Left, a man convicted of heresy in the Spanish Inquisition; right, a nun that escaped being burned at the stake by recanting. Engraving by B. Picart, 1722.

The Spanish Inquisition was a council to combat heresy, authorized by a papal bull in 1478 and established by King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella in 1480 as responsible to the Crown, not the Church. It used secret procedures and judicial torture, and burning its victims in public ceremonials. With its independence from papal interference, the Inquisition soon became an instrument of the Spanish Crown's build-up of absolute power in the 16th and 17th century. It was finally abolished in 1834

Condemned heretics who refused to recant, as well as those who relapsed after condemnation and repentance, were turned over to the secular arm, which alone could impose the death penalty

[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1722.

1 print : engraving, with etching ; image 15 x 21.5 cm

Homme convaincu d'heresie qui s'est accusé lui même avant que d'être jugé. Religieuse, qui a évité d'être brûlée en confessant avant que d'être jugée. B. Picart sculp. dir. 1722

On the same sheet as no. 43200 (this catalogue)

Wellcome Collection 43201i