(Page last updated 20 November 2002)
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In November 1996 the University of Notre Dame purchased from Libreria Porrua in Madrid a significant collection of books and manuscripts relating to the activities and history of the Inquisition in Spain, Portugal and the New World. The core of the collection had been purchased by José Porrua from a private Spanish collector in the mid 20th century. Understanding the importance of the collection, the Porrua family continued to acquire materials until the collection reached its current size of 565 items. Through an estate gift of Harley L. McDevitt (ND '29) the University of Notre Dame was fortunate to acquire the entire collection in 1996.
The strength of the collection lies in its diversity of materials representing the Spanish Inquisition. Nationally, this collection complements and builds upon well-known Inquisition collections at the University of Pennsylvania and Indiana University.
Although the Inquisition was in force in Spain in the 14th century, it was not until the late 15th century with the marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon that the Inquisition became an instrument to promote racial purity and Catholic orthodoxy throughout the two kingdoms. Publications of the Holy Office contained in the collection depict the development of the administrative machinations as the Holy Office prosecuted these tasks during this period. Further, the Holy Office's careful record keeping found in these documents captures Spain's social and political life of the period.
The output of the Holy Office was voluminous. Nevertheless the collection's more than five hundred items capture the significance of the Spanish Inquisition not only in a general sense but also in detail. To proceed to a table of contents for the collection and this online exhibit click the right arrow below.
Tips on navigating this site: Clicking the right arrow at the bottom of each page will lead you forward through the entire exhibit. Clicking the left arrow will you backwards. Clicking the square button between the arrows will return you to this page. Clicking on the row of buttons at the top of the page will take you directly to other parts of the site. The search button links to an online searchable database of the collection. The search page also includes instructions on how to download a copy of the complete collection catalog.
The Inquisition Collection is housed in the Department of
Special Collections at the University of Notre Dame.
For questions about the Collection or comments about this site please write to rarebook.1@nd.edu,
or call
574/631-5610 between 8am and 5pm EST.
This site was designed by Bernadette Pampuch (St. Mary's
College, '97)
under the direction of Scott Van Jacob and Christian Dupont
©1997 University Libraries of Notre Dame