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B. Netanyahu

The Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth Century Spain Hardcover – August 1, 1995

by B. Netanyahu (Author)

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Bringing to life the tragic history of the Jews and their Christianized descendants in Spain, Professor Netanyahu gives us a new intrepretation of the Spanish Inquisition and the origins of modern anti-Semitism.

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Modest in title but monumental in scope, this book is easily the finest study of the Inquisition to appear in this, or arguably any, century. Netanyahu (A Place Among the Nations: Israel and the World, Norton, 1993) traces the origins of anti-Semitism not to Christianity or Europe or the 15th century, but to 525 B.C.E., when Jewish support for the Persians against Egypt led to Egyptian hostility to Jews and "the first written anti-semitic piece." The importance of Netanyahu's work rests on its powerful revisionist interpretation. He argues with enormous evidence that Spanish Jews, though forced to convert, had become "devoutly Christian" and thoroughly assimilated into Spanish society. What was new in the 15th century was the Spanish monarchy's practice of defining Jews not religiously but racially, which served as a prototype of 20th-century persecutions. Netanyahu's magisterial achievement is prodigiously researched and lucidly written; it should be in every research, academic, and public library.
Bennett D. Hill, Georgetown Univ., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

The Spanish Inquisition was responsible for one of the fiercest repressions in human history. It fused the triple evil of a police state, a totalitarian ideology, and racial persecution. Its terrible reverberations have been felt in our own century, and are likely to be felt in the next. Yet for all its notoriety, its origins have never been fully explored or clearly understood before now. What caused this monstrous attack upon Spain's so-called "conversos" -- the Christian descendants of the Jews who had been forced to convert during the anti-Semitic riots that swept across Spain at the end of the fourteenth century? Were the thousands of conversos who died at the hands of the Inquisition in fact secretly still Jews, only pretending to be good Christians, as the inquisition charged and as most scholars continue to believe? In this magnum opus, B. Netanyahu shows us that this claim is groundless. After a lifetime of research in long-unexamined Spanish sources, he reveals that at the time of the Inquisition, almost all conversos were in fact full-fledged Christians, and that the few Judaizers among them had dwindled into insignificance. The vast machinery of the Inquisition could not have been founded to kill a dying movement. What, then, was its purpose? "The Origins of the Inquisition" answers this question definitively. By examining Spanish anti-Semitism from its origins, Professor Netanyahu demonstrates that the brutal anti-converso movement that led to the Inquisition was the same one responsible for the massacre of Jews in Spain in 1391 and the ensuing mass conversion of Spanish Jews (at sword-point) to Christianity. The rapid rise of the conversos to high royal offices (higher, even, than those attained by their Jewish forefathers) made them the target of the same forces that had persecuted the Jews. It was to remove the conversos from their influential positions, and to prevent their intermarriage with the Spanish people, that they were accused of being secret Judaizers and members of a "corrupt" race that would "pollute" the Spanish blood. This was the first time that extreme anti-Semitism was wedded to a theory of race -- a union that would dramatically affect the course of modern history. Steering the reader through the labyrinthine politics of Church and State in fifteenth-century Spain, Professor Netanyahu develops his startling thesis within the context of a careful consideration of Spanish culture and society. The conversos, like their Jewish ancestors, were intimately linked with the Spanish monarchy, and, unlike the Jews, also with the Papacy, but by the end of the fifteenth century, both Church and State left their erstwhile allies to the mercy of the Inquisition. As Professor Netanyahu brilliantly shows, the Spanish sovereigns let the coversos be attacked in order to distract the outraged city masses and their leaders from turning against the royal establishment itself. "The Origins of the Inquisition" is a seminal work that will alter our understanding of the Spanish Inquisition and its place in the history of anti-Semitism, of Spain, and of Europe. Its is required reading for anyone who wishes to understand one of history's darkest movements, the terrible shadow of which persists to this very day. Professor B. Netanyahu has been editor in chief of the "Encyclopedia Hebraica", general editor of the "World History of the Jewish People", and co-editor of the "Jewish Quarterly Review". His a fellow of the American Academy for Jewish Research, a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes y Ciencias Historicas in Spain, and professor emeritus at Cornell University. -- Midwest Book Review

Publisher : Random House; 1st edition (August 1, 1995)
Language: : English
Hardcover : 1384 pages
ISBN-10 : 0679410651
ISBN-13 : 978-0679410652
Item Weight : 4.05 pounds
Dimensions : 7 x 2.25 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #490,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #502 in History of Judaism
- #2,437 in History of Christianity (Books)
- #8,064 in European History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
33 ratings

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Kyle

Finally the truth on the Inquisition

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2017

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The facts are clear and the truth has been told. I can see why this book is so well received at the history departments of Yale and Notre Dame and so many other Ivy League schools.

2 people found this helpful

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Bill Hopper

Dense read.. chock full of rabinnical insight. ...

Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2017

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Dense read..chock full of rabinnical insight. He is a circular historian, rehashing events previously covered without adding much additional insight or information. Not for the casual reader.

3 people found this helpful

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It took me forever to read this

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2013

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About 1175 pages of reading, excluding notes and index - I'm not a complete nut! I read this after a trip to southern Spain. Completely clarifies what the Maranos really were and not what we've been generally taught they were. An eye opener on an important part of European history.

7 people found this helpful

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Sophia

I recommend reading and keeping as reference

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2018

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Very interesting, informative. I recommend reading and keeping as reference.

One person found this helpful

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bronx guy

History comes alive

Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2016

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Fascinating, huge book.

One person found this helpful

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DancerJack

THE history of the inquisition in spain

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2002

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this encycolpedic oeuvre is almost overwhelming in its sheer scale; however, the attention to detail is necessary in order to understand how this horrifying portion of liturgical history developed. social contexts and authentic resources make this a very thorough history of the inquisition as it was experienced in spain. i only wish i could find an equally thorough treatment of the inquisition in italy and france. a very revealing work for the lay person who wants to know more about liturgical history, the woman's place in medieval social order, and the development of the social relationships among medieval spanish christians, jews, and muslims.

31 people found this helpful

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Mondo

The Theory and Practice of Intolerance

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2008

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In rating a book I'm not always looking for the same thing. "Origins", in my opinion, is primarily a scholarly reference text and that's the sense I rated it. It is not an exciting page-turner but a careful exposition of an important part of Western history.

I used it as a reference in my studies for my own novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Italian Wars, Spanish Inquisition and especially the Conquest of Mexico. Netanyahu's book helped. I learned that the Second Inquisition, although an important part of Spanish society, was probably not quite as lethal as most people suspect. At the same time the Inquisition did torture [but blood must not be spilled] people, humiliated them in the notorious Auto de Fes, and sometimes even burned them to death. Here, though, we see the sophistry and hypocrisy inherent in the Inquisition. All executions happened AFTER the Auto de Fes and were performed by secular officials. The Church kept its hands clean!

The Inquisition was also, however, an oppressive and even subversive organization--a dangerous force--within the body politic of Spain. In a day before an official secret police, the Second Inquisition served much of the same function and, no doubt, had the capability of scaring the wits out of almost everyone, peasants, hacendados, churchmen, aristocrats and even the Emperor, himself.

It started as an effort to insure that Jewish and Moorish Conversos were genuinely Christian and morphed into an organization that forced religious uniformity and excluded Protestantism from the shores of the entire Spanish Empire. It was also racist in that it attempted--successfully--to insure "limpieza de sangre", the purification of Spanish bood. What can I say? It was an incredible success. Terror works. The secret practices of Judaism and Islam virtually disappeared; heresies were nipped in the bud and Protestantism was held well at bay.

There was injustice, greed and corruption. Confiscated wealth and properties oftentimes ended up in the hands of the creatures of the Inquisition. Still most officials probably really believed in their office and believed they were fighting the good fight for God, Faith and Country.

Ron Braithwaite

28 people found this helpful

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Lena Jacobson

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2016

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Deep analysis, valuable historical resource.

One person found this helpful

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E. Clarke

Prolix and opinionated, but worthwhile (probably)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2011

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It is probably worthwhile persevering with this prolix, not to say sprawling work. There are some impressive and insightful analyses of key documents in the history of medieval Spain. There are insights into the workings of Spanish cities, the Spanish Church and the various Spanish courts, as well as into historical, theological, canon law, and sociological aspects of anti-Semitism in Spain.You get at least an impression of the range of scholarship which this topic has attracted through the ages, though the author claims the origins, as opposed to the activities, of the Spanish Inquisition had attracted too little interest before his endeavours.
It has, I think, several major faults, the first of which is its length, bulked out by repetitions and reviews and made made worse by a ponderously careful ushering of the reader through his arguments. "Before we turn to this, we must review the ...". He also on many occasions launches into what can only be described as riffs on various themes, ostensibly detailing the inward workings of minds or motivations, (Ferdinand's motivation in setting up the Inquisition is the last example of this sweeping approach to history) These are extremely plausible but would be more convincing if he cited any evidence on which they are based, but this he does rarely. (As opposed to his documentary analyses, which he normally annotates at least minimally). Unfortunately, the book seems to take for granted a knowledge of the basic chronology, and personages, of medieval Spanish history. As he jumps about a lot you need to stay alert to know where you are. As for his basic hypothesis, I can accept that anti-converso sentiment was a continuation of millennia old anti-Semitism, but find it difficult to see any evidence that this was largely a plebeian sentiment, used by the upper classes for other purposes. He states this quite frequently, and refers to riots as proof, but as the main agents of action were always from the upper classes, I think it more likely that this is where the sentiment was historically transmitted.
I was continually frustrated by the books faults in structure, language and historical approach. But I was impressed by the sweep of the endeavour, the passion of the writer and the fascination of the basic subject - a centuries long attempt by a government to eradicate or impoverish a section of its people. I am glad I persevered to the end of the book.

One person found this helpful

Dalahorse

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 27, 2016

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Book in excellent condition.

Steven Miller

Dr. Netanyahu was a research juggernaut; his extensive ...

Reviewed in Canada on November 5, 2014

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Dr. Netanyahu was a research juggernaut; his extensive and throughly cited work utilizes all extant records from the period to conclusively debunk the hardleft narrative that variables such as economic inequality had no adverse role whatsoever vis-a-vis the social behaviour of Medieval Christians.

If you still think "Multiculturalism" can work in principle, or has ever actually worked in practice, then this book is for you.

Active person

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on February 23, 2017

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the book arrived on time and looked as advertised

One person found this helpful

Alexander

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2011

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Very good

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