Customer Reviews

Inquisition: The Reign of Fear

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Toby Green turns raw accounts from dusty documents buried in Spanish archives into an entertaining -if not nightmarish view of life under the perverse eye of the Inquisitioner. The book is anecdote rich, showing the Inquisition to be the foreunner of any modern police state's enforcers in terms of motive, rationalization and operation. Its fall heralded political division in Spain that last to this day (Traditional v. Change, Open v. Closed).

Provocative parallels are drawn with today's world, from surveiling the people at the mall for misfits to nationalist movements advocating deporting entire segments of the populace (just replace illegal aliens with moriscos - who did most of Spain's agrarian labor). From the Old World to the New a reign of terror, fear and paranoia permeated all aspects of all classes of society. Starting with the Inquisition's racks and moving along to 20th century Gulags, to 21 century Guantanamos, they all zealously operate in secret using the thinnest of evidence (he had a book - be it a bible or Lutheran samizdat, ergo he is a heretic). Torture abounds, with holy rationalized justifications. Green offers the requisite abundance of at the stake burnings- reading in front of a crackling fireplace in the winter gave this reader an erie feel of camaraderie with both Inquisitor and victim.

The enforcement is depicted as unholy and corrupt - arrest him, I want his house and wife, or he reads French. The most professional aspect of the enforcment was often record maintainance (another lesson: don't). The daily detail is memorable; e.g. serve pork and shell fish tapas as a test. A crypto Moslem or crypto Jew would not touch them, deflating the guise of being a good Catholic. Or a modern day Gladys Kravitz who is thrilled when a heretic family moves in next door (think 60s sitcom Bewitch) giving her gossip mongering eye an Inquisitional legitimacy. And don't overlook the accounts of sex and heresy and witches and satan (who often visited repressed women in the guise of a student - think young repressed male). The censoring of books advocating thought and science compare to the American schools problems in teaching evolution - while the censor's worked they promoted an intellectual stagnation that put Spain at an international economic disadvantage.

My favorite line appears on page 271: As one inquisitor put it in the late 16th century: 'the truth is that the [doctrine of the heretics] is nowhere so much communicated and distributed as through the medium of books, which, as mute teachers, talk continuously; they teach all the time, and in all places. . . the typical adversary and enemy of the Catholic faith has always relied on this efficient and pernicious medium.'"

It's a smooth read. A series of notes that would thrill a librarian, a bibliography that demonstrates extensive research; and a fine index of content by concepts as well as by name. The book, like any history, is full of lessons to be applied . . . . taught centuries ago but still going unheard. An enjoyable and enlightening book on a group devoted to unenlightened torment.

This is a very good book that gives an overview of both the medieval and Spanish Inquisitions. Enough detail to make it interesting but not boring.

By Albert C. Bender, Author of "YOU ARE FOREVER IN TIME."
"The Inquistion" clearly ampliefied for me, this authors knowledge and intellect on the subject he has written. It provides information that truly moves to the core of the subject matter that the author speaks about.
It is well written and thought-provoking throughout. I recommend it highly to those who's interest lie within. As a child in catholic school, I felt at times that I was also in some kind of an "Inquistion??"

This book is an unfortunate rehash of tired old myths and falsehoods about the various inquisitions into heresy held in Europe by the Catholic Church.
For a much more accurate and balanced approach, consider reading Edward Peters' fine account in his book "Inquisition."

You can find it on Amazon here -

http://www.amazon.com/Inquisition-Edward-Peters/dp/0520066308/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293027512&sr=1-1

Our history of the Inquisition is passed down from sources from eras and people who had a grudge against the Church. The Inquisition in various forms was hardly the "reign of terror" this book describes. If you want to hear about a reign of terror read about what Queen Elizabeth did to Catholics. This book just relies on the same biased sources and myths that people want to hear about. You don't find these so much in newer scholarly more unbiased approaches to the Inquisition.