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Torquemada, lithograph (credit: Courtesy of the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid)

(born 1420, Valladolid, Castile — died Sept. 16, 1498, Ávila, Castile) First grand inquisitor in Spain (1487 – 98). A Dominican prior, he became confessor and adviser to Ferdinand V and Isabella I. He guided the Spanish Inquisition, directing its persecution of Jews, Moors, and others identified as heretics, sorcerers, or criminals. Torture was used to obtain evidence, and about 2,000 people were burned at the stake during Torquemada's tenure. He probably influenced Ferdinand and Isabella in their decision to expel the Jews from Spain (1492). His name has become synonymous with the cruel fanaticism of the Inquisition.

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