The Spanish Inquisition as a Means of Influencing the Common Sense of Citizens
The Spanish Inquisition as a Means of Influencing the Common Sense of Citizens

Summary/Abstract: Manipulation of the human mind is a topic that suggests a number of different discussions, but so far most of these have focused on the subject of crowd manipulation as if it were only a contemporary phenomenon that is carried out through the mass media. However, manipulation is a means of engaging, controlling, or influencing the desires of a crowd in order to direct their actions toward the manipulators’ best interests. It is clear that manipulation is an essential part of human nature and dates back to the founding of societies. Religion is one of the mechanisms aimed at unification of societies, and therefore unification of their supreme values, principles, and objectives. Unfortunately, there are extreme examples of the manipulation of societies by means of religion, and the Spanish Inquisition is a case in point. The objective of this paper is to draw conclusions regarding the mechanisms of domination and control over human common sense. It also aims to discover how the Inquisition restricted not only people's actions, but also their minds, and how it employed human minds to achieve not only its own goals, but also the goals of the government with which it was mutually dependent.

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