Tomás de Torquemada

Grand Inquisitor of Spain (1420-1498)

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Lived 1420–1498, aged 78

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52 languages
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Era
1420–1498
Aged 78

Summary

Updated 2026-05-29

Ran the Spanish Inquisition's show from 1478 onward as its first Grand Inquisitor, enforcing Catholic orthodoxy across the newly unified Spanish kingdoms. Torquemada's name became shorthand for institutional religious severity.

Biography

About

Tomás de Torquemada, anglicized as Thomas of Torquemada, was a Spanish Dominican friar and the first Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition. In that role, he led a group of ecclesiastical prelates created in 1478 to uphold Catholic religious orthodoxy within the newly formed union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon, presently known as the Kingdom of Spain.

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