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Latin American Inquisition and the Indigenous People in Nueva España Lee, Seong-Hun With the discovery of the American continent in 1492, the so-called “conquering of the soul” was actualized through preaching Catholicism to the indigenous people. As in Spain, the institution responsible for maintaining religious legitimacy and order in the process of preaching Catholicism was the Inquisition. Facts put aside, many consider the Inquisition in Latin America to be an institution of forced conversion and repression which utilized violence to maintain colonial control. However, the indigenous people were not the main subjects of the Inquisition as it didn’t have jurisdiction over them, nor was it found to be as strict. The Inquisition which existed in many forms after the conquest that became systemized in 1571 differs from the trials of the Old World as the indigenous people were excluded from pagan judgment. In this sense, Inquisition in Latin America should be considered in a complex manner. This article investigates Nueva España and considers the historical changes of the Inquisition in this area, reasons behind such change and its characteristics. Through this, the article demonstrates a considerable difference in Latin American Inquisition from preconceived conceptions.
