HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INQUISITION

The Middle Ages, where everyday life never seemed to change, were replaced by The Renaissance in art, music, science, philosophy, and culture. It flourished in the 1500s with the talents of Michelangelo, de Venci, Anguissola, Raphael, Francis Bacon, Francis Drake, and a host of others. The printing press, invented in 1450, gained continental use by the time of the Renaissance. This was also a Renaissance of Christian religious practices. For centuries, the Catholic Church held sway over the countries of Europe as one entity. Weak kings presided over countries dominated by territorial princes with differing loyalties. The Catholic hierarchy had become filled with highly structured rituals and ceremonial pomp. Its central leadership was rife with graft, incredible wealth, political influence, and tightfisted control. It held a monopoly on religion. The Renaissance Era opened when Martin Luther posted his 95 theses in 1517, criticizing the practice of indulgences by the Catholic church, and the doors were flung open for an awakening. Within a decade, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, and other Protestant reformers were leading large groups of congregants away from Papal authority. The arguments put forth by the reformers and voiced in their preachings, introduced independent ideas. The most prominent ideas being, "The Bible is the sole source of faith and practice,"and "Faith without works is dead." As the two ideologies collided, Europe split into patches of Catholic and Protestant strongholds. As the Protestant Reformation spread, the Catholic church was persuaded to reform some of its most corrupt practices, but, as their power weakened, they unleashed The Inquisition. By the mid-1500s, Europe was ablaze with fighting and bloodshed. Blood was being spilled on both sides, polarizing families, friends, and principalities. In 1534, Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church and formed the Anglican Church, with himself as its head. To cement his authority, Henry raided the Catholic churches and monasteries all across England for their wealth, while slaughtering hundreds of monks. Following his death in 1547, the throne was contested, causing The War of the Roses. Finally, Mary, Henry's daughter, was crowned queen in 1553. Being a devout Catholic, Mary tried to undo everything her father did when he broke from the Catholic church. She was known as 'Bloody Mary' for putting to death hundreds of Protestants. Mary was succeeded by her sister, Elizabeth I, in 1558. Queen Elizabeth brought back her father's Protestant rule, along with stability and peace to England as Europe continued to suffer wars and oppression. She also introduced the Renaissance to England. However, with the death of Elizabeth in 1603, all this began to wane. By the time William was born in 1598, the Renaissance was reduced to infighting, wars, chaos, and death at the whim of the powerful, political, and revenge-seeking forces. Too late for William, the Protestant/Catholic century-old conflict in Europe culminated with The 30-Years War and ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The peace treaty had two parts: 1) Each prince had the right to determine the religion of his territory; and 2) Christians living in uncontrolled areas could practice their religion of choice. It was a shaky peace, at best. In the treaty, the idea of tolerance, living together despite different beliefs, was supposed to be used as a means to gain peace and prosperity. However, in most cases, brute force continued to be used to gain territory and establish dominance.

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