Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inquisition, and the Defeat of the Moors

1492 is a very important year. As we all know, in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue...and "discovered" America....ahh, but what was happening back at home? Reston takes this familiar story as the centerpiece, and brings together all of the disparate movements which shook Spain, and the world, to its core in 1492. We all have a vague knowledge of the Inquisition--a really bad period in the history of the Catholic Church, and know generally that parts of Spain were once Muslim. But, at least speaking from a personal point of view, I had never quite put together the fact that all three of these events happened at the same time. As Ferdinand and Isabelle consolidated their rule among the various Spanish provinces in the north, and began their fight to regain the south of Spain for the Church, they mobilized the Church (and vice versa). Within the church hierarchy, hardline bishops rose to power, and began to purify the country--targeting heretics of all stripes, leading to massive oppression of their enemies within the church, under the guise of enforcing purity, and expelling all Jews from the entire country. Bouncing around the periphery of all of this was Columbus. He was simply looking for financing of a sea voyage--hoping to get rich doing what so many others had already done in Africa and the middle east, opening new trade routes. However, Ferdinand and Isabella were all too busy in battle to pay much attention to Columbus. Through artful politicking, he ultimately made the right connections, got some cash, and headed west. Aside from putting Columbus' journey into a historical perspective most Americans do not know about, this particular slice of history is instructive for its description of the interplay between religion, "purification" of enemies, war, and capital. The parallels to current US policy are truly disturbing. One of the more enlightening books I have read in many years.

James Reston Jr.'s THE DOGS OF GOD is extemely timely. Its relevance to the American public does not lie in its inclusion of Columbus, but in its analysis of the world's first totalitarian state. By totalitarian state, I mean one in which the rulers attempt to monitor and control the private lives of all their subjects. What is so important about the evolution of such totalitarianism in fifteenth century Spain is that the first steps in its direction were judicial-- a rejection of what we would call Sixth Amendment rights. Civil libertarians have long expected the first blow to democracy to come in the form of the rejection of First Amendment Rights. But under the Spanish Inquisition, people were being burnt long before books were. That is because they were denied the rudiments of due process as they were recognized even then. For instance, Pope Sixtus IV tried to moderate the Spanish Inquisition by the following rules, which were rejected by Ferdinand and Isabella: "Heresy must be tried like any other crime, and the accused must have the right to a fair trial... The names of the accusers and witnesses must be revealed to the accused. He or she must be given counsel, and have the right to appeal..." (p. 101). Of course the notion of trying anyone for heresy is anathema to us today. But to ignore the manner in which judicial abuses were used in this instance to erect a totalitarian government is to ignore the fact that improper judicial procedures-- such as the elimination of the right to appeal for a writ of habeas corpus-- may by themselves be used to lay the foundations for a totalitarian state, even if the transgression that they are aimed at is one which we would today recognize as a crime-- for instance terrorist activities. Reston establishes clearly that the responsibility for the Spanish Inquisition rested with the secular powers, and their favorite churchmen--above all Tomas Torquemada. The defeat of the last bastion of Moorish Spain, Granada, is recounted in heartbreaking detail. Its leaders were quite obviously unequal to the task of defending their state, and far too inclined to trust the reassurances of Christian monarchs. As one of their more astute generals, Musa Ben Abdil, said when he saw them lamenting, "Leave this useless weeping, men of Granada, to the eyes of children and delicate maidens. Let us be men and expend our emotions, not in the shedding of unmanly tears, but in pouring forth our blood even unto the last drop... Why should you refuse the honorable death of the battlefield? Death is the least of the evils that threaten you. More fearful are the humiliations that are being prepared: plunder of our houses, desecration of our mosques, violation of our wives and daughters, cruel intolerance, and the burning pile of the bigot." (p. 140) He was right. Although Ferdinand and Isabella had promised security of person and property as well as religious freedom to the Granadans as a condition of surrender

This book is not meant to be a super scholarly treatment of the period and events in questions. Instead, the book is meant to be an invitation to the characters, history and events that make up a pivotal period in western history. Reston succeeds in wonderfully telling a story of the pivotal events that were taking place in late 15th century Spain, including: the final defeat of the Moors, Ferdinand and Isabella's expulsion of the Jews, the discovery of the New World, the horrors of the inquisition and the overall consolidation of Spanish power into one united nation. As Reston argues, the ramifications of these events are still reverberating through the ages. The maps are pretty decent, but not all places named are displayed on them. There are no footnotes (maybe 1 or 2) as this book is not meant to be another production of esoteric historians who examine fact after fact. Overall, this is a great book and a fantastic introduction to the period for those in need of such an introduction.

1492 was not just a crucial year in American history; it was cataclysmic for the world. Forces came together in Spain that year which still resound today. Last year's Madrid train bombers referred to the ignominious defeat of the Moors in 1492 as partial justification for their terrorism. It was the year the Spanish Inquisition's reign of terror resulted in the expulsion of all Jews from Spain. And, of course, it was the year Christopher Columbus finally got his three ships and set off for fabled riches. "Indeed," says Reston in his prologue, "it is difficult to imagine another single year in the past millennium when so many significant strands of history came together and so changed the world in one swoop." Reston, the author of 12 books, including novels and histories ("Warriors of God," "The Last Apocalypse") explores those "converging strands" in his latest. Titled after the popular name of the Dominican order which was established to combat heresy and run the Inquisition, the "Dogs of God" is a popular history, not a scholarly examination and so Reston gives us personalities and ironies to anchor our interest. There's the glorious Arabic culture, for one, tolerant of Jews and Christians as citizens, if not equals. From the Arabs come advances in mathematics and art; an impetus for the Spanish Renaissance. Then there's the fanatical Spanish Church, convinced of its righteousness and terrifyingly intolerant of dissent. It's typified by the infamous Grand Inquisitor, Torquemada, fanatical in his hair shirt and his zeal for rooting out heretics, mostly conversos - Jews who had converted to Christianity. And the pleasure loving, corrupt Spanish Church with its bejeweled cardinals, eager for the confiscated estates of wealthy heretics. It's typified by the womanizing Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia who became Pope Alexander VI by bribing the Conclave of choosers. And there's Ferdinand and Isabella, a match chosen by themselves rather than for them. Isabella, determined to hold on to power at a time when women had none, drove a hard bargain, but Ferdinand, prince of Aragon, accepted. Did he think it would only be a matter of time before he could seize full control? Did he value her judgment? Reston does not try to answer these questions, but makes it clear their rule remained joint. Isabella, famed for her piety, charm and beauty, had an iron will and often involved herself in military matters. She and Ferdinand were both determined to drive the last of the Moors from Spanish territory and during the last summer campaign in 1492 Isabella raised morale by riding among the troops clothed in full armor. Joining piety with their need for money the monarchs (both of whom had converso blood) inaugurated the new Inquisition. The Moors held but a remnant of their 800-year Spanish conquest by the time of Ferdinand and Isabella's reign. Successive crusades had vowed to rid the Iberian peninsula of the infidel and Ferdinand spent every summer pushing against t

Reston documents a critical period of history, when great socio-political and religious changes converge, the Moors finally defeated by the Christians and the gestation of the long deadly years of the Inquisition, birthed in Spain with the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, Christopher Columbus's mission to the New World charged with the conflict of ownership of the lands he discovers. Although Columbus is but a footnote to the immense cataclysmic events of the fifteenth century, his endeavor is significant, if only because the voyage represents the future expansion of the west, medieval Europe torn by centuries of war for the domination of one religion over another, as an extensive body of Arabic science and literature is claimed by the scions of the Catholic Church. The gradual defeat of the Moors is of huge significance in 1492, a pivotal year in American, Spanish, Jewish and Arab history, as well as World and Church history. Here is the confluence of a five hundred-year push to conquer the infidels, the demise of eight hundred-years of Islamic Spain, the establishment of the modern Spanish state, the Spanish Inquisition that terrorizes Jews and unbelievers, the discovery of the New World and the division of that world between Spain and Portugal. The expulsion of Spanish Jews and the election of a corrupt Borgia pope augers profound change in religious expression, the arts and the development of a culture that is the forerunner of the modern nation-state. Focusing on this great cultural apocalypse, Reston links the significant players and events that shape the world of the fifteenth century, a legacy that reverberates today, as we grapple in real time with the age-old issues of religious doctrine and political ambition. Peopled with the faces from the history books, the ruling monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, Christopher Columbus, Tomas de Torquemada, the Great Inquisitor, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI), and the fanatic Savonarola, medieval Europe heaves a sigh and gives birth to immense upheaval, Ferdinand and Isabella's Dogs of God (the Dominicans) rooting out the Moors, the Jews and other unsavory (un-Christian) citizens. In a stunning display of power and religious intolerance, the Spanish Inquisition is as heinous in that century as Hitler's purge of European Jews in more recent times. The appointment of Tomas Torquemada as the Inquisitor of Aragon and Valencia is significant, followed months later by a consolidation of his power as Inquisitor-General, adding Castile and Aragon to his sphere of influence. "Every holocaust needs a cold-hearted organization man"; Torquemada fulfills his destiny, organizing charts, clerical appointments and regional commissions, standardizing the process for all his tribunals. The auto-da-fe becomes a horrifying symbol of the power of the Inquisition, hinting at the extent of the Church's reach. Although there are a few pockets of active resistance, for the most part the terror of the Dogs of