian canon. He served as an official of the Spanish Inquisition until he was assassinated in the La Seo Cathedral in Zaragoza in 1485 by Jews and conversos. The veneration of him came swiftly through popular acclaim. His death greatly assisted the Inquisitor-General Tomás de Torquemada's campaign against heretics and crypto-Jews. His canonization was celebrated on 29 June 1867.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inquisitor</span> Official (usually with judicial or investigative functions) in an Inquisition

An inquisitor was an official in an inquisition – an organization or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things contrary to the doctrine or teachings of the Catholic faith. Literally, an inquisitor is one who "searches out" or "inquires". Inquisitors sought out the social networks that people used to spread heresy. There were accounts where the Inquisition could not tell who was a heretic or devout, and they were killed anyway. One of these accounts was Arnaud Amalric at the storming of Béziers. The abbot was recorded as saying “Kill them. For God knows who are his.” This brought up concern about the role the Inquisition was playing and whether or not it was a truly righteous cause.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portuguese Inquisition</span> System of tribunals enforcing Catholic orthodoxy

The Portuguese Inquisition, officially known as the General Council of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Portugal, was formally established in Portugal in 1536 at the request of its king, John III. Although Manuel I had asked for the installation of the Inquisition in 1515 to fulfill the commitment of his marriage with Maria of Aragon, it was only after his death that Pope Paul III acquiesced. In the period after the Medieval Inquisition, it was one of three different manifestations of the wider Christian Inquisition, along with the Spanish Inquisition and Roman Inquisition. The Goa Inquisition was an extension of the Portuguese Inquisition in colonial-era Portuguese India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish Inquisition</span> System of tribunals enforcing Catholic orthodoxy

The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition, was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. It began toward the end of the Reconquista and was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and to replace the Medieval Inquisition, which was under Papal control. It became the most substantive of the three different manifestations of the wider Catholic Inquisition along with the Roman Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition. The "Spanish Inquisition" may be defined broadly as operating in Spain and in all Spanish colonies and territories, which included the Canary Islands, the Kingdom of Naples, and all Spanish possessions in North America and South America. According to modern estimates, around 150,000 people were prosecuted for various offences during the three-century duration of the Spanish Inquisition, of whom between 3,000 and 5,000 were executed, approximately 2.7% of all cases. The Inquisition, however, since the creation of the American courts, never had jurisdiction over the Indians. The King of Spain ordered "that the inquisitors should never proceed against the Indians, but against the old Christians and their descendants and other persons against whom in these kingdoms of Spain it is customary to proceed".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanbenito</span> Penitential garment

Sanbenito was a penitential garment that was used especially during the Spanish Inquisition. It was similar to a scapular, either yellow with red saltires for penitent heretics or black and decorated with devils and flames for impenitent heretics to wear at an auto-da-fé.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basque witch trials</span> 17th-century process by the Spanish Inquisition against thousands of alleged witches

The Basque Witch Trials of the seventeenth century represent the last attempt at rooting out supposed witchcraft from Navarre by the Spanish Inquisition, after a series of episodes erupted during the sixteenth century following the end of military operations in the conquest of Iberian Navarre, until 1524.

Jerónimo Manrique de Lara, O. de M. was a church leader in Spain, a General Inquisitor.

Alonso de Salazar Frías has been given the epithet "The Witches’ Advocate" by historians, for his role in establishing the conviction, within the Spanish Inquisition, that accusations against supposed witches were more often rooted in dreams and fantasy than in reality, and the inquisitorial policy that witch accusations and confessions should only be given credence where there was firm, independent, corroborating evidence. He was probably the most influential figure in ensuring that those accused of witchcraft were generally not put to death in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Spain. The Spanish Inquisition was one of the first institutions in Europe to rule against the death penalty for supposed witches. Its Instructions of 1614, which embodied Salazar's ideas, were influential throughout Catholic Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fernando de Valdés y Salas</span> Spanish bishop, censor, inquisitor and politician

Fernando de Valdés y Salas, was a Spanish churchman and jurist, professor of canon law at the University of Salamanca, and later its chancellor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diego de Astorga y Céspedes</span>

Diego de Astorga y Céspedes was a Spanish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He also served as Bishop of Barcelona, Archbishop of Toledo and Grand Inquisitor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fernando Niño de Guevara</span> Cardinal, Archbishop of Seville and Spanish Grand Inquisitor

Fernando Niño de Guevara was a Spanish cardinal who was also Archbishop of Seville and Grand Inquisitor of Spain.

Antonio Ibáñez de la Riva Herrera (1635–1710) was a Spanish bishop who was Grand Inquisitor of Spain from 1709 to 1710.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesco del Giudice</span> 18th-century Roman Catholic cardinal

Francesco del Giudice was a Roman Catholic cardinal from 1690 to 1725 who also held a variety of other ecclesiastical and governmental offices.

<i>Auto-da-fé</i> Ritual of public penance imposed on condemned heretics and apostates during an Inquisition

An auto-da-fé was the ritual of public penance carried out between the 15th and 19th centuries of condemned heretics and apostates imposed by the Spanish, Portuguese, or Mexican Inquisition as punishment and enforced by civil authorities. Its most extreme form was death by burning.

Pedro de Deza (1520–1600) was a Spanish Roman Catholic cardinal and bishop.

Diego Rodríguez de Lucero was a priest and inquisitor of the Kingdom of Castile based in Córdoba between 1499 and 1507. His harsh and unjust persecutions created a reign of terror, and eventually he was removed from office.

Vidal Marín Fernández was a Spanish bishop who was Bishop of Ceuta from 1694, and later Grand Inquisitor of Spain in 1705, until his death in 1709.

References

  1. Appendix 2 to Henry Charles Lea's A History of the Inquisition of Spain
  2. "Biografía de Cristóbal Bencomo y Rodríguez". Archived from the original on 2017-06-15. Retrieved 2016-03-31.