An ambitious narrative which sets out to document and dissect the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions from their inception (in the 15th century in Spain and the 16th century in Portugal) to their decline in the 18th century, and eventual abolition in the early 19th. It also includes the history of how these institutions operated in their overseas colonies in South America, Africa and India. The Inquisition in each territory, Spain and Portugal, differed in some respects although for much of the period the two countries came under the Spanish monarch, for example, the Portuguese Inquisition did not persecute the descendants of ex-Muslims because the Muslims in Portugal had been assimilated into the Christian majority centuries before, whereas in Spain a long war had been fought against them and they were forced to convert to Christianity and then viewed as a Fifth Column who were believed to conspire with external enemies, so they were targeted by the Spanish Inquisition until they were eventually expelled from the country.

Both countries oppressed conversos, Jews who had converted to Christianity, even if they had done so voluntarily and were devout Catholics. This persecution extended to remote descendants especially when the Inquisition's role had switched more to establishing people's genealogy to determine if they were allowed to be appointed to certain jobs or even get married. Another later role of the Inquisition was in maintaining lists of banned books, censoring books and visiting publishers and booksellers. Huge amounts of bureaucracy were required, and the banning of modern writers of the period and the scientific outlook all helped to contribute to the decline of Spain and Portugal, especially as the expulsion of the Muslims had resulted in the loss of most agricultural knowledge and labour in Spain.

The book makes use of the personal stories of various victims of the two Inquisitions and also makes clear the corruption among a lot of officials, which was not restricted to self enrichment but frequently involved sexual abuse of women. The knowledge that every town or even village had men, often of bad character, who were empowered to spy on and denounce neighbours who might end up being burned at the stake, sometimes with the 'mercy' of being garroted first, must have created a type of police state in which ordinary people lived in fear. Green makes the case for this being the blueprint for a lot of oppressive regimes of later centuries though oddly enough, he omits the obvious one of Nazi Germany which shared the Inquisition's obsession with 'purity of blood', was just as bureaucratic, encouraged people to denounce neighbours and even family members, and which also insisted on genealogical proof of a lack of Jewish forebears going back several generations for women who wanted to marry members of the SS.

The book, for me, merits only a three star rating because its style is a bit turgid and Green repeatedly makes the same points. Also he jumps about in the timeline a lot which doesn't help the clarity. Although there are page numbers in footnotes to go back to a previous section where a person, family or incident was covered before, I found at least one reference where the page number was wrong. Plus Green stresses the political nature of both these Inquisitions, subservient to the crown and minimises the earlier atrocities committed by the original Papal Inquisition, although from previous histories I've read, that was just as bad.

So it is quite a good overall history, especially for its inclusion of the overseas colonies, and makes some good suggestions about the psychology of the Inquisitions and their role in the decline of the two Iberian countries, but comes over as a bit dry and repetitive on occasion. ( )

Primeiro, os aspectos positivos. Enquanto em Portugal a Inquisição perseguiu maioritariamente o cripto-judaísmo, mas também a sodomia, a bigamia e outros desvios sexuais, em Espanha os perseguidos foram mais variados – luteranos, mouriscos, jansenistas e iluministas.
Que a Inquisição Portuguesa era uma fábrica de fazer judeus (expressão que o autor não utiliza), já eu sabia. O que fiquei a conhecer com a leitura desta obra foi a diversidade de alvos da Inquisição espanhola, o carácter corrupto dos seus funcionários e a forma abusiva como usavam o seu poder em todos os escalões da hierarquia.
Gostei da abordagem do medo e das implicações nas possessões diabólicas e nos exorcismos e também de outra análise sobre o impedimento da propagação das ideias novas. O Índex teve consequências. O medo, a estagnação, o conformismo e o obscurantismo mantidos durante mais de três séculos, tiveram consequências. Algumas delas ainda hoje de reflectem na personalidade dos povos peninsulares.
Agora os aspectos negativos. O autor não se decide se a Inquisição é preponderantemente política ou religiosa. Defende várias vezes o seu carácter fundamentalmente político, mas outras vezes leva-nos a pensar o contrário. Ignora as dificuldades que D. João IV teve com a Inquisição, que foi força de reacção contra a nova coroa e que não conseguiu extingui-la devido à sua dependência do Papa.
Isto leva-nos a outro aspecto negativo – não distinguir o carácter diferente de ambas as inquisições peninsulares. Em Espanha foi mais feroz, mas isso não transparece no texto. Aliás, parece que escreveu uma história da Inquisição espanhola, referindo aqui e além episódios da Inquisição portuguesa. Finalmente, o autor faz vários juízos de valor, esquecendo-se que nesta obra está no papel de historiador e não no de jornalista. ( )

Primeiro, os aspectos positivos. Enquanto em Portugal a Inquisição perseguiu maioritariamente o cripto-judaísmo, mas também a sodomia, a bigamia e outros desvios sexuais, em Espanha os perseguidos foram mais variados – luteranos, mouriscos, jansenistas e iluministas.
Que a Inquisição Portuguesa era uma fábrica de fazer judeus (expressão que o autor não utiliza), já eu sabia. O que fiquei a conhecer com a leitura desta obra foi a diversidade de alvos da Inquisição espanhola, o carácter corrupto dos seus funcionários e a forma abusiva como usavam o seu poder em todos os escalões da hierarquia.
Gostei da abordagem do medo e das implicações nas possessões diabólicas e nos exorcismos e também de outra análise sobre o impedimento da propagação das ideias novas. O Índex teve consequências. O medo, a estagnação, o conformismo e o obscurantismo mantidos durante mais de três séculos, tiveram consequências. Algumas delas ainda hoje de reflectem na personalidade dos povos peninsulares.
Agora os aspectos negativos. O autor não se decide se a Inquisição é preponderantemente política ou religiosa. Defende várias vezes o seu carácter fundamentalmente político, mas outras vezes leva-nos a pensar o contrário. Ignora as dificuldades que D. João IV teve com a Inquisição, que foi força de reacção contra a nova coroa e que não conseguiu extingui-la devido à sua dependência do Papa.
Isto leva-nos a outro aspecto negativo – não distinguir o carácter diferente de ambas as inquisições peninsulares. Em Espanha foi mais feroz, mas isso não transparece no texto. Aliás, parece que escreveu uma história da Inquisição espanhola, referindo aqui e além episódios da Inquisição portuguesa. Finalmente, o autor faz vários juízos de valor, esquecendo-se que nesta obra está no papel de historiador e não no de jornalista. ( )

Inquisition: the Reign of Fear by Toby Green

Toby Green turns raw accounts from dusty documents buried in Spanish archives into
an entertaining -if not nightmarish view of life under the perverse eye of the Inquisitioner. The book is anecdote rich, showing the Inquisition to be the foreunner of any modern police state’s enforcers in terms of motive, rationalization and operation. Its fall heralded political division in Spain that last to this day (Traditional v. Change, Open v. Closed).

Provocative parallels are drawn with today’s world, from surveiling the people at the mall for misfits to nationalist movements advocating deporting entire segments of the populace (just replace illegal aliens with moriscos – who did most of Spain’s agrarian labor). From the Old World to the New a reign of terror, fear and paranoia permeated all aspects of all classes of society. Starting with the Inquisition’s racks and moving along to 20th century Gulags, to 21 century Guantanamos, they all zealously operate in secret using the thinnest of evidence (he had a book – be it a bible or Lutheran samizdat, ergo he is a heretic). Torture abounds, with holy rationalized justifications. Green offers the requisite abundance of at the stake burnings– reading in front of a crackling fireplace in the winter gave this reader an erie feel of camaraderie with both Inquisitor and victim.

The enforcement is depicted as unholy and corrupt – arrest him, I want his house and wife, he reads French. The most professional aspect of the enforcment was often record maintainance (another lesson: don’t). The daily detail is memorable; e.g. serve pork and shell fish tapas as a test. A crypto Moslem or crypto Jew would not touch them, deflating the guise of being a good Catholic. Or a modern day Gladys Kravitz who is thrilled when a heretic family moves in next door (think 60s sitcom Bewitch) giving her gossip mongering eye an Inquisitional legitimacy. And don’t overlook the accounts of sex and heresy and witches and satan (who often visited repressed women in the guise of a student – think young repressed male). The censoring of books advocating thought and science compare to the American schools problems in teaching evolution – while the censor’s worked they promoted an intellectual stagnation that put Spain at an international economic disadvantage.

My favorite line appears on page 271: As one inquisitor put it in the late 16th century: 'the truth is that the [doctrine of the heretics] is nowhere so much communicated and distributed as through the medium of books, which, as mute teachers, talk continuously; they teach all the time, and in all places. . . the typical adversary and enemy of the Catholic faith has always relied on this efficient and pernicious medium.’”

It’s a smooth read. A series of notes that would thrill a librarian, a bibliography that demonstrates extensive research; and a fine index of content by concepts as well as by name. The book, like any history, is full of lessons to be applied . . . . taught centuries ago but still going unheard. An enjoyable and enlightening book on a group devoted to unenlightened torment.