Tomas De Torquemada was the controlling force of the Spanish Inquisition. He presided over
the systematic purging of so-called heretic Jews that has gone down in history as one
of the worst religious persecutions of all time. But was he the monster that history
has painted? In this week’s Biographics, we uncover the real story of Tomas De Torquemada.
Early Life
Tomas De Torquemada was born in 1420 in or around the village of Valladolid in the Kingdom
of Old Castile in modern day Spain. The Torquemada’s were of Jewish heritage. However, Tomas’s
forebears had converted to Catholicism to become what were known as Converso’s, or
converted ones. His was a distinguished family, with an uncle, John, who had joined the Dominican
order and was making advancement in the Royal Palace in Rome. In 1431, John De Torquemada
was made Master of the Palace and then, in 1439, a Cardinal.
With an uncle in such a high position in the Catholic church, the path was set for young
Tomas to make his own mark within the church. From a young age he seized the opportunity.
He was a diligent student who developed a reputation as a pious and humble young man.
Prior to the age of ten, he was admitted to the San Pablo Dominican Monastery. For the
next two decades his life revolved around ecclesiastical study, prayer, confession and
church custom. At around the age of thirty five, he became Prior of the Dominican convent
at Segovia.
For the next twenty years, Torquemada presided over his small parish, living the life of
a humble, quite man of God. He developed a reputation as an energetic and fearless preacher
of the word and a strict disciplinarian. The fact that he was strictest on himself caused
the people in his community to look to his as a fine example of piety and holiness. He
refused to eat meat, slept on a bare board and would not wear anything other than his
old habit. He was a voracious reader and had a fascination with architecture, especially
that of the church.
Queen’s Confessor
Up until the 15th century, the rulers of Castile and Aragon governed a series of separate district
kingdoms with the Iberian Peninsula. It was the marriage of Isabella of Castile to Ferdinand
of Aragon in 1469 which began the gradual process of unification that would lead to
creation of modern-day Spain. It wa around 1470 when Torquemada became acquainted
with Princess Isabella, then in her young twenties. The princess was spending quite
a lot of time in Segovia, and, with Torquemada having established quite a reputation as a
holy man of note, he was retained as her confessor. At first he declined to accept the offer,
but was won over by the princesses’ insistence.
On December 13th, 1474, Isabella was crowned Queen of Castile and Leon. Her relationship
with Torquemada had grown and she came to rely on him for advice. Isabella and Torquemada
were both obsessed with rooting out religious heresy and the purity of the Church. Both
the Queen and her husband, King Ferdinand, had a high opinion of the humble priest and
he was quickly promoted within the order. If he had been ambitious he may have ascended
to a Cardinalship, like his uncle, or even to the office of Pope. But, Torquemada had
no such lofty intentions. He was content to live the life of a simple monk.
In May, 1475, the Portuguese invaded Spain in attempt to seize the Crown away from Isabella
and Ferdinand. A bloody war was waged for nearly a year, culminating in the Spanish
victory at the Battle of Toro on March 1st, 1476. In the wake of this great victory, Isabella
rode around the countryside, holding court in every town that she came across. There
she would hear complaints about murderers, thieves and other wrongdoers. Using her authority
as monarch to fast track judicial process she would order the guilty to be either shot
or beheaded immediately. This she did with cold, clinical precision.
At this time, Torquemada was busy with organising the construction of a new Dominican monastery
at Avila.
The Jewish Problem Jews had been living in Spain for some 1500
years, with about 80,000 of them at the time Isabella was queen. This was compared to some
6 million Christians. Unlike France and England, the Spanish had not expelled the Jews but
they had forced many of them to convert to Christianity. These ones were known as Conversos.
Many within the realm, however, did not put any stock in the Christian sincerity of the
Conversos. They were believed to be false converts who practiced their old Jewish religion
while profession Christianity. This was seen by many in positions of power as a direct
threat to the security of the realm in general and the church in particular.
In the eyes of the Queen, this false faith amounted to heresy – and it was something
that she would not tolerate. In fact, she would not put up with any form of religious
hypocrisy. It was during a visit to Seville in 1477 that she first became interested in
adopting an inquisition – or investigation – into the religious state of the kingdom.
The following year a Papal Bull was issued by Pope Sixtus IV granting permission to establish
an Inquisition within Castile. The petition to the Pope requesting the Inquisition had
been written by Torquemada and a Cardinal Mendoza. But Isabela moved cautiously. She
was of the opinion that poor training was the main reason that Jewish converts were
no fully adhering to the faith and so put the emphasis on religious education.
The Queen appointed two of her most trusted Church advisers, Cardinal Mendoza and the
future Archbishop of Granada, Hernando de Talavara to the task of re-educating the wayward
Converso. A program was put in place in Seville by which local priests would retrain the misguided
Conversos. But after two years, with very little headway being made, Isabella had to
concede that stronger measures were needed. She remained reluctant to enact the Inquisition,
but pressure came upon her from her advisers, including Torquemada to do so. Even her husband,
King Ferdinand, was in favor. Ever the pragmatist, he foresaw the confiscation of Converso property
as a much needed revenue gathering source. The Inquisition Begins
Finally, and against her better judgement, Isabella issued a royal decree on September
27th, 1480 establishing the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition.
The Papal Bull authorizing the inquisition had given Isabella and Ferdinand the freedom
to select the members who make the Inquisition tribunal. They chose Tomas De Torquemada,
along with Cardinal Mendoza and two other Dominicans, Fray Miguel Morillo and Fray Juan
de San Martin. Cardenal Mendoza acted as the chief judge, while Torquemada took the position
of a consulting expert. The other two members were the active inquisitors who sought out
and brought heretics before the tribunal. The first area of focus for the Inquisition
was to be the almost entirely Jewish city of Seville.
The arrival of Inquisitors, dressed in distinctive white robes and black hoods, caused panic
among the Converso community, with around 4,000 people fleeing Seville. Still, the Inquisitors
set about their work with ruthless efficiency. The first public execution took place on February
6th, 1481. On that day six people were burned to death, setting the stage for the horror
that was to unfold over the coming months and years.
From Seville, the Inquisition spread throughout the kingdom, with tribunals set up in Cordoba,
Jaen and the religious capital of Toledo. A pattern was soon established that would
begin with the people of a town being prepared by having the fear of God preached to them
from the pulpit. Then the inquisitors would arrive in the town and the Edict of Grace
would be read. This was a call to come forth and confess your lack of faith. Those who
did so and renounced their Judaism, could hope for mercy. Those who didn’t, would
face the full wrath of the Inquisitors. Those who were taken into detention would
have all of their property taken away from them. This would obviously leave their family
in a hopeless situation. The primary goal of the interrogators was
to obtain a confession. If it didn’t come voluntarily, then increasingly horrific forms
of torture would be employed to get it. Methods of torture progressed from foot roasting in
which the suspect’s feet were lathered in fat and then held over a burning fire, to
the Judas Cradle, a device composed of a tall thin stool with a triangular shaped seat,
in which the victim was slowly impaled, and the rack, in which case the victim was tied
to a wooden frame and their body was stretched as the bars moved in opposite directions.
Such torture would convince even the most innocent of people to confess. Still, such
a coerced confession was not legally binding. It had to be afterwards confirmed by the suspect
for it to hold weight. The trial that was held would be the defendant’s
only opportunity to defend himself. If he was able to he would call upon witnesses to
prove his innocence, or to cast doubt upon the veracity of the accuser. If found guilty
the person could be reconciled or penanced if they demonstrated contriteness. They would
lose their property and have to undergo such punishment as whipping or a term of imprisonment.
Those who refused to denounce Judaism would be condemned to the flames.
The Inquisition created an atmosphere of fear through the kingdom. One of its most chilling
aspects was that it thrived on a diet of anonymous accusation. Then, when a suspect was was forced
to confess, he was required to produce names of others who had been co-conspirators with
him. By 1483, the Inquisition had become a monster
that was out of control. Isabellas’ initial goal was simply to weed out the false converts
among the Converso Jews.But, the climate of accusation and torture had led to something
far more sinister. With no centralized control, the various tribunals around the kingdom were
operating according to their own dictates. News was constantly being received by the
Pope in Rome of excesses that went beyond the powers he had given in his Papal Bull.
This caused tension between the Pope and Queen Isabella. In order to settle the situation,
Isabella turned to her advisor, Tomas de Torquemada. It was decided that all the powers of the
inquisition would be centralized, with Torquemada himself at the head. He had the skills and
experience, it was believed, to please both the monarch and the pope at the same time.
The pope agreed and, in October, 1483, he named Torquemada as the Inquisitor General
of Castile and Leon. The Grand Inquisitor
In contrast to history’s painting him as an eager persecutor of Jews who was chomping
at the bit to torture them, the truth is that Torquemada would rather not have taken up
the position. He would have preferred to continued to live the life of a simple monk. Yet, having
accepted the position, he took it on with full force – not with the goal of persecuting
Jews, but to ensure that all Catholics were true and loyal Catholics. He saw the Inquisition
not as an instrument of cruel terror but as a vehicle for necessary reform.
Torquemada began his oversight of the inquisition by doing away with the worst excesses of his
predecessors, putting in place a system of judicial process. He then improved the conditions
for the imprisoned under the Inquisition. Torquemada next set about refining the stages
of the Inquisition process. The Edict of Grace would be read up to three times and a period
of forty days given for repentant ones to come forward. A person could only be convicted
on the testimony of two witnesses and now the complaints had to be in writing and signed.
Once a person was denounced by two witnesses, he would be investigated, usually without
his knowledge. If evidence of false religious worship was ‘clear, certain and specific’
the person would be put before the court. Torquemada required that a person’s trial
must be held within three days of his arrest. The charges against him would be stated and
he would be urged to confess his guilt. If he refused, up to two more hearings would
be held. Only after the third hearing would interrogation begin.
Torquemada produced a handbook to help his Inquisitors to identify heretical Conversos.
Giveaway signs of their heresy were such things as cooking all of the meals for the weekend
on a Friday night, if they got their supplies from Jewish rather than Christian suppliers
and if they were known not to eat pork. Despite the fact that his name has been forever
linked with the worst excesses of the Inquisition’s torture processes, the reality is that Torquemada
was responsible for mitigating the worst excesses of the process. He stipulated that it was
not to be used a means of punishment but strictly for obtaining information related to the charge
at hand. Furthermore, torture could only be administered with the written approval of
the bishop of the diocese and the visa of the Supreme Court. In addition, a doctor had
to be present throughout the torture process. Torquemada did away with some of the more
barbarous methods of torture and replaced them with what was known as the ‘water cure’.
The interrogated person who be stripped naked and tied with cords upon a wooden ladder.
The nostrils were stopped and his jaws were held apart by iron tongs. Then a piece of
linen was placed over his mouth. Water was then slowly poured onto the cloth to travel
down the throat. The sensation that resulted was one of suffocating. However, it rarely
resulted in long term harm and usually resulted in a confession being obtained.
Torquemada organized a synod of all Inquisitors at Seville, during which he impressed upon
the tribunal members his new rules. He then convened tribunals in all the Jewish strongholds,
including Seville, Cordoba, Jean and Ciudad Real.
The Inquisition Spreads With the Inquisition now ironed out in Castile,
Torquemada now set about implementing it in Aragon. This was a challenging assignment.
The Jews held plenty of positions of power and these men were naturally resistant to
the Inquisition moving in. The Governor of Aragon, along with most of the judges and
lawyers in the state were Conversos. All of these banded together in opposition to the
work of Torquemada. Still, the Chief Inquisitor forged ahead. He appointed two of his best
men as Inquisitors for Aragon. Leaving them to it, he then returned his focus to carrying
on the Inquisition in Castile. Meanwhile, Jewish leaders in both states were
organizing in opposition to the Inquisition. A great campaign for democracy was launched.
Two monks were sent to Cordoba to beseech the Queen to put an end to the inquisition.
The men offered large sums of money to the crown. However, Isabela rejected all of their
efforts. Now, desperate, the Jewish leaders began to speak of assassinating the Inquisitors.
A group of prominent Jews met together and agreed to hire a gang of cutthroats to carry
out the assassinations. They began by disposing of high ranking priests within the Inquisition.
Father Peter Abues was kneeling in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament when a gangster
crept in and stabbed him in the back. The King and Queen were outraged at this attack
and went all out to hunt down those who were responsible. The gang who had been employed
to carry out the killings were rounded up and executed. Meanwhile the death of the priest,
who had immediately been raised to Sainthood, led to a a backlash against the Converso.
Any opposition to the Inquisition in Aragon now came to an end, allowing Torquemada free
reign to bring the Jews there to the true faith.
In the course of his inquiries into the Jewish activities, Torquemada uncovered a plot by
Converso leaders in Toledo to seize control of the city during the 1485 Corpus Christi
prosecution and murder all the leading Christians. As a result, a large number of the Jewish
leaders were put to death. The Jewish Expulsion
After twelve years the Inquisition had still not managed to stomp out the Jewish heresy
problem. Torquemada was of the belief that the reason that the Converso’s were not
fully engaged with Catholicism was because they still associated with the Jewish community.
Only by putting and end to this association would the problem be solved. Consequently,
he began putting pressure on the King and Queen to issue an edict expelling the Jews
from Spain. Then, in 1490, five Jews and six Conversos
were accused of crucifying and murdering a Christian child in the village of La Guardia.
The accusation was probably false, but it led to an unprecedented anti-Semitic backlash.
Finally, in March 1492, Isabella and Ferdinand signed their names to a document which ordered
that all Jews who had not converted to Christianity were to leave the Kingdom by August 2nd, 1492.
Around 160,000 people managed to get out before the deadline. Most of them sold their possessions
for a pittance and were forced to travel as far as Africa, the Balkans and Rome before
finding a place to settle. Many of them, unable to find a place where they would be accepted,
straggled back to Spain to be baptized at Catholics. Others reportedly paid exorbitant
prices for passage on ships, only to be killed at sea and thrown overboard.
The number of Jews who remained in Spain as Conversos was far greater than those who had
left. And, despite, the worst efforts of the Inquisition, they remained Jewish believers
at heart. However, these Conversos now had no Jewish cultural support to back them up.
They were completely on their own. Synagogues throughout the land were taken
over and claimed for the Catholic Church. By now, Torquemada was at the height of his
power. He had unfettered control over the Inquisition and was a key player in the royal
household. The combination of the inquisition and the Jewish expulsion had ensured that
Catholicism would remain untainted. The End
In 1494, Torquemada, now aged 74, began to suffer the effects of old age. His body lacked
the energy he once had and he struggled to complete his duties as Grand Inquisitor. Pope
Gregory IV appointed four assistant Inquisitors to lighten his load. In that same year, Isabella
and Ferdinand gifted him the Jewish cemetery at Avila, for him to use as his own monastery.
It was here that he died peacefully on September 16, 1498.
The Inquisition was to survive Torquemada by three hundred years, spreading throughout
the Spanish held territory, including Naples, the Spanish Netherlands, and the territory
held by Spain in the Americas. The Inquisition remains one of the worst examples of man’s
inhumanity toward man, and the man who led it, Tomas De Torquemada, one of history’s
most hated figures.