The Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth-Century Spain

Rating:
Summary: Even less confusion
Review: It's true that Benzion Netanyahu is not the former Israeli PM; the former Israeli PM, however, is his son. Notice the poignant dedication to his other son, Jonathan, who was one of the Israeli commandos on the Entebbe raid.

Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: The definitive book on the Inquisition is B. Netanyahu's The Origins of the Inquisition. This work goes back to the 6th century BCE and traces the destructive path of anti-Semitism and xenophobia all the way to Spain. One of the main points of this book is stating how most of the Conversos were good Christians and not heretics. This book also makes known how most of the hatred for Jews and later New Christians came from the lowest classes who felt socially, politically, religiously, and most importantly economically threatened by these supposedly alien people. It is also worth mentioning that Netanyahu believes that the hatred of the New Christians stemmed from RACISM; first for the Jews and then for their descendants, the sociopolitical jealousies only stoked the underlying fire. Netanyahu also demonstrates how the Morranos were caught in the middle a power struggle between monarchic supremacy and nobiliar and urban aristocratic independence. This work is worth your time and will add to your edification.

Rating:
Summary: To avoid confusion...
Review: This book is written by Benzion Netanyahu, the Cornell professor and not the former Israel PM... it's a good read either way though.

Rating:
Summary: THE history of the inquisition in spain
Review: this encycolpedic oeuvre is almost overwhelming in its sheer scale; however, the attention to detail is necessary in order to understand how this horrifying portion of liturgical history developed. social contexts and authentic resources make this a very thorough history of the inquisition as it was experienced in spain. i only wish i could find an equally thorough treatment of the inquisition in italy and france. a very revealing work for the lay person who wants to know more about liturgical history, the woman's place in medieval social order, and the development of the social relationships among medieval spanish christians, jews, and muslims.

Rating:
Summary: Origins of the Inquisition et al. by PM Benjamin Netanyahu
Review: This is an excellent work from beginning to end. It outlines in
detail, a history of anti-semitism dating back to Egypt in the
BC era. The focus of the work is on the brutal anti-semitism
of the Inquisition in Spain. The main argument seems to place
the process of anti-semitism within a racial context rather than
a religious one. This context may have served as a basis for
a continued persecution of Jews up through the 20th century.
There is a brilliant work which deals with the protection of
the Jewish community against harm. It is "The Keeper of the Gate"
published by the Jerusalem Publishing Company/House. The
"Keeper of the Gate" teaches how Jews protected neighborhoods
from harassing raids by marauders during the Middle Ages.
In fact, Benjamin, Daniel and Joseph have been the historical
gatekeepers of the Jewish community. PM Netanyahu's work
provides a thorough delineation of the foundations of hatred
against Jews. In so doing,the author has provided a wealth of
information to reshape hostile attitudes . This process of
re-shaping attitudes must happen by dealing forthrightly
with racial prejudice in the Constitutional apparati of Arab
states. That is, Arab states must ban racial discrimination
in their individual constitutions and constitutional processes.
Right now, Iraq seems to be the best place to begin this work.
The new Iraqi Constitution should be formulated to ban racial
prejudice in every form and societal context as a condition
precedent to forgiving reconstruction loans and loan guarantees.
I wish there was time to write a separate book on this topic.
For now, I plan to re-read this work in even greater depth
when the time affords. The author has gained a wealth of
knowledge as a diplomat, Prime Minister and scholar at MIT.
As such, he must be considered a top world scholar of our time.