Spanish Inquisition

by John Edwards

Religion and intolerance have always been close bedfellows. The Spanish Inquisition took this truth to new extremes, it is synonymous with persecution and purges of horror. Edward''s new account seeks to explain this phenomenon.'

Genres: History, Spanish History, Nonfiction, Historical

176 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1999

About the author

Librarian's note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
This is John^^Edwards.

Historian - University of Oxford

Reviews

[Saj · Rating 3 out of 5]

A whole book on the Spanish inquisition and not a single Monty Python joke! The author must be breaking some kind of rule...?

Seriously though, after reading this I realised how ignorant I had previously been about the inquisition. The details and nuances, especially the Jewish aspect, were all news to me. Very often the inquisition is just a word used by people who want to criticise something or other. This book shows how the inquisition was used as a power tool by the government and reminds the reader how very unique the political situation in Europe was in the 1500s (with several small sovereign nations etc. struggling for survival and power).

The book is informative and a quick read with some interesting 16th century illustrations. The writer, however, has chosen a no-nonsense approach which unfortunately makes the text a bit dry and distant to the human experience. A few life stories and contemporary accounts would have made the book more lively, instead of just steadily going from one event to the next.

[Kaido · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if the case was in tranlation but for me it was a bit difficult book to read. Overally i understood at the end what was the point but specifically was a bit foggy the whole process.

[Ivan Kvesic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great Content.
Great bibliography.
Some chapters are a little dry and packed with too much information.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty detailed account of the formation, actions, and consequences of the Spanish Inquisition that shows the groundwork for it was created much further back than the Inquisition itself and its repercussions are still felt today as are the risks of something similar happening again. Edwards keeps his account quite factual and avoids delving into the brutal depravity of the Inquisition which gives the opportunity to the reader to focus on drivers behind it, i.e. the power, greed, and prejudice of all those involved. This makes for interesting reading albeit a little lacking in the substance of the consequences, although there are plenty of works that cover this aspect. Some of the chapters do get a little fact heavy and I think could've benefited from a timeline or similar illustration of how people, places, and events linked together, especially in the lead up to the Inquisition itself as there was a lot of different threads that tied together. Overall though this is an insightful read.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impressively concise while comprehensive history of the relationship between the Church and Judaism from Paul to the present day, with particular emphasis (as the title indicates) on the impact of the Spanish Inquisition on European religious history. Every sentence packs a punch and Edwards' approach is balanced in its denouncement of Inquisitorial practices while recognizing the ubiquity of such practices across Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern, and Modern Christianity. It avoids the pitfalls of sensationalism and nationalism to which many histories of the Inquisition, particularly in English, fall prey. An excellent place to begin for anyone curious about the Church's roll in anti-semitism and and about why you can indeed expect the Spanish Inquisition.

[Kasia Kopycińska · Rating 1 out of 5]

niezbyt to ciekawe.