The Spanish Inquisition

The author traces the history of the Spanish Inquisition from 1478when it was founded, through its agenda against dissenters, to its demise and abolition in the early nineteenth century. Taking account of the work of a new generation of international historians, she demonstrates that the Inquisition was a far less brutal instrument of control than hitherto envisaged, that torture and the death penalty were only rarely applied, and then almost exclusively during the early years of its history. The book also draws attention to the wider role of the Inquisition as an educative force in societythat strengthened the bonds between church and state.