Inquisition and science: where do we stand now?

2008

An historiographical global overview of the research on the Spanish Inquisition from 1998 to 2008. The paper laments the fact that the Spanish research failed to take into account the groundbreaking conclusions of recent Italian historiography.

“The Hermeneutics of Inquisition,” The Priest. The Journal of Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy 25/1 (March 2010): 16–19. The article is based on part of what originally was a presentation given at study days for priests. It elaborates underlying philosophical principles and assumptions in the work of theological inquisition in general and of the work of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith in particular, with special attention to Pope Benedict’s demand for hermeneutics of reform in continuity, and also looking at the philosophy of H.G. Gadamer and its critique by J. Habermas.

In the 1970s and 1980s, there was an important revisionist moment in the historical study of the Spanish Inquisition. Now, in the early twenty-first century, scholars are beginning to revise and add nuance to these now classic surveys of inquisitorial history. New historical studies have used Inquisition sources to revise depictions of the converso and morisco communities of early modern Spain; they have mined them on questions of gender. In addition, with the proliferation of Anglophone scholarship on the Spanish Inquisition, historians are uprooting the last vestiges of the Black Legend.

2020

The Spanish Inquisition has drawn both popular and scholarly attention since before its abolition in the early nineteenth century. While it has remained, for some, a medieval relic or stock element of the so-called Black Legend of Spanish cruelty, greed, and obscurantism-and for still others a precursor of modern social surveillance and state terrorcareful students of the Holy Office have beheld a remarkable if ongoing revision of views. A few of these stand out, in invitation towards the essays we introduce.

BRILL eBooks, 2019

2014

A cursory examination of the proceedings of the Roman Inquisition regarding Galileo and Copernican theory paints an unflattering view of the Church’s position and verdict. Viewed out of context, the verdict seems unreasonable, hostile, and ignorant of scientific truth. This has undoubtedly spurred many myths, as well as reinforced the conflict theory of science and religion. The truth, however, is invariably more nuanced and complex. Upon close examination, the 1616 verdict of the Inquisition is primarily concerned with the preservation of interpretational integrity in relation to Holy Scripture, and its rejection of scriptural reinterpretation is based on the Copernican theory’s suppositional nature. This position, and the general nature of the verdicts as based in nuanced distinctions, rather than ignorant, sweeping rejections of natural philosophy, can be seen by carefully examining the theological and theoretical positions of the key figures in the Inquisitorial processes of 161...

2018

Bespreking van: H.H. Schwedt,Die romische Inquisition. Kardinale und Konsultoren 1601 bis 1700 Freiburg-Basel-Wien:Herder ,2017 9783451348679

Crime Histoire Societes Crime History Societies, 2010

This paper discusses the place that the Inquisition stands in the world, and discusses how it should be a more studied topic.