Tomás de Torquemada
Tomás de Torquemada (1420-1498) was the first Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition, who acted under the direction of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain during the only successful recapture in history of a territory from control by Islam. Torquemada is depicted today as a cruel murderer, and is featured as the antagonist in violent video games such as Assassin's Creed II: Discovery, and Assassin's Creed Rebellion.
Amid religious conflict primarily between Christianity and Islam in the late 1400s, non-Christians were given the full opportunity to leave the country. Prior efforts to keep Spain as a Christian country had been unsuccessful, and Islam had the upper hand when Torquemada was given authority. Heresy was widespread at the time, creating confusion about what Christianity even was.
Muslims were allied with Jewish residents and Tomás de Torquemada supported a decree in 1492 to expel them if they did not convert to Christianity. Historians estimated that Torquemada oversaw the killing of about 2,000 Jewish people while he eradicated Islam and those whom he felt were heretics. His name has thus become synonymous with religious intolerance and cruelty today.
A Catholic encyclopedia characterizes some of the modern criticisms of Torquemada as exaggerated, but concedes that he did oversee the killing of thousands of people considered to be heretics.[1] As to Torquemada himself, he refused all ecclesiastical honors and remained a simple friar his entire life.
