St. Gennadius of Novgorod and positive vision of Saint Spanish Inquisition

Abstract

One of the most controversial figures in Russian history is Saint Gennadius, archbishop of Novgorod, who in the late XVth century tried to introduce the Inquisition, in the Spanish mould, in Russia in order to combat the heretics known as “the Judaizers”. Although an institutionalized inquisitorial machinery never operated as such in Russia, it is certainly true that, from that time until well into the XVIIIth century, burning all sorts of religious dissidents at the stake was common practice.