The Greatest Shame of the World: Tomás Cerdán de Tallada’s Pioneering Analysis of Sixteenth Century Spanish Jails in Visita de la Carcel

During the 16th century, prisons as we know them did not exist in Spain nor in most of Western Europe. Jails, as a temporary place to hold criminals before their trial, did exist but were quickly filling up with a wave of new criminals and debtors. This system of jails was poorly organized and poorly understood until Tomás Cerdán de Tallada wrote his treatise Visita de la carcel, which was the first in Spain to analyze the system of jails as a whole, and one of the first to offer criticisms of the system. Core to Cerdán’s understanding are his personal experiences working as an advocate for the poor in Valencia and his insistence that jails must be a fair system for all, including the poor. Cerdán’s contribution was significant in his time as it was widely circulated and helped many to form an understanding of penitentiary law in 16th century Spain. This paper analyzes the original text of Cerdán’s 1572 treatise in relation to its historical context and Cerdán’s personal biography.