Tomás de Torquemada

Tomás de Torquemada, anglicized as Thomas of Torquemada, was a Spanish Dominican friar and the first Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition. In that role, he led a group of ecclesiastical prelates created in 1478 to uphold Catholic religious orthodoxy within the newly formed union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon, presently known as the Kingdom of Spain.