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) - jordi.vidal-robert@sydney.edu.au