The Spanish Inquisition remains a fearful symbol of state terror. Its principal target was the conversos, descendants of Spanish Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity some three generations earlier. Since thousands of them confessed to charges of practicing Judaism in secret, historians have long understood the Inquisition as an attempt to suppress the Jews of Spain. In this magisterial reexamination of the origins of the Inquisition, Netanyahu argues for a different view: that the conversos were in fact almost all genuine Christians who were persecuted for political ends. The Inquisition's attacks not only on the conversos' religious beliefs but also on their "impure blood" gave birth to an anti-Semitism based on race that would have terrible consequences for centuries to come. This book has become essential reading and an indispensable reference book for both the interested layman and the scholar of history and religion.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Enlightening:
Definitive historic account of this horrific period IN CATHOLIC CHURCH HISTORY called The Inquisition.
Yes christians, all christians would be very wise to put their bibles down and read this 1150 page book about how , yet once again the catholic church failed to protect the jews from persecution. in fact the main culprit was a priest by the name of FERRAN MARTINEZ, a priest in the catholic church system , he was a hell fire and brimestone that organized the outbreak on JUNE 4, 1391. The jewish men of... more info
The Theory and Practice of Intolerance:
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... more info
The Inquisition as a crime of racism:
The 'Inquistion' was one of the great disasters of Jewish history, involving the slaughter and torture of tens of thousands of innocent people. In this work of historical narrative and analysis the origins of the racist anti- Semitism that characterize the behavior of late fifteenth century Spain the beginning of the process is traced to the Egypt of 525 A.D.
The long story of Spanish Jewry is told here including that of the Conversos who left Judaism for Christianity, and who were nonetheless... more info
highly speculative:
Of the many books and periodical articles that I have read concerning the Spanish Inquisition, this is the most biased and speculative and opinionated. I would not recommend this book to anyone. It is extremely long and tedious. We realize that the Inquisition was shameful. However, this work substitutes one prejudice for another.
