How many deaths occurred as a result of the Spanish Inquisition?

Question

Can you tell me an approximate number, and list sources?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Between 3000 and 5000 is a figure that is usually given. However this is simply an estimate of the people who went to trial and were officially executed. It does not include the ones who died as they were being tortured or were killed before they were returned to "civilization".

Answer 2

Exerpt from article:
"The Inquisition had a secular character, although the crime was heresy. Inquisitors did not have to be clerics, but they did have to be lawyers. The investigation was rule-based and carefully kept in check. And most significantly, historians have declared fraudulent a supposed Inquisition document claiming the genocide of millions of heretics.

What is documented is that 3000 to 5000 people died during the Inquisition's 350 year history. Also documented are the “Acts of Faith,” public sentencings of heretics in town squares. But the grand myth of thought control by sinister fiends has been debunked by the archival evidence. The inquisitors enjoyed a powerful position in the towns, but it was one constantly jostled by other power brokers. In the outlying areas, they were understaffed in those days it was nearly impossible for 1 or 2 inquisitors to cover the thousand-mile territory allotted to each team. In the outlying areas no one cared and no one spoke to them. As the program documents, the 3,000 to 5,000 documented executions of the Inquisition pale in comparison to the 150,000 documented witch burnings elsewhere in Europe over the same centuries."
Source: http://catholiceducation.org/articles/history/world/wh0008.html

And more articles here: http://www.catholiceducation.org/links/search.cgi?query=inquisition

Answer 3

i am not sure that any accurate # exists. the Inquisition did not "officially" end until the early 20th century! which religious murders would be included or excluded as part of the Inquisition since it technically spanned centuries?

Answer 4

Estimates range from 3,500 to 5,500. Please use the Internet to begin your research.