Few institutions are as notorious as the Spanish Inquisition. Reviled in literature (most famously by Dostoyevsky in his Brothers Karamazov) and lampooned in popular culture (by Monty Python, among others), the Spanish Inquisition remains a potent symbol of both religious fanaticism and ecclesiastical power run amok. In this seminar, we will consider the history and legacy of the Spanish Inquisition, which existed for 356 years (1478-1834) and operated in both Spain and Spain's colonies overseas. We will examine not only the historical record itself (e.g., transcripts of actual trials, individual case studies), but also various depictions of the Inquisition found in imaginative media (art, literature, and film). Our subject, then, will be the Spanish Inquisition both real and imagined. Why did this institution arise in the first place? How did it survive for as long as it did? And does the legend of the Spanish Inquisition match its history? |