Garcia de Trasmiera, Diego. Epitome de la Santa Vida y Relacion de la Glorioso Muerte del Venerable Pedro de Arbues.

Auction 93 | Thursday, May 06th, 2021 at 1:00pm
K2 Judaica Sale: Rare Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Graphic & Ceremonial Arts

Back to Catalogue

Lot 151
(INQUISITION).

Garcia de Trasmiera, Diego. Epitome de la Santa Vida y Relacion de la Glorioso Muerte del Venerable Pedro de Arbues.

<<FIRST EDITION.>> Half-title, title and all subsequent pages within double-ruled borders. pp. (16), 148. Small tear along upper margin of half-title, few ink markings, browned. Contemporary limp vellum, light wear. 4to.

Madrid: Diego Diaz de la Carrera 1664

Est: $500 - $700
The subject of this work, Pedro de Arbues (1441-85), was appointed Inquisitor of the Archdiocese of Saragossa by Torquemada in 1484. The establishment of an inquisitional tribunal in Saragossa aroused vigorous opposition within aristocratic circles who were connected by marriage with Conversos. Consequently, on the night of September 24th 1485, Arbues was murdered in the Cathedral before the high altar. This act of revenge was utilized by the Inquisition to greatly intensify its activities and many prominent Conversos were condemned for complicity in the crime. Centuries later, Arbues was venerated as a saint and canonized in 1867. See H.C. Lea, History of the Inquisition in Spain, vol. I (1906) pp. 244-53. For an alternate historical view see B. Netanyahu, The Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth Century Spain (1995) pp. 1164-71.