The Spanish Inquisition: fewer than 4% ended at the stake

Fewer than 4% of those tried by the Inquisition ended at the stake

How many people executed by the Spanish Inquisition were actually burned alive? The figure falls short of 4% of those prosecuted, a number that clashes head-on with the popular narrative that has fueled the Black Legend for centuries. Yet the myth persists.

A recent example: a video of a foreign couple in Madrid's Plaza Mayor claimed that there "they dragged those who refused to convert to Catholicism and burned them at the stake." The Black Legend, always ready to embellish history with a touch of barbarity. However, the historical data refute that image.

Curious fact: incivil who fell into the hands of the civil courts would often declare themselves inspired by the devil so that their case would be transferred to the Inquisition. The ecclesiastical courts were, paradoxically, more lenient than the secular ones. The Inquisition, for all its censorship and control, was not the slaughterhouse it is portrayed as.

That said, some analysts criticize any softening of its role: "they say it didn't kill that many, but it caused enormous backwardness." The argument is that ideological control and the persecution of scientific dissent weighed down Spain's economic development for centuries. And some point out that the wars of religion elsewhere in Europe, such as the Thirty Years' War, caused between 4 and 8 million deaths. In that context, the Inquisition stands as a minor episode in terms of loss of life.

In the end, the Black Legend has short legs when faced with the numbers. But the Inquisition's fruta has been burning for four centuries now. And no data will put out those flames.