What is the difference between the Roman Inquisition and the Spanish Inquisition?

Answer 1

Catholic Answer

The Roman Inquisition was first employed in 1022, and later institutionalized as the Inquisition in 1231. Inquisition simply meant an inquiry that followed the procedures of Roman law, including: the accused was not permitted to confront their accusers, but they could submit a list of their enemies, whose testimony was then inadmissible. The accused was allowed to answer the charges and was sometimes allowed counsel. Torture was permitted in order to obtain a confession, but it was used sparingly, especially in heresy case. An individual accused of heresy who denied being a heretic was considered to have recanted. Defendants were often acquitted, convictions could be appealed to the pope and were sometimes overturned, and occasionally an overzealous inquisitor was removed and punished by the Holy See. The chief purpose was to weed out heresy, anyone who recanted was usually given penance, sometimes public, and of the few who were actually burned (more were burned "in effigy" then actually put to the flames), some were snatched from the flames at the last moment due to recanting. The primary purpose was to save souls, and a person who died while still confessing heresy was considered a failure to the Inquisition. The Inquisition was seen as an absolute necessity as many of the heretical movements of the Middle Ages threatened civil society entirely. The Roman Inquisition was noteworthy for its lenience. It was known as the Congregation of the Holy Office up until Vatican II, and since then has been known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, most famously headed by Cardinal Ratzinger under Pope John Paul II. Cardinal Ratzinger was known as Pope Benedict XVI later in life.

The Spanish Inquisition

The Spanish Inquisition was a different animal, it started around 1487 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella and empowered by Pope Sixtus IV. It was primarily aimed at lapsed converts from Judaism, crypto-Jews, and other apostates who secret activites were dangerous to Church and State. In other words, it had no authority over people who were not Catholics, the "Jews" who came under investigation by the Spanish Inquisition were all converts to Catholicism. Those who remained Jews were not subject to the Inquisition in any manner whatsoever. The Spanish Inquisition didn't end until 1826. The Spanish Inquisition has suffered from the propaganda of protestant England and only now the full truth is coming out, despite what you may have read about in secular histories or Monty Python's movies. Please see the links below.