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Inquisition and Society in the Kingdom of Valencia, 1478-1834

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This is a splendid book! Although I had looked en passant at the English edition (1990), I have just finished reading its Spanish translation, published in 1993, which I found mesmerizing. Even if you are not interested per se in the workings of the Inquision in Valencia (Spain), in early modern times, Prof. Haliczer's study provides an excellent overview of the institutional organization and functions of the Spanish Inquisition since its beginnings in fifteenth-century Castile and Andalucia. This work focuses on the general judicial procedures and financial structures of the Inquisition, on the life of Inquisitors and paid functionaries, including suggestive profiles of powerful Inquisitors, on the "famliars" and functionaries without a salary and, more importantly, on the strained relations beween the Tribunal of the Inquisition in Valencia and the local assembly (Consell General). The book sheds light on the conflicts of the Inquisition with important members of the local elites in this city, a facet I found especially fascinating. The chapters on the conversos, the Moriscos, and other deviants, such as Protestants and homosexuals, are superb. Although I was specifically looking for information on various Inquisitors in early modern Valencia, this book has also clarified many obscure points of the Spanish Inquisition. The bibliography is also commendable. My only criticism: the book in Spanish does not have a much needed index, whch would be very helpful for interested readers. The English version does have an index. As a scholar in early modern Spanish Studies, I recommend this book highly.