Tomás de Torquemada
The Reverend Tomás de Torquemada | |
|---|---|
Torquemada depicted oil on canvas. The Madonna and Child of the Catholic Monarchs (1491), Museo del Prado, Spain. | |
| Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition | |
| In office 1483 – 16 September 1498 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Diego de Deza |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 October 1420 |
| Died | 16 September 1498 (aged 77) Ávila, Kingdom of Castile |
| Parent |
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| Relatives | Juan de Torquemada (uncle) |
| Alma mater | University of Salamanca |
| Occupation | Dominican friar |
Tomás de Torquemada OP (14 October 1420 – 16 September 1498), anglicized as Thomas of Torquemada, was a Spanish Dominican friar and the first Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition. In that role, he led a group of ecclesiastical prelates created in 1478 to uphold Catholic religious orthodoxy within the newly formed union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon, presently known as the Kingdom of Spain.
In part because of persecution, Muslims and Jews in Castile and Aragon at that time found it socially, politically, and economically advantageous to convert to Catholicism (becoming what were known as conversos, moriscos, and marranos). The existence of superficial converts from Judaism was perceived by the Catholic Monarchs as a threat to the religious and social life in their realms. This led Torquemada to be one of the chief supporters of the Alhambra Decree, which expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492.
Owing to the Inquisition's use of torture to extract confessions and burning at the stake of those declared guilty, and to Torquemada's own approval, even advocacy, of these practices, his name has become synonymous with cruelty, religious intolerance, and fanaticism.