El Santo Oficio de la Inquisición de Galicia 1560-1700: poder, sociedad y cultura

Contreras, Jaime. El Santo Oficio de la Inquisición de Galicia 1560-1700: poder, sociedad y cultura. Madrid: Akal, 1982. First edition. Large octavo. 706, [6]pp. Original illustrated wrappers. Authoritative history of the Inquisition in Galicia (northwest Spain), from the second half of the 16th century, to the end of the 17th century. The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition was established in 1478 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 Inquisition, which was under Papal control. It became the most substantive of the three different manifestations of the wider Christian Inquisition along with the Roman Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition. The Inquisition was originally intended in large part to ensure the orthodoxy of those who converted from Judaism and Islam. This regulation of the faith of the newly converted was intensified after the royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1501 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert or leave. Various motives have been proposed for the monarchs’ decision to found the Inquisition such as increasing political authority, weakening opposition, suppressing conversos, profiting from confiscation of the property of convicted heretics, reducing social tensions, and protecting the kingdom from the danger of a fifth column. The body was under the direct control of the Spanish monarchy. It was not definitively abolished until 1834, during the reign of Isabella II, after a period of declining influence in the previous century. Moderate shelf wear and rubbing along edges of wrappers. Previous owner’s stamp on front free endpaper (Rabbi Martin A. Cohen, New York). Text in Spanish. Wrappers in overall good, interior in very good condition. g to vg. Softcover. (38280) $65