200 years ago, the last victim of the Spanish Inquisition died

Two hundred years ago, on July 31, 1826, the Spanish Inquisition carried out its final execution, hanging teacher Cayetano Ripoll in Valencia's market square. While the Inquisition reached its bloody peak in the 15th and 16th centuries, condemning and burning perceived heretics, Ripoll's death marked the last instance of a death sentence by this feared institution, which operated from 1478 to 1834.

Ripoll, born in 1778, was a teacher who converted to deism, an Enlightenment belief system recognizing God as the world's creator but rejecting divine intervention. After serving in the military and being captured by the French, he encountered freethinkers and embraced deism. Upon returning to Spain, he became a teacher in Valencia, known for his compassion towards animals and his unconventional teaching methods, taking students outdoors instead of confining them to a hut. His refusal of outward religious ceremony and his teachings, which suggested God could be the sun or moon, led to denunciation by neighbors.

His arrest in October 1824 occurred during the Inquisition's final years, amidst a struggle between liberal and reactionary forces. Although Napoleon had abolished the Inquisition in occupied territories, King Ferdinand VII reinstated it in 1814. Even after its official ban in 1820 during the liberal Trienio Liberal period, a tribunal continued to function in Valencia under a different name. Ripoll steadfastly refused to recant his beliefs during his nearly two-year imprisonment, resulting in his death sentence, which initially included burning, though he was ultimately hanged.