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Spanish Inquisition #1
The Rise of the Spanish Inquisition
Jean Plaidy, with all her novelist's perception and skill, tells the story of Ferdinand and Isabella, the monarchs who brought the Inquisition into Spain in the fifteenth- century, and allowed it to flourish so hideously.
Isabella was a pious and fervent Catholic who detested the corrupt decadence of her brother's court at Castile : when she came to power she was determined to stamp Spain irrevocably with the
mark of her faith.
The Inquisitors from Rome brought torture, humiliation and a fiery death to thousands - arid swelled the coffers of the state with the confiscated riches of their victims. But when Isabella's confessor, the remorseless Tomas de Torquemada, became Inquisitor General, a new era of terror began, more extreme and more ruthless than all that had gone before . . ..
Isabella was a pious and fervent Catholic who detested the corrupt decadence of her brother's court at Castile : when she came to power she was determined to stamp Spain irrevocably with the
mark of her faith.
The Inquisitors from Rome brought torture, humiliation and a fiery death to thousands - arid swelled the coffers of the state with the confiscated riches of their victims. But when Isabella's confessor, the remorseless Tomas de Torquemada, became Inquisitor General, a new era of terror began, more extreme and more ruthless than all that had gone before . . ..
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1959
About the author
Jean Plaidy
207 books1,625 followersEleanor Alice Burford, Mrs. George Percival Hibbert was a British author of about 200 historical novels, most of them under the pen name Jean Plaidy which had sold 14 million copies by the time of her death. She chose to use various names because of the differences in subject matter between her books; the best-known, apart from Plaidy, are Victoria Holt (56 million) and Philippa Carr (3 million). Lesser known were the novels Hibbert published under her maiden name Eleanor Burford, or the pseudonyms of Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow and Ellalice Tate. Many of her readers under one penname never suspected her other identities.
-Wikipedia
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 24, 2016
An old fashioned sort of book by an old fashioned sort of novelist. Plaidy is brimming with stories from her research and writes, breathlessly, like a woman catching you up on her weekend before the bus arrives at your stop. There is no intellectual rigor here, merely gossip. I guess that would be okay for some but not for me.
February 2, 2024
Don't get me wrong! I'm usually a big fan of Jean Plaidy and I also love reading about what happened through the centuries but this book is her worst book!
Not because of the subject as I read about the Inquisition before so it's not what turned me off about this one.
She made a very serious mistake. This takes place in 15th century Spain and at times the names of Popes are mentioned. The Pope she meant was John XII who lived in the 15th century but she wrote John XIII who lived in the 20th century. I know. I was a little girl when he died and they then replaced him by Paul VI.
The only part of the book that found grace with me was when she mentioned Rodrigo of Vivar, El Cid Campeador.
I'm not putting down how she pointed out that some of the biggest victims of the Inquisition were the rich Jews who were persecuted, accused of the worst crimes possible. Some were accused of having kidnapped a Christian boy, of having killed him and used his heart for a ritual of black magic.
The Inquisition is a dark page in our history. Queen Isabella as Catholic as she was wasn't really in favor of it but only allowed her confessor Torquemada to instigate it so people would become good
Christian. For King Ferdinand, it was another matter as he wanted money to wage wars against the Moors of Africa and who did have money? The Jews as many were lendors and also merchants. They might not have wanted to part with their riches freely even if the King asked them to.
The ignominy and horrors of the Inquisition must never happen again. People paraded in the street wearing Sanbenito and having thrown at them all manner of objects before being taken to be tortured either on the rack or forced to swallow large amount of water if not to be burned.
The worst about the Inquisition is that if an inquisitor killed somebody he could put the blame on somebody else and be absolved. They could commit bigamy, adultery, incest, all manner of disgusting crimes and they would not suffer any torture or imprisonment.
Torquemada was somebody very sick mentally. Today he probably would be restrained from any serious position of command.
There is the story in this book of a Christian woman who wouldn't eat pork and who changed her sheets on a Sunday and she was arrested, suspected of being a Jewess. When she told them that pork makes her sick (I also have that problem and it's why I won't eat any) and that she changed her sheets on the Sunday was because they were dirty and she had been too busy to change them the day before, they still insisted on torturing her and she kept asking them: "What do you want me to tell you? Tell me and I will!"
Another story that turned me off is that of the priest who abused a young boy and made him his lover. The young boy was tortured and put to death. The priest was basically given a slap on the hand and went on to abuse other young boys. Is that fair? If the crime committed between them was so horrendous for the inquisitors, both should have been put to death and the priest tortured more for debauching an innocent young boy. The boy was a child and innocent. How was he worthy of torture and a burning death for having been sexually assaulted most likely against his will? Why absolve the child abuser and not the victim?
Not because of the subject as I read about the Inquisition before so it's not what turned me off about this one.
She made a very serious mistake. This takes place in 15th century Spain and at times the names of Popes are mentioned. The Pope she meant was John XII who lived in the 15th century but she wrote John XIII who lived in the 20th century. I know. I was a little girl when he died and they then replaced him by Paul VI.
The only part of the book that found grace with me was when she mentioned Rodrigo of Vivar, El Cid Campeador.
I'm not putting down how she pointed out that some of the biggest victims of the Inquisition were the rich Jews who were persecuted, accused of the worst crimes possible. Some were accused of having kidnapped a Christian boy, of having killed him and used his heart for a ritual of black magic.
The Inquisition is a dark page in our history. Queen Isabella as Catholic as she was wasn't really in favor of it but only allowed her confessor Torquemada to instigate it so people would become good
Christian. For King Ferdinand, it was another matter as he wanted money to wage wars against the Moors of Africa and who did have money? The Jews as many were lendors and also merchants. They might not have wanted to part with their riches freely even if the King asked them to.
The ignominy and horrors of the Inquisition must never happen again. People paraded in the street wearing Sanbenito and having thrown at them all manner of objects before being taken to be tortured either on the rack or forced to swallow large amount of water if not to be burned.
The worst about the Inquisition is that if an inquisitor killed somebody he could put the blame on somebody else and be absolved. They could commit bigamy, adultery, incest, all manner of disgusting crimes and they would not suffer any torture or imprisonment.
Torquemada was somebody very sick mentally. Today he probably would be restrained from any serious position of command.
There is the story in this book of a Christian woman who wouldn't eat pork and who changed her sheets on a Sunday and she was arrested, suspected of being a Jewess. When she told them that pork makes her sick (I also have that problem and it's why I won't eat any) and that she changed her sheets on the Sunday was because they were dirty and she had been too busy to change them the day before, they still insisted on torturing her and she kept asking them: "What do you want me to tell you? Tell me and I will!"
Another story that turned me off is that of the priest who abused a young boy and made him his lover. The young boy was tortured and put to death. The priest was basically given a slap on the hand and went on to abuse other young boys. Is that fair? If the crime committed between them was so horrendous for the inquisitors, both should have been put to death and the priest tortured more for debauching an innocent young boy. The boy was a child and innocent. How was he worthy of torture and a burning death for having been sexually assaulted most likely against his will? Why absolve the child abuser and not the victim?
January 23, 2022
This book was hard going for the first 100 pages or so. It was too much contextual information given at a rapid fire pace. Eleanor Alice Hibbert (Jean Plaidy) knows her history but, I suspect, is no great historian. But maybe that is being unkind. The second half of the book, where she focuses on Spain, is much more coherent and the narrative starts to build and flow. I certainly learnt a lot, and was deeply appalled at what was being undertaken in the name of Christianity. I will definitely be reading vols 2 and 3 in the series.
April 3, 2025
Absolutely horrific!
July 17, 2019
I'm sure this is a great book but i read up to a first point then thought back about it and i couldnt recall a single piece of information - i think for me this book is too 'chatty' it moves too fast !! practically Breathless ** as much as i like books packed with information im not relating or learning anything from it
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews