Books Set in Europe; Spain

By Fire, By Water, by Mitchell James Kaplan (2010)

By Fire, By Water is a historical novel about the Spanish Inquisition.  Many of the characters in the novel, including the main character, Luis de Santágel, Hernando de Talavera, and Cristóbal Colón, were real people.

Luis de Santágel was the royal chancellor of Aragon, and a converso, a Jew forced to convert to Christianity.  De Santágel retained an interest in his Jewish heritage, although that was becoming more dangerous with Tomás de Torquemada’s views on anyone not believing in the “true faith.”

De Santágel was influential in the court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, however, he knew that his role in the court was tenuous due to his Jewish background. After the murder of the Inquisition’s Chief Inquisitor, Pedro de Arbués, de Santágel realizes that Torquemada’s tactics are much more horrific than previously encountered.  After the Inquisitors arrest both Luis’ son, Gabriel, and his brother, Estefan, Luis sees just how far Torquemada will take his pursuit to extract confessions of faith from non-Christians.

Religious issues become even more complicated when the Catholic monarchs descend into Granada and force out the Moors, who had built a large and peaceful society.  Spurred on by religious fervor, Queen Isabella issued an edict expelling all Jews from the kingdom.

In the meantime, Cristóbal Colón, has De Santágel ear and needs an advocate to convince the Court to help fund an exploration to India across the expanse of the ocean.

No story would be complete without a love story.  De Santágel met the beautiful Judith Midgel, and her nephew, Levi, who are secret Jews.  All of this leads him to explore his abandoned Jewish faith.

This novel brings this period of history to life and the characters are seem very real.

As a side note, in the novel, Levi accompanied Cristóbal Colón on his voyage to be a translator.  He was the only non-sailor on the voyage.  In fact, there was a non-sailor translator listed in Colón’s logs whose name was listed as Luis de Torres, a transliteration of the Hebrew name, Levi Midgel.

Read: September 16, 2018

4 Stars