The Cambridge Companion to the Spanish Inquisition

Founded in 1478 and not permanently abolished until 1834, the Spanish Inquisition has always been a notorious institution in history as an engine of religious and racial persecution. Yet, Spaniards themselves did not create its legal processes or its theoretical mission, which was to reconcile heretics to the Catholic Church. In this volume, leading international scholars assess the origins, legal practices, victims, reach, and failures of Spanish inquisitors across centuries and geographies. Grounded in recent scholarship and archival research, the chapters explore the Inquisition’s medieval precedents as well as its turbulent foundation and eradication. The volume examines how inquisitors changed their targets over time, and how literal physical settings could affect their investigations and prosecutions. Contributors also demonstrate how deeply Spanish inquisitors cared about social status and legal privilege, and explore the scandals that could envelop inquisitors and their employees. In doing so, this volume offers a nuanced, contextual understanding of the Spanish Inquisition as a historical phenomenon.

Author Biography

Lu Ann Homza is a Professor of History at William & Mary. Her research focuses on the religious, legal, and cultural history of Europe, especially Spain and Italy, between 1300 and 1650. Previous publications include The Child Witches of Olague (2024), Village Infernos and Witches’ Advocates: Witch Hunting in Navarre, 1608-1614 (2022) and The Spanish Inquisition, 1478-1614: An Anthology of Sources (2006), the first collection of translated sources from the Spanish Inquisition.