Tomás de Torquemada
Encyclopedia
Tomás de Torquemada, O.P.
(1420 – September 16, 1498) was a fifteenth century Spanish Dominican
friar
, first Inquisitor General of Spain, and confessor
to Isabella I of Castile
. He was described by the Spanish chronicler Sebastián de Olmedo
as "The hammer of heretics, the light of Spain, the saviour of his country, the honour of his order
". He is known for his campaign against the crypto-Jews
and crypto-Muslims
of Spain. He was one of the chief supporters of the Alhambra Decree
, which expelled the Jews
from Spain in 1492. Concerning the number of autos-de-fé
during Torquemada's tenure as Inquisitor General there is a general consensus among the scholars that about 2,000 people were burned at the stake due to prosecution by the Spanish Inquisition
in the whole of Spain between 1480 and 1530.
, Castile-León, Spain. He was the Grand Inquisitor
of Spain from 1483 to his death in 1498, leaving to posterity an extraordinary picture of absolute devotion and apostolic implacability. In the fifteen years of his direction, the Spanish Inquisition grew from the single tribunal
at Seville
to a network of two dozen 'Holy Offices'.
After early service as a monk and cook at the Dominican monastery
in Valladolid, Torquemada eventually became the Prior of the Convent of La Santa Cruz, Segovia
, and advisor to the monarchs — Ferdinand
and Isabella
. He was especially well regarded by Queen Isabella, whose confessor he had been, and who had him appointed Inquisitor General in 1483. In 1492 he was one of the chief supporters of the Alhambra decree
, which resulted in the mass expulsion of Jews from Spain.
Every Spanish Christian over the age of twelve (for girls) and fourteen (for boys) was accountable to the Inquisition. The Inquisition only held jurisdiction over those who had converted from Judaism or Islam but who were suspected of secretly practising their old rites, as this corrupted the pure doctrine and faithful practice of the Christian faith. Anyone who spoke against the Inquisition could fall under suspicion – as did saints Teresa of Ávila
and John of the Cross
.
Although the Inquisition is often viewed as being directed against Jews, in actual fact it had no jurisdiction or authority over unconverted Jews, or Muslims, and never claimed any. Only baptised Christians, in other words, persons who claimed to be Catholics, faced possible investigation; and of those called to appear before the Holy Office, most were released after their first hearing without any further incident.
Accusations of excess regarding the Spanish Inquisition can be supported by reference to a papal bull by Pope Sixtus IV
dating from early 1482 (before Torquemada's appointment as Grand Inquisitor), affirming that,
So hated did he become that at one point Torquemada traveled with a bodyguard of 50 mounted guards and 250 armed men. After 15 years as Spain's Grand Inquisitor, he died in 1498 in Ávila. For his role in the Spanish Inquisition, Torquemada's name has become a byword for fanaticism
in the service of the Catholic religion. However, Torquemada was something of an early penal reformer. He cleaned up the Inquisition's prisons and ordered that the prisoners be properly fed and clothed. In time the number of common criminals petitioning to have their cases transferred to the Inquisitional courts became an administrative burden.
Secrecy being one of the keys to the workings of the Inquisition, Torquemada's manual of instructions (Copilacion de las Instruciones del Offico de la Sancta Inquisicion) did not appear publicly in print until 1576, when it was published in Madrid.
In 1832, Torquemada's tomb was ransacked, his bones stolen and burnt to ashes.
Torquemada appears to have had Jewish ancestry: the contemporary historian Hernando del Pulgar
, writing of Torquemada's uncle Juan de Torquemada
, said that his ancestor Alvar Fernández de Torquemada had married a first-generation Jewish conversa (convert). Hernando del Pulgar
, writing about Juan de Torquemada -Tomás' uncle- stated that "sus abuelos fueron de linage de los convertidos a nuestra santa fe católica" (his grandparents were amongst those converted to our Holy Catholic Faith), in his essay Claros varones de Castilla. Del Pulgar was a converso himself. Also, according to biographer Thomas Hope's book, Torquemada, Torquemada's grandmother was a conversa.
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
(1420 – September 16, 1498) was a fifteenth century Spanish Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
friar
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
, first Inquisitor General of Spain, and confessor
Confessor
-Confessor of the Faith:Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith, but not to the point of death. The term is still used in this way in the East. In Latin Christianity it has come to signify any saint, as well as those who have been declared...
to Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
. He was described by the Spanish chronicler Sebastián de Olmedo
Sebastián de Olmedo
Sebastián de Olmedo was a contemporary Spanish chronicler during the early stages of the Spanish Inquisition. He is credited with describing Tomás de Torquemada as "The hammer of heretics, the light of Spain, the saviour of his country, the honour of his order."-See also:*Tomás de Torquemada...
as "The hammer of heretics, the light of Spain, the saviour of his country, the honour of his order
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
". He is known for his campaign against the crypto-Jews
Crypto-Judaism
Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews"...
and crypto-Muslims
Crypto-Islam
Crypto-Islam is the secret adherence to Islam while publicly professing to be of another faith; people who practice crypto-Islam are referred to as "crypto-Muslims"...
of Spain. He was one of the chief supporters of the Alhambra Decree
Alhambra decree
The Alhambra Decree was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ordering the expulsion of Jews from the Kingdom of Spain and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.The edict was formally revoked on 16 December 1968, following the Second...
, which expelled the Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
from Spain in 1492. Concerning the number of autos-de-fé
Auto-da-fé
An auto-da-fé was the ritual of public penance of condemned heretics and apostates that took place when the Spanish Inquisition or the Portuguese Inquisition had decided their punishment, followed by the execution by the civil authorities of the sentences imposed...
during Torquemada's tenure as Inquisitor General there is a general consensus among the scholars that about 2,000 people were burned at the stake due to prosecution by the Spanish Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
in the whole of Spain between 1480 and 1530.
Biography
Tomás de Torquemada was born in ValladolidValladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...
, Castile-León, Spain. He was the Grand Inquisitor
Grand Inquisitor
Grand Inquisitor is the lead official of an Inquisition. The most famous Inquisitor General is the Spanish Dominican Tomás de Torquemada, who spearheaded the Spanish Inquisition.-List of Spanish Grand Inquisitors:-Castile:-Aragon:...
of Spain from 1483 to his death in 1498, leaving to posterity an extraordinary picture of absolute devotion and apostolic implacability. In the fifteen years of his direction, the Spanish Inquisition grew from the single tribunal
Tribunal
A tribunal in the general sense is any person or institution with the authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title....
at Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
to a network of two dozen 'Holy Offices'.
After early service as a monk and cook at the Dominican monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
in Valladolid, Torquemada eventually became the Prior of the Convent of La Santa Cruz, Segovia
Segovia
Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...
, and advisor to the monarchs — Ferdinand
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...
and Isabella
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
. He was especially well regarded by Queen Isabella, whose confessor he had been, and who had him appointed Inquisitor General in 1483. In 1492 he was one of the chief supporters of the Alhambra decree
Alhambra decree
The Alhambra Decree was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ordering the expulsion of Jews from the Kingdom of Spain and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.The edict was formally revoked on 16 December 1968, following the Second...
, which resulted in the mass expulsion of Jews from Spain.
Every Spanish Christian over the age of twelve (for girls) and fourteen (for boys) was accountable to the Inquisition. The Inquisition only held jurisdiction over those who had converted from Judaism or Islam but who were suspected of secretly practising their old rites, as this corrupted the pure doctrine and faithful practice of the Christian faith. Anyone who spoke against the Inquisition could fall under suspicion – as did saints Teresa of Ávila
Teresa of Ávila
Saint Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer...
and John of the Cross
John of the Cross
John of the Cross , born Juan de Yepes Álvarez, was a major figure of the Counter-Reformation, a Spanish mystic, Catholic saint, Carmelite friar and priest, born at Fontiveros, Old Castile....
.
Although the Inquisition is often viewed as being directed against Jews, in actual fact it had no jurisdiction or authority over unconverted Jews, or Muslims, and never claimed any. Only baptised Christians, in other words, persons who claimed to be Catholics, faced possible investigation; and of those called to appear before the Holy Office, most were released after their first hearing without any further incident.
Accusations of excess regarding the Spanish Inquisition can be supported by reference to a papal bull by Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. His accomplishments as Pope included the establishment of the Sistine Chapel; the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age,...
dating from early 1482 (before Torquemada's appointment as Grand Inquisitor), affirming that,
many true and faithful Christians, because of the testimony of enemies, rivals, slaves and other low people—and still less appropriate—without tests of any kind, have been locked up in secular prisons, tortured and condemned like relapsed heretics, deprived of their goods and properties, and given over to the secular arm to be executed, at great danger to their souls, giving a pernicious example and causing scandal to many.
So hated did he become that at one point Torquemada traveled with a bodyguard of 50 mounted guards and 250 armed men. After 15 years as Spain's Grand Inquisitor, he died in 1498 in Ávila. For his role in the Spanish Inquisition, Torquemada's name has become a byword for fanaticism
Fanaticism
Fanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause or in some cases sports, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby...
in the service of the Catholic religion. However, Torquemada was something of an early penal reformer. He cleaned up the Inquisition's prisons and ordered that the prisoners be properly fed and clothed. In time the number of common criminals petitioning to have their cases transferred to the Inquisitional courts became an administrative burden.
Secrecy being one of the keys to the workings of the Inquisition, Torquemada's manual of instructions (Copilacion de las Instruciones del Offico de la Sancta Inquisicion) did not appear publicly in print until 1576, when it was published in Madrid.
In 1832, Torquemada's tomb was ransacked, his bones stolen and burnt to ashes.
Torquemada appears to have had Jewish ancestry: the contemporary historian Hernando del Pulgar
Hernando del Pulgar
Hernando del Pulgar was a Spanish writer.He was born at Pulgar and was educated at the court of John II. Henry IV made him one of his secretaries, and under Isabella he became councillor of state, was charged with a mission to France, and in 1482 was appointed historiographer-royal...
, writing of Torquemada's uncle Juan de Torquemada
Juan de Torquemada (Cardinal)
Juan de Torquemada , or rather Johannes de Turrecremata, Spanish ecclesiastic, was born at Valladolid, and was educated in that city....
, said that his ancestor Alvar Fernández de Torquemada had married a first-generation Jewish conversa (convert). Hernando del Pulgar
Hernando del Pulgar
Hernando del Pulgar was a Spanish writer.He was born at Pulgar and was educated at the court of John II. Henry IV made him one of his secretaries, and under Isabella he became councillor of state, was charged with a mission to France, and in 1482 was appointed historiographer-royal...
, writing about Juan de Torquemada -Tomás' uncle- stated that "sus abuelos fueron de linage de los convertidos a nuestra santa fe católica" (his grandparents were amongst those converted to our Holy Catholic Faith), in his essay Claros varones de Castilla. Del Pulgar was a converso himself. Also, according to biographer Thomas Hope's book, Torquemada, Torquemada's grandmother was a conversa.
Torquemada in fiction
- Dostoevsky's The Brothers KaramazovThe Brothers KaramazovThe Brothers Karamazov is the final novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky spent nearly two years writing The Brothers Karamazov, which was published as a serial in The Russian Messenger and completed in November 1880...
, features a famous parableThe Grand InquisitorThe Grand Inquisitor is a parable told by Ivan to Alyosha in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov . Ivan and Alyosha are brothers; Ivan questions the possibility of a personal, benevolent God and Alyosha is a novice monk....
involving Christ coming back to Seville in the days of the Spanish Inquisition, and being confronted by the Grand Inquisitor. - TorquemadaTorquemada (play)Torquemada is an 1869 play by Victor Hugo about Tomás de Torquemada and the Inquisition in Spain. It criticized religious fanaticism and fanatical catholicism. It was first published in 1882, as a protest against antisemitic pogroms in Russia at the time....
, a play by Victor HugoVictor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
. - Torquemada, an opera by Zoltan Demme based on the above play by Victor HugoVictor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
. - Torquemada, an opera by Nino RotaNino RotaNino Rota was an Italian composer and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti...
based on a libretto by Ernesto Trucchi. - "Torquemada", The Theologian's Tale from Part One of Tales of a Wayside InnTales of a Wayside InnTales of a Wayside Inn is a collection of poems by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.-Overview:The poems in the collection are told by a group of adults in the tavern of the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts, 20 miles from Cambridge, and a favorite resort for parties from Harvard College...
, by Henry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
. - In Stuart GordonStuart GordonAfter the University of Wisconsin demanded future theatrical productions by Screw Theater be overseen by a University Professor, Gordon cut his University ties to form Broom Street Theater. Its first production, the new translation of the risque Lysistrata, premiered in May 1969. Gordon is...
's 1990 film adaptation of The Pit and the PendulumThe Pit and the Pendulum (1990 film)The Pit and the Pendulum is a 1991 horror film directed by Stuart Gordon and based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe....
, Lance HenriksenLance HenriksenLance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
portrays the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada. - Marlon BrandoMarlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
portrayed Torquemada in the 1992 film Christopher Columbus: The DiscoveryChristopher Columbus: The DiscoveryChristopher Columbus: The Discovery, a 1992 film directed by James Bond alumnus John Glen, was the last project developed by the father and son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind. It follows the events leading up to and including the voyage of Columbus to the New World in 1492...
. - Tomás de Torquemada is one of the main protagonists of Jerzy AndrzejewskiJerzy AndrzejewskiJerzy Andrzejewski was a prolific Polish author. His novels, Ashes and Diamonds , and Holy Week , have been made into film adaptations by the Oscar-winning Polish director Andrzej Wajda...
's novel And Darkness Covered the Earth (also translated as The Inquisitors). - Tomás de Torquemada is one of the main characters of Gilbert SinouéGilbert SinouéGilbert Sinoué is a classically trained guitarist and author who has lived in France since the age of 19. He has won major French literary awards for his books, which are written in French...
's novel Le livre de saphir. - Mel BrooksMel BrooksMel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
portrayed Torquemada in the musical number "The Inquisition" in the 1981 comedy movie History of the World, Part IHistory of the World, Part IHistory of the World, Part I is a 1981 comedy film written, produced, and directed by Mel Brooks. Brooks also stars in the film, playing five roles: Moses, Comicus the stand-up philosopher, Tomás de Torquemada, King Louis XVI, and Jacques, le garçon de pisse...
. During the scene about the Spanish Inquisition, an inquisitor introduces Torquemada by saying, "Torquemada – do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada – do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada – do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada (talk him out of) anything!"