Hi all, I have been doing some reading (fun book: The Human Tradition in Colonial Latin America) on the 1600's period, especially in Brazil. The readings have been clear that bureaucracy ran rampant during the inquisition, and punishments were often not that severe. It seems like it was more of a big show than a serious attempt to eliminate native religion, although of course some inquisitors were very serious.
However, I'm having a hard time finding any readings that make the argument that it was ineffective.
I would like to back up my thoughts, or have alternate evidence presented that would change my mind. Anybody know where I should look?
Cheers!
You may be hitting a wall on this because the inquisition in Latin America was, not long after its establishment, called off the task of converting population to Christianity. In fact, this is a constant mis-understanding of the role of inquisition: Church inquisition was struck to deal defensively with heresy within Catholic society, and not the proactive tending and conversion of 'pagans'. In Latin America this role was shifted (by the crown) to bishops and priests who then engaged in various tactics, including their own mini-trials, propaganda and crusades. There would be times where it would look like the inquisition, but was an entirely separate and ad hoc project and not one which adhered to the inquisition's norms of conduct.
There is a useful summary of this in the introduction of Irene Silverblatt's Modern Inquisitions: Peru and the Colonial Origins of the Civilized World (Duke University Press, 2004)