Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition

Book excerpt: This is an incredible history focusing on the role of Tomás de Torquemada in the Spanish inquisition. Torquemada was a Castilian Dominican friar and the first Grand Inquisitor in Spain's movement to standardize religious conventions with those of the Catholic Church in the late 15th century. In 1483, Ferdinand and Isabella appointed a state council to administer the inquisition with Torquemada acting as its head and he ultimately acquired the title of Inquisitor-General. The accounts presented in this work are raw but factual and solid. Sabatini debunks some popular misconceptions about the inquisition and gives his own views on the time's prominent political and religious figures. This history is illustrated with trials and examples of Torquemada and the Holy Office at work. It is well-written and often surprising in its revelations.