Preserving Trust: Strength of Contracts and Abuses of the Spanish Inquisition

Abstract The impacts of the Spanish Inquisition in Sicily were manifold, affecting politics, business, and society. Those closely associated with the Inquisition could exercise the privilegium fori by having legal issues settled in the tribunal’s court by inquisitorial judges. Waiving this privilege could guarantee to other parties to a contract that their agreement could not be overruled by the tribunal. Waiving the right to the privilegium fori was institutionalized as such a guarantee to individuals contracting business in a society disciplined by different types of justice based on multiple legal systems.