John Pemberton - Conquistadors: Searching for El Dorado: The Terrifying Spanish

When Isabella I of Castile married Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1469, two of the most powerful Kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula united to form a single mighty Catholic alliance. Espana became a reality when Ferdinand ascended the throne in 1479, five years after Isabella was crowned Queen of Castile. Formal union under a single King would have to wait until 1516 when Charles V was crowned. He technically reigned alongside his mother, Joanna The Mad, but Charles called all the shots, as his mothers alleged habit of carrying her late husbands corpse around with her was considered too eccentric even for a Spanish monarch. Nonetheless, Isabella and Ferdinand were the controllers of a Kingdom which had great military power, and one of the first targets of that power was the Moorish Emirate of Granada.

Wars between Castile and Granada had raged for many years, but in-fighting amongst Christians had prevented the Spanish Kingdoms from launching a decisive campaign in the Reconquista of lands taken by the Moors. Isabella and Ferdinand united at a time when Granada was itself suffering from violent internal conflicts, and the Spanish exploited these divisions ruthlessly. It was a lesson they would not forget when later seeking to pacify the Americas.

A surprise attack from Granada in 1481 in response to a Christian raid shattered an uneasy truce between the two sides. Ten years of brutal warfare followed before Granada finally fell, to be annexed by Castile. During those ten years, the Spanish learned much about war, particularly concerning the devastating power of heavy artillery. One hundred thousand Moors were slaughtered or enslaved: the rest were given the choice to convert to Christianity, flee Spain or die. Once Granada had been subjugated, Spain was free to pursue a more aggressive foreign policy, secure in the knowledge that she would face no more major insurrections at home.

One of those inspired by the Christian victory was the explorer Christopher Columbus, who linked his own mission with that of the Reconquista, writing to Isabella and Ferdinand:

On the second day of January I saw Your Highnesses royal banners placed by force of arms on the towers of the Alhambra and in the same month Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians and princes devoted to the holy Christian faith and the furtherance of its cause resolved to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the regions of India.

The particular brand of Christianity exported by Spain was characterised by extreme zeal and a frequent use of force. Isabella and Ferdinand had a problem: their military success and the union of their two Kingdoms had left them with a population that was a patchwork of different beliefs and cultures. In order to create a truly stable Kingdom, they had to find a way to unite their people in a shared set of beliefs. The plan was simple: they would ensure that the people of Espana were Catholic, and loyal to the Crown.

Many thousands of Jews and Muslims had been forced to convert, but there remained a suspicion that they had merely claimed to have adopted the one true faith in order to escape death or exile. A rapidly expanding network of spies reported that these supposed converts were in fact carrying out their own religious practices and ceremonies in secret. Additionally, many true Catholics had different interpretations of their faith, including beliefs considered heretical to the hardline court of the new monarchy. To ensure the orthodoxy of Christianity across their Kingdoms, Isabella and Ferdinand ordered a tribunal to be established. The Tribunal of The Holy Office of The Inquisition was to become notorious across the world for its brutality, and its more common name has since become a byword for religious intolerance and cruelty The Spanish Inquisition.

Much has been written regarding the barbarity of the Spanish Inquisition, and scholars disagree about how much of it is accurate and how much is exaggeration (it was common, in later years, to seek to demonise the Spanish, and the creation of the so-called Black Legend is discussed later on in this book). Books such as A Discovery and Plaine Declaration of sundry Subtill Practices of the Holy Inquisition of Spain by Reginaldus Gonsalvius Montanus, published in 1567, describe the cruelty of the Inquisition in graphic, eye-watering detail. This was almost certainly the work of a Protestant Spaniard, however, and he may well have chosen to embellish the facts in order to suit his own agenda.