Quizzes
Read Next
Discover
Spanish Inquisition
Suspected Protestants being tortured during the Spanish Inquisition.
auto-da-fé
public ceremony
Also known as: auto de fé, autos-da-fé
auto-da-fé, a public ceremony during which the sentences upon those brought before the Spanish Inquisition were read and after which the sentences were executed by the secular authorities. The first auto-da-fé took place at Sevilla in 1481; the last, in Mexico in 1850. The ceremonies, which became increasingly elaborate and spectacular, were normally staged in the city plaza, often in the presence of royalty. They usually comprised a lengthy procession, a solemn mass, an oath of obedience to the Inquisition, a sermon, and the reading of the sentences. The victims were most frequently apostate former Jews and former Muslims, then ...(100 of 168 words)