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P31 Long-run effects of the Spanish InquisitionJordi Vidal-Robert
Department of Economics, University of Sydney
This paper
1. Analyzes if the Spanish Inquisition had long-lasting or permanent effects on Spanisheconomic development
2. Explores possible channels of such persistence: trust, social polarization, culturalchannels
The Spanish Inquisition
I The Spanish Inquisition lasted more than 300 years (1478-1834) and it carried outmore than 100,000 trials, Contreras and Henningsen (1984)
I First institution with de facto power over all Spanish territoryI Motivations of Inquisition trials
I Religion persecution at early stages of the Inquisition (crypto-moral trials)I Repression/social control of ideologies that differed from the official political establishment
I Is it comparable to other European institutions?
Spanish Inquisition Intensity0
0
0.5
.5
.51
1
11.5
1.5
1.50
0
0.5
.5
.51
1
11.5
1.5
1.51500
1500
15001600
1600
16001700
1700
17001800
1800
18001500
1500
15001600
1600
16001700
1700
17001800
1800
18001500
1500
15001600
1600
16001700
1700
17001800
1800
1800Barcelona
Barcelona
BarcelonaCordoba
Cordoba
CordobaCuenca
Cuenca
CuencaGranada
Granada
GranadaMurcia
Murcia
MurciaValencia
Valencia
ValenciaIntensity (trials/thousand inhabitants)
Inte
nsity
(tr
ials/
thou
sand
inha
bita
nts)
Intensity (trials/thousand inhabitants)year
year
yearEuropean Trial Intensity
0
0
0.5
.5
.51
1
11.5
1.5
1.50
0
0.5
.5
.51
1
11.5
1.5
1.51500
1500
15001600
1600
16001700
1700
17001800
1800
18001500
1500
15001600
1600
16001700
1700
17001800
1800
18001500
1500
15001600
1600
16001700
1700
17001800
1800
1800Estonia
Estonia
EstoniaFinland
Finland
FinlandGeneva
Geneva
GenevaHungary
Hungary
HungaryNorway
Norway
NorwayVenice
Venice
VeniceIntensity (trials/thousand inhabitants)
Inte
nsity
(tr
ials/
thou
sand
inha
bita
nts)
Intensity (trials/thousand inhabitants)year
year
year
Inquisition Trials Data (1478-1808)
I Individual trial data (35,255 trials): Barcelona, Valencia, Murcia, Cuenca and ToledoI Offender’s name, year, charges, sentence and villageI Regions (CCAA, 5) and Provinces (14)I 947 Catalan municipalities in 42 comarques (counties)
I Trial sources: Garcia Carcel (1976, 1980), Gracia Boix (1983), Vignau (1903),Blazquez Miguel (1987, 1990), Perez Ramirez (1982), Garcia Ivars (1991) andContreras (1982)
Trials in 1497
0
1 - 5
6 - 10
11 - 50
51 - 100
101 - 740
Trials in 1717
0
1 - 5
6 - 10
11 - 50
51 - 100
101 - 1502
Trials in 1515
0
1 - 5
6 - 10
11 - 50
51 - 100
101 - 911
Trials in 1787
0
1 - 5
6 - 10
11 - 50
51 - 100
101 - 1682
Trials in 1553
0
1 - 5
6 - 10
11 - 50
51 - 100
101 - 938
Trials in 1857
0
1 - 5
6 - 10
11 - 50
51 - 100
101 - 1694
Empirical strategy: Differences-in-differences
popgrowthi,t = βc + αt + γi,t Xi,t + δ inqi ∗ afteri,t + inqi + afteri,t + εi,t
I popgrowthi,t: average annual population growth at municipality i between t and t − 1I inqi: treatment group dummy (i.e. municipalities affected by the Inquisition)I afteri,t: dummy variable for the period after the first trial of the Inquisition takes place in
a municipality i ; dummy for the period the first trial occurs in a neighbour municipalityI Xi,t: vector of time-invariant variables of each municipality interacted with the set of
year fixed effects
The Spanish Inquisition and Population growth
I Negative significant effect of theInquisition on population growth after amunicipality has experienced aninquisitorial trial until the first half of the19th century.
I The Inquisition lead to a 0.11% lowerannual population growth (Averageannual population growth is 0.3 approx.)
I Controls include County FE, Year FE,Initial population, and geography variables(Altitude and ruggedness). Standarderrors clustered at the town level. . Years:1497 to 1991.
Table: Population growth and InquisitionDependent variable: Annual Population Growth (in %)
All years Before 1860 Before 1930
Inquisition x After 0.078 -0.117* -0.078(0.086) (0.064) (0.072)
Inquisition 0.036 0.065 0.073(0.074) (0.059) (0.062)
After 0.124 0.032 0.019(0.089) (0.075) (0.078)
Observations 22,343 4,732 10,238R-squared 0.180 0.129 0.115
Impact of the Inquisitionacross time
-.6-.4
-.20
.2M
argi
nal e
ffect
of t
he In
quis
ition
1 51 101 151 201 251 301Years since the first trial of the Inquisition
Predicted impact of the Inquisition across time
Impact of the Inquisition(repressive trials)
-.6-.4
-.20
.2M
argi
nal e
ffect
of t
he In
quis
ition
1 51 101 151 201 251 301Years since the first repressive trial
Predicted Impact of the Inquisition (repressive trials)
Impact of the Inquisition(crypto-moral trials)
-.4-.2
0.2
.4M
argi
nal e
ffect
of t
he In
quis
ition
1 51 101 151 201 251 301Years since the first crypto-moral trial
Predicted impact of the Inquisition (crypto-moral trials)
Alternative explanations: factors that explain inquisitorial activity and growth
I Historical economic relevanceI Distance to Roman roads (intersections),
maritime routes and ports, navigable riversI Accessibility index
I MigrationI Population growth responds to trials elsewhereI Control for number of trials in the neighbour
municipalitiesI Other economic drivers
I Distance to FranceI Distance to main rivers - location for electric and
textile industriesI Jewish historical settlements
Roman roads and accessibility
Jewish settlements
Jewish settlements in CatalunyaJewish site
Jewish Quarter
Rivers network
Robustness checks
Table: Population and Inquisition: Municipal Level (Catalonia)Dependent variable: Annual Population Growth (in %)
Accessibility Neigh. trials Dist. borders Dist. rivers Jewish settlAll years Before 1860 All years Before 1860 All years Before 1860 All years Before 1860 All years Before 1860
Inquisition x After 0.087 -0.116* 0.081 -0.117* 0.038 -0.126** 0.055 -0.131** 0.069 -0.112*(0.084) (0.064) (0.083) (0.064) (0.082) (0.063) (0.081) (0.063) (0.083) (0.064)
Inquisition 0.027 0.064 0.026 0.064 0.075 0.067 0.058 0.071 0.028 0.063(0.072) (0.059) (0.071) (0.059) (0.070) (0.058) (0.069) (0.058) (0.070) (0.059)
After 0.168* 0.038 0.154* 0.037 0.043 0.003 0.033 0.011 0.026 0.006(0.088) (0.075) (0.090) (0.075) (0.087) (0.075) (0.083) (0.074) (0.084) (0.074)
Trials (neighbours) 0.0005*** 0.0000 0.0005*** 0.0000 0.0004*** 0.0000 0 0(0.000) (0.000) (0.000) (0.000) (0.000) (0.000)
Observations 22,343 4,732 22,343 4,732 22,343 4,732 22,343 4,732 22,343 4,732R-squared 0.188 0.131 0.189 0.131 0.210 0.157 0.218 0.161 0.221 0.164
Capital Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesPopulation 1378 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesGeography Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesCounty FE Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesYear FE Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesHistoric access Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesTrials neighbour Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesBorder distances Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YesRiver distances Yes Yes Yes YesJewish settlements Yes Yes
Dependent variable: Annual Population Growth (in %)All trials Repressive trials Crypto-moral trials
All years Before 1860 All years Before 1860 All years Before 1860
Inquisition x After 0.044 -0.126** 0.055 -0.130** 0.297*** -0.016(0.082) (0.063) (0.081) (0.062) (0.112) (0.068)
Inq x After x Trials -0.0015 -0.0004 0.0022 -0.0032 -0.0057** 0.0002(0.002) (0.002) (0.004) (0.003) (0.002) (0.003)
Inquisition 0.056 0.079 0.033 0.080 -0.078 0.013(0.069) (0.058) (0.066) (0.055) (0.094) (0.059)
After 0.039 0.020 -0.177** -0.127* -0.072 0.001(0.084) (0.074) (0.077) (0.067) (0.050) (0.036)
Observations 22,318 4,726 22,318 4,726 22,318 4,726R-squared 0.219 0.162 0.219 0.163 0.219 0.161
I Crypto-moral trials do not drive the effectof the Inquisition; Repressive trials have anegative effect on growth until the mid19th century
I Jewish settlements are positivelyassociated with growth until the mid 19thcentury
Channels of persistence
I Trust: Institutions, peopleI Knowledge, culture, technological
improvementsI Attitudes towards Scientific AdvancesI Libraries and cultural centres (Ateneus Populars)
in 19th century CataloniaI Persistence of inquisitorial mind:
political polarization, voting behaviour
Inquisition, political and cultural outcomesDep. variable: Right party votes (%)1934 Existence of cultural center
All Trials Crypto-moral Repressive All Trials Crypto-moral Repressive
Number of Trials 0.048 0.110 -0.003 -0.017*** -0.037*** -0.007(0.201) (0.380) (0.424) (0.005) (0.009) (0.006)
Observations 868 868 868 308 308 308R-squared 0.092 0.130 0.092 0.352 0.389 0.314
Levels of Trust and Attitudes towards ScientificAdvances: Regional and province levels
Regional level Province levelDependent variable Trials (in 1,000) Observations Trials (in 1,000) ObservationsMistrust on Government -0.024*** 969 0.006 1,348
(0.009) (0.104)Mistrust on Parliament -0.017* 957 0.210** 2,138
(0.009) (0.088)Mistrust on Justice System 0.006 425 -0.232** 1,472
(0.012) (0.104)Mistrust on Friends 0.029 546
(0.024)Mistrust on People 0.024 551 0.0003 9,184
(0.018) (0.006)Scientific Advances -0.015*** 929 -0.014** 9,184
(0.006) (0.007)Dependent variable is the answer to the question regarding Mistrust levels. For exam-ple Mistrust level of government goes from 1-5 where 1 represents the highest level oftrust and 5 the highest mistrust level of government. Scientific advances is a dummythat is 0 if the respondent thinks scientific advances will harm in some way economicdevelopment. Control variables include year of the survey dummy, age, age square,dummy variables for educational attainment, size of the town where the respondent isliving and socio-economic status. Standard errors in parentheses.
Discussion
I Municipalities affected by the Inquisition are linked to lower population growth afterwards. Villages that suffered at least onetrial of the Inquisition grew at 0.11 percent lower rate than those that were not exposed to trials. The significance of this effectsmoothly vanishes after 1860.
I Results show significant negative associations between trials of the Inquisition and attitudes towards new technologies or thespread of culture. In particular, I show that people that living in areas with more intense levels of inquisitorial activity are morelikely to think that new technologies will harm them (4 percent more likely with a difference of 1,000 trials).
I Municipalities that experienced trials of the Inquisition were less likely to have a cultural center between 1860 and 1930.I These results suggest that the effect of the Inquisition on economic performance would have been achieved through reduced
entrepreneurship
Jordi Vidal-Robert, Department of Economics (University of Sydney) - [email protected]