No other organization for religious persecution ever equaled the Spanish Inquisition in intensity, scope, ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.
From its establishment in 1478 until its abolishment in 1834, no one expected its tribunals, which relentlessly sought to destroy everyone who was not a Roman Catholic Christian. The terrible history of the Inquisition is told here by the distinguished scholar Cecil Roth, who was Reader in Jewish Studies at Oxford University.