James M. Anderson (1) (1933–)

To read this book is to learn more about how religion dominated the lives of people, in this case, in Spain, in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. It was an ugly time, and first the Jews were forced to convert to Catholicism or face death (or exile, if they were "lucky"), and then the Muslims. Relentlessly harassed, even after conversion, these peoples who often were more learned and just basically finer people than their Catholic Spanish countrymen, cost Spain much, historically. Cruelly burned at the stake, tortured, hanged, or thrown in dungeons, these practitioners of other religions were eventually purged from the country. As all imperialists do, Spain thought it was just fine to go plunder other parts of the planet and commit genocide on the populations they stormed. I wonder what happened to all the metals plundered from the Americas and sent to enrich the nobility. Many of the rich got their ill-gotten gains from running Jews and moslems out of their homes. Just as citizens of the US, England, and Netherlands etc should, Spanish people should hang their heads in shame for the cruel histories of their countries. A well-researched and complete look into all aspects of daily life for Spaniards during the time of the Inquisition.… (meer)