LEA, HENRY CHARLES. - Protestant historian and publisher, b. 19 Sept. 1825 in Philadelphia, d. there 24 Oct. 1909. In 1843 he entered his father's publishing house and became its director in 1865. From 1857 onward he devoted himself ardently to the study of European medieval history, with particular attention to religious history. He is especially indebted for: A history of the Inquisition of the middle ages (New York 1888), in three volumes, completed by the History of the Inquisition of Spain (4 vols., ibid. 1906-1907); Inquisition
in the Spanish dependencies. Sicily, Naples, Sardinia, Milan, the Canaries, Mexico, Peru and New Granada (ibid. 1908). In these works, rich documentation does not always correspond to an impartial assessment of the facts or to a sound historical approach. He also published: History of auricular Confession and Indulgence in the latin Church (3 vols., ibid. 1896), in which religious preconception prevents the author from attaining any objectivity of judgment.