The Spanish Inquisition in Latin America

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the Spanish Inquisition of Latin America had become such a strong facet of Spanish and Latin culture that, by the late 16th century, it served to enforce social norms, as well as religious orthodoxy; nevertheless, the fundamental nature of the Inquisition remained unchanged from its Spanish origins. The author points out that the functional nature of the Spanish Inquisition, with its reliance on hearsay and the brutal sentences it dealt, made it a vehicle for slander, pain, and murder. The paper reveals that, contrary to the theme of the Inquisition condemning individuals who would today be considered innocent, or at least free of any legal entanglements, sometimes cases absolved individuals who were guilty of what today would constitute unforgivable crimes.

From the Paper:

"Marina's case is an illustrative one, because not only the nature of her heresy is reasonably rare, but also that her initial confessions illustrate what the most prevalent social taboos in Latin American colonial society were. On the day of her sixth confession, Marina admits, "She has been condemned to hell, because for fifteen years she has had a sensual temptation to the flesh, which makes her perform dishonest acts with her own hands on her shameful parts." The use of language in this passage is particularly revealing in that certain portions of the human body are associated with a feeling of shame, and that their temptation, inevitably leads to the devil and eternal damnation."

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