How many people were killed in the Inquistion?

Question

Does anyone have a list of the tortures that were meted out by the Catholic Church to gain forced confessions?

It started about 1200 and lasted until ...?

Answer 1

Actually it started in the 1100's. And lasted roughly until the 1600s. Technically the office still exists, so it never totally ended.

No one knows how many died. That estimate hinges too on whether you choose to include the genocides committed against indigenous Americans by Spanish conquistadors/inquisitors. (That's probably in the hundreds of thousands alone.)

Unfortunately, the UN wasn't around at the time, so no accurate estimates exist. But it was certainly nothing less than a systematic genocide.

EDIT: One thing to keep in mind is, you'll find numbers in tens of thousands for the number of people killed in Europe alone. This does not include the number tortured. But keep in mind that the total population of the world was tiny then. 10,000 people would be a massive metropolis.

Answer 2

According to the most reliable historical records available, fewer than 4,000 people died in all the combined Inquisitions operating in all the countries where they existed. The Inquisitions incidentally were ordered by the governments of those respective countries, not by the Catholic Church. The methods used by the Inquisitions, while severe by today's standards, were not unlike the methods used by civil courts of the time. In fact, many who were accused of various crimes begged to be tried by the Inquisitions rather than by the civil courts, which would not hesitate to hang a man for stealing a chicken. The Inquisitions were far more lenient, and most who appeared before them got off with a warning.

Answer 3

I looked at your profile before I decided to answer your question. So I know what you believe and what you stand for.
During the time of the Inquisition there were no more than 95 million people on earth. It should also be noted that Protestant Reformers also had their own Inquisition.
The point I would like to make is no one can claim that the Inquisition was against God's will.The Bible itself records instances where God commanded that formal, legal inquiries--that is, inquisitions--be carried out to expose secret believers in false religions. In Deuteronomy 17,2-5 God said: "If there is found among you, within any of your towns which the Lord your God gives you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing his covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worshipped them...you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones."
May the Lord's peace be with you

Answer 4

>>How many people were killed in the Inquistion?<<

I don't know the death toll for all the Inquisitions, but the death toll for the Spanish Inquisition is estimated to be between 3 and 5 thousand, about 2% of those processed.

Answer 5

Between 3000 to 5000. The figures you have are overinflated by those of different churches who hated the Catholic church. True history gives us other figures.

Answer 6

The last research I read was about 700. The horror of it has magnified it horrendously through history. It was officially abolished in 1802 I believe.
More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition

Answer 7

About 3,000-5,000 were killed.
Millions killed by Christians? Come on.The Crusades,a response to centuries of oppression under Muslims rule,killed a few hundred thousand.It certainly wasn't millions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition

Answer 8

It ended in 1834!

It was used to ensure the control of the church on the masses & it gave the inquisitors the ability to rape any woman they wanted and then accuse her of being a witch and cutting out her tongue so she couldn't speak! Of course being accused was a death sentence!

Answer 9

About 32 thousand.

Answer 10

Gosh, who knows? But I think it's clear that the Catholic Church is responsible for a host of genocidal crimes throughout its brutal history.