OT: Spanish inquisition

[grey_wolf_c]

No: HPFGUIDX 34533

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "sing2wine" <bonnie.abrams at c...> wrote: 
> Maybe I'm just too Jewish but perhaps wizards and witches are kind of 
> like Conversos - Jews forced to convert to Christianity in 
> Inquisition Spain (they share being burned alive for not doing so...).
> They clandestinely kept their "old" practices while outwardly 
> appearing to be observant Christians...It fits the wizarding world in 
> more ways than one...
> 
> Bonnie / sing2wine
-------------

This is absolutely off-topic, but I, being Spanish, feel that I must 
explain (at least partially) the events surrounding the Jewish 
expulsion.

(We're speaking of 1492 here, around Columbus's visit to America) 
Against what most people tend to believe, Spanish inquisition DID NOT 
burn jews that resisted convertion: they were thrown out of Spain on 
"religious" reasons, as had been expulsed the arabs some months before, 
but it was the work of royalty, since the Catholic Kings (Isabel and 
Fernando) were aiming to unite Spain, and the best way to manage it was 
to unite all Christian against common enemy (it's a tired old plot, but 
it always seems to work). Since they had just finished eigth centuries 
of Spanish reconquer, the religious essay was the most handy, and they 
needed the money Jews always seem to have.

Anyway, all non-christian were forced to convert or leave. While arabs 
went South to Africa, most of the jews migrated to the North of Europe, 
or to Portugal. The Spanish inquisition didn't gain real strength until 
a few years later, with Carlos I (V of Germany) and Felipe II (sorry if 
the monarchs' names are in Spanish, I don't know what English 
historians call them), and in that time they DID kill people in the 
fire, but for more reasons than being a false convert (like speaking 
back to the inqusition, or for not doing so... just figure). We are now 
in the XVI century, and the sad history of Spanish inquisition is 
really starting.

On a side note, the Inqusition was NOT a Spanish invention: it 
originated in Italy, and every country in Western Europe had some, 
although it's in Spain were it had the most power.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my rants, and let me ask for 
forgiveness for introducing this OT theme. I know all I've said here 
could be biased education, but some research on my part of foreign 
authors seem to give a solid base to it. However, I'm no historian, and 
may had got a few facts wrong (but the basis, I hope, is correct).

Hope that helps

Grey Wolf
(He who hopes he'll not get flamed by introducing OT, or by some 
historian student with difering views on the subject)