Historians estimate that about 3,000–5,000 people were turned over for execution by the Spanish Inquisition.
The phrase “turned over” refers to being relaxed to the secular authorities, who carried out the death sentence. Inquisitorial courts formally handled religious investigations and judgments, but the Church generally did not execute condemned prisoners itself. Those judged unrepentant or relapsed could be handed to the civil power for execution, often by burning at the stake.
The estimate is debated because the surviving records are uneven. One calculation based on prosecutions and an estimated execution rate produces roughly 3,000 deaths, while studies of regional tribunals and additional cases support a range approaching 5,000. The number is therefore best presented as an historical estimate, not a complete official total.
Most prosecutions did not end in execution. Sentences could include penance, public humiliation, flogging, exile, imprisonment, galley service, or confiscation of property. The most intense period of executions occurred during the Inquisition’s early decades, particularly in campaigns against suspected Judaizers.