Sarah Mitchell
The Catholic Church in Spain has a long history, dating back to the 1st century AD. The country has a rich religious history, with a multitude of animist and polytheistic practices, including Celtic, Greek, and Roman theologies, before the arrival of Christianity. The Catholic Church became the dominant religion in Spain, with the country spending centuries driving out the Moors during the Reconquista. The Spanish Inquisition, established in 1478, was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy and replace the Medieval Inquisition, which was under papal control. The Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, issued the Alhambra Decree in 1492, ordering the expulsion or conversion of Jews, and the Inquisition targeted those who practiced other faiths alongside Christianity. The Catholic Church and the Spanish state had a close relationship, with the Church funding the government and the monarchy controlling the selection of major officeholders. The Church also played a significant role during the Spanish Civil War, supporting the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and Catholicism was established as the state religion. Today, Spain is still a predominantly Catholic country, with 58.6% of Spaniards identifying as Catholic, although only about one-third are practicing members.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Percentage of Spaniards identifying as Catholic | 58.6% |
| Percentage of practicing Catholics | 34% |
| Percentage of cultural Catholics | 66% |
| Percentage of the Spanish population identifying as irreligious | 26% |
| Year the Catholic Church was established in Spain | 1st century AD |
| Year Catholicism became the official state religion | 1851 |
| Year Catholicism was renounced as the official state religion | 1939 |
| Year Catholicism was abolished as the state religion | 1978 |
| Year the Spanish Inquisition was established | 1478 |
| Year the Spanish Inquisition was abolished | 1834 |
| Year the Alhambra Decree was issued | 1492 |
| Year Spain became unified under Philip II | 1588 |
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What You'll Learn
The Spanish Inquisition
In practice, the Inquisition served to consolidate power in the monarchy of the newly unified Spanish kingdom, targeting those accused of heresy, alumbradismo, Protestantism, witchcraft, blasphemy, bigamy, sodomy, Freemasonry, and other alleged crimes. The Inquisition expanded to other domains under the Spanish Crown, including Southern Italy and the Americas. The Inquisition's methods were brutal and included torture, imprisonment, and execution. It is estimated that around 150,000 people were prosecuted during the three-century duration of the Spanish Inquisition, of whom between 3,000 and 5,000 were executed, mostly by burning at the stake. Other punishments included penance, public flogging, exile, galley slavery, and prison terms, often accompanied by the confiscation of all property.
A key feature of the Spanish Inquisition was the auto-da-fe, a public ceremony devised to reinforce the Church's power and the monarchy's control. During these ceremonies, the accused were paraded, sentences were read, and confessions were made, after which the guilty were turned over to civil authorities for the execution of sentences.
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Expulsion of Jews
The expulsion of Jews from Spain, also known as the Alhambra Decree, was issued on March 31, 1492, by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. The edict ordered the expulsion of practising Jews from the Crowns of Castile and Aragon and its territories and possessions by July 31, 1492. This gave Jews in Spain four months to either convert to Catholicism or leave the country. Those who chose to leave were permitted to take their belongings with them, except for gold, silver, or minted money. The punishment for any Jew who did not leave or convert by the deadline was death.
The primary purpose of the Alhambra Decree was to eliminate the influence of practising Jews on Spain's large formerly-Jewish converso New Christian population and ensure they did not revert to Judaism. Over half of Spain's Jews had already converted due to religious persecution and pogroms in the preceding centuries, and a further number chose to convert to avoid expulsion. As a result, it is estimated that out of Spain's total Jewish population of around 300,000, about half remained in Iberia as conversos, while tens of thousands emigrated to other lands such as Portugal, North Africa, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire.
The expulsion of Jews from Spain was not an isolated incident, but part of a larger trend in European history. From the 13th to the 16th centuries, there were at least 15 occasions on which Jews were expelled from various European countries. Spain's expulsion was the largest and longest-lasting in Western European history. The motivations for these expulsions varied, but in the case of Spain, historians debate whether it was primarily driven by religious or economic factors. Some argue that the expulsion was intended to keep the wealth of the Jews, but this has been contested by historians who point out that the majority of Jews who left were modest, while the richest converted and stayed.
The expulsion of Jews from Spain had significant social and
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Catholic Monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, were the first monarchs of a unified Spain. Their marriage in 1469 led to the unification of Spain, with the two crowns united within the Trastamara dynasty. The couple had seven children, including Joanna I, who became queen of the Crown of Castile in 1504.
Isabella and Ferdinand played a major role in the European colonisation of the Americas, sponsoring the first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492. That year, they also defeated Granada, the last Muslim state in Western Europe, thus completing the centuries-long Reconquista. The Alhambra Decree, issued on 31 March 1492, ordered the expulsion of Jews from Spain and its territories, giving them four months to either convert to Catholicism or leave the country. Tens of thousands of Jews emigrated to other lands, such as Portugal, North Africa, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire.
The Catholic Monarchs established the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 to complete the religious purification of the Iberian Peninsula and to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms. It allowed them to actively intervene in religious matters without the involvement of the Pope. The Inquisition ensured the orthodoxy of recent converts, with the forced conversion of Jews and Muslims to Christianity, and the expulsion of those who refused to convert.
The appellation 'Católicos' was formally conferred on the monarchs in a bull published by Pope Alexander VI in 1494, in recognition of their reconquest of Granada, their New World discoveries, and their strengthening of the Catholic Church.
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Religious Synods
The Catholic Church in Spain has a long history, dating back to the 1st century AD. While the country has witnessed a general decline in religious observance over the centuries, Catholicism remains the largest religious group in Spain, with 55.4% to 58.6% of Spaniards identifying as Catholic.
One of the earliest recorded religious synods in Spain was the Synod of Elvira (Concilium Eliberritanum in Latin, Concilio de Elvira in Spanish), which took place in what is now Granada in southern Spain. The exact date of the synod is unknown, but it is believed to have occurred in the first quarter of the 4th century, around 300–314 CE, with some sources narrowing the date down to 305–306 CE. The Synod of Elvira was convened to address issues of order, discipline, and conduct within the Christian community. It was attended by nineteen bishops and twenty-four to twenty-six presbyters, mostly from Hispania Baetica and Carthago Nova.
Eighty-one canons were recorded from the Synod of Elvira, although some may have been added later. Notably, Canon 36 forbade the use of images in churches, becoming a point of contention between Catholic and Protestant scholars after the Protestant Reformation. Canon 36 states: "It has seemed good that images should not be in churches so that what is venerated and worshiped not be painted on the walls." This canon was the first official statement on art by the Christian Church and is thus of special interest in the history of Early Christian and medieval art. Other canons, such as Canon 38, permitted lay baptism under specific conditions, while Canon 53 forbade one bishop from restoring a person excommunicated by another.
The Synod of Elvira was one of three early councils, along with the Synod of Arles (314) and the Synod of Ancyra, that laid the groundwork for the first ecumenical council. These synods played a crucial role in shaping the early Christian church in Spain and contributed to the standardization and discipline that helped Catholicism gain a foothold in the country.
From the 5th to the 7th centuries, about thirty synods were held in Toledo, the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom, to further regulate and standardize matters of discipline and liturgy, aiming for uniformity throughout the kingdom. These synods contributed to the solidification of Catholic influence in Spain, which culminated in the Reconquista, the long process by which Catholics reconquered Spain from Islamic rule by 1492.
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Christian Reconquest
The Reconquista, or the Christian Reconquest, was a series of military and cultural campaigns waged by Christian kingdoms against the Muslim kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. This period lasted from the 8th century to the 15th century, with the first victory for the Christians taking place around 718 or 722 at the Battle of Covadonga. The Reconquista culminated in 1492 with the fall of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. The Reconquista was associated with the development of a Spanish national identity and the idea of a "liberation war" against the Muslims, who were viewed as foreigners.
The Muslim conquest of Spain was never total, and when Umayyad forces invaded in the 8th century, remnants of Christian armies retreated to the northwest, founding the kingdom of Asturias. The first great success of the Reconquista was the conquest of Toledo in 1085, which had previously been the capital of the Visigoths. After their defeat, the Muslim taifas turned to the rulers of North Africa, the Almoravids, for help. In 1236, Christian Spaniards occupied Cordoba, the centre of the Caliphate, and by the end of the 13th century, the Moors controlled only territories in southern Spain.
The new Emirate of Granada was centred around the city of Granada, and it was here that Islamic Iberia held out until 1492. The two kingdoms of Castile and Aragon became dominant in Spain during the 14th century, and their constant warring eventually led to the unification of the peninsula. On 31 March 1492, Ferdinand II and Isabella I issued the Alhambra Decree, ordering the expulsion of Jews from Spain and its territories. Jews were given four months to leave or convert to Christianity, and the punishment for any Jew who did not comply by the deadline was death.
The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1478 by Ferdinand II and Isabella I to complete the religious purification of the Iberian Peninsula. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy and replace the Medieval Inquisition, which had been under papal control. The Inquisition worked largely to ensure the orthodoxy of recent converts and contributed to Spain seeing itself as the bulwark of Catholicism and doctrinal purity in the centuries that followed.
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Frequently asked questions
In 1492, Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon issued the Alhambra Decree, ordering the expulsion of Jews from Spain, giving them four months to either convert to Catholicism or leave. The monarchs also established the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms.
The Spanish Inquisition was an ecclesiastical tribunal that ensured the orthodoxy of recent converts. It had jurisdiction over baptized Christians, some of whom practised other faiths and were considered heretics by the Catholic Church. The Inquisition played a significant role in the religious purification of the Iberian Peninsula, contributing to Spain's self-perception as the bulwark of Catholicism and doctrinal purity.
The Catholic Church in Spain has a long history, dating back to the 1st century AD. The Church was closely aligned with the Spanish government, providing significant funding and influencing royal policy. The Church also supported General Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War, and under his dictatorship from 1939 to 1975, Catholicism was established as the state religion, prohibiting the practice of other faiths.
