ahh the spanish inquisition.. If I remember right it was brought on by Fredinand the fifth and Isabell to find a way to persecute the Jews who had recently been forced to convert to either Christianity or Catholicsm..I forget which. It was brought on by greed, as the jews of spain were known to take care of each other and most were far richer than the catholic spainards. AS a result I believe it was Isabel who Began the Inquisition to round up these jews and get them to confess that they were 'un-pure' To get these confesions out of the jewish-converts, great torture devices were made, and the jews were tortured to death to confess that they they were unpure and to give up thier friends and family who were also un-pure. Also all of the wealth of these Jews were confiscated and distributed amungst the catholic comunity and the church.. I liken it to the darkage hollocoust, and just one more reason why America was built on the premise of the seperation of church and state. Current events today teeter on a 'american inquisition' with a devout born agian christian on a hunt for radical muslims, but thats another story
Mell Brooks also had a catchy song and dance about the Spanish Inquisition in his Movie 'History of the World part II"
good luck with yoru paper Katie, History was my favorite subject
oh, and one plug for my services please
