Question: what was the cause of the spanish inquisition

title: Spanish Inquisition
text: Many Moriscos were suspected of practising Islam in secret , and the jealousy with which they guarded the privacy of their domestic life prevented the verification of this suspicion . Initially they were not severely persecuted by the Inquisition , experiencing instead a policy of evangelization without torture , a policy not followed with those conversos who were suspected of being crypto - Jews . There were various reasons for this . Most importantly , in the kingdoms of Valencia and Aragon a large number of the Moriscos were under the jurisdiction of the nobility , and persecution would have been viewed as a frontal assault on the economic interests of this powerful social class . Still , fears ran high among the population that the Moriscos were traitorous , especially in Granada . The coast was regularly raided by Barbary pirates backed by Spain 's enemy the Ottoman Empire , and the Moriscos were suspected of aiding them .