Who were the narrator's tormentors?

's short
horror story "" begins with the narrator being sentenced to death. In the first
paragraph, we only know that the ones who pass sentence on him have "inquisitorial
voices" and are "black-robed judges." Poe deliberately creates an aura of mystery
regarding why the narrator is being tried, who is trying him, and what his offense is. In
paragraph five, the narrator has come to his senses enough to begin reflecting upon his state.
He mentions again the "inquisitorial proceedings" and then refers to the
"autos-da-fe" and Toledo, a city in Spain. From this we can
determine that the narrator is a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition, but not until paragraph 12
is the word "Inquisition" actually used. When the narrator refers to his captors, he
calls them "inquisitorial judges" or "inquisitorial agents."

The Spanish Inquisition was a judicial institution established by the Pope to prosecute
heresy; it functioned from 1478 to 1834. Its chief function was to verify the faith of Jews and
Muslims who converted to Catholicism, but it wielded great power and could have dealt with
anyone who the Church deemed as an enemy. For example, the Archbishop of Toledo was arrested in
1559 by the Inquisition and accused of Lutheranism; he was imprisoned for 17 years. Perhaps this
is why Poe set his story in Toledo. As mentioned in the story, the condemned were usually
executed at an auto-da-fe, a public pageant attended by large crowds and
often royalty, which often featured burning of heretics at the stake. The head of the
Inquisition was the grand inquisitor; he had five assistants as well as consultors; these would
be the "black-robed judges" described in the first paragraph. There is no record of
the Spanish Inquisition employing the methods of torture Poe describes in this story. Although
Poe has General Lasalle rescuing the prisoner, Lasalle was never in Toledo. However, the
appearance of General Lasalle helps us date the story to 1808. 

Poe uses
members of the Spanish Inquisition as the tormentors of his , but
by downplaying religious themes and leaving the specific nature of the narrator's crimes
unnamed, he is able to focus more on the psychological and physical responses of his main
character and less on the identities and motivations of his captors. 

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