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The Spanish Inquisition: A History
This is the story of 350 years of terror. Established by papal bull in 1478, the first task of the Spanish Inquisition was to question Jewish converts to Christianity and to expose and execute those found guilty of reversion. Authorities then turned on Spanish Jews in general, sending 300,000 into exile. Next in line were humanists and Lutherans. No rank was exempt. Children informed on their parents, merchants on their rivals, and priests upon their bishops. Those denounced were guilty unless they could prove their innocence. Nearly 32,000 people were publicly burned at the stake; the “fortunate” ones were flogged, fined, or imprisoned.Joseph Pérez tells the history of the Spanish Inquisition from its medieval beginnings to its nineteenth-century ending. He discovers its origins in fear and jealousy and its longevity in usefulness to the state. He explores the inner workings of its councils, and shows how its officers, inquisitors, and leaders lived and worked. He describes its techniques of interrogation and torture, and shows how it refined displays of punishment as instruments of social control. The author ends his fascinating account by assessing the impact of the Inquisition over three and a half centuries on Spain’s culture, economy, and intellectual life.
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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369 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Pérez
69 books24 followersFrench historian specializing in Spanish history, Perez has specialized in the births of the modern Spanish state and the Latin American nations. Among his books, he examines the independence movements of Latin America; Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic Monarchs; Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and Philip II of Spain.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 20, 2018
A good overview of the Spanish Inquisition and the relationship between Church and State in Early Modern Spain. There is a fascinating chapter about how the Inquisition assessed books to be banned, an issue satirized in Cervantes' Don Quixote, and the cultural impact of these policies. The book did not, however, include the details of specific trials and I am not sure if I agree with some of the author's comparisons to modern totalitarian states. Worth reading as part of a longer reading list about the Spanish Inquisition.
June 4, 2018
I was on the fence about this book from the very first page. There is no doubt a great deal of information here, but as someone who came into the topic with little knowledge about either the Inquisition as a whole or the Spanish Inquisition in particular, I found it a little garbled. The text is arranged not chronologically, but by topic, and it definitely assumes some knowledge of the events and terminology. I had no idea what an auto de fé was, so I was baffled by this repeated reference. Perez doesn’t tell us what it is or describe it in detail until page 154. (It’s a 220-page book!)
Likewise, because the book is arranged by topic, he will often jump to events in the 18th and even 19th century to make a point, but without any frame of reference, as if we should already be familiar with these names or institutions. That being said, each chapter did give me very much insight on topics that I was interested in learning about: the persecution of Moriscos and conversos; the expulsion of the Jews; the political and economic ties that bound the Inquisition to the State; the details of trials, tortures, executions, imprisonment, punishment, etc.; the way in which the inquisition in Spain was unique; the later years in the 18th and 19th century; etc.
"In short," (that's an inside joke for those who read the endnotes of the final chapter!) I wish I had begun elsewhere for a more comprehensive, chronological description of the various stages of the Inquisition as a whole before getting into the specifics offered in this book. Although not a place to begin your reading on the Inquisition (Spanish or otherwise), I think this book is worth checking out.
Likewise, because the book is arranged by topic, he will often jump to events in the 18th and even 19th century to make a point, but without any frame of reference, as if we should already be familiar with these names or institutions. That being said, each chapter did give me very much insight on topics that I was interested in learning about: the persecution of Moriscos and conversos; the expulsion of the Jews; the political and economic ties that bound the Inquisition to the State; the details of trials, tortures, executions, imprisonment, punishment, etc.; the way in which the inquisition in Spain was unique; the later years in the 18th and 19th century; etc.
"In short," (that's an inside joke for those who read the endnotes of the final chapter!) I wish I had begun elsewhere for a more comprehensive, chronological description of the various stages of the Inquisition as a whole before getting into the specifics offered in this book. Although not a place to begin your reading on the Inquisition (Spanish or otherwise), I think this book is worth checking out.
July 30, 2017
After recently visiting Spain, I wanted to learn more about the Spanish Inquisition and picked up this book. However, found it to be written very poorly, jumping around a lot and incredibly dry. It wasn't until one of the last chapters that the author began describing how an Inquisition would happen, probably something you'd be best to explain at the start.
January 19, 2018
In wonderfully clear prose, Pérez explains how the Spanish Inquisition was fundamentally different from the Inquisition in Rome. Being founded by the State (not the church) the Spanish Inquisition was created toward a specific purpose: the "eradication of semitism" (as he calls it). Spain is unique in that a great part of the modern country was a Muslim-ruled land for more than 700 years. That is a long time! And so when Ferdinand and my arch-enemy Isabella united Castille and Aragon, they quickly did three things: 1) They persuaded the Pope to let them create an Inquisition in Spain; 2) They expelled the Jews (who chose not to converted); and 3) They forced the Muslims in Castille to convert.
At the very beginning, then, the Inquisition was founded to deal specifically with the conversos, who were accused of "Judaising" in Seville. And it seems, based on Pérez, that for a long time, it was taken up with this issue. Unlike the Inquisition in Rome (and maybe France), it was far less concerned with religion per se. The monarchs were aiming to re-exert control over the land culturally, after the reconquest of Spain from the Muslims and they did this though a policy of "one religion." So, in the beginning at least, in Spain issues of concern were cultural. Is everyone eating the same food and worshipping the same God? They quickly turned to banning religious books. And then the speaking of Arabic and Moorish dress became outlawed. New Christians were always suspect. And rooting them out was a main occupation. (I read somewhere else that Torquemada was himself a New Christian).
As the Counter Reformation picked up steam, the Inquisition turned its eyes to rooting out Lutherans (at first this was mainly about banning books and turning out foreigners).
Pérez's main thesis is that the Spanish Inquisition was an early form of Totalitarianism. Being founded by the state and run as an arm of the monarchy, he sees in its practices some of the chilling forms of authoritarian seen later in the 20th century, under Stalin, for example.
I was surprised that this book did not get better reviews. Compared to other histories of the Spanish Inquisition, this book is a very well-written. Very clearly written, with the main points spelled out in the beginning, the translation is fantastic, in that you are not aware you are reading a translation at all. (I see on the back of the book) the translator has won awards for excellence--wonderful!
+I had hoped to learn more about the term "relaxed in person" as a euphemism to burning at the stake. Also to learn a bit more about the medieval custom of the sanbenito.
At the very beginning, then, the Inquisition was founded to deal specifically with the conversos, who were accused of "Judaising" in Seville. And it seems, based on Pérez, that for a long time, it was taken up with this issue. Unlike the Inquisition in Rome (and maybe France), it was far less concerned with religion per se. The monarchs were aiming to re-exert control over the land culturally, after the reconquest of Spain from the Muslims and they did this though a policy of "one religion." So, in the beginning at least, in Spain issues of concern were cultural. Is everyone eating the same food and worshipping the same God? They quickly turned to banning religious books. And then the speaking of Arabic and Moorish dress became outlawed. New Christians were always suspect. And rooting them out was a main occupation. (I read somewhere else that Torquemada was himself a New Christian).
As the Counter Reformation picked up steam, the Inquisition turned its eyes to rooting out Lutherans (at first this was mainly about banning books and turning out foreigners).
Pérez's main thesis is that the Spanish Inquisition was an early form of Totalitarianism. Being founded by the state and run as an arm of the monarchy, he sees in its practices some of the chilling forms of authoritarian seen later in the 20th century, under Stalin, for example.
I was surprised that this book did not get better reviews. Compared to other histories of the Spanish Inquisition, this book is a very well-written. Very clearly written, with the main points spelled out in the beginning, the translation is fantastic, in that you are not aware you are reading a translation at all. (I see on the back of the book) the translator has won awards for excellence--wonderful!
+I had hoped to learn more about the term "relaxed in person" as a euphemism to burning at the stake. Also to learn a bit more about the medieval custom of the sanbenito.
October 18, 2018
This book requires a cursory knowledge of Spanish history. If you don't know some facts like who Juan of Austria or Jose Bonaparte were, for example, it might be a bit hard to follow.
The book is a history of the Inquisition in Spain and it is divided in segments dedicated to its establishment, its role beyond the initial purpose, its administrative structure, the procedure of a typical trial and its influence on Spanish society, culture and most importantly, politics.
It was a quite informative read and it clarified some facts beyond the common shorthand of monks in dark cloaks, torture chambers and burning heretics. aka The Dark Legend.
The existence of a tolerant multi-religious society in Spain during the golden times of Alfonso X in the XIII century is the first myth the author aims to dispel. Certainly, Christians, Jews and Muslims did coexist in peaceful terms but that doesn't mean they were treated equally or had access to the same privileges. Christians tolerated Jews and Muslims in their kingdoms and Muslims did the same in theirs but not in equal terms. Once the emirate of Granada fell, the idea of a unified kingdom under one Faith became a political objective -as it was in most countries of the time.
Throughout the book, the author also dismisses the idea that the Spanish Inquisition was somehow exceptional. Religion wars in Europe were brutal. The persecution of the Cathars , Templars and Huguenots in France, the witch burnings in Germany or the persecution of Protestants first and Catholics later in England produced a rash of murders and executions that certainly match anything the Spanish Inquisition ever attempted. The debates over the amount of murdered people have lasted a long time but most contemporary researchers place the number of actual executions at 2,000 to 3,000. About 2% of the cases tried. That is not to say the Inquisition was benign in any way, it was police thought of the type that said any subject of Spain had to subscribe to the state ideology. It often was corrupt and ignorant and clawed to its privileges as one might expect.
But a few things distinguished the Spanish Inquisition from others. *For one, it was instituted under the auspices of queen Isabel of Castile and ,with a lot less hesitation, her husband king Fernando of Aragon who would have none of the doubts the queen harbored and convinced the pope to grant the bull. Ferdinand was instrumental in spreading the Inquisition to his own kingdoms and using it as a political tool. From this time, the Spanish Inquisition was less dependent on Rome and more dependent on the monarchy.
*The second difference was that the Inquisition in Spain lasted a long time. It was unceremoniously ended by Napoleon when he invaded the peninsula. Fernando VII ,an Ancien Regime king if there ever was one, re-instituted it. It only went away as such in 1834 not without one last execution of a schoolteacher in 1826. Its very existence was a public relations nightmare.
*Being a state institution, like the ministry of Finance, or a Chamber of Commerce, it spread to all the territories of the crown like Mexico and Perú,
The original purpose was to root out false conversions. The target where those Jews and Muslims who kept practicing their rites in secret. Under Tomás de Torquemada, the first Grand Inquisitor, the persecution was relentless. The idea of expelling 300,000 Jews from Spain was meant to "help" converts not to revert to their old faith by expelling all those who still legitimately practiced it. Once baptized, the convert was considered Chatholic forever, it was not reversible according to the Chruch so any relapse was punishable. Guides were issued to detect these crypto-jews and moriscos.
Once Judaism was no longer an issue and the Inquisition -who depended on confiscations to run its business- started to feel the pinch, Lutherans and Illuminists came to the rescue. This initial period from 1480 to 1530 was the time when most executions took place and the "autos de fe" ceremonies took their most iconic shape. The issue of "purity of blood", that is the proofs required to demonstrate one had no heretics in their ancestry in order to receive honorary titles, was a rancid vestige of these initial times and used to screen a limited number of honors with an arbitrary rule.
The book uses particular stories and events to prove overall points of the 350 years of the Inquisitions reign. 1) It explains how the Inquisition had authority over nobility, clergy and even beyond regional fueros. It was specially fierce with the clergy in matters of faith, if not with other matters like sexual and venial corruption. When the most important man in Phillip IV's reign, the Conde Duque de Olivares tried to hire some Portuguese conversos to administer his finances, even he was denied the leniency. 2) It also goes into how, more than anything, the tribunal was used by the monarchy to achieve its own political goals when other methods were too transparent. The banning of books remained a royal, not just papal privilege, sometimes for reasons that had nothing to do with matters of faith like during the case of Bartolome de las Casas, a Dominican friar who denounced the abuses in colonial Spain in his book "A brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies". This book wasn't banned for going against any faith points but because it exposed the brutal policies of the king in America. 3) As in any tribunal where the judges rely on the accused being denounced by friends and neighbors, it is not strange that many were denounced by envious rivals or people seeking revenge for real or perceived slights. The case of Fray Luis de Leon who suffered four years of prison is a good example as he was denounced by fellow university professors out of jealousy. 4) the particulars of the trials are of great interest. The accused was guilty until he or she could clear his name. There was no appeal, not even to the Pope and all the matters were conducted in secrecy, the accused didn't know who denounced him, he or she didn't even know the charges until the inquisitors tired of not extracting a confession. The crimes judged were on the realm of religious faith but sometimes went much farther and included witchcraft, homosexuality, even counterfeit money. A lot of the "familiares" and lower administrators were ignorant people despised by the higher authorities within the Tribunal.
The book does a good job of addressing the effect the Inquisition's roll as thought-police had on science and literature in Spain. Also on commerce. The author is of the opinion that it was not as terrible as it is often assumed , other forces being a lot more impressive, but he does not exempt the institution of many delays and gagging of freedom in the realm. The Spanish Institution suited a certain Spain, the one condemned by Goya and the illustration, the one Spain's enemies loved to summon as a symbol of our backward ways. It even suited the national sin of "envy". It would take many years to completely shed the dark shadow of its presence.
The book is a history of the Inquisition in Spain and it is divided in segments dedicated to its establishment, its role beyond the initial purpose, its administrative structure, the procedure of a typical trial and its influence on Spanish society, culture and most importantly, politics.
It was a quite informative read and it clarified some facts beyond the common shorthand of monks in dark cloaks, torture chambers and burning heretics. aka The Dark Legend.
The existence of a tolerant multi-religious society in Spain during the golden times of Alfonso X in the XIII century is the first myth the author aims to dispel. Certainly, Christians, Jews and Muslims did coexist in peaceful terms but that doesn't mean they were treated equally or had access to the same privileges. Christians tolerated Jews and Muslims in their kingdoms and Muslims did the same in theirs but not in equal terms. Once the emirate of Granada fell, the idea of a unified kingdom under one Faith became a political objective -as it was in most countries of the time.
Throughout the book, the author also dismisses the idea that the Spanish Inquisition was somehow exceptional. Religion wars in Europe were brutal. The persecution of the Cathars , Templars and Huguenots in France, the witch burnings in Germany or the persecution of Protestants first and Catholics later in England produced a rash of murders and executions that certainly match anything the Spanish Inquisition ever attempted. The debates over the amount of murdered people have lasted a long time but most contemporary researchers place the number of actual executions at 2,000 to 3,000. About 2% of the cases tried. That is not to say the Inquisition was benign in any way, it was police thought of the type that said any subject of Spain had to subscribe to the state ideology. It often was corrupt and ignorant and clawed to its privileges as one might expect.
But a few things distinguished the Spanish Inquisition from others. *For one, it was instituted under the auspices of queen Isabel of Castile and ,with a lot less hesitation, her husband king Fernando of Aragon who would have none of the doubts the queen harbored and convinced the pope to grant the bull. Ferdinand was instrumental in spreading the Inquisition to his own kingdoms and using it as a political tool. From this time, the Spanish Inquisition was less dependent on Rome and more dependent on the monarchy.
*The second difference was that the Inquisition in Spain lasted a long time. It was unceremoniously ended by Napoleon when he invaded the peninsula. Fernando VII ,an Ancien Regime king if there ever was one, re-instituted it. It only went away as such in 1834 not without one last execution of a schoolteacher in 1826. Its very existence was a public relations nightmare.
*Being a state institution, like the ministry of Finance, or a Chamber of Commerce, it spread to all the territories of the crown like Mexico and Perú,
The original purpose was to root out false conversions. The target where those Jews and Muslims who kept practicing their rites in secret. Under Tomás de Torquemada, the first Grand Inquisitor, the persecution was relentless. The idea of expelling 300,000 Jews from Spain was meant to "help" converts not to revert to their old faith by expelling all those who still legitimately practiced it. Once baptized, the convert was considered Chatholic forever, it was not reversible according to the Chruch so any relapse was punishable. Guides were issued to detect these crypto-jews and moriscos.
Once Judaism was no longer an issue and the Inquisition -who depended on confiscations to run its business- started to feel the pinch, Lutherans and Illuminists came to the rescue. This initial period from 1480 to 1530 was the time when most executions took place and the "autos de fe" ceremonies took their most iconic shape. The issue of "purity of blood", that is the proofs required to demonstrate one had no heretics in their ancestry in order to receive honorary titles, was a rancid vestige of these initial times and used to screen a limited number of honors with an arbitrary rule.
The book uses particular stories and events to prove overall points of the 350 years of the Inquisitions reign. 1) It explains how the Inquisition had authority over nobility, clergy and even beyond regional fueros. It was specially fierce with the clergy in matters of faith, if not with other matters like sexual and venial corruption. When the most important man in Phillip IV's reign, the Conde Duque de Olivares tried to hire some Portuguese conversos to administer his finances, even he was denied the leniency. 2) It also goes into how, more than anything, the tribunal was used by the monarchy to achieve its own political goals when other methods were too transparent. The banning of books remained a royal, not just papal privilege, sometimes for reasons that had nothing to do with matters of faith like during the case of Bartolome de las Casas, a Dominican friar who denounced the abuses in colonial Spain in his book "A brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies". This book wasn't banned for going against any faith points but because it exposed the brutal policies of the king in America. 3) As in any tribunal where the judges rely on the accused being denounced by friends and neighbors, it is not strange that many were denounced by envious rivals or people seeking revenge for real or perceived slights. The case of Fray Luis de Leon who suffered four years of prison is a good example as he was denounced by fellow university professors out of jealousy. 4) the particulars of the trials are of great interest. The accused was guilty until he or she could clear his name. There was no appeal, not even to the Pope and all the matters were conducted in secrecy, the accused didn't know who denounced him, he or she didn't even know the charges until the inquisitors tired of not extracting a confession. The crimes judged were on the realm of religious faith but sometimes went much farther and included witchcraft, homosexuality, even counterfeit money. A lot of the "familiares" and lower administrators were ignorant people despised by the higher authorities within the Tribunal.
The book does a good job of addressing the effect the Inquisition's roll as thought-police had on science and literature in Spain. Also on commerce. The author is of the opinion that it was not as terrible as it is often assumed , other forces being a lot more impressive, but he does not exempt the institution of many delays and gagging of freedom in the realm. The Spanish Institution suited a certain Spain, the one condemned by Goya and the illustration, the one Spain's enemies loved to summon as a symbol of our backward ways. It even suited the national sin of "envy". It would take many years to completely shed the dark shadow of its presence.
Read
November 10, 2015Well written with interesting subject matter. Wish I had more time to read this as I did have to go quite fast and probably missed many details.
August 7, 2022
The Spanish Inquisition was created to investigate and eliminate Jews from Spain. Jews who had ostensibly converted to Christianity were often suspected of having secretly converted back to Judaism (the book refers to them as Judaisers or crypto-Jews), and the Spanish monarchs wanted a Spain unified by religion. The Inquisition functioned as an arm of the Spanish crown, so its actions were motivated more by politics than religious fervor. By the 16th century the persecution and expulsion of Jews had achieved the original goal of the Inquisition, so next on their list of targets were Muslims, Protestants, and Illuminists.
The number of people who were victimised by the Spanish Inquisition from about 1480 to 1500 is uncertain (the records were better kept after 1540), but some chroniclers estimated about 2,000 Judaisers were executed. The historians Jaime Contreras and Gustav Henningsen calculated that between 1540 and 1700, inquisitors arrested up to 49,092 people. Of these, 810 were given death sentences, which amounts to 1.8 percent of the total number condemned. While the inquisitors deserve their reputation as symbols of misguided fanaticism and religious intolerance, they were more interested in penitence than execution. A person who confessed to the error of his heresy was reconciled to the Church. Sentences varied from very mild (paying a fine, taking a pilgrimage to a sacred place) to moderate (a specified length of time in prison or forced labour) to severe (public flogging). The penitent would also have to wear a special garment called a sambenito to mark his sin, he would be barred from certain professions, and so would his family.
The translation of the text is good, the book is readable, but somewhat disorganised. It is hard to keep up with who’s who because of the way that the book is written. There are a lot of names, and some of them are spoken about as if the reader should already be familiar with them. The author drops a lot of terminology and phrases like auto da fé, “relaxed” to the secular branch, and burnt in effigy without explaining what they mean, and then 100 pages later there might be an explanation.
I also think the author should have written a little bit more about what motivated the Spanish monarchy to use the Inquisition. For nearly 800 years, Spain contained three distinct peoples of three religions who, for better or worse, lived alongside each other. The Reconquista was nearly complete around the time that the Spanish Inquisition began. I wonder if the memory of their ancestors’ lives as a persecuted minority in their own land played a part in influencing Ferdinand and Isabella to eradicate Semitism from Spain.
The number of people who were victimised by the Spanish Inquisition from about 1480 to 1500 is uncertain (the records were better kept after 1540), but some chroniclers estimated about 2,000 Judaisers were executed. The historians Jaime Contreras and Gustav Henningsen calculated that between 1540 and 1700, inquisitors arrested up to 49,092 people. Of these, 810 were given death sentences, which amounts to 1.8 percent of the total number condemned. While the inquisitors deserve their reputation as symbols of misguided fanaticism and religious intolerance, they were more interested in penitence than execution. A person who confessed to the error of his heresy was reconciled to the Church. Sentences varied from very mild (paying a fine, taking a pilgrimage to a sacred place) to moderate (a specified length of time in prison or forced labour) to severe (public flogging). The penitent would also have to wear a special garment called a sambenito to mark his sin, he would be barred from certain professions, and so would his family.
The translation of the text is good, the book is readable, but somewhat disorganised. It is hard to keep up with who’s who because of the way that the book is written. There are a lot of names, and some of them are spoken about as if the reader should already be familiar with them. The author drops a lot of terminology and phrases like auto da fé, “relaxed” to the secular branch, and burnt in effigy without explaining what they mean, and then 100 pages later there might be an explanation.
I also think the author should have written a little bit more about what motivated the Spanish monarchy to use the Inquisition. For nearly 800 years, Spain contained three distinct peoples of three religions who, for better or worse, lived alongside each other. The Reconquista was nearly complete around the time that the Spanish Inquisition began. I wonder if the memory of their ancestors’ lives as a persecuted minority in their own land played a part in influencing Ferdinand and Isabella to eradicate Semitism from Spain.
October 12, 2018
The Spanish Inquisition: A History, by the French historian Joseph Perez, has many things in common with Henry Kamen's The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision. Both have sober, non-flashy titles. Both were published by Yale University Press. And both (at least the paperback editions for Perez's book and the 4th edition of Kamen's) have a painting by Pedro Berrugete entitled "St. Dominic Presiding at an Auto de Fe," c. 1490, as their cover illustration. In the case of Perez's 248-page book, the painting is a zoomed in detail focusing on a pair of penitents wearing their sanbenitos and two nearly-naked unpenitents at the stake, while in Kamen's 490-page book zooms back to show the clerics and a larger section of a crowd observing the auto de fe, the public "act of faith". And that's where the similarities and differences in my review come to an end, as I have not yet read Kamen's better known work, though I have read a couple of scholarly articles by him and I intend to read at least parts of his book on the Inquisition.
I found the Perez book to be well-organized, easy to read, and accessible. The introduction, entitled " From the Spain of three religions to inquisitorial Spain," sets the scene well and could easily be shared with students. For my purposes (I was most interested in the early years of the Spanish Inquisition, particularly under Ferdinand and Isabel), the chapters "The eradication of Semitism," "The trial," and "The Inquisition and society" were the most useful.
I found the Perez book to be well-organized, easy to read, and accessible. The introduction, entitled " From the Spain of three religions to inquisitorial Spain," sets the scene well and could easily be shared with students. For my purposes (I was most interested in the early years of the Spanish Inquisition, particularly under Ferdinand and Isabel), the chapters "The eradication of Semitism," "The trial," and "The Inquisition and society" were the most useful.
November 20, 2018
It is a shame that such an interesting topic was written in such a dry manner. Even though the book is quite short, it was still a struggle to finish it. The author certainly knows his subject but fails at treating this as a literary work; instead, he is just spewing data without any logical order and clear context. I don't regret having read it and I sure learned new things, but I am positive I could have found a way more structured book about this subject in order to educate myself.
November 13, 2023
A good overview by a Spanish author with access to primary sources. He has a quick overview in chapter one before focusing on specialist topics in each subsequent chapter. The three main targets of the Inquisition: Jews and Judaisers; Protestants and Illuminados are all examined in turn as is the extraordinary system of legal privileges that infected the Spanish body politic for so long.
November 14, 2017
Little dry, some interesting points but I wish it went further in depth as to how the inquisition was the root of totalitarianism. I liked the conclusion comparing the inquisition to Stalinist Russia.
June 9, 2022
Evil popes, burning effigies, lots of religious chaos— this book covers it all! Interesting read.
Read
February 6, 2024Dnf
September 10, 2024
Reads like a book from a history class. Very densely packed. But really good
August 6, 2011
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1766771...
I didn't know a lot about the Spanish Inquisition before reading this fairly comprehensive but also short (221 pages) account. Pérez gives plenty of detail on how it operated, as a powerful and brutal autnomous judicial system within the Spanish state, from 1480 to 1834 (admittedly rather gutted of its authority in its final decades). Several interesting points that arose for me:
1) Though run by Church officials, the Inquisition was more an arm of Madrid than of Rome; the Spanish king and government exercised control over it as far as anyone did. Though it was set up to extirpate heresy, this was heresy treated as a crime against the civil order.
2) The context of 1480 was that of the final victory of Christian rulers over Muslims in Spain, which of course could not be known to be final at the time; Pérez seems to consider that a fair amount of the Inquisition's persecution of backsliding converts from Islam or Judaism was a response to a real phenomenon rather than a witch-hunt of imaginary foes.
3) Speaking of which, the Inquisition rarely took charges of witchcraft per se seriously and tended to acquit accused witches brought before it.
4) Having said that, the Inquisition was far more brutal and violent than other judicial mechanisms dealing with religious difference, even in a bloodthirsty and bigoted period of history.
Two things would have helped me to appreciate the book more. The first, which is more my fault than Pérez', is that I have very little knowledge of Spanish history, and cannot really relate to any of its monarchs after Ferdinand and Isabella, Charles V and Philip II, so rather than fitting the narrative from 1600 to 1800 into a framework that I already knew, I was trying to reconstruct the historical background from the intense details given by Pérez. The second is that, although Pérez does reflect a bit on the comparative dimension, we could have done with more of it; apologists mutter that even Calvin's Geneva burned Servetus (who had of course escaped the Spanish Inquisition himself), but to me the interesting question is, how come nothing like the Spanish inquisition developed in other Catholic countries, most notably in the Papal states?
I did have one laugh-out-loud moment, when zealots complained that the public reading of the edict of faith, which described heretical practices in some detail, was actually disseminating knowledge of the practices it was supposed to condemn. I doubt if it made much difference; I shouldn't think anyone was really listening.
Anyway, a cheap remainder purchase a couple of years ago which justified the £2 it cost me.
I didn't know a lot about the Spanish Inquisition before reading this fairly comprehensive but also short (221 pages) account. Pérez gives plenty of detail on how it operated, as a powerful and brutal autnomous judicial system within the Spanish state, from 1480 to 1834 (admittedly rather gutted of its authority in its final decades). Several interesting points that arose for me:
1) Though run by Church officials, the Inquisition was more an arm of Madrid than of Rome; the Spanish king and government exercised control over it as far as anyone did. Though it was set up to extirpate heresy, this was heresy treated as a crime against the civil order.
2) The context of 1480 was that of the final victory of Christian rulers over Muslims in Spain, which of course could not be known to be final at the time; Pérez seems to consider that a fair amount of the Inquisition's persecution of backsliding converts from Islam or Judaism was a response to a real phenomenon rather than a witch-hunt of imaginary foes.
3) Speaking of which, the Inquisition rarely took charges of witchcraft per se seriously and tended to acquit accused witches brought before it.
4) Having said that, the Inquisition was far more brutal and violent than other judicial mechanisms dealing with religious difference, even in a bloodthirsty and bigoted period of history.
Two things would have helped me to appreciate the book more. The first, which is more my fault than Pérez', is that I have very little knowledge of Spanish history, and cannot really relate to any of its monarchs after Ferdinand and Isabella, Charles V and Philip II, so rather than fitting the narrative from 1600 to 1800 into a framework that I already knew, I was trying to reconstruct the historical background from the intense details given by Pérez. The second is that, although Pérez does reflect a bit on the comparative dimension, we could have done with more of it; apologists mutter that even Calvin's Geneva burned Servetus (who had of course escaped the Spanish Inquisition himself), but to me the interesting question is, how come nothing like the Spanish inquisition developed in other Catholic countries, most notably in the Papal states?
I did have one laugh-out-loud moment, when zealots complained that the public reading of the edict of faith, which described heretical practices in some detail, was actually disseminating knowledge of the practices it was supposed to condemn. I doubt if it made much difference; I shouldn't think anyone was really listening.
Anyway, a cheap remainder purchase a couple of years ago which justified the £2 it cost me.
August 25, 2012
this book was ok. jumped around a lot, and overall i didn't find very interesting. the inquisition killed a lot of people in the first few years; mostly jews who wouldn't convert to christianity, or who outwardly converted but secretly practiced judaism. after that it is abhorrent that heresy was a punishable crime. but nothing i wouldn't expect in 15th and 16th century europe.
March 2, 2010
This book assumes the reader is more familiar with Spanish history than I am. For some reason that makes the reading more interesting, although slower. It's rather the same feeling one has when reading a fiction book with really rich worldbuilding and backstory.
July 5, 2013
Definitely an enlightening book, I learned a lot and cleared up some misconceptions. It was very choppy and confusing at times, and I don't think I knew enough about Spanish history to enjoy it as much as I could.
April 3, 2009
An informative insight into the brutal historical era, and demonstrates how people abuse belief and the powers of belief to get what they want.
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September 23, 2010The Spanish Inquisition: A History by Joseph Perez (2006)
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May 11, 2012Academic & well-researched.
May 4, 2014
Good history book. Interesting time period for Spain and the world. Overlaps with the French Revolution, and comparison made by the author of Spain's inquisitions and Stalin's inquisitions.
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