This much-acclaimed history of Europe's forgotten Inquisition is now available in paperback for the first time. Venice in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was on the frontier between Christianity and Judaism, being one of the principal points of departure from Europe to the Levant and of re-entry from the Ottoman Empire. It was often the place where Europeans of Jewish blood made their final choice between Christianity and Judaism. Those who hesitated over their choice, or behaved ambiguously, frequently fell into the hands of the Inquisition.

Pullan examines the social and political purpose of the Inquisition: its composition, procedures and legal entitlement to judge Jews. He explains the origins of the New Christians of Portugal and the neophytes of Italy, and describes those Christians who, though having no Jewish ancestry, nevertheless flirted dangerously with the doctrines and customs of Judaism.