John III of Portugal - Inquisition

Inquisition

The Inquisition was introduced into Portugal in 1536. As in Spain, the Inquisition was placed under the authority of the King.

The Grand Inquisitor, or General Inquisitor, was named by the Pope after being nominated by the king and he always came from within the royal family. The Grand Inquisitor would later nominate other inquisitors. In Portugal, the first Grand Inquisitor was Cardinal Henry, the king's brother (who would later himself become King).

There were Courts of the Inquisition in Lisbon, Coimbra and Évora and, from 1560 onwards, in Goa. The Goa Inquisition changed the demographics of Goa considerably. Goa was called the "Lisbon of the Far East" and trade reached a new level.

The Portuguese did not leave Goa un-developed but progressed it to modern architecture and built strong roads and bridges which have stood the test of time even till today.

The activities of the Inquisition extended to book censorship, repression and trial for divination, witchcraft and bigamy, as well as the prosecution of sexual crimes, especially sodomy. Book censorship proved to have a strong influence in Portuguese cultural evolution, serving to keep the country in ignorance and cultural backwardness.

Originally created to punish religious deviance, the Inquisition came to have influence in almost every aspect of Portuguese society: politically, culturally and socially. It did serve to spare Portugal the civil upheavals of religious warfare of the sort that occurred in France and elsewhere in Europe during the 16th century.