Torquemada, Thomas de

Thomas de (1420-1498), the first inquisitor-general of Castile and Leon. Torquemada was educated as a dominican prior. Although he did not found the inquisition he organized it and became its first administrator under Ferdinand and Isabella. Protestant writers are accustomed to heap infamy on Torquemada for the barbarous severity with which he administered his office. In forming judgment, however, certain conditions should be borne in mind. The torture was in common use in that age both in prisons and in court to extort information even from the innocent. The inquisition was directed largely toward the Jews, whose wealth the grandees of the court were eager to seize, and whom the Spaniards desired, for political and social reasons, to expel from the country. Taking into consideration the general cruelty of the times and the political motives which were intermingled with those of a religious nature, historians are disposed to say that the authority of the church was used as a cloak to carry out the wishes of a greedy court, and that even Torquemada, who must be held responsible for the cruelty, was no worse than others of his day.