Why It Lasted So Long

The Spanish Inquisition was not abolished until 1834 — it survived for 356 years. It endured because it served multiple masters. The Church used it to enforce orthodoxy. The Crown used it to consolidate power. Neighbors used it to eliminate rivals.

It pioneered techniques of surveillance, secret testimony, and systematic record-keeping that later authoritarian regimes would adopt. The Inquisition's archives survive today, filling over 5,000 volumes in Madrid.