The Spanish Inquisition was a tribunal started in 1478 in Spain. It was started by Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, with the assistance of Torquemada. During the Spanish Inquisition many people were burnt in front of crowds in the streets. In practice, the Spanish Inquisition served to consolidate power in the monarchy of the newly unified Spanish kingdom, but it achieved that end through infamously brutal methods.