(INQUISITION).

AUCTION 61 |
Wednesday, March 12th,
2014 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Graphic Art and Ceremonial Objects
Lot 141
(INQUISITION).
Lisbon: v.d
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
The autos-da-fe or “acts of faith” staged by the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition were highly spectacular exhibitions of the power of the Catholic Church, during which the supposed enemies of the faith were ritually exorcized. The sermons preached on these occasions were an essential ingredient of those autos-de-fe in which “Judaisers” were condemned to be burnt. Prominent preachers from the upper hierarchy of the Church addressed themselves to the accused as unrepentant, stubborn Jews, and did so in terms of the most outrageous vituperation. In reality, the sermons were not meant for the miserable victims, but instead intended to impress the spectators, as an act of justification of the pitiless persecution of heresy.
See Edward Glaser, “Sermons at Autos-da-Fe: Introduction and Bibliography”, in Studies in Bibliography and Booklore of the Library of Hebrew Union College, II (1955) 53-78; A. Cassuto, Bibliografia dos Sermoes de Autos-da-Fe impressos (Coimbra 1955); Vekene, Emil van der. Bibliotheca Bibliographic Historiae Sancta Inquisitions. Vol. I(Vaduz, 1982).