The Spanish Inquisition (Paperback)

~ Cecil Roth (Author) "TOWARDS the close of the fourteenth century, while Richard II. was trifling on the throne of England and 'Charles VI. was raving on the throne..." (more)
Key Phrases: inadequate confession, penitential habit, great auto, Holy Office, New Christians, Inquisitor General (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

No other organization for religious persecution ever equaled the Spanish Inquisition in intensity, scope, ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope. From its establishment in 1478 until its abolishment in 1834, no one expected its tribunals, which relentlessly sought to destroy everyone who was not a Roman Catholic Christian.

The terrible history of the Inquisition is told here by the distinguished scholar Cecil Roth, who was Reader in Jewish Studies at Oxford University. .

From AudioFile

Beginning in 1478 with the Bull issued by Pope Sixtus IV, which empowered Spanish sovereigns to exterminate heresy in their realms, the Inquisition pursued its ruthless course for three and a half centuries. Listening to the irrational and relentless atrocities documented by Dr. Cecil Roth of Oxford is made bearable only by the clear, pleasing British accent of Nadia May. The text is further enhanced by her excellent pronunciation of names and places as the intensity and scope of the operation increase and spread from Spain to France, Italy and the New World. E.P.M. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. (December 17, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393002551
• ISBN-13: 978-0393002553
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #961,230 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid if unspectacular history of the Spanish Inquistion, July 20, 2002

By	Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

If one is looking for a solid history of the Spanish Inquisition that will introduce the reader with the main events and features of that peculiar institution, one could do worse than read this book. One could also do better, by looking instead at Peters INQUISITION or Henry Kammen's THE SPANISH INQUISITION. But since neither of those books is perfect (Peters covers the Inquisition in all its forms, and as a result the Spanish Inquisition in less detail, while Kammen tends to minimize some of the atrocities), Roth remains an extremely viable alternative.

The strongpoint of Roth's account is the clarity with which he tells the story, in particular highlighting some of the consequences that ought to have been anticipated from the manner in which the Inquisition was constructed. For instance, the Inquisition acquired the financial holdings of those whom it convicted of heresy. This, of course, provided the Inquisitors with powerful financial motivation to either find the accused guilty or to extort money from them.

The weakness of Roth's book is that while he hints at other views about events of the Inquisition, he never explains what these other views are, or what the underlying issues are.

I am utterly mystified by one reviewer who seems to criticize this book because it accuses the Church of anti-Semitism. Is this news? The entire initial point of the Spanish Inquisition was to ferret out Jews who had forcibly been converted to Catholicism and still retained their Jewish beliefs and ceremonies. I am not sure how this cannot be interpreted anti-Semitism, unless one is using some very unusual criteria. Morever, scholars working in a number of areas have detected a fair degree of anti-Semitism in the history of Roman Catholicism. Does this mean that all Roman Catholics in history have been anti-Semites? Absolutely not. But it does mean that it is a phenomenon that has reappeared over and over throughout European history. What possible reason would anyone have for denying that the Spanish Inquisition was not profoundly anti-Semitic? That it was would seem to undeniable to anyone with even the most cursory acquaintance with Spanish history.

Other reviewers have felt that Roth is merely out to criticize the Catholic Church. Simply because he critiques one aspect of the Catholic Church doesn't mean that he would find nothing of value within Catholicism. Roth was himself Jewish, so he was not writing from within the Catholic tradition. But I can't understand why someone writing from within the tradition couldn't arrive at an assessment very close to that of Roth's.

So, while this isn't the best book on the Spanish Inquisition (indeed, no clearly best book would seem to exist currently), this is a very adequate survey of the subject.

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous, a book on the Jewish Experience in Iberia, October 8, 2002

By	Alfassa "alfassa" (La Florida) - See all my reviews

Dr. Cecil Roth [1899-1970] has put out numerous books on the topic of the Jews. He was educated in Great Britain, and lived both abroad and in the United States. He was a foremost authority on the history of world Jewry. In this book, Dr. Cecil Roth documents the long series of events leading up to the Inquisition and the three-and-a-half centuries of torment that comprise this bloody epic of human history. It is done objectify, but with a candor and wit which is regrettably deficient by writers of today. The book covers the origins of the Spanish inquisition in both Spain and Portugal, as well as how it spread to the New World. The reliable author talks of the Muslims who were forced to convert, and the Protestants who suffered under the hand of the Catholic Church. The book covers the period of time from the expulsion of 1492, to the early 20th century. This book was written in 1933. If there is one book on the Jewish expereince in Iberia you desire, this is it.

17 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Spanish Inquisition based on the EDICT OF FAITH, September 22, 1999

By A Customer

Don't be carried away by emotion or the ecstacy of religious zeal when reading about the Inquisition. It was real! Check the bibliography. Other reviewers totally overlooked in the book the significance of the EDICT OF FAITH quoted by the author (not of his making). Two other works should be read before criticizing this one; THE SPANIARDS, by Americo Castro (search under the author's name), and THE MALLEUS MALLIFICARUM, found by title. I recommend prospective readers read the reviews of these works first, and then decide if Mr. Roth's descriptions are extreme. A less direct method would be to read THE CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE (see the review in amazon.com), a novel based on fact, but with a fictitious cast of characters and the expected amount of fantasy. History poses a problem because it can inflame the mind unless one respects that what is past may no longer be true, at least in the same sense.