Tomas De Torquemada's Influence Over The Spanish Inquisition

Tomas de Torquemada’s Influence Over the Spanish Inquisition
World History
Mr. Pravia
Fiona Shortt

Background Paragraph #1: add some information on tomas de torquemada The Spanish Inquisition was created in 1492 by newly married monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella Castile. They had defeated “the last Muslims remaining in Granada, thus bringing Spain under Christian rule” . Then they declared an Edict of Expulsion that overall, declared, “Therefore we…resolve to order all the said Jews and Jewesses to quit our kingdoms and never return…by the end of the month of July next, of the present year 1492…if they do not perform and execute the same, and are found to reside in out kingdoms…they incur the penalty of death” {Although
Tomas de Torquemada was an advisor and confessor to Isabella before he was appointed Grand Inquisitor and was her main supporter. “He had even advised her to marry King Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469, in order to consolidate their kingdoms and form a power base he could draw on for his own purposes” . Additionally, Torquemada was the one who wanted the Spanish Jews out of Spain and “vigorously urged Ferdinand and Isabella to issue an edict commanding all Jews to either leave Spain or convert to Catholicism” . DELETE: states that “Torquemada’s hostility to Jews probably exercised an influence on the decision of Ferdinand and Isabella to expel from their dominions all Jews who had not embraced Christianity”. He controlled Isabella and Ferdinand and without even being king of Spain, controlled Spain during the beginning of the Spanish Inquisition. Another example of Torquemada’s complete control over the monarchs of Spain is when Spanish Jews, who did not want to leave Spain, offered King Ferdinand a large amount of money as a bribe. According to John Didymus, the author of essay “Tomas de Torquemada: Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition”, “Ferdinand might have accepted the offer but for a dramatic reaction from Tomas in which he stormed the Palace and accused the king of wanting to sell Christ for money like Judas did” . He was able to manipulate them because
Tomas de Torquemada was a mad, violent man who not only was unjustly cruel to Jews, but of Jewish descent himself. “It was not until 1483—when Tomas de Torquemada, a Spanish Dominican monk, was appointed Grand Inquisitor—that the Inquisition got its bloody reputation. Torquemada - who was descended from Jewish converts to Christianity some time back - outdid the worst anti-Semites with his brutality” according to an article on the Spanish Inquisition by the website SimpletoRemember.org. His violent ways were needed in forcing Jews to leave and exterminating those who didn’t. Torquemada wanted a Catholic, unified Spain and was willing to use any method of brutality to get there . Due to that, “Torquemada headed an organization which imprisoned, tortured and burned even suspected nonbelievers at the stake, in numbers estimated at about 2,000” . He was able to cast out 2,000 non-believers through those harsh actions but hundreds more due to the fear he instilled in Spaniards. Without the brutality and violence of Tomas de Torquemada’s commands, the Spanish Inquisition would not have been so efficient creating a purely Catholic