Tomás de Torquemada
Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1420-1498)
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Tomás de Torquemada was the head of the Spanish Inquisition during the late 1400s, a period when the Catholic Church investigated and punished heresy in Spain. He is historically significant and controversial because he oversaw the Inquisition during a time of intense religious persecution, making him a pivotal but deeply divisive figure in European history.
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Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1420
- Died
- 1498
- Works
- 1
Top works
- Copilacion de las instrvciones del officio de la sanota inquisicion
via Open Library + Wikidata
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Article
Tomás de Torquemada OP (14 October 1420 – 16 September 1498), anglicized as Thomas of Torquemada, was a Spanish Dominican friar and the first Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition. In that role, he led a group of ecclesiastical prelates created in 1478 to uphold Catholic religious orthodoxy within the newly formed union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon, presently known as the Kingdom of Spain.
In part because of persecution, Muslims and Jews in Castile and Aragon at that time found it socially, politically, and economically advantageous to convert to Catholicism (becoming what were known as conversos, moriscos, and marranos). The existence of superficial converts from Judaism was perceived by the Catholic Monarchs as a threat to the religious and social life in their realms. This led Torquemada to be one of the chief supporters of the Alhambra Decree, which expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492.
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1420 births1498 deaths15th-century Castilian Roman Catholic priestsAnti-Islam sentiment in SpainAntisemitism in SpainGrand Inquisitors of SpainPeople from ValladolidPerpetrators of Indigenous genocides in the AmericasPersecution of Muslims by ChristiansSpanish critics of IslamSpanish DominicansSpanish Inquisition