Inquisition

After 1517, existing inquisitorial institutions (the Spanish Inquisition) turned their attention to dealing with the Protestant threat while new ones (Portugal, Rome, Venice) were created. Given Spain’s relative isolation geographically, the international Protestant movement had little impact so that the Spanish Inquisition tried few real Protestants. Even the victims of the show trials of 1559–1562 were mainly a motley crew of humanists and Church reformers rather than being true “Lutherans” as alleged by the prosecution.

In other parts of Catholic Europe, however, there were genuine Protestants and they did pose a danger to religious uniformity and the stability of the political structure. In those areas, inquisitorial tribunals reacted quickly and harshly. In the case of Venice, 65 percent of the cases tried between 1547 and 1585, were against Lutherans, Anabaptists and Calvinists.

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