Inquisition

The Spanish Civil War had destroyed the Spanish economy- gold reserves had been wiped out, destruction from war had reduced the industrial and agricultural production capacity. Then, the outbreak of World War II caused a shortage of imported goods. The economy was in a severe state of depression for almost a decade following the end of the Civil War, as to be expected at the end of any major war. The end of World War II brought no reprieve to struggling Spain as their pro-Axis attitude made them…

treatment. They also believed in utilizing and channeling the sacred power of Catholic prayers and Church items to empower their own lives”(Garofalo 66-67). There were those even within the Catholic faith who went to the practitioners for help. The Inquisition tried to use punishments such as whippings, exile, and fines in order to discourage the practitioners. However, it did little to change minds. There was also the use of the cocoa leaf, which was seen by missionaries as a dirty leaf. It was…

The political, economic, and religious systems of the Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans created distinct societies based on the interactions experienced by each one. While there were visible differences, the groups also shared many similarities. The diverse societies learned to adapt to the environments around them and in doing so built civilizations very unique from each other. The advancements they made also led to unavoidable similarities as they began to interact with their neighbors…

In the book Nickle and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, Dr. Ehrenreich a writer decides over an expensive meal with one of her editors to try to survive with a series of lower wage jobs. Ehrenreich wrote the book in the late 1990’s as Congress was passing legislation to push people off the welfare rolls and getting them back to work. Along the journey, Ehrenreich encounters other women who are in the similar situations as the one she has placed herself into. Dr.…

The cosmos are abstract and ever changing. Knowledge expands, impacting perception. God, like the universe, is nonconcrete and perception changes between individuals. God is at once all encompassing while simultaneously minimal. God defines morality while justifying corruption. God elevates some while undermining others. The distinction between God and god lies in the circumstance or beliefs of the beholder. God in the most literal sense pertains to religion. Whether seen as a singular…

Poor nutrition, plagues, sexism, and social classes: these are only four of the prices of civilization that we, along with our ancestors, have faced. War is another major source of destruction, but also cooperation or even the creation of a new identity. War has the power to “make or break” a civilization, completely changing the course of history. No historian can ignore wars due to their influence. Merely one example of these influential wars are the Crusades. So, what is a Crusade? Depending…

In George Bernard Shaw’s play, Saint Joan, the Inquisitor fiercely orates in an attempt to denounce Joan of Arc for her then crime against European society: heresy. The Inquisitor exploits his audience, the French Clerics, through a riveting pathos-oriented speech, to stimulate their deep religious attachment, with elements of ethos to make him appear authoritative, and a vast use of logical fallacies to warp the situation into his hands, like clay on a pottery wheel, Inquisitor ceramics. The…

Martin Luther was a Catholic priest who was infamous for attempting to bring down the penitential system of the Catholic Church. He believed the hierarchy of the Catholic Church was corrupted and dishonest. An example of a fraudulence that Luther despised was the act of selling indulgences. Priests sold indulgences to people who had sinned and wanted remission. Indulgences supposedly minimised the time a soul spent in Purgatory. They were too often alike to operations and an ‘easy way out’ from…

Giving only a cursory glance, one could thumb through Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War and view it simply as a mere historical curiosity. Written about events occurring almost twenty five hundred years ago, one would assume this lengthy text could not serve any contemporary purpose. Modern mechanized arms have advanced far beyond the hoplite and chariot. Triremes more resemble a third world fishing vessel rather than an aircraft carrier or a destroyer. However, examining beyond these…

who would oppose them. For many years, anybody who spoke against the church or pope would face punishment or death. The people guilty of such behaviour were called heretics, they were tortured, exiled and cruelly executed by a body called the Inquisition. Because of this, almost…