The Spanish Inquisition (Historical Association Studies) - Softcover

Rawlings, Helen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0631206000 ISBN 13: 9780631206002

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2005

Synopsis

This book challenges the reputation of the Spanish Inquisition as an instrument of religious persecution, torture and repressionand looks at its wider role as an educative force in society.

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• A reassessment of the history of the Spanish Inquisition.
  
• Challenges the reputation of the Inquisition as an instrument of religious persecution, torture and repression.
  
• Looks at the wider role of the Inquisition as an educative force in society.
  
• Draws on the findings of recent research by American, British and European scholars.
  
• Includes original documentary evidence in translation.

About this title

About the Author

Helen Rawlings is a Lecturer in Spanish at the University of Leicester. Her previous publications include Church, Religion and Society in Early Modern Spain (2002).

From the Back Cover

Drawing on the latest research by American, British and European scholars, this book challenges the reputation of the Spanish Inquisition as an instrument of religious persecution, torture and repression.

The author traces the history of the Spanish Inquisition from 1478when it was founded, through its agenda against dissenters, to its demise and abolition in the early nineteenth century. Taking account of the work of a new generation of international historians, she demonstrates that the Inquisition was a far less brutal instrument of control than hitherto envisaged, that torture and the death penalty were only rarely applied, and then almost exclusively during the early years of its history. The book also draws attention to the wider role of the Inquisition as an educative force in societythat strengthened the bonds between church and state.

The author traces the history of the Spanish Inquisition from 1478when it was founded, through its agenda against dissenters, to its demise and abolition in the early nineteenth century. Taking account of the work of a new generation of international historians, she demonstrates that the Inquisition was a far less brutal instrument of control than hitherto envisaged, that torture and the death penalty were only rarely applied, and then almost exclusively during the early years of its history. The book also draws attention to the wider role of the Inquisition as an educative force in societythat strengthened the bonds between church and state.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0631206000
• ISBN 13: 9780631206002
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 183