Consejo de la Suprema y General Inquisición

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The Consejo de la Suprema y General Inquisición, (in German about: High and General Council of the Inquisition ) usually called "Suprema" for short, was created between 1483 and 1488 as the central administrative and supervisory authority of the Spanish Inquisition . It was one of several collective councils that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella set up in Castile in order to achieve more effective state administration. The Suprema was an exclusively state institution, even if the chairman, the inquisitor general appointed by the Pope , and the councilors were clergy.

Development of the Suprema

The first inquisition tribunals, which were established in Castile from 1480, worked independently of one another. The Inquisitor General, appointed in 1483 in the territories of the Crown of Castile and in the territories of the Crown of Aragon , was commissioned by the Pope to promote and monitor the inquisitors' compliance with canon law and Christian teaching. On behalf of the Crown, he was responsible for the functioning of the tribunals. This concerned the establishment of new Inquisition districts, the hiring and salary of the staff, the spatial accommodation, the administration of the confiscated goods etc. This task could not be done by a single person. It is believed that the then Inquisitor General Tomás de Torquemada, on behalf of King Ferdinand, set up the new administrative structure for the Spanish Inquisition based on the model of other "Consejos" (council bodies). The first evidence for the existence of the Consejo de la Suprema y General Inquisición comes from the year 1488. Since it was not an ecclesiastical institution, but a state body appointed by the crown, there are no letters from the Holy See to the " Suprema ". The Pope addressed himself either to the Queen and the King, the Inquisitor General, to individual Inquisitors or to the entirety of the Inquisitors of the Spanish Inquisition. In 1507 King Ferdinand set up two Consejos, one for Castile and one for Aragon. It was not until 1518, when Adrian von Utrecht was appointed General Inquisitor in the territories of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon, that they were merged again.

Tasks of the Suprema

The Consejo de la Suprema y General Inquisición was basically an advisory body that was supposed to advise and support the Inquisitor General appointed by the Pope. The distribution of tasks between the Inquisitor General and the Suprema was not clearly defined. In the more than 300 years of the institution's existence, it has never been finally clarified which matters the Suprema could handle independently and which decisions were reserved for the Inquisitor General. The Suprema therefore occupied itself, at least in an advisory capacity, with all matters that were part of the Inquisitor General's area of ​​responsibility. During the period between the death of an Inquisitor General and the assumption of office of the new one, which lasted up to a year, the Suprema, as a state organ, assumed central control over all matters of faith with which the Pope had entrusted the Inquisitor General.

Legal affairs

Supervision of the tribunals

One of the most important tasks of Suprema was the supervision of the regional tribunals. The work of these institutions was regulated by the "Instrucciones" issued by the Inquisitors General. Compliance with these basic standards was checked through visitations and the review of the procedural protocols . In order to regulate special cases of the local inquisition courts, over the course of time the Suprema increasingly issued individual instructions, which were referred to as "Cartas Acordadas". From 1632 the tribunals had to send monthly reports on their activities to the Suprema. From 1647 they were not allowed to carry out any judgment without the consent of the Consejo and not to carry out an auto-da- fe without the consent of the Inquisitor General. From the middle of the 17th century, all judgments of the local inquisition tribunals had to be confirmed by the Suprema.

The Inquisitors General were usually the only appellate body appointed by the Pope for all decisions of the tribunals of the Spanish Inquisition. In assessing the decisions of the tribunals, the Suprema advised the Inquisitor General.

Limpieza de Sangre

Since the Consejo de la Suprema y General Inquisición was informed of all judgments of the Spanish Inquisition, it was able to determine whether an ancestor of a certain person had been convicted by an inquisition court. Suprema processes the applications to determine the purity of the blood and issues the relevant documents.

Book censorship

With the increase in printed books, the censorship of banned books became a field of activity of the Consejo de la Suprema y General Inquisición. The Inquisition was not responsible for obtaining printing permits in the country, but only for assessing books printed abroad. Under the direction of Inquisitor General Fernando de Valdes, an index of forbidden books was published in 1559 .

Economic affairs

The economic issues of the Spanish Inquisition were not part of the jurisdiction that the Pope had given the Inquisitor General. Suprema took on this task as the state administrative authority. Profits and losses of the Spanish Inquisition either benefited or charged the treasury. In the initial phase in particular, there were costs associated with setting up new Inquisition districts. Buildings and equipment for the seat of the tribunals and the prisons had to be procured. The inquisitors and the other staff had to be paid. There were costs for the recovery of the confiscated goods. In return, income was generated by confiscating assets or paying fines. Some of the confiscated goods passed into the property of Suprema and were used for profit. Only in the early days of the Spanish Inquisition did income exceed expenditure.

The members of Suprema advised the Inquisitor General on the appointment of secretaries, reporters and other Suprema staff. Similar was the case with the appointment, review and recall of the inquisitors of the local tribunals and the other helpers that the local tribunals needed to deal with their affairs.

Composition of the Suprema

Inquisitor General

The Inquisitor General, appointed by the Pope on the proposal of the King, was Chairman of the Suprema.

In a brief of June 23, 1494, Pope Alexander VI appointed. Martín Ponce de León, Archbishop of Messina, Íñigo Manrique de Lara, Bishop of Córdoba, Francisco Sánchez de la Fuente, Bishop of Avila and Alfonso de la Fuente de Salce, Bishop of Mondoñedo as Inquisitors General to act with Tomás de Torquemada.

Members

At the beginning, the Suprema had four "Consejeros" (council members) or "Consiliarios" (advisors). The number increased to six in the 16th century. They were appointed by the King on the proposal of the Inquisitor General. They were often before their appointment as inquisitors of a district or in another function such as e. B. active as a fiscal department at Suprema. But people with experience in other state council bodies were also appointed members of the Consejo de la Suprema y General Inquisición.

staff

In contrast to the members, the staff were usually lay people.
The Secretario de Cámara del Rey was the liaison between the Suprema and the King.
The two Secretarios del Consejo were responsible for organizing the operations of the Suprema. A secretary who came from the territory of the Crown of Aragon was responsible for this area as well as Navarre and America. The other secretary came from the territory of the Crown of Castile and was responsible for this area.
The Fiscal de la Suprema processed the charges and prepared the charges. He looked for possible witnesses and checked the files for cases that had already been decided and which could be linked to new charges.
The Alguacil mayor was responsible for arresting the accused and for the provisional confiscation of their property.
The Receptor was an official who administered the Inquisition's income. He took care of the provisional administration of the property of the accused and later on the utilization of the property of the convicted.
The relatores were the officials who drafted the documents and reports on the basis of which the judges passed their verdicts.

literature

  • Mónica Agudo Caballero: Estudio histórico-jurídico de la Inquisición: la sentencia inquisitorial . Ed .: María del Carmen Saenz Berceo. Universidad de la Rioja, Logroño 2015 (Spanish, [8] [PDF; accessed November 1, 2019]).
  • José Antonio Escudero López: Los orígenes del Consejo de la Suprema Inquisición . In: Anuario de historia del derecho español . No. 53 , 1983, ISSN  0304-4319 , pp. 238–289 (Spanish, [9] [accessed September 15, 2019]).
  • José Antonio Escudero López: Fernando el Católico y la introducción de la Inquisición . In: Revista de la Inquisición: (intolerancia y derechos humanos) . No. 19 , 2015, ISSN  1131-5571 , p. 11–24 (Spanish, [10] [accessed January 1, 2019]).
  • Joseph Pérez: Crónica de la inquisición en España . Ediciones Martínez Roca, Barcelona 2002, ISBN 84-270-2773-7 (Spanish).
  • Gerd Schwerhoff: The Inquisition - Persecution of Heretics in the Middle Ages and Modern Times . 3. Edition. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 3-406-50840-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ José Antonio Escudero López: Los orígenes del Consejo de la Suprema Inquisición . In: Anuario de historia del derecho español . No. 53 , 1983, ISSN  0304-4319 , pp. 239 (Spanish, [1] [accessed September 15, 2019]).
  2. ↑ José Antonio Escudero López: Los orígenes del Consejo de la Suprema Inquisición . In: Anuario de historia del derecho español . No. 53 , 1983, ISSN  0304-4319 , pp. 239 (Spanish, [2] [accessed September 15, 2019]).
  3. ^ Joseph Pérez: Crónica de la inquisición en España . Ediciones Martínez Roca, Barcelona 2002, ISBN 84-270-2773-7 , p. 270 (Spanish).
  4. ^ Joseph Pérez: Crónica de la inquisición en España . Ediciones Martínez Roca, Barcelona 2002, ISBN 84-270-2773-7 , p. 268 f . (Spanish).
  5. ↑ Ana Vanessa Torrente Martínez: El proceso penal del la inquisición: a modelo histórico en la evolución del proceso penal . In: Revista jurídica de la Región de Murcia . No. 41 , 2009, ISSN  0213-4799 , p. 59 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed September 15, 2019]).
  6. ^ Mónica Agudo Caballero: Estudio histórico-jurídico de la Inquisición: la sentencia inquisitorial . Ed .: María del Carmen Saenz Berceo. Universidad de la Rioja, Logroño 2015, p. 13 (Spanish, [3] [PDF; accessed November 1, 2019]).
  7. ^ Eduardo Galván Rodríguez: Las vacantes de Inquisidor General . In: Revista de la Inquisición: (intolerancia y derechos humanos) . No. 14 , 2010, ISSN  1131-5571 , p. 59 (Spanish, [4] [accessed January 1, 2020]).
  8. ↑ Susana Cabezas Fontanilla: La carta acordada - nacimiento y consolidación de un documento inquisitorial . In: Hidalguía: la revista de genealogía, nobleza y armas . No. 294 , 2002, ISSN  0018-1285 , p. 713-726 (Spanish, [5] [accessed December 1, 2019]).
  9. ↑ Ana Vanessa Torrente Martínez: El proceso penal del la inquisición: a modelo histórico en la evolución del proceso penal . In: Revista jurídica de la Región de Murcia . No. 41 , 2009, ISSN  0213-4799 , p. 60 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed September 15, 2019]).
  10. ↑ Gerd Schwerhoff: The Inquisition - persecution of heretics in the Middle Ages and modern times . 3. Edition. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 3-406-50840-5 , p. 81 .
  11. ↑ Gerd Schwerhoff: The Inquisition - persecution of heretics in the Middle Ages and modern times . 3. Edition. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 3-406-50840-5 , p. 75 .
  12. ^ Eduardo Galván Rodríguez: El Inquisidor General y los gastos de la guerra . In: Leandro Martínez Peñas, Manuela Fernández Rodríguez (eds.): De las Navas de Tolosa a la Constitución de Cádiz. El Ejército y la guerra en la construcción del Estado . Asociación Veritas para el Estudio de la Historia, el Derecho y las Instituciones, Valladolid 2012, ISBN 978-84-615-9451-1 , p. 188 (Spanish, [6] [accessed August 1, 2019]).
  13. ↑ Ana Vanessa Torrente Martínez: El proceso penal del la inquisición: a modelo histórico en la evolución del proceso penal . In: Revista jurídica de la Región de Murcia . No. 41 , 2009, ISSN  0213-4799 , p. 53 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed September 15, 2019]).
  14. ^ Eduardo Galván Rodríguez: El Inquisidor General y los gastos de la guerra . In: Leandro Martínez Peñas, Manuela Fernández Rodríguez (eds.): De las Navas de Tolosa a la Constitución de Cádiz. El Ejército y la guerra en la construcción del Estado . Asociación Veritas para el Estudio de la Historia, el Derecho y las Instituciones, Valladolid 2012, ISBN 978-84-615-9451-1 , p. 187 (Spanish, 443 pp., [7] [accessed August 1, 2019]).
  15. ↑ José Ramón Rodríguez Besné: Consejo de la suprema inquisición, El. Perfil jurídico de una institución . Editorial Complutense, SA, Madrid 2000, ISBN 84-7491-543-0 , p. 54 (Spanish).
  16. ↑ José Ramón Rodríguez Besné: Consejo de la suprema inquisición, El. Perfil jurídico de una institución . Editorial Complutense, SA, Madrid 2000, ISBN 84-7491-543-0 , p. 61 ff . (Spanish).