LEA

lea, henry charles (1825-1909), american historian, was born at philadelphia on the 19th of september 1825. his father was a publisher, whom in 1843 he joined in business, and he retained his connexion with the firm till 1880. weak health, however, caused him from early days to devote himself to research, mainly on church history in the later middle ages, and his literary reputation rests on the important books he produced on this subject. these are: _superstition and force_ (philadelphia, 1866, new ed. 1892); _historical sketch of sacerdotal celibacy_ (philadelphia, 1867); _history of the inquisition of the middle ages_ (new york, 1888); _chapters from the religious history of spain connected with the inquisition_ (philadelphia, 1890); _history of auricular confession and indulgences in the latin church_ (3 vols., london, 1896); _the moriscos of spain_ (philadelphia, 1901), and _history of the inquisition of spain_ (4 vols., new york and london, 1906-1907). he also edited a _formulary of the papal penitentiary in the 13th century_ (philadelphia, 1892), and in 1908 was published his _inquisition in the spanish dependencies_. as an authority on the inquisition he stood in the highest rank of modern historians, and distinctions were conferred on him by the universities of harvard, princeton, pennsylvania, giessen and moscow. he died at philadelphia on the 24th of october 1909. lead (pronounced _leed_), a city of lawrence county, south dakota,