num_pages: 312
description: For twenty years Henry Kamen's The Spanish Inquisition (1965) has been acknowledged as the authoritative modern study of one of the most notorious institutions of the western world. In this new study he develops the argument of the original work, using unpublished archival material and the fruits of recent research to present an up-to-date and challenging reappraisal of theInquisition. Viewpoints, in particular, on the history of the Jews, the social and literary impact of the tribunal, and its effects on the religious life of the Spanish people have been re-examined andrevised.Inquisition and Society in Spain is a study not merely of the Inquisition but of its interaction with Spanish politics, literature and religion over a period of some three hundred years. In particular it examines the role of the Inquisition in the Counter Reformation. Dr Kamen argues here that the tribunal's impact was less critical than has often been thought, and that the successes and failures of Spanish society should'be attributed not to the Inquisition but to other, more fundamental, causes.The effect of Henry Kamen's highly-researched and dispassionate study is to take the heat out of debates on the subject and offer a fresh perspective on the problems provoked by the activity of the Inquisition.Henry Kamen holds a D. Phil, from Oxford University. He has been lecturer at Edinburgh and is now Reader in History at Warwick University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Among his books are The Spanish Inquisition, The Iron Century , Social Change in Europe 1550 -1660 and! A Concise Historyof Spain.
language: English
title: Inquisition and Society in Spain in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
titlecomplete: Inquisition and Society in Spain in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
genres: History
ratings_count: 7
places: Spain
publisher: Indiana Univ Pr