WI: Spain w/o the Inquisition

Until Isabel la catolica revived it along the lines of the Aragonese inquisition, the Castilian version was sorta defunct. It went through fits and starts of being active then falling away again.

That said, the Inquisition held a stranglehold on Spanish intellect/imagination/culture until the 18th/19th centuries, long after it had died out in the rest of Europe. What if Isabel never to revive/reorganize the Castilian Inquisition - Catholic she may be and Torquemada dinning in her ear certainly wouldn't help matters, but she was also conscious of her power as sovereign. The reason for the Castilian Inquisition's impotence before Isabel was because of quarrels between the Castilian sovereign and the pope. An alternate POD might be when Inmocent VIII ordered an investigation of abuses of the practices OTL, he was told to butt out (maybe he threatens more direly).

Fernando disliked most of Isabel's pet clerics (Torquemada least of all. He only supported the Dominican when it suited his purposes to do so), either because of their extreme orthodoxy or for personal reasons (like losing out to one and not being able to appoint his bastard son to the see of Toledo when it fell vacant).

So how does a Spain without the Inquisition look/develop?
 
In such case could Protestant miniority arise in Spain just like in France? And survive at least untill Counter-reformation starts?
 
In such case could Protestant miniority arise in Spain just like in France? And survive at least untill Counter-reformation starts?
It's a bit hard to predict whether Protestants could rise without the Inquisition, though I suspect we might have seen some action in Navarre and Aragon(?). New christians would be much better off however, and both Jewish and Moorish minorities could face a more tolerant approach.
 
In such case could Protestant miniority arise in Spain just like in France? And survive at least untill Counter-reformation starts?

That would be interesting to see. Although it might go further in certain areas than others (thinking Navarre or perhaps a trading port on the coast).

It's a bit hard to predict whether Protestants could rise without the Inquisition, though I suspect we might have seen some action in Navarre and Aragon(?). New christians would be much better off however, and both Jewish and Moorish minorities could face a more tolerant approach.

How so? Fernando might've been no fan of Torquemada but he was more than willing to endorse the expulsion of the Jews to get his hands on their wealth.
Although, IIRC the departure of the Jews/Moors left a gap in the Spanish trade classes (like doctors for instance - Spanish medicine lagged decades behind the rest of Europe because of scientific restrictions (like dissecting corpses)) that wasn't properly filled in.

Probably more extrajudicial murders of crypto-Jews and crypto-Muslims.

Considering Fernando's avarice, quite possibly. I mean, just because there's no Inquisition doesn't mean Spain's gonna suddenly turn into a paradise of religious tolerance.
 
Although, IIRC the departure of the Jews/Moors left a gap in the Spanish trade classes (like doctors for instance - Spanish medicine lagged decades behind the rest of Europe because of scientific restrictions (like dissecting corpses)) that wasn't properly filled in.
This could explain sky-high infant mortality and deaths in childbirth among 16/17th Iberian royals. Half of Habsburg Queens died in childbirth, when propability of death in childbirth among pre-industrial Europeans was on average 2% for each birth. Spanish doctors were mass murderers really.
 
Beyond the usual bits about the Inquisition, we must remember why it existed.
Spain was a new country, with a large population of people with no reason to rally to the crown as they used to be enemies (Granada...) and didn't partake in the experience of the Reconquista.
The Inquisition and general religious intolerance was a way to build a unified country around the cross, a compensation for a lack of ethnic unity.
 
Beyond the usual bits about the Inquisition, we must remember why it existed.
Spain was a new country, with a large population of people with no reason to rally to the crown as they used to be enemies (Granada...) and didn't partake in the experience of the Reconquista.
The Inquisition and general religious intolerance was a way to build a unified country around the cross, a compensation for a lack of ethnic unity.

I don't recall (in spite of the thread's title) asking what if NO inquisition, simply that the WI was Isabel la Catolica doesn't reorganize it to the fearsome thing it became. Or Innocent VIII manages to put it on a Roman leash.
 
I'm wondering about Servetus being Spain's answer to Luther or Calvin? Granted, from what I can make out, it was his heterodox line on the Trinity that was the end of him (although Calvin's personal issues might have also factored in - I mean this is a guy (Calvin) that had his own stepdaughter punished/exiled for breaking one of his city laws (Jehan Cauvin is NOT my favourite reformer. He's second only to Knox on my list), but could Servetus pull off something in a non-Inquisitorial Spain?
 

Philip

Donor
I'm wondering about Servetus being Spain's answer to Luther or Calvin? .... but could Servetus pull off something in a non-Inquisitorial Spain?

Not likely. Servetus did not play well with others. Perrin's Libertines would have argued that the sky is red (or perhaps that there is no sky) if Calvin said it is blue. However, they found one point of agreement: Servetus was a heretic and should be put to death. (Of course, they disagreed on the method of execution.) Their anger at Servetus seems to driven as much by his manner and methods as his thoughts. Luther and Melanchthon detested him not just theologically but personally. I don't think Servetus could develop the following and support to lead a national reformation.

If he had a more likable, more politically astute lieutenant who could paint Servetus as a martyr....
 
Not likely. Servetus did not play well with others. Perrin's Libertines would have argued that the sky is red (or perhaps that there is no sky) if Calvin said it is blue. However, they found one point of agreement: Servetus was a heretic and should be put to death. (Of course, they disagreed on the method of execution.) Their anger at Servetus seems to driven as much by his manner and methods as his thoughts. Luther and Melanchthon detested him not just theologically but personally. I don't think Servetus could develop the following and support to lead a national reformation.

If he had a more likable, more politically astute lieutenant who could paint Servetus as a martyr....

I remembered there was some debate about what to do with him but forgot that Servetus was just one of those people that nobody liked. Thanks for reminding me.

So Servetus is a no-go then (at least theologically speaking). However as far as his work in other fields (i.e. medicine) goes would/could it have an effect on Spain's medical track record with a defanged inquisition?

I mean, granted that a POD for a relatively harmless/no inquisition would be about a generation before Servetus is born, so an alt-Miguel Servetus COULD be along the lines of Luther/Calvin. But best to keep him out of theology.

Out of curiosity, one of the accusations against Juana la Loca was that she was near heretical in her religious observances - after her marriage anyway she preferred the French/Burgundian style of worship to the dry Castilian orthodoxy, which of course didn't sit well with her mom and dad. Would there being a less powerful inquisition have an effect on how her religious observances are perceived?
 

Philip

Donor
I don't know enough about the history of medicine to say for sure, but it seems like Servetus could have made more advances (started a stronger tradition) without an inquisition.

I mean, granted that a POD for a relatively harmless/no inquisition would be about a generation before Servetus is born, so an alt-Miguel Servetus COULD be along the lines of Luther/Calvin. But best to keep him out of theology.

Nudging his personality would help. Moderating his theology could help avoid the conflicts that brought out the worst.

Would there being a less powerful inquisition have an effect on how her religious observances are perceived?

It is my understanding that she was the victim of politics. I think the perception of her observances was a symptom of that. A less intense inquisition probably won't change that.
 
I don't know enough about the history of medicine to say for sure, but it seems like Servetus could have made more advances (started a stronger tradition) without an inquisition.

Nudging his personality would help. Moderating his theology could help avoid the conflicts that brought out the worst.

Fair enough, although I don't know if Renaissance Europe is ready for a modalist-idea of a Trinity (which is what some of his defenders say of Servetus) just yet, though.

And while I'm asking, I read a lot about the Dominicans and the Franciscans in Spain, but I don't seem to see anything about the Augustinians. Were there Augustinians in Spain? Because I know there was a rivalry between the Dominicans and the Augustinians of some colour but can't remember what it was all about. Would the Spanish - if they were dominated by the Dominicans, as I suspect - have a rather terse relationship with a Reformation being caused by an Augustinian monk in far off Germany?

I think you're right with regards to Juana.

Also, how might the Jews/Moors/Moriscos fare in this less oppressive Spain? Granted, Fernando is probably still gonna be after their money, and the various sumptuary laws against them are likely to still be passed (Christian tolerance is a wonderful thing - sarcasm intended). Not to mention they're gonna be given the side-eye treatment by most Christian Spaniards (or was that because of the Inquisition). But it was a Jewish doctor who couched Fernando's father's cataracts; it was a Jew who had something to do with the running of Fernando's treasury (IIRC); Isabel's favorite, the marquesa de Bobadila was part-Moorish; Enrique IV had had a Moorish bodyguard until he had been forced to disband it. And his consorting with Moors had been part ofthe reason that he'd been seen as weak by the Christians of his realms.
 

Lusitania

Donor
One aspect is that no inquisition in Spain means that very good chance no inquisition in Portugal. That would be bad news for Ottoman Empire and Dutch republic who were two main beneficiaries of both the exodus from the Iberian Peninsula
 
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