history 561 | fall 2020

Prof. Chad Black

Email: cblack6-at-utk.edu

Phone: 974-9871

Office: 2627 Dunford Hall, 6th Floor

Office Hours: Online by appointment

The Spanish Inquisition lives on in the popular imagination more than five hundred years after it was established in 1478. Monty Python taught us no one expected it. Mel Brooks turned it into a song. This dark humor worked to de-fang an institution associated with the worst impulses of religious intolerance and persecution. This course will look at the long history of the Spanish Inquisition on the Iberian peninsula and in the Americas to go beyond secret trails, torture, and autos-da-fe to understand why the Inquisition was established, its institutional role was in Spanish rule, and its legacies for the modern world.

course objectives

1. Students will build familiarity with the broader historiographic development of research on the history of the Spanish Inquisition.

2. Students will be able to identify the source base, theoretical emphases, and empirical methods that cluster around the specific activities of the Spanish Inquisition on the Iberian peninsula and in the Spanish Empire.

3. Students will demonstrate an ability to analyze, synthesize, and communicate in written and oral forms primary and secondary sources on the Inquisition.

readings

Required Books:

One of the following three:

• Henry Kamen, The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision (Yale, 1998).
• Joseph Perez, The Spanish Inquisition (Yale, 2005).
• Helen Rawlings, The Spanish Inquisition (Blackwell, 2006).

And then the rest…

• Miriam Bodian, Dying in the Law of Moses: Crypto-Jewish Martyrdom in the Iberian Wold. Indiana Univ. Press, 2007.

• John Chuchiak, The Inquisition in New Spain, 1536-1820: A Documentary History. JHUP, 2012.

• Silvia Federici, Calaban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation. Audonomedia, 2004.

• Lu Ann Homza, The Spanish Inquisiton, 1478-1614: An Anthology of Sources. Hackett, 2006.

• Richard Kagan, Lucrecia’s Dreams: Politics and Prophecy in Sixteenth-Century Spain. University of California Press, 1995.

• María Elena Martinez, Genealogical Fictions: Limpieza de Sangre, Religion, and Gender in Colonial Mexico. Stanford Univ. Press, 2008.

• Kenneth Mills, Idolatry and its Enemies: Colonial Andean Religion and Extirpation, 1640-1750. Princeton Univ. Press, 1997.

• William Monter, Frontiers of Heresy: The Spanish INquisition form the Basque Lands to Sicily. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1990.

• Martin Nesvig, Promiscuous Power: An Unorthodox History of New Spain. Univ. of Texas Press, 2018.

• Irene Silverblatt, Modern Inquisitions: Peru and the Colonial Origins of the Civilized World. Duke Univ. Press, 2004.

• Gretchen D. Starr-LeBeau, In the Shadow of the Virgin: Inquisitors, Friars, and Conversos in Guadalupe, Spain. Princeton University Press, 2003.

• Zeb Tortorici, Sins Against Nature: Sex & Archives in Colonial New Spain (Duke: 2018)

policies

Qualified students with disabilities needing appropriate academic adjustments should contact me as soon as possible to ensure that your needs are met in a timely manner with appropriate documentation.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism occurs when someone knowingly or unknowingly presents another person’s words or ideas as his or her own. Any work turned in for this class must meet University standards for academic honesty. Any students unsure about how to apply these rules are urged to consult with me prior to turning in any written work.

Deadlines: Assignments are due no later than the day and time indicated. If you anticipate problems, please contact me before the assignment is due, not after!

Office Hours: Students are strongly encouraged to speak with me outside of class. I am available during office hours on a first-come, first-served basis. If you cannot come during office hours, please contact me via email or phone to schedule an appointment.