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La Inquisición Española
El profesor Kamen ha acometido la tarea de reescribir enteramente su magnum opus ofreciendonos una obra totalmente renovada y enriquecida, llamada a revolucionar los estudios sobre el Santo Oficio. De ella el profesor Richard L. Kagan ha dicho que 'tanto por su alcance como por la riqueza de su informacion, este libro es el mejor que existe sobre la Inquisicion espanola'.
359 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
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1322 people want to read
About the author
Henry Kamen
85 books64 followersHenry Kamen is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society in London and an emeritus professor of the Higher Council for Scientific Research in Barcelona.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
February 21, 2013
I have some problems with this book, but I guess I could say that if you want to learn about the Spanish Inquisition just because you are curious about it, then you could turn to Kamen. If you want a general understanding of what the Spanish Inquisition was, beyond knowing that nobody really expected it.
It is important, however, to keep in mind that this is a particular take on the Inquisition. Kamen is arguing that the whole institution has been blown up way out of proportion by slander and rumor and the Black Legend and popular culture. In reality, he argues, it was really just one institution in the bureaucracy of Spain, and not always all that powerful. It was mainly in the cities, and didn’t venture out too far into the countryside. Most people, especially in little villages, probably never had to deal with it at all. Kamen points out that while it did torture suspects, it did not resort to torture all that much, and secular institutions across Europe tortured and burned people just as much if not more. And he argues that though it banned books and censored academics, it wasn’t very effective at doing these things and so people really shouldn’t argue that it “stunted” Spain in any way.
Part of my problem with his argument is that Kamen doesn’t really get into the beginnings of the Inquisition much. He basically seems to be saying that it just kinda “happened”…the King and Queen created it as a crisis measure and it just never died. But other historians have been pretty persuasive about the pervasive anti-Semitism in Castile at the time, and the whole thing was created to persecute conversos (Jews who had converted to Christianity). So I think there is more to the beginnings than just a spiraling happenstance. I also think he underestimates the ability of an institution like this to create ongoing anxiety in a population, even if they hardly ever deal with it directly. These people spent their whole lives wondering which of their neighbors or colleagues might denounce them to the Inquisition if it ever came to town. Not just one part of their lives, they would have worried about this their WHOLE lives. And so did their kids and grandkids and great grandkids. That has to have a negative effect on a society.
It is important, however, to keep in mind that this is a particular take on the Inquisition. Kamen is arguing that the whole institution has been blown up way out of proportion by slander and rumor and the Black Legend and popular culture. In reality, he argues, it was really just one institution in the bureaucracy of Spain, and not always all that powerful. It was mainly in the cities, and didn’t venture out too far into the countryside. Most people, especially in little villages, probably never had to deal with it at all. Kamen points out that while it did torture suspects, it did not resort to torture all that much, and secular institutions across Europe tortured and burned people just as much if not more. And he argues that though it banned books and censored academics, it wasn’t very effective at doing these things and so people really shouldn’t argue that it “stunted” Spain in any way.
Part of my problem with his argument is that Kamen doesn’t really get into the beginnings of the Inquisition much. He basically seems to be saying that it just kinda “happened”…the King and Queen created it as a crisis measure and it just never died. But other historians have been pretty persuasive about the pervasive anti-Semitism in Castile at the time, and the whole thing was created to persecute conversos (Jews who had converted to Christianity). So I think there is more to the beginnings than just a spiraling happenstance. I also think he underestimates the ability of an institution like this to create ongoing anxiety in a population, even if they hardly ever deal with it directly. These people spent their whole lives wondering which of their neighbors or colleagues might denounce them to the Inquisition if it ever came to town. Not just one part of their lives, they would have worried about this their WHOLE lives. And so did their kids and grandkids and great grandkids. That has to have a negative effect on a society.
June 15, 2021
This is a very well researched study of a notorious historical event by a repected British historian. In it the author traces the Inquisition's various classes of victims. These included the conversos (recent Jewish converts to Catholicism, who composed the majority of the Inquisition's victims), followers of the humanist Erasmus, Lutherans and other Protestants (including foreigners), Moriscos (recent Muslim converts), and Catholics whom the tribunal deemed ``heretical,'' often on flimsy evidence. The history demonstrates a particular example of the treatment of "the other" in history. Notably this history provides context for assessing the "Spanish" inquisition by comparison with other examples of intolerance; in the Netherlands there was an equally brutal inquisition. The Protestant mythologizing of the Inquisition is criticized while Kamen occasionally over-relativizes the Inquisition, going so far as to say that it created no new problems for Spain. Yet the strengths of Kamen's work, which undoubtedly will prove controversial, far exceed its shortcomings. This is a well-written history of an infamous event and worth consideration by all who are interested in European or politico-religious history.
November 17, 2013
I find that I have rather mixed feelings about this book. Its flaws are obvious, yet it has profoundly influenced the way I think about the Inquisition and Early Modern history. I’m not an expert in either, and Kamen is really the one author I’ve read about Spain in this period, so I tend to fall back on what I think I know from him. And yet, so much of what he says here seems really questionable when I really analyze it. I suppose this demonstrates the danger of relying on a single source for any topic.
The book is the second major revision of Henry Kamen’s groundbreaking work on the Spanish Inquisition, first published in 1965. More than thirty years after that book, and twelve years since his 1985 revision, the author tells us that he has “been obliged to change” his views as a result of much current research, making this revision necessary for a general reader who desires an introduction to “the major scholarly themes that have dominated Inquisition studies” (xi). It should be read, he attests, as a “’state of the question’ paper”(xii), and not as a polemical monograph. The book covers in depth the early, more active centuries of the Inquisition, providing little on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, giving the reader perspective on the cultural context of the Inquisition, its operation and administration, its impact, and finally its perception in Spain and in the wider world. As it is intended for readers not broadly familiar with the literature, Kamen’s book is especially interested in challenging popular myths regarding the Inquisition’s pervasiveness, its cruelty, and its horror, and is dedicated “to all those who have helped us look more dispassionately at the Inquisition”(xii).
It is this intention of injecting a more rationally detached approach to the study of an institution famed for repression which is most striking to the lay reader. Kamen argues that the “Black Legend” of the Spanish Inquisition had its origins in anti-Bourbon Italy, in Protestant alarmism, and in post-Marian English political propaganda against Spain (308). He points out that these sources ignored the true large-scale victims of the Inquisition, namely the conversos, or people of Jewish or Muslim origin who had converted to Christianity in order to remain in post-Reconquista Spain, emphasizing groups such as Protestants or heretics, whose actual numbers in Spain were so small that the Inquisition found few to burn. Furthermore, his in-depth survey of the current scholarship finds that the Inquisition’s motivational unity, administrative effectiveness, and barbarity have been enormously over-estimated.
Kamen begins his presentation by examining the context in which the Inquisition became possible. Prior to the late fourteenth century, Spain maintained a pluralistic convivencia, or “a society of uneasy coexistance” (1), among its Christian, Jewish, and Muslim (Moorish) populations. While there would be occasional flare-ups of violence or intolerance, overall it was possible for the different religious/ethnic communities to interact. The decay of convivencia during the 1370s-1390s, and the rise of anti-Jewish violence, destroyed many traditional Jewish communities and gave rise to mass conversions, creating a new minority – the conversos, whose dedication to the faith was constantly in question. The Inquisition was first established in 1480 to hear charges against “judaizers” – those conversos who had been disingenuous in their Catholic faith, and who sought to convince other New Christians to return to Jewish practices and beliefs. He describes the first twelve years of the Inquisition as “terrible,” and rife with popular anti-Semitism, yet argues that the “benign terms” of the practice of auto-de-fe at the time led to many conversos confessing and being absolved by Inquisitors (56-57).
Kamen is clear that the decision in 1492 to expel all remaining unconverted Jews did not result from anti-Semitism on the parts of Ferdinand or Isabella, nor from a desire to rob rich Jews, nor from “racialism,” nor a desire to achieve unity of faith (26). With these usual suspects dispensed, however, it is difficult to understand what the rationale could be for such an action, which he admits originated from the Inquisition itself, or for the war against Granada or the persecution of Muslim minorities. Apparently the discovery of so much “heresy” through self-confession in the early years alarmed inquisitors, and the Inquisition could find no solution other than a mass expulsion. Kamen describes this, and the Inquisition itself as “no more than the culmination of a long period of social and political pressure directed against conversos” (61) Once this was achieved, however, the converso problem was only exacerbated, as many Jews now professed Christianity simply in order not to be expelled.
In his discussion of the impact of the Inquisition, Kamen emphasizes large-scale mass support, a small Protestant influence in Spain, and an intellectual climate free from religious restraint. The Inquisition was not the result of “the imposition of a sinister tyranny on an unwilling people” (82), but rather represented “the interests of the vast majority of the population” (67) in its persecution of the converso minority. In regions where the population was less than enthusiastic, they did “gradually come to accept it” (82), apparently without a sense of oppression. Heresy, in the form of an irrationalist illuminism, and a rationalist Protestantism, made minor incursions into Spain which panicked the inquisitors and much of the population, resulting in the growth of authority for the Holy Office to investigate and repress these tendencies. But, Kamen insists that the repression in Spain was far less severe than in other countries, and denies the Inquisition was the reason that the Reformation was checked in Spain. Unfortunately, after stating that “[t]he outdated image of an iron curtain descending on the country and cutting it off from the rest of the world, has no relation to reality” (102), Kamen never suggests any alternative reason for the lack of a Spanish Reformation. Similarly, in regard to literature and science, Kamen makes the case that it was not the Inquisition which stifled intellectual pursuits, but other features of Spanish culture. Complicating the picture, on the same page that he explains the great openness of Spain to “cultural and commercial contact” with the outside world, he also acknowledges “the unquestionably isolated state of peninsular culture” (135).
The chapters on the politics, administration and practices of the Inquisition are particularly informative. Kamen provides a map with dates for the establishment of the Inquisition in different regions of Spain, figures on prosecutions and executions, and considerable data on the day-to-day practices of the institution. Of particular interest is the description of the notorious auto-de-fe, at which the public penitence of the convicted was performed, and the faithful called upon to confess or denounce further crimes. This section includes lengthy quotations by contemporary witnesses, bringing the image of the massive events to life (there are also several plates of artists’ renditions of autos-de-fe). These chapters are among the best in the book, leaving little to criticize, although one wonders how Kamen would reconcile “the regular death rate” (187) due to severe prison conditions with his later claim that “the usually good level of prison conditions makes it clear that the tribunal had little interest in cruelty and often attempted to temper justice with mercy” (192).
Subsequent chapters discuss the fate of the Moriscos under the Inquisition, the development of a pre-Darwinian racialism under the heading of limpiezo de sangre (purity of blood), the relationship between the Inquisition and common folk practices, and the continuing story of the Inquisition against the conversos, especially in regard to renewed contact with Portuguese Jews in the seventeenth century. Particularly informative for this reader was the discussion of the prosecution of witchcraft in Spain, which Kamen maintains was mostly performed by secular authorities, and mostly far less vigorous than in other parts of Europe. He produces several contemporary quotes that demonstrate that Spanish inquisitors were highly skeptical of stories of magic and diabolism, and critical of texts like the Malleus Malificarum which tied all folk remedies to Satanic witch cults. While finding that some burnings took place in certain areas, Kamen convincingly argues that “Spain was saved from the ravages of popular witch-hysteria and witch burnings at a time when they were prevalent all over Europe” (275).
This fact, however only seems to underscore the impression one is left with that in terms of persecutions of religious and ethnic minorities, the Spanish Inquisition was not so mild or ineffective as Kamen claims. One particularly glaring moment of apologia takes place when Kamen asserts that “over long periods of time and substantial areas of the country, [the Inquisition] quite simply did nothing” (82) and supports this in a footnote with a vague, unsupported claim regarding the island of Mallorca, hardly a large region of Spain. Perhaps predictably, this book was met with considerable criticism for its flaws in academic journals, particularly by those who felt that his original 1965 study had been groundbreaking and exciting, while the revision fails to live up to that earlier standard. These scholars questioned his use of sources, as well as his choice of secondary literature, in addition to the kinds of issues raised in this review, which the present writer is unable to assess fairly. One even went so far as to compare the work to the Monty Python sketch in which inquisitors apply “the comfy chair” as a method of torture, in its apologetic attitude towards the Inquisition. Kamen’s argument is undeniably interesting, but ultimately seems to need more consistent evidentiary support to be convincing.
The book is the second major revision of Henry Kamen’s groundbreaking work on the Spanish Inquisition, first published in 1965. More than thirty years after that book, and twelve years since his 1985 revision, the author tells us that he has “been obliged to change” his views as a result of much current research, making this revision necessary for a general reader who desires an introduction to “the major scholarly themes that have dominated Inquisition studies” (xi). It should be read, he attests, as a “’state of the question’ paper”(xii), and not as a polemical monograph. The book covers in depth the early, more active centuries of the Inquisition, providing little on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, giving the reader perspective on the cultural context of the Inquisition, its operation and administration, its impact, and finally its perception in Spain and in the wider world. As it is intended for readers not broadly familiar with the literature, Kamen’s book is especially interested in challenging popular myths regarding the Inquisition’s pervasiveness, its cruelty, and its horror, and is dedicated “to all those who have helped us look more dispassionately at the Inquisition”(xii).
It is this intention of injecting a more rationally detached approach to the study of an institution famed for repression which is most striking to the lay reader. Kamen argues that the “Black Legend” of the Spanish Inquisition had its origins in anti-Bourbon Italy, in Protestant alarmism, and in post-Marian English political propaganda against Spain (308). He points out that these sources ignored the true large-scale victims of the Inquisition, namely the conversos, or people of Jewish or Muslim origin who had converted to Christianity in order to remain in post-Reconquista Spain, emphasizing groups such as Protestants or heretics, whose actual numbers in Spain were so small that the Inquisition found few to burn. Furthermore, his in-depth survey of the current scholarship finds that the Inquisition’s motivational unity, administrative effectiveness, and barbarity have been enormously over-estimated.
Kamen begins his presentation by examining the context in which the Inquisition became possible. Prior to the late fourteenth century, Spain maintained a pluralistic convivencia, or “a society of uneasy coexistance” (1), among its Christian, Jewish, and Muslim (Moorish) populations. While there would be occasional flare-ups of violence or intolerance, overall it was possible for the different religious/ethnic communities to interact. The decay of convivencia during the 1370s-1390s, and the rise of anti-Jewish violence, destroyed many traditional Jewish communities and gave rise to mass conversions, creating a new minority – the conversos, whose dedication to the faith was constantly in question. The Inquisition was first established in 1480 to hear charges against “judaizers” – those conversos who had been disingenuous in their Catholic faith, and who sought to convince other New Christians to return to Jewish practices and beliefs. He describes the first twelve years of the Inquisition as “terrible,” and rife with popular anti-Semitism, yet argues that the “benign terms” of the practice of auto-de-fe at the time led to many conversos confessing and being absolved by Inquisitors (56-57).
Kamen is clear that the decision in 1492 to expel all remaining unconverted Jews did not result from anti-Semitism on the parts of Ferdinand or Isabella, nor from a desire to rob rich Jews, nor from “racialism,” nor a desire to achieve unity of faith (26). With these usual suspects dispensed, however, it is difficult to understand what the rationale could be for such an action, which he admits originated from the Inquisition itself, or for the war against Granada or the persecution of Muslim minorities. Apparently the discovery of so much “heresy” through self-confession in the early years alarmed inquisitors, and the Inquisition could find no solution other than a mass expulsion. Kamen describes this, and the Inquisition itself as “no more than the culmination of a long period of social and political pressure directed against conversos” (61) Once this was achieved, however, the converso problem was only exacerbated, as many Jews now professed Christianity simply in order not to be expelled.
In his discussion of the impact of the Inquisition, Kamen emphasizes large-scale mass support, a small Protestant influence in Spain, and an intellectual climate free from religious restraint. The Inquisition was not the result of “the imposition of a sinister tyranny on an unwilling people” (82), but rather represented “the interests of the vast majority of the population” (67) in its persecution of the converso minority. In regions where the population was less than enthusiastic, they did “gradually come to accept it” (82), apparently without a sense of oppression. Heresy, in the form of an irrationalist illuminism, and a rationalist Protestantism, made minor incursions into Spain which panicked the inquisitors and much of the population, resulting in the growth of authority for the Holy Office to investigate and repress these tendencies. But, Kamen insists that the repression in Spain was far less severe than in other countries, and denies the Inquisition was the reason that the Reformation was checked in Spain. Unfortunately, after stating that “[t]he outdated image of an iron curtain descending on the country and cutting it off from the rest of the world, has no relation to reality” (102), Kamen never suggests any alternative reason for the lack of a Spanish Reformation. Similarly, in regard to literature and science, Kamen makes the case that it was not the Inquisition which stifled intellectual pursuits, but other features of Spanish culture. Complicating the picture, on the same page that he explains the great openness of Spain to “cultural and commercial contact” with the outside world, he also acknowledges “the unquestionably isolated state of peninsular culture” (135).
The chapters on the politics, administration and practices of the Inquisition are particularly informative. Kamen provides a map with dates for the establishment of the Inquisition in different regions of Spain, figures on prosecutions and executions, and considerable data on the day-to-day practices of the institution. Of particular interest is the description of the notorious auto-de-fe, at which the public penitence of the convicted was performed, and the faithful called upon to confess or denounce further crimes. This section includes lengthy quotations by contemporary witnesses, bringing the image of the massive events to life (there are also several plates of artists’ renditions of autos-de-fe). These chapters are among the best in the book, leaving little to criticize, although one wonders how Kamen would reconcile “the regular death rate” (187) due to severe prison conditions with his later claim that “the usually good level of prison conditions makes it clear that the tribunal had little interest in cruelty and often attempted to temper justice with mercy” (192).
Subsequent chapters discuss the fate of the Moriscos under the Inquisition, the development of a pre-Darwinian racialism under the heading of limpiezo de sangre (purity of blood), the relationship between the Inquisition and common folk practices, and the continuing story of the Inquisition against the conversos, especially in regard to renewed contact with Portuguese Jews in the seventeenth century. Particularly informative for this reader was the discussion of the prosecution of witchcraft in Spain, which Kamen maintains was mostly performed by secular authorities, and mostly far less vigorous than in other parts of Europe. He produces several contemporary quotes that demonstrate that Spanish inquisitors were highly skeptical of stories of magic and diabolism, and critical of texts like the Malleus Malificarum which tied all folk remedies to Satanic witch cults. While finding that some burnings took place in certain areas, Kamen convincingly argues that “Spain was saved from the ravages of popular witch-hysteria and witch burnings at a time when they were prevalent all over Europe” (275).
This fact, however only seems to underscore the impression one is left with that in terms of persecutions of religious and ethnic minorities, the Spanish Inquisition was not so mild or ineffective as Kamen claims. One particularly glaring moment of apologia takes place when Kamen asserts that “over long periods of time and substantial areas of the country, [the Inquisition] quite simply did nothing” (82) and supports this in a footnote with a vague, unsupported claim regarding the island of Mallorca, hardly a large region of Spain. Perhaps predictably, this book was met with considerable criticism for its flaws in academic journals, particularly by those who felt that his original 1965 study had been groundbreaking and exciting, while the revision fails to live up to that earlier standard. These scholars questioned his use of sources, as well as his choice of secondary literature, in addition to the kinds of issues raised in this review, which the present writer is unable to assess fairly. One even went so far as to compare the work to the Monty Python sketch in which inquisitors apply “the comfy chair” as a method of torture, in its apologetic attitude towards the Inquisition. Kamen’s argument is undeniably interesting, but ultimately seems to need more consistent evidentiary support to be convincing.
November 19, 2011
If you will read Miguel Delibes's "The Heretic" alone, you'll get the impression that the Spanish Inquisition may have happened only for a limited period of time in the 16th century and had victimized only those who had Protestant leanings. That would be incorrect. The first auto de fe of the Spanish Inquisition was celebrated on February 6, 1481 when six people were burnt at the stake and the sermon at the ceremony was preached by one Fray Alonso de Hojeda. Autos de fe went on being held in Spain and some of its territories for centuries, ending only sometime the early part of the 19th century when the inquisitors had ran out of people to victimize. In "The Heretic" the victims were Roman Catholics who had imbibed some Protestant beliefs. In reality, however, this type of "heretics" during the so-called "Protestant scare" in the 16th century only constituted a very small portion of those charged and punished during the Spanish Inquisition (I keep on stressing "Spanish" because Spain didn't really invent the Inquisition which was of medieval origin). Two groups of people actually bore the brunt of the sufferings brought by this barbaric period in Spanish history: the "conversos" (Jews who had converted to Roman Catholicism but would somehow still practice their former religion) and the moriscos (moslems-catholics).
Punishments vary. The severest of them was being burned at the stake. Being strangled first (via the garrote) before being burned was considered an act of mercy. "Heretics" who die and whose "heresies" are discovered posthumously can still be tried and their effigies burned at the stake. There are also life imprisonment and the perpetual wearing of the sanbenito for heretics with slightly lesser offenses ("sanbenito"- a corrupt form of the words "saco bendito", a penitential garment used in the medieval inuisition. During the Spanish inquisition a "sanbenito" was usually a yellow garment with one or two diagonal crosses imposed on it. Some were painted with flames, demons and other decorative matter.). Torture was considered a valid way of extracting confessions and their methods are also a buffet of horrors conceived in hell. Quite a fascinating read when you keep in mind that all these had evolved from the practice of a religion supposedly founded based on love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness.
And surprise of surprises, "The Heretic" is actually based on an actual historical event! Although it is doubtful if there really was a Cipriano Salcedo, some of the characters mentioned by Delibes in his novel appears to be historical, not fictive:
"Meanwhile , in northern Castile, another circle of Protestant sympathizers had come into existence. The founder was an Italian, Carlos de Seso, ...who from 1554 had been corregidor (civil governor) of Toro. His missionary zeal soon converted an influential and distinguished circle centered on Valladolid and numbering some fifty-five persons, most of noble status and some with converso origins. The most eminent of the converts was Dr. Agustin Cazalla, who had been to Germany as chaplain to Charles V and had also accompanied Prince Philip there. Cazalla was influenced by his brother Pedro--parish priest of Pedrosa, near Valladolid--and with him the whole Cazalla family, led by their mother Leonor de Vivero, fell into heresy. ...A leading member of the group, Fray Domingo de Rojas, son of the Marquis of Poza, recruited young Anna Enriquez, daughter of the Marquesa of Alcanices. He told her 'that there were only two sacraments, baptism and communion; that in communion Christ did not have the part attributed to him; and that the worst of all things was to say mass, since Christ had already been sacrificed once and for all.'
"xxx The first significant auto was held at Valladolid on Trinity Sunday, 21 May 1559, in the presence of the regent Juana and her court. Of the thirty accused, fourteen were burnt, including Cazalla and his brother and sister. The only one to die unrepentant was Francisco Herrero, from Toro. All the rest died repentant after professing conversion, among them Agustin Cazalla, who blessed the Holy Office and wept aloud for his sins. ..."
In "The Heretic" Cipriano Salcedo, the principal protagonist, also died unrepentant and, most likely in love with Anna Enriquez.
Punishments vary. The severest of them was being burned at the stake. Being strangled first (via the garrote) before being burned was considered an act of mercy. "Heretics" who die and whose "heresies" are discovered posthumously can still be tried and their effigies burned at the stake. There are also life imprisonment and the perpetual wearing of the sanbenito for heretics with slightly lesser offenses ("sanbenito"- a corrupt form of the words "saco bendito", a penitential garment used in the medieval inuisition. During the Spanish inquisition a "sanbenito" was usually a yellow garment with one or two diagonal crosses imposed on it. Some were painted with flames, demons and other decorative matter.). Torture was considered a valid way of extracting confessions and their methods are also a buffet of horrors conceived in hell. Quite a fascinating read when you keep in mind that all these had evolved from the practice of a religion supposedly founded based on love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness.
And surprise of surprises, "The Heretic" is actually based on an actual historical event! Although it is doubtful if there really was a Cipriano Salcedo, some of the characters mentioned by Delibes in his novel appears to be historical, not fictive:
"Meanwhile , in northern Castile, another circle of Protestant sympathizers had come into existence. The founder was an Italian, Carlos de Seso, ...who from 1554 had been corregidor (civil governor) of Toro. His missionary zeal soon converted an influential and distinguished circle centered on Valladolid and numbering some fifty-five persons, most of noble status and some with converso origins. The most eminent of the converts was Dr. Agustin Cazalla, who had been to Germany as chaplain to Charles V and had also accompanied Prince Philip there. Cazalla was influenced by his brother Pedro--parish priest of Pedrosa, near Valladolid--and with him the whole Cazalla family, led by their mother Leonor de Vivero, fell into heresy. ...A leading member of the group, Fray Domingo de Rojas, son of the Marquis of Poza, recruited young Anna Enriquez, daughter of the Marquesa of Alcanices. He told her 'that there were only two sacraments, baptism and communion; that in communion Christ did not have the part attributed to him; and that the worst of all things was to say mass, since Christ had already been sacrificed once and for all.'
"xxx The first significant auto was held at Valladolid on Trinity Sunday, 21 May 1559, in the presence of the regent Juana and her court. Of the thirty accused, fourteen were burnt, including Cazalla and his brother and sister. The only one to die unrepentant was Francisco Herrero, from Toro. All the rest died repentant after professing conversion, among them Agustin Cazalla, who blessed the Holy Office and wept aloud for his sins. ..."
In "The Heretic" Cipriano Salcedo, the principal protagonist, also died unrepentant and, most likely in love with Anna Enriquez.
June 24, 2017
"the malignant influence of an eye that never slumbers, an unseen arm ever raised to strike" (p. 385)
This description of the Spanish Inquisition, from W.H. Prescott, reflects the myth of the Inquisition but unfortunately for fans of historical horror novels, not the reality.
Professor Kamen, the foremost scholar on the Spanish Inquisition, does an admiral job disproving the mythology surrounding the Inquisition with this long, heavy and deep analysis. The seventy pages of endnotes reveal the extent of the scholarship which is at hand, but still the book manages to read well and maintain a decent pace as Kamen passes through the various stages of the inquisition in Spain and the various subjects surrounding it. The depth of the book is unquestionable but makes for heavy-ish scholarly reading. Whatever Professor Kamen's religion or politics, it is not evident in the book as the book routinely sides with scholarship over apologetics or polemics.
But a review of the chapters reveals the impressive scope of the book as well:
1) Faith and Doubt in the Mediterranean
2) The Great Dispersion
3) The Coming of the Inquisition
4) An Enduring Crisis
5) Excluding the Reformation
6) The Impact on Literature and Science
7) End of Moriscos in Spain
8) The Politics of Heresy
9) Crime and punishment
10) The Image and Reality of Power
11) Gender Sexuality and Witchcraft
12) Race Purity and Its Critics
13) The Religion of the People
14) Twilight of the Holy Office
15) Inventing the Inquisition
This description of the Spanish Inquisition, from W.H. Prescott, reflects the myth of the Inquisition but unfortunately for fans of historical horror novels, not the reality.
Professor Kamen, the foremost scholar on the Spanish Inquisition, does an admiral job disproving the mythology surrounding the Inquisition with this long, heavy and deep analysis. The seventy pages of endnotes reveal the extent of the scholarship which is at hand, but still the book manages to read well and maintain a decent pace as Kamen passes through the various stages of the inquisition in Spain and the various subjects surrounding it. The depth of the book is unquestionable but makes for heavy-ish scholarly reading. Whatever Professor Kamen's religion or politics, it is not evident in the book as the book routinely sides with scholarship over apologetics or polemics.
But a review of the chapters reveals the impressive scope of the book as well:
1) Faith and Doubt in the Mediterranean
Dispells the myth of the Andalusian harmony: "The communities of Christians, Jews and Muslims in Spain never lived together on the same terms, and their coexistence was always a relationship between unequals" (p. 4)
But at the same time religious fundamentialism is likewise a myth: "Spain was not, as often imagined, a society dominated exclusively by zealots." (p. 5)
2) The Great Dispersion
This chapter dispells the myths surrounding the expulsion of the Jews. After a series of riots and forced conversions, at the hands of wealthy nobels, suspicious peasants and jealous economic competitors, the Crown and Church made efforts to protect the tiny minority (2%). They were finally given the choice of conversion or expulsion, it would seem, almost by accident of history as neither the Church nor the Crown really pushed for it and the Inquisition had no authority over non-Christians.
Neither was the expulsion the decisive economic blow or demographic catastrophe often imagined. It was a policy adopted, partially out of fear of Granada and Islam, partially out of problems with the converso community, but mostly out of a desire to build a homogenous Christian community after years of civil war on the peninsula. Most prefered conversion to expulsion and even those who left frequently returned, "The Jews who returned as Christians were welcomed, and the proportion of those who returned was high. They were, the evidence suggests, given back their jobs, property and houses." (p.31)
3) The Coming of the Inquisition
This chapter deals with the first and most important wave of persecutions (of conversos), Jews who relapsed into Judaism either by accident or intentionally. The picture painted is placed in its historical context as the numbers attest and though the Inquisition is far from a bastion of enlightenment, neither is it the gestapo of later mythology. It rather comes across as something of an IRS of early modern Spain. A government department frequently at odds with the the Crown and the foreign headquartered Church, fighting to establish its own identity, authority and carve out its own space while also being used as a stepping stone for bureaucrats. Or is it something like the NSA/CIA/FBI? A police force ensuring the safety of the state (but with infinitely fewer resources). Maybe more like an anti-narcotics police force established in Columbia with the support of the USA. Maybe the SEC, dealing with specific crimes though jurisdictions overlap and authority is often in the hands of the politicians wagging the tail. All analogies inevitably fail but what emerges is not the NKVD of the Soviet Union, nor the Gestapo, but something rather less malignant verging on benign.
While it handed out death sentences for heresy at a modest rate (still too high for my modern tastes), I think Kamen could have done a better job defending the Inquisitions own position of why it was felt necessary (though he does note that it was universal practice at the time across Europe). Not that it is necessarily a defensible position, just this is one area overlooked: why was the persecution of heretics felt necessary by the vast majority of the Spanish population and Europe at large?
4) An Enduring Crisis
How did something established to deal with a specific problem (conversos) in a specific time and place survive for 350 years? Just like its founding, it would seem the answer lies somewhere between 'accident' and 'bureaucratic persistence'. Kamen notes the relative lack of opposition to something so insidious, "The majority of Spaniards had no problems about accepting the Inquisition, simple because it was not there or at least had only a marginal impact on their daily lives." (p. 75)
5) Excluding the Reformation
At the name suggests, this chapter deals with the lack of Protestants dealt with by the Inquisition, mostly because they were not in Spain in any significant number. "no more than eighty-three persons-sixty-four Spaniards and nineteen foreigners- died at the hands of the Inquisition between 1559 and 1563. The English authorities under Queen Mary had executed nearly four times as many heretics as died in Spain in the years just after 1559, the French under Henry II at least three times as many. In the Netherlands fifteen times as many had died." (p. 107)
Perhaps it should be noted that Guantanamo Bay housed three times as many 'enemies of the state' in semi-illegal conditions and through the modern lense of tolerance and purality I find both unfortunate, I also sympathise with the fear that perhaps it was necessary to avoid the catastrophes of the 30 years war, or another 911.
6) The Impact on Literature and Science
Just like prohibition, the impact of the Inquisition on Literature and Science was negligable at worst, and possibly gave insentive to read banned books (which was only peripherally related to the Inquisition as it never came up with its own Index but usually copied lists from abroad.
"The Index, for several reasons, had less impact than is often thought. First, most of the books banned in it were never even remotely in reach of the Spanish reader and had never been available in the peninsula... Second, the Index [the actual list] was large, expensive, in short supply and inevitably both imperfect and out of date...banned books continued to be on sale years after appearing...Third, the index faced shapr criticism from booksellers...Finally, the bulk of creative and scientific literature available to Spaniards never appeared in the Index." (p. 149-150)
7) End of Moriscos in Spain
This chapter could have used more than a cursory mention of the Morisco rebellions against the crown, the Barbary piracy, the Ottoman threat etc. "the huge Morisco community of Valencia. Here the military threat from the Ottoman Empire, backed up by piracy and coastal raids, made the authorities take steps to restrict and disarm Moriscos." (p. 171)
In fact, given todays cultural and political climate, this would make an interesting book. Were they really a threat? Was it paranoia? Could it be both?
8) The Politics of Heresy
This chapter I had hoped would deal with why heresy was considered a crime, but rather it dealt with the position of the Inquisition, squeezed between Church and State, belong to both and neither simultaneously though more to the State than the Church.
It deals mostly with money (how the Inquisition was financed, initially not at all, then by the Crown like any government bureau) and the use of familiars, who were not spies but people who could be called upon to help the inquisitors when they came to town. In fact, the inquisition never initiated cases but only responded to denunciations (which could be motivated by genuine concern, petty rivalry, jealousy, ignorance or more malicious intention).
The image is that of a bureaucracy stretched to the limits, understaffed, out of touch with the populace and barely able to assert itself and carve out a position in society. A far cry from the omnipresent everwatchful eye.
9) Crime and punishment
Possibly the most important chapter in debunking the myth of the Inquisition, the detailed analysis of numbers, statistics, and the descriptions of torture, punishments and executions lays waste to the myths my students usually repeat. There is simply too many interesting facts to relate them all here.
10) The Image and Reality of Power
The dangers of taking the Inquisitions claims seriously. Every bureaucracy is bound to exagerate its importance in order to maintain its position of power. The auto de fes were no exception.
11) Gender Sexuality and Witchcraft
The Inquisition, though far from perfect, did not target women nor witches and likely saved Spain from the witchcraft craze which swept Europe, though certain feminists like to advance a contrary opinion, not based on numbers but on political ideology. Men were the overwhelming number of victims, prostitutes were never targeted, bigamy was dealt with more leniently for women and witchcraft was dealth with as a mental disorder.
"Spaniards did not cower before the Church or the Inquisition. Even at the height of the Catholic Reformation in Spain, non-marital sex flourished. Prostitutes walked the streets, aristocrats had mistresses, adulterers had secret rendezvous, and men had sex with men." (p. 291)
"[witches were] simple-minded women of little intelligence, feeble and timid, most of them poor, untaught in Christian doctrine and easily deceived." (p. 292) I think the same could be said today of all the magic-gem stone stores which cater to 50something divorced women.
12) Race Purity and Its Critics
This chapter deals mostly with the conversos, though I think it would benefit by being expanded to deal with the moriscos as well. In either case, the general Spanish trend to limpieza was never universally nor even widely accepted institutionally or socially and the Inquisition seems to have had a mitigating effect.
13) The Religion of the People
Contains the best quotation of the book when describing Spanish religion:
"'Religion' ended up as an extension of social discourse rather than a system of faith; it was, in other words, what you did rather than what you believed. Religion was the center of village activity, of community feeling, of armed conflict. Rather than being only a list of beliefs and practices laid down by the Church, it was much more, the sum of inherited attitudes and rituals relating both to the invisible and the visible world." (p. 329)
Many of the cases quoted in this chapter give a funny insight into Spanish irreligion at the time.
14) Twilight of the Holy Office
Interestingly there was a flurry of activity right before the closing of the Inquisition, mostly related to Portuguese conversos who had moved to Spain and fell under the Spanish Inquisitions jurisdiction. Most of the persecuted were wealthy bankers and traders, likely denounced by other wealthy bankers and traders in an attempt to gain a competitive advantage.
15) Inventing the Inquisition
The Spanish Inquisition had few friends and no press due to the rule of secrecy. "The rule of secrecy, unfortunately, gagged the mouths of its own spokesmen and aided those of its detractors, so that for its entire career the propoganda war was won effortlessly by its enemies." (p. 390).
This allowed a rather boring bureacracy to become the subject of legends and exagerations, mostly from Protestants, and Liberals, but even in the Spanish psyche. In any case, the gap between scholarship and folklore has never been wider than with regards to the Inquisition.
March 28, 2021
Kamen did an excellent job. He is one of, if not the foremost scholar on the Spanish Inquisition not just in our time, but of all scholars that have a specialization in this subject. When the archives that had been closed off concerning the Inquisition were made available to the scholarly community, he was part of the team that was created to study and investigate the documents, a task they worked on from the mid 1970s to the late 1980s.
Kamen had written a book on the Inquisition previous to this current tome, but due to his research over the years, he had to substantially revise his understanding of the Inquisition. This book is an update to his original, with sections left untouched. It is clear that he has an overall negative opinion of the Spanish Inquisition, but he is forced to constantly defend it in very many aspects. His seeming slavery to facts brings forth a clear struggle with his opinions. I can’t help but admire a man that will go to such ends that o correct what seems a very hard pill for him to swallow. Boy, am I thankful he did! He is one of the greatest voices against the “Leyenda Negra” or “Black Legend” there is in the English language.
Those strong opinions against the Inquisition is where I differ from Kamen. He goes out of his way to mention several times that it had nothing to do with the Inquisition that Spain remained free from the Protestant cancer that tore through Europe over the centuries. He picks out all of the worst stories of the Inquisition available to relate to his audience. On the flip side, he debunks very many of the worst fake stories of the Inquisition. Throughout the book he calls all of the people tried, “victims” when I think, for the most part, “culprits” would be more accurate.
Kamen praises Llorente as a good historian of the Inquisition. This man was one of the last of the inquisitors, a Catholic priest and at first secret Freemason, who stole many documents of the Inquisition, burned those that shined a positive light on the Inquisition, and abandoned the priesthood to live off the dole of Masonic organization. He was a brigand and a scoundrel with a severe anti-Catholic agenda. As all scholars of the Inquisition, he relies much upon Lea, and Lea’s scholarship on the subject warrants this. That said, Lea was extremely biased against the Church and the Inquisition.
The author writes well, and I enjoyed the entire journey, and I look forward to reading his “Philip II” which already lies upon my bookshelf.
In ending, I must say that this was really quite a book. It is very dense, has smaller font with page margins set to maximize page space. The criticism I read in other reviews claimed it was dry, I did not find it so. Another criticism I read in some of the reviews were concerning his leniency on the Inquisition. Those criticisms are utterly baseless, and an embarrassment to those that assert Kamen’s softness on the Holy Office. It was apparent that his self correction pained him greatly, and it is the self-correction that this “leniency” criticism aims at. I do recommend this book.
Kamen had written a book on the Inquisition previous to this current tome, but due to his research over the years, he had to substantially revise his understanding of the Inquisition. This book is an update to his original, with sections left untouched. It is clear that he has an overall negative opinion of the Spanish Inquisition, but he is forced to constantly defend it in very many aspects. His seeming slavery to facts brings forth a clear struggle with his opinions. I can’t help but admire a man that will go to such ends that o correct what seems a very hard pill for him to swallow. Boy, am I thankful he did! He is one of the greatest voices against the “Leyenda Negra” or “Black Legend” there is in the English language.
Those strong opinions against the Inquisition is where I differ from Kamen. He goes out of his way to mention several times that it had nothing to do with the Inquisition that Spain remained free from the Protestant cancer that tore through Europe over the centuries. He picks out all of the worst stories of the Inquisition available to relate to his audience. On the flip side, he debunks very many of the worst fake stories of the Inquisition. Throughout the book he calls all of the people tried, “victims” when I think, for the most part, “culprits” would be more accurate.
Kamen praises Llorente as a good historian of the Inquisition. This man was one of the last of the inquisitors, a Catholic priest and at first secret Freemason, who stole many documents of the Inquisition, burned those that shined a positive light on the Inquisition, and abandoned the priesthood to live off the dole of Masonic organization. He was a brigand and a scoundrel with a severe anti-Catholic agenda. As all scholars of the Inquisition, he relies much upon Lea, and Lea’s scholarship on the subject warrants this. That said, Lea was extremely biased against the Church and the Inquisition.
The author writes well, and I enjoyed the entire journey, and I look forward to reading his “Philip II” which already lies upon my bookshelf.
In ending, I must say that this was really quite a book. It is very dense, has smaller font with page margins set to maximize page space. The criticism I read in other reviews claimed it was dry, I did not find it so. Another criticism I read in some of the reviews were concerning his leniency on the Inquisition. Those criticisms are utterly baseless, and an embarrassment to those that assert Kamen’s softness on the Holy Office. It was apparent that his self correction pained him greatly, and it is the self-correction that this “leniency” criticism aims at. I do recommend this book.
abandoned
September 23, 2017After two chapters, I'm throwing in the towel on this one. To me it seemed like undigested research. After a clear introduction, Kamen disappears into a forest of quotes, statistics, and other primary sources, without a clear narrative line to guide you through it.
I suppose he is making the point that the Inquisition was not monolithic or simple; but he shies away so completely from generalizations that I wasn't able to retain anything. For example, in his chapter on the expulsion of the Jews, he gives information about how the Jews were treated in various cities, their various professions in different parts of the realm, various attitudes towards the Jews among the royalty, the church, and the nobles, and various statistics on how many converted and how many fled the country. But the most interesting question—namely, why was the expulsion order given in the first place?—is not clearly or satisfactorily explained.
It's possible the book gets better after the first couple chapters, but for now I'll seek greener pastures.
I suppose he is making the point that the Inquisition was not monolithic or simple; but he shies away so completely from generalizations that I wasn't able to retain anything. For example, in his chapter on the expulsion of the Jews, he gives information about how the Jews were treated in various cities, their various professions in different parts of the realm, various attitudes towards the Jews among the royalty, the church, and the nobles, and various statistics on how many converted and how many fled the country. But the most interesting question—namely, why was the expulsion order given in the first place?—is not clearly or satisfactorily explained.
It's possible the book gets better after the first couple chapters, but for now I'll seek greener pastures.
March 10, 2024
I was originally going to give this book one star because I was required to read this for a class, but changed my mind after realizing how captivating it was. Henry Kamen gives a detailed history of the Spanish Inquisition and how Spanish society functioned before and during its establishment. Kamen's writing is consistent and exciting, leading me to fully understand all concepts he offers, unlike other history books I've read. I took one star off because at times it felt as if Kamen was yapping about something that wasn't relevant to the topic at hand.
March 8, 2021
Ugh, don't bother reading this book unless you're doing research.
A slog to read, lacks any art of storytelling.
Chapters broken up by topic (politics, literature, racialism, etc.) makes for a disjointed telling. Example: Duke of Olivares is discussed in p.250-252 as critical of limpieza de sangre ('purity of blood' from Semitic ancestry), but not until p,291 is Olivares' opposition to limpieza connected to his economic motivation.
At the end of the day this books comes off as an apologia, the Spanish Inquisition really wasn't so bad, not so many people were killed, there really wasn't so much torture as thought & the torture wasn't really all that bad... "in general the Holy Office was both lenient and tolerant (p. 278)." In fact, "Such lenient verdicts [of the Spanish Inquisition] would have been unthinkable in other European countries (p.275)." There was no financial motivation, except for that confiscations and fines maintained the office. It had very limited affect, but also, by the 1700s, miraculously, "heretics had been purged out of existence," because it's totally believable that in the 1700s no one was making blasphemous oaths any more, no inappropriate sexual advances were made, no one would dare to eat meat on Fridays, and everyone universally went to mass.
Also, forget about the Muslims. They weren't really of much consequence, right?
A slog to read, lacks any art of storytelling.
Chapters broken up by topic (politics, literature, racialism, etc.) makes for a disjointed telling. Example: Duke of Olivares is discussed in p.250-252 as critical of limpieza de sangre ('purity of blood' from Semitic ancestry), but not until p,291 is Olivares' opposition to limpieza connected to his economic motivation.
At the end of the day this books comes off as an apologia, the Spanish Inquisition really wasn't so bad, not so many people were killed, there really wasn't so much torture as thought & the torture wasn't really all that bad... "in general the Holy Office was both lenient and tolerant (p. 278)." In fact, "Such lenient verdicts [of the Spanish Inquisition] would have been unthinkable in other European countries (p.275)." There was no financial motivation, except for that confiscations and fines maintained the office. It had very limited affect, but also, by the 1700s, miraculously, "heretics had been purged out of existence," because it's totally believable that in the 1700s no one was making blasphemous oaths any more, no inappropriate sexual advances were made, no one would dare to eat meat on Fridays, and everyone universally went to mass.
Also, forget about the Muslims. They weren't really of much consequence, right?
November 21, 2014
According to Henry Kamen, everything you think you learned about the Spanish Inquisition is probably wrong, and he makes a convincing argument to that effect. Without downplaying the actual harm that it caused, he grounds the Inquisition in the religious and political world of the Renaissance/Reformation/Counter-Reformation and makes it clear that it was very much a reflection of the times. More significantly, it was hardly the worst such vehicle in Europe at the time.
Another key element of Kamen's account is the way he looks at the public's reaction to the Inquisition. It was not an atmosphere of overwhelming fear, nor of whole-hearted support. The way in which different communities and regions reacted to the demands of the Inquisition offer significant lessons to modern readers on ways to build resilient communities.
Another key element of Kamen's account is the way he looks at the public's reaction to the Inquisition. It was not an atmosphere of overwhelming fear, nor of whole-hearted support. The way in which different communities and regions reacted to the demands of the Inquisition offer significant lessons to modern readers on ways to build resilient communities.
September 13, 2012
I had this sitting on my shelf for a full decade and maybe I should have just left it there. Kamen basically argues that just because the Spanish Inquisition wasn't as chock-full of torture as caricaturish propaganda (and Monty Python sketches) would have us believe, that it wasn't really so bad after all. In fact, he even dares to say it arose out of a "national emergency" -- what emergency would that be? The existence of Jews and Muslims? Deeply disappointing and not even particularly well written.
April 8, 2012
Written in a non-pedantic style, this comprehensive history of the Spanish Inquisition is easily understandable and an enjoyment to read. Overall, Kamen does an impressive job of integrating rich detail into his description of all aspects of the Inquisition.
January 1, 2013
A great place to start for anyone who is interested in the real history behind the caricature.
November 18, 2021
I wish I loved anything as much as he loved making excuses for genocide, torture, & religious terrorism.
April 1, 2021
Es un estudio bastante equilibrado de lo que fue la Inquisición.
Kamen pone de presente varios abusos cometidos por la Inquisición, pero siempre desmontando varios mitos en el camino. Mitos como la tortura, las cifras exageradísimas de víctimas que se le atribuyen, ser la decadencia de las letras y las ciencias, entre otros. Mitos que, al fin y al cabo, siguen persistiendo en el imaginario popular y cuyos orígenes se remontan a un odio antiespañol en Italia que después sería recogido por las potencias protestantes rivales.
Además, hizo hincapié en la oposición que hubo a la Inquisición por parte de varios religiosos españoles respecto de cuestiones perfectamente criticables, como la persecución a judeoconversos y moriscos (quienes no fueron catequizados correctamente y cuyo bautismo estaba viciado por no haber ejercido el libre albedrío; pero aun así la Inquisición se salió con las suyas).
Para Kamen, el tribunal de la Inquisición fue más que uno religioso: fue un fenómeno sociológico al cual no se le puede separar de su contexto. Fue instrumento de las clases dominantes para asegurar su posición contra una clase media rampante así como de minorías sociales (judeoconversos y moriscos, respectivamente).
Kamen cierra con estas maravillosas frases: ''El espíritu que le hizo nacer aún anda errante, y el problema que tuvo que resolver y para el que fue creado (la preservación de la fe), sigue siendo más urgente y profundo que lo fuera jamás. Hubo un tiempo en que el estandarte de la Inquisición se alzaba en todos los continentes del mundo, ondeando en todos los rincones de la monarquía en cuyos dominios nunca se ponía el sol. Hoy, casi dos siglos después del ocaso de tal imperio, es necesario acabar con los mitos y comenzar con la reconciliación''.
Kamen pone de presente varios abusos cometidos por la Inquisición, pero siempre desmontando varios mitos en el camino. Mitos como la tortura, las cifras exageradísimas de víctimas que se le atribuyen, ser la decadencia de las letras y las ciencias, entre otros. Mitos que, al fin y al cabo, siguen persistiendo en el imaginario popular y cuyos orígenes se remontan a un odio antiespañol en Italia que después sería recogido por las potencias protestantes rivales.
Además, hizo hincapié en la oposición que hubo a la Inquisición por parte de varios religiosos españoles respecto de cuestiones perfectamente criticables, como la persecución a judeoconversos y moriscos (quienes no fueron catequizados correctamente y cuyo bautismo estaba viciado por no haber ejercido el libre albedrío; pero aun así la Inquisición se salió con las suyas).
Para Kamen, el tribunal de la Inquisición fue más que uno religioso: fue un fenómeno sociológico al cual no se le puede separar de su contexto. Fue instrumento de las clases dominantes para asegurar su posición contra una clase media rampante así como de minorías sociales (judeoconversos y moriscos, respectivamente).
Kamen cierra con estas maravillosas frases: ''El espíritu que le hizo nacer aún anda errante, y el problema que tuvo que resolver y para el que fue creado (la preservación de la fe), sigue siendo más urgente y profundo que lo fuera jamás. Hubo un tiempo en que el estandarte de la Inquisición se alzaba en todos los continentes del mundo, ondeando en todos los rincones de la monarquía en cuyos dominios nunca se ponía el sol. Hoy, casi dos siglos después del ocaso de tal imperio, es necesario acabar con los mitos y comenzar con la reconciliación''.
October 29, 2019
This historical account of the Spanish Inquisition and Spanish society at that time is well written, the author regularly adds footnotes to support his comments. The narrative describes the political, social and religious reasoning for the creation of the Inquisition. The author writes about interesting angles about the Inquisition.
The author failed to answer his own theoretical questions, writing that the Inquisition was too complex for definitive answers. True, but most of history we cannot glean definitive answers from, apart from the fact that history is written by the victor and so history must always be read with some caution and scrutiny. However I feel it is possible to draw some conclusions even if the answers are tenuous.
To me the best history books makes the reader think about the historical subject but this is based on answers of at least basic questions, which the author himself stated were not answered.
There was little mention of the internal workings of the Spanish Inquisition, how torture was carried out, the treatment of prisoners, the general daily business and how Inquisition courts were conducted.
This book is useful for historical records of society at that time for example the facts about Jewish people and how they were targeted by local people and the inquisitors. Many fascinating aspects of the Inquisition could have been discussed.
I am Gabriel Woods, author of The Golden Age Desolation
The author failed to answer his own theoretical questions, writing that the Inquisition was too complex for definitive answers. True, but most of history we cannot glean definitive answers from, apart from the fact that history is written by the victor and so history must always be read with some caution and scrutiny. However I feel it is possible to draw some conclusions even if the answers are tenuous.
To me the best history books makes the reader think about the historical subject but this is based on answers of at least basic questions, which the author himself stated were not answered.
There was little mention of the internal workings of the Spanish Inquisition, how torture was carried out, the treatment of prisoners, the general daily business and how Inquisition courts were conducted.
This book is useful for historical records of society at that time for example the facts about Jewish people and how they were targeted by local people and the inquisitors. Many fascinating aspects of the Inquisition could have been discussed.
I am Gabriel Woods, author of The Golden Age Desolation
May 15, 2022
Remember when I used to read 3 history books a week? Pepperidge farms remembers
Anyway, yeah, not really a bad book, just struggled to get into it. Not sure it really revised anything that actual specialists didn't already really know
Anyway, yeah, not really a bad book, just struggled to get into it. Not sure it really revised anything that actual specialists didn't already really know
September 26, 2013
While Kamen's work is certainly detail heavy, it provides a clear understanding of how the Inquisition was organized, how it functioned, and how it was maintained over the course of the late 15th centuries through till the 18th century. Given the common assumption that the Inquisition was a highly feared, terribly destructive institution, a lot of the material within its pages can be a surprise. Ultimately, Kamen argues that the Inquisition rose out of a need to educate and regulate a society that was not orthodox. This need grew in importance with the rise of the Reformation and in turn the counter-reformation. Its focus was on the problems of conversos and morsicos which were "New Christians" of Jewish and Muslim origin. Certainly included in those who lacked education, were those who lived in rural areas who did not have the same level of education and access to the church that those in urban centres had. The Inquisition itself rarely resulted in the execution of its populace. To do so would go against its aim to bring back into the fold of the church those who may have merely had a mistaken belief what being an Orthodox Catholic meant. This was compounded by the problem posed by the forced mass baptisms and conversions of Muslims and in turn Jewish people within Spain. While Kamen seeks to eliminate mistaken assumptions about the inquistition itself, he admits that the very nature of secrecy within it caused more problems in terms of negative propaganda from foreign nations and within the country itself. Kamen fittingly closes his study writing that "the preceding pages have tried to offer the elements of an answer, but it is in the nature of the inquisitorial phenomenon that no answer can match the complexity of the questions" (320).
April 3, 2017
What we think we know of the Spanish Inquisition is just a partial truth of what really went on during the 400-500 years that this diabolical institution was around. Not just Jews, but Muslims AND Christians were victimized during this period. This book goes into depth about how the Inquisition touched the various parts of Spain and to a smaller degree Portugal and other parts (they had their own Inquisition and was not the focus of this book).
What we think we know of Spain also is just a partial truth of what the Iberian Peninsula was all about. Spain, contrary to what was taught in public school, was not one unified country, but was made up of separate kingdoms with their own form of governments (Aragon, Leon, Castille Catalonia and others). Some supported the Inquisition and others paid lip service.
Protestants were burned at the stake, especially Lutherans. Not just those living in Spain, but visiting sailors. Catholics were not excused from the Inquisition. If someone had interpretations contrary to the Archbishop of Toledo, for instance, they could be brought before the courts. Faith without works or the work of deeds? Be careful. Your thoughts could nail you.
Spain fell into a trap where the rich became the targets of the Inquisition as the accuser got a part and the courts got some. The King also received his share. Blackmailers sprung up and shook down the wealthy.
End result was that Jews left to Amsterdam, Lisbon, Istanbul, Italy and Morocco. Christians fled to Morocco, England and Amsterdam. Muslims fled to Morocco. Financiers went to Amsterdam or London.
By 1850, the Inquisition was over. An eye opening book that shows really there is always more to the story than what we think we know.
What we think we know of Spain also is just a partial truth of what the Iberian Peninsula was all about. Spain, contrary to what was taught in public school, was not one unified country, but was made up of separate kingdoms with their own form of governments (Aragon, Leon, Castille Catalonia and others). Some supported the Inquisition and others paid lip service.
Protestants were burned at the stake, especially Lutherans. Not just those living in Spain, but visiting sailors. Catholics were not excused from the Inquisition. If someone had interpretations contrary to the Archbishop of Toledo, for instance, they could be brought before the courts. Faith without works or the work of deeds? Be careful. Your thoughts could nail you.
Spain fell into a trap where the rich became the targets of the Inquisition as the accuser got a part and the courts got some. The King also received his share. Blackmailers sprung up and shook down the wealthy.
End result was that Jews left to Amsterdam, Lisbon, Istanbul, Italy and Morocco. Christians fled to Morocco, England and Amsterdam. Muslims fled to Morocco. Financiers went to Amsterdam or London.
By 1850, the Inquisition was over. An eye opening book that shows really there is always more to the story than what we think we know.
January 27, 2019
Kamen tries to be dispassionate and makes a compelling case that the Inquisition's impact was less than popularly perceived. Additionally, he points out (fairly) that other regions in Europe executed similar numbers of people for heresy/witchcraft, but not under the name of Inquisition. At the same time, it sometimes feels like he downplays the influence on society of that distinction: if the apparatus has a defined name, it does gain power vs. if it's just the courts prosecuting crimes in their ordinary work, and the fact that it was a violent time throughout Europe doesn't negate the scope of the violence committed in the name of "purification of thought."
I read this as part of my project to read one book from every aisle of Olin Library at Cornell; you can read my reactions to other books from the project here: https://jacobklehman.com/
A fuller review/reaction will follow on my website.
I read this as part of my project to read one book from every aisle of Olin Library at Cornell; you can read my reactions to other books from the project here: https://jacobklehman.com/
A fuller review/reaction will follow on my website.
September 27, 2017
Kamen presents some interesting and captive ideas about how the violence and the amount of torture within the Spanish Inquisition were largely over exaggerated by anti-Spanish propaganda such as the Black Legend. This book was interesting as a first introduction into the Spanish Inquisition, but could prove to be a bit dense and theory laden for the casual reader.
February 13, 2011
A long over due revivsiting of the basic facts of the Spanish Inquisition. Yes it was flawed, but Kamen takes a proper and dispassionate view of it. Most importantly, he allows the past to judge itself, not he myths that have arisen since the 16th century.
March 15, 2019
Extensive, interesting, but a little undirected. There is no central thesis guiding this book, but if you want a balanced and looooong view of the Holy Office that places it in the existing intolerance of Spain, this is the book for you.
February 14, 2010
En partes, se torna muy tedioso. No obstante es un estudio muy completo y revelador.
April 27, 2013
I read this while doing research for my novel "The Heretic." I found Netanyahu's history much more comprehensive and readable.
December 6, 2014
Does an excellent job dispelling the myth of the Black Legend and detailing the history of the Inquisition and how it shifted over time and ultimately became incompatible with Spanish society.
September 30, 2020
Henry Kamen´s The Spanish Inquisition is an amazing experience. It is a highly detailed, supremely scholarly and ultimately enlightening account of an historical phenomenon whose identity and reputation have become iconic. So much has been written about it, so many words have been spoken that one might think that there is not too much new to be learned.
But this is precisely where Kamen´s book really comes into its own, for it reveals the popular understanding of the Inquisition as little more than myth. He explodes the notion that the busy-bodies of inquisitors had their nose in everyone’s business. It was actually quite a rare event for someone to be called before it. And in addition, if you lived away from a small number of population centres, the chances were that that you would hardly even have known of its existence. Also exploded is the myth of large numbers of heretics being burned at the stake. Yes, it happened, but in nowhere near the numbers that popular misconceptions might claim. Indeed, the more common practice was to burn the convicted in effigy, since the accused had fled sometimes years before the judgment, or they might have died in prison while waiting for the case to reach its conclusion.
The intention is not to suggest that the inquisition’s methods were anything but brutal, but merely to point out that perceptions of how commonly they were applied are often false. Henry Kamen skilfully describes how the focus of interest changed over the years.
Initially the main targets were conversos, converts to Christianity, families that were once Jewish or Muslim who converted to Christianity during the decades that preceded the completion in 1492 of Ferdinand and Isabella´s reconquest. Protestants were targeted occasionally in the following centuries, but it was the families of former Jews that remained the prime target, sometimes being subjected to enquiry several generations after their adoption of their new faith.
A focus on converts to Christianity gave rise to a distinction between Old and New Christianity, an adherent of the former being able to demonstrate no evidence of there having been other faiths in the family history. What consistently runs through arguments surrounding Old and New Christianity, a distinction that was also described as pure blood versus impure blood, is that at its heart this apparent assertion of religious conformity was no more than raw xenophobia and racism. Henry Kamen makes a lot of the contradiction here, since Spain at the time was the most “international” of nations, having already secured an extensive empire and sent educated and wealthy Spaniards overseas to administer it.
In addition, of course, Spain was emerging from a long period when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived competitively, perhaps, but also peacefully under Moorish rule. It is worth reminding oneself regularly that the desire and requirement for religious conformity during the reconquest was imposed from above. Completing Henry Kamen´s The Spanish Inquisition prompts the reader to reflect on which other major historical reputations might be based on reconstructed myth. One is also prompted to speculate on the future of an increasingly integrated Europe, a continent forcibly divided for half a century where xenophobia and religious intolerance might be closer to the surface than most of us would want to admit.
But this is precisely where Kamen´s book really comes into its own, for it reveals the popular understanding of the Inquisition as little more than myth. He explodes the notion that the busy-bodies of inquisitors had their nose in everyone’s business. It was actually quite a rare event for someone to be called before it. And in addition, if you lived away from a small number of population centres, the chances were that that you would hardly even have known of its existence. Also exploded is the myth of large numbers of heretics being burned at the stake. Yes, it happened, but in nowhere near the numbers that popular misconceptions might claim. Indeed, the more common practice was to burn the convicted in effigy, since the accused had fled sometimes years before the judgment, or they might have died in prison while waiting for the case to reach its conclusion.
The intention is not to suggest that the inquisition’s methods were anything but brutal, but merely to point out that perceptions of how commonly they were applied are often false. Henry Kamen skilfully describes how the focus of interest changed over the years.
Initially the main targets were conversos, converts to Christianity, families that were once Jewish or Muslim who converted to Christianity during the decades that preceded the completion in 1492 of Ferdinand and Isabella´s reconquest. Protestants were targeted occasionally in the following centuries, but it was the families of former Jews that remained the prime target, sometimes being subjected to enquiry several generations after their adoption of their new faith.
A focus on converts to Christianity gave rise to a distinction between Old and New Christianity, an adherent of the former being able to demonstrate no evidence of there having been other faiths in the family history. What consistently runs through arguments surrounding Old and New Christianity, a distinction that was also described as pure blood versus impure blood, is that at its heart this apparent assertion of religious conformity was no more than raw xenophobia and racism. Henry Kamen makes a lot of the contradiction here, since Spain at the time was the most “international” of nations, having already secured an extensive empire and sent educated and wealthy Spaniards overseas to administer it.
In addition, of course, Spain was emerging from a long period when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived competitively, perhaps, but also peacefully under Moorish rule. It is worth reminding oneself regularly that the desire and requirement for religious conformity during the reconquest was imposed from above. Completing Henry Kamen´s The Spanish Inquisition prompts the reader to reflect on which other major historical reputations might be based on reconstructed myth. One is also prompted to speculate on the future of an increasingly integrated Europe, a continent forcibly divided for half a century where xenophobia and religious intolerance might be closer to the surface than most of us would want to admit.
November 29, 2023
The Spanish Inquisition, Henry Kamen, 1965, 334 pages.
In the 1000s thru 1400s, Castile (Central Spain, as distinct from Aragon (Valencia, Aragon, and Catalonia) on the east coast and Portugal on the west coast)) was engaged in its effort to reconquer Spain from the Moors, who had conquered in the 700s. Reconquest destroyed religious and racial coexistence. pp. 11-12.
In the 1300s, with only Granada still Muslim, the pogroms commenced. pp. 13, 23.
As of 1482, of 9 million Spaniards in Castile and Aragon, 0.8% were higher nobility and 0.85% were town aristocracy: they controlled 97% of the land. p. 14. The Spanish Church had an income of over 6 million ducats a year, when a ducat was 8 days wages of a skilled worker. p. 14. The Archbishop of Toledo received 80,000 ducats a year.
In 1492, the Christians conquered Granada. p. 14. Ferdinannd and Isabella decreed the expulsion of all Jews from Spain. pp. 16-17, 32. Middle-class Jews in banking and business had encroached on aristocratic hegemony. p. 17.
Sadly, Jews "voluntarily" converted to Christianity remained in charge of banking and business. p. 17. The Pope had established the Inquisition in 1478 to examine the genuineness of their conversion. pp. 17, 44. Those New Christians aren't like us Old Christians. pp. 19, 24. Oh, and we don't want any Protestants here. p. 19.
Spaniards never filled the banking and business void left by expelled Jews and persecuted conversos. p. 20. Italians and Germans filled that void in Spain. p. 21.
The Inquisition began to collapse only when the regime which created it began to wither. p. 21.
Jews monopolized the Spanish medical profession in the 1200s. pp. 24, 37-38. Only Jews bid for positions as tax and tithe collectors. pp. 24-25. Jews were government ministers, financiers, treasurers, and managers. p. 25. "All sought after comfortable posts and ways of making profits without much labor." pp. 25-26.
All the noble houses included conversos, so had no right to claim true nobility. pp. 29-30. Only elites descended from peasants were guaranteed to be free of Jewish ancestry. p. 30. This fact threatened the whole social order. p. 30.
Most conversos were secretly or openly practicing Jews. Mocking God and the true religion. p. 30.
Later conversos had little or no religion, doing without books or rites to avoid detection. p. 31.
In the 1000s thru 1400s, Castile (Central Spain, as distinct from Aragon (Valencia, Aragon, and Catalonia) on the east coast and Portugal on the west coast)) was engaged in its effort to reconquer Spain from the Moors, who had conquered in the 700s. Reconquest destroyed religious and racial coexistence. pp. 11-12.
In the 1300s, with only Granada still Muslim, the pogroms commenced. pp. 13, 23.
As of 1482, of 9 million Spaniards in Castile and Aragon, 0.8% were higher nobility and 0.85% were town aristocracy: they controlled 97% of the land. p. 14. The Spanish Church had an income of over 6 million ducats a year, when a ducat was 8 days wages of a skilled worker. p. 14. The Archbishop of Toledo received 80,000 ducats a year.
In 1492, the Christians conquered Granada. p. 14. Ferdinannd and Isabella decreed the expulsion of all Jews from Spain. pp. 16-17, 32. Middle-class Jews in banking and business had encroached on aristocratic hegemony. p. 17.
Sadly, Jews "voluntarily" converted to Christianity remained in charge of banking and business. p. 17. The Pope had established the Inquisition in 1478 to examine the genuineness of their conversion. pp. 17, 44. Those New Christians aren't like us Old Christians. pp. 19, 24. Oh, and we don't want any Protestants here. p. 19.
Spaniards never filled the banking and business void left by expelled Jews and persecuted conversos. p. 20. Italians and Germans filled that void in Spain. p. 21.
The Inquisition began to collapse only when the regime which created it began to wither. p. 21.
Jews monopolized the Spanish medical profession in the 1200s. pp. 24, 37-38. Only Jews bid for positions as tax and tithe collectors. pp. 24-25. Jews were government ministers, financiers, treasurers, and managers. p. 25. "All sought after comfortable posts and ways of making profits without much labor." pp. 25-26.
All the noble houses included conversos, so had no right to claim true nobility. pp. 29-30. Only elites descended from peasants were guaranteed to be free of Jewish ancestry. p. 30. This fact threatened the whole social order. p. 30.
Most conversos were secretly or openly practicing Jews. Mocking God and the true religion. p. 30.
Later conversos had little or no religion, doing without books or rites to avoid detection. p. 31.
January 2, 2022
Henry Kamen es un destacado hispanista cuyo ámbito de especialidad es la Edad Moderna. A lo largo de este ensayo intenta dar un poco de contexto al fenómeno histórico y social de la Inquisición Española.
Alejándose tanto de la Leyenda Negra, promovida principalmente desde Italia -inicialmente- y países protestantes más tarde; así como de las propias fuentes del Tribunal, intenta darnos una visión objetiva basada en datos y hechos. Inicialmente pensada como un tribunal orientado hacia la conservación de la fe y la ortodoxia católica, vemos cómo su principal motivación es un profundo antisemitismo y una xenofobia generalizada. La lucha de poder -económico, político y social- está presente durante los siglos que permanece vigente el Tribunal inquisitorial, dejando claro que su influencia social -especialmente en zonas rurales y fuera de Castilla- es bastante marginal y que incluso en sus peores momentos no fue un tribunal especialmente severo, realizando la comparación contextual con otros similares en diversos países europeos.
Quien busque es esta obra de Kamen argumentos para defender o apoyar este tribunal, quedarán decepcionados. Los detractores hablarán de blanqueo; los defensores de falta de perspectiva histórica o exageración. En mi opinión, una lectura equilibrada, excelentemente documentada y que nos ofrece una visión bastante objetiva sobre la Inquisición Española
Dejo cuatro estrellas en lugar de cinco porque, debido a la profusión de datos y citas -excesiva en ciertos momentos- la lectura se vuelve bastante árida y farragosa. No es una lectura fácil, quedando más como obra de consulta que como lectura ocasional.
Alejándose tanto de la Leyenda Negra, promovida principalmente desde Italia -inicialmente- y países protestantes más tarde; así como de las propias fuentes del Tribunal, intenta darnos una visión objetiva basada en datos y hechos. Inicialmente pensada como un tribunal orientado hacia la conservación de la fe y la ortodoxia católica, vemos cómo su principal motivación es un profundo antisemitismo y una xenofobia generalizada. La lucha de poder -económico, político y social- está presente durante los siglos que permanece vigente el Tribunal inquisitorial, dejando claro que su influencia social -especialmente en zonas rurales y fuera de Castilla- es bastante marginal y que incluso en sus peores momentos no fue un tribunal especialmente severo, realizando la comparación contextual con otros similares en diversos países europeos.
Quien busque es esta obra de Kamen argumentos para defender o apoyar este tribunal, quedarán decepcionados. Los detractores hablarán de blanqueo; los defensores de falta de perspectiva histórica o exageración. En mi opinión, una lectura equilibrada, excelentemente documentada y que nos ofrece una visión bastante objetiva sobre la Inquisición Española
Dejo cuatro estrellas en lugar de cinco porque, debido a la profusión de datos y citas -excesiva en ciertos momentos- la lectura se vuelve bastante árida y farragosa. No es una lectura fácil, quedando más como obra de consulta que como lectura ocasional.
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