The Spanish Inquisition began as a quest to purify Spain of heretics, but it soon became much more than that. There are two very distinct views of what really happened during the time of the Inquisition. One longstanding belief is that of the terror of the Inquisition as a thing of nightmares where thousands of people were subjected to cruel torture. The other, more modern, view is that the Inquisition was no where near as terrible as it had been proclaimed. The main foundation behind the second idea is that the facts of the Inquisition were over-exaggerated to give ammunition against Spain and the Catholic Church. The second idea says that, " the Spanish Inquisition is only part of the `Black Legend`- that body of writings which, since the 16th century, has vilified both Spain and its Catholic faith" (O' Brien 1). Many also consider the second idea to be totally wrong and agree with Plaidy, who writes, " The Inquisition was surely one of the most cruel institutions ever set up by man...It was an evil thing and from it grew evil." (16). Many people believe that the newer idea is incorrect because many of the most prominent exponents for the second idea are Catholics and Spaniar

Isabella's reign as the king and queen of Spain. There were some issues that planted the seed for the Inquisition before the rule of Ferdinand and Isabella. One factor was that many were jealous of the Jews of Spain. They were on average very rich and tended to flaunt their wealth. They wore richly colored clothes and shimmering jewels. This envy and the hatred that the Christians of the time had for Jews due to the murder of Jesus Christ helped to fuel Inquisition. Jews also tended to be smart and artistically gifted so the practice of the Inquisition would prove self-defeating because Jews had a lot to offer to the country in which they lived. Even before the Inquisition itself the Jews found themselves the target of violence. Before the Inquisition a Dominican fanatic named Fernando Martinez was determined to turn the people against the Jews of Spain. He believed that Jews were not as clean as Christian people and that Jesus wanted to punish the Jews. This led to his belief that the Jews had been responsible for the Black Death. The Pope Boniface IX himself warned Martinez that he should stop with his teachings and work to harm the Jews. Martinez, however, was a fanatic and would not listen to the words of the Pope. The Archbishop of Seville brought Martinez to trial for his impudence in not heeding the Pope's words. The unfortunate incident of the archbishop's death a few days before the examination of Martinez brought people to believe that God had struck him down. This brought more support behind Martinez and he was given a position of high responsibility in the diocese. Now he was free to continue his preaching and be even more influential. He was l

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Approximate Word count = 1134
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)