His Excellency Mr. José Antonio Escudero

Professor Emeritus at the UNED, he is a Full Member of the Royal Academy of History and the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation, a corporation he presided over and of which he is currently Honorary President.

He received his Doctorate in Law from the Complutense University (1965) with Special Honours and furthered his studies in Paris, London, Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Bonn, Göttingen and Stockholm. He was a professor at the Complutense University and a visiting professor at the universities of Stanford, Berkeley, Wisconsin and Harvard.

He was elected Senator for the UCD (1977) and Member of the European Parliament (1987–1999). He has received three National History Awards (1969, 1979, 2009), the Grand Cross of Alfonso X the Wise, the Grand Cross of Saint Raymond of Peñafort and the Medal of Honour of the European Parliament.

Professor Escudero’s research has focused primarily on the Spanish Inquisition, intolerance and legal history.

A pioneer in the modern study of the Inquisition, he organised (1976) the first major scientific conference on the Inquisition at the Menéndez Pelayo International University. He subsequently directed up to six specialised courses. He founded the Institute of the Inquisition (UCM, 1985) and the Institute of the History of Intolerance. He is currently working on a book entitled La Inquisición española: principio y fin (The Spanish Inquisition: Beginning and End).

In recent years, he has stood out for

He was elected Senator for the UCD (1977) and Member of the European Parliament (1987–1999). He has received three National History Awards (1969, 1979, 2009), the Grand Cross of Alfonso X the Wise, the Grand Cross of Saint Raymond of Peñafort and the Medal of Honour of the European Parliament.

Professor Escudero’s research has focused primarily on the Spanish Inquisition, intolerance and legal history.

A pioneer in the modern study of the Inquisition, he organised (1976) the first major scientific conference on the Inquisition at the Menéndez Pelayo International University. He subsequently directed up to six specialised courses. He founded the Institute of the Inquisition (UCM, 1985) and the Institute of the History of Intolerance. He is currently preparing the book La Inquisición española: principio y fin (The Spanish Inquisition: Beginning and End).

In recent years, his research on the Count of Aranda has been particularly noteworthy, providing documentary evidence of the falsity of the supposed memorandum on the independence of America attributed to the Aragonese politician, a thesis that has been accepted by national and international specialists.

Books: Los Secretarios de Estado y del Despacho (4 vols., National History Prize). Historia del Derecho, Historiografía y Problemas. The Royal Advisory Board of Government Ministerial changes at the end of the Old Regime. The origins of the Council of Ministers in Spain (2 vols., National History Prize)

He has also edited or coordinated important collective works on The Spanish Inquisition and its legal profiles; The constitutional theory of Martínez Marina (3 vols). Studies on the Validos, the Monarchy, the Cortes of Cádiz, the historical territoriality of Spain, the Church and Spanish history, among others: and published hundreds of articles on the history of the administration, the Inquisition, constitutionalism and the historiography of law.

Professor Escudero supervised numerous doctoral theses, all of which received the highest marks.  Notable examples include: Consejo de Estado (1521–1812) by Feliciano Barrios (1983).

The collection of publications reveals a monumental trajectory, focusing on the history of Spanish law, government and administration from the Habsburgs to 19th-century constitutionalism, the Inquisition as a legal institution, and the monarchy and its power structures. It is one of the most comprehensive and rigorous works in contemporary Spanish historiography and jurisprudence.