Left, the banner of the Spanish Inquisition; right banner of the Inquisition in Goa. 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

Goa on the West Indian coast was seized in 1510 and made the Portuguese headquarter, but incorporated in the Spanish Empire in 1578

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

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

Banniere de l'Inquisition d'Espagne. Banniere de l'Inquisition de Goa. B. Picart sculp. dir. 1722. Further lettering within the print

On the same sheet as no. 43201 (this catalogue)

Wellcome Collection 43200i