religion in the reigns of isabella & ferdinand Flashcards
what was becoming less acceptable in spain (especially castile)
convivencia = coexistence of christian, jews & muslims in medieval spain
what concerns were being raised
how far the conversos were practising their jewish faith/customs in secret
how did I & F want to improve the spanish church
- what needed to be done to enable this?
- improve spiritual condition of clergy & laity
- to enable this, the monarchs needed to reform education & training of clergy
what powers did the 2 monarchs gain from the pope to help reform the spanish church
- gained pope’s agreement to make all church appointments in granada & canaries (1486)
- secure some degree of nomination rights over appointment of bishops
- prevented most appeals going to pope
less successful attempts of I & F to reform spanish church
attempts to reduce legal rights of clergy
–> insist on being tried for crime before church court = improved chances of receiving lighter sentence if found guilty
attempts of I & F to improve education, training & practices of clergy
- appointed bishops who’d set a good example
- bishops required to be resident in sees & encourage reform
- some of new appointees of non-noble origin so less likely to engage in war
- new colleges set up (especially for education of higher clergy)
- number of bishops (eg. talavera, cisneros) tried to ensure measures taken against clergy for living with women, not residing at appointed post & wearing unsuitable dress
- tried to improve moral/spiritual condition of laity
–> effects were limited
limitations of I & F’s attempts to improve education, training & practices of clergy
- complaints still made in 1511 on clergy who’d obtained positions by every means apart from own merit
- situation worsened by crown who expected bishops to play active role in government service = many absent from dioceses on diplomatic & state affairs
- problems with members of 3 main orders (dominicans, franciscans & benedictines) which proved difficult to overcome
- laity resented & resisted change
some success regarding problems with members of 3 main orders
- cisneros has some success in imposing religious discipline among franciscans
- dominicans started programme of reform of own based on stricter observance of rules of the order
why did the laity resent & resist change
didn’t want to lose aspects of christianity they most enjoyed: devotion to saints, local rituals, processions & celebrations
position of jews at start of I & F reign
- weren’t particularly concerned
- minority religion
- excluded from certain positions eg. town government, army
- worked in towns & countryside eg. farmers, tradesmen
- many worked as much needed doctors
- number of jobs connected with finance (eg. tax farmers, lenders)
why did the position of jews change
fear of conversos
- pious isabella (advised by many churchmen) became susceptible to suggestions conversos weren’t true christians in beliefs/practices
- decided to introduce inquisition
who was the spanish inquisition completely under the control of
the monarchs & independent of pope/bishops
who made appointments to the inquisition
made by crown & accounts closely supervised
when did the inquisition receive papal approval & when was it introduced into castile
- received papal approval in 1478
- introduced to castile in 1480
when was the inquisition extended to aragon
1481 (with difficulty/much opposition)
reasons for the foundation of the inquisition
- religious motives
- evidence had come to crown that conversos weren’t genuine converts & still secretly practised jewish faith/kept some of customs
- fear of conversos mixed with resentment/envy (many were wealthy & they/descendants held important positions)
- some senior churchmen began to press for introduction of inquisiton (eg. torquemada) –> persuaded I & F of dangers posed by conversos which would undermine stability of country
why was there some truth behind fake conversos
- many jews forcibly converted to christianity
- most were given no adequate christian teaching
other suggested reasons for inquisition
- gain additional income
- wealthy conversos may have large estates which could be confiscated
why is it unlikely the crown made any financial gain from the inquisition
- costs of running it were high
- in some cities, caused serious economic damage as removed key people (especially in finance/trade) which led to decline in royal income
where were the first tribunals set up for the inquisition
number of towns (eg. toledo, seville)
who were the first 2 inquisitors
dominican monks
who was the first inquisitor general
tomas de torquemada
how did the inquisition work?
- those suspected of reverting to jewish practices were arrested, tried in secret & usually found guilty
- accusers weren’t named
- no means of appeal
- those found guilty could be fined, have their property confiscated, be imprisoned or burned at the stake in public
- many of guilty made to walk in public auto de fe before sentence carried out
- those burned at the stake were handed to secular authorities & walked out of city to meet their fate
define auto de fe
public ceremony at which inquisition announced its sentences for those found guilty
