Drunken Torturer…A Note on the Etymology Behind the Name “Torquemada”

[starphoenixt]

I just discovered something really creepy concerning Tomas de Torquemada, noted inquisitor-general of the Spanish Inquisition. (Basically, he was an extremely paranoid old friar who believed legions of Jewish and Muslim spies were treacherously undermining the Catholic faith in Spain. This paranoia led to hundreds of people getting tied to burning

Comments

Ay caramba!

[biscayne]

Spain is indeed a fun country! And that's an interesting snippet of info you posted. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Ay caramba!

[starphoenixt]

Nice to know people appreciate my random snippets (fun word!) of knowledge.

Muchas gracias :) And now, with those 2 words, I've almost exhausted my middle-school memories of Espanol.

[loonobsessedax]

Ah, yes, Cabeza de Vaca was one of the dudes we learned about in Texas History in seventh grade: "Head of Cow". Oh, and do you remember Mrs. de la Cerda from your freshman and sophomore years? Her name means "of the pig," apparently because she had a so-many-greats-grandfather who had a huge mole on his cheek that looked like a bristle brush. Guess what brushes were made of? You got it... Pig hair.

[starphoenixt]

Cerda = pig

Wow.

[deus3xmachina]

I had a bastard spanish teacher once named Cerdo, but, uh, no one called him anything other than Senora Cerda. (Yes, Senora as in woman).

[golddustforpele]

Wow, that is irony!

[kreepyebmthingy]

Just found this via a Google search for the same name ("Torquemada"). "Quemada" is Spanish for "burnt" (or "burned"), and I'm guessing that this name was a union of "torch" and "burnt". The more you know!