In 1482, in a monastery in Central Spain, a Catholic monk was appointed to the Spanish Inquisition. From this day, Friar Tomasde Torquemada would begin a career renownedfor its cruelty of persecution.
As head ofthe Spanish Inquisition, Torquemada was responsible for the deathsof thousands ofinnocent Spaniards.Known as The Black Legend, he spread fear throughout Spain. Thousands were arrested, interrogated and mercilessly tortured. Many more were burned aliveat the stake.
“Torquemada wasn’t evil. He was worsethan evil. He was the Satanpar excellence.”
In the name of his religion, Torquemada forced almost every Jew out of Spain, destroying their lives forever.
Tomas de Torquemada was bornin ValladolidinCentral Spain in 1420. As a young man,
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“His relationship with the Queen was so great that she looked up on him as the Messiah. She looks up upon him that he’s a messenger of Christand whatever he was doing was absolutely right and correct.”
His fanatical devotion to his religion made him the perfect candidate for the job and with the support of Crown and Papacy, hebegan to hunt down the Conversoheretics.
“He was all-powerful. Having political power and being the head of the Inquisition, he held an enormous amountof power.”
“Arrest the heretics. Cross-examine them. Draw up alist of heresies to be identified. We are concerned to repress and to exterminate, and they had…need to be taken very seriously.”
Torquemada produced a handbook of instructions bearing his signature detailing how these Conversos, or secret Jews, were to be