This book challenges the reputation of the Spanish Inquisition as an instrument of religious persecution, torture and repressionand looks at its wider role as an educative force in society.

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• A reassessment of the history of the Spanish Inquisition.
  
• Challenges the reputation of the Inquisition as an instrument of religious persecution, torture and repression.
  
• Looks at the wider role of the Inquisition as an educative force in society.
  
• Draws on the findings of recent research by American, British and European scholars.
  
• Includes original documentary evidence in translation.

About the Author
Helen Rawlings is a Lecturer in Spanish at the University of Leicester. Her previous publications include Church, Religion and Society in Early Modern Spain (2002).

Reviews
"Helen Rawlings combines a thoughtful reading of the vast secondary literature on the Spanish Inquisition with an adroit deployment of samples from the sources and with formidable statistical information. The Spanish Inquisition is a thorough, balanced, and insightful rendering of one of the most controversial topics in history. An excellent book!" Teofilo F Ruiz, University of California, Los Angeles

"Offers insights into a much mythologised and maligned phenomenon and, historiographically, it's bang up to date."
BBC History Magazine

"Helen Rawling's The Spanish Inquisition is an excellent introduction to this complex and controversial subject." H-Net Reviews

"Solid virtues and thoughtful care ... have gone into this contribution."
Bulletin of Spanish Studies

"Makes for compelling reading and for a perfect test case against which to measure all the revisionist history that Rawlings so aptly summarises." Journal of Ecclesiastical History

Book Information
ISBN 9780631206002
Author Helen Rawlings
Format Paperback
Page Count 184
Imprint Wiley-Blackwell
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 299g
Dimensions(mm) 218mm * 142mm * 15mm